The radical notion that women like good movies
World War Z movie poster Written by Amanda RodriguezSpoiler Alert As someone who read and enjoyed Max Brooks’ novel World War Z, I confess that I was doubtful that the film version (also entitled World War Z) could do the complex, multiple perspective, international, decade-long “oral history” justice. Turns out, I wasn’t wrong. The sociopolitical … Continue reading “The Strong Yet Traditional Women of ‘World War Z’”
Written by Myrna Waldron. Nausicaa hears the bubbling healthy water inside a petrified tree Unlike the previous three reviews for this “retrospective,” I was going into this review almost completely blind. I had not seen Nausicaä before today, and only knew that it was a film with a strong female protagonist and a lot of flying … Continue reading “Miyazaki Month: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”
Movie poster for Bernard and Doris This is a guest post by Margaret Howie. But the question, again, is do you ever really want to ever be intimate? If you do, then it might as well be this person. It’s not about gender. It’s not about race, or age, or anything. The hurdle is intimacy. … Continue reading “The Butler, the Billions, and ‘Bernard and Doris’s Broken Hearts”
Movie poster for Two for the Road Written by Myrna Waldron. Two For The Road’s nonlinear narrative follows the courtship and marriage of Mark (Albert Finney) and Joanna Wallace (Audrey Hepburn) over a period of 12 years. In the present day, the Wallaces are preparing to go to a party celebrating a house that workaholic … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: Marriage Is A Bumpy Road: ‘Two For The Road’s Difficult Journey”
Agnès Varda directs Vagabond This is a guest review by Rachael Johnson. Vagabond is one of Agnès Varda’s finest films. First released in 1985, its title in French is Sans Toit Ni Loi–Without Roof or Law or Homeless and Lawless. It is the story of Mona, a young homeless woman roaming the landscape of a … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: "It Seems to Me That She Came From the Sea": A Review of Agnes Varda’s ‘Vagabond’”
Movie poster for Little Miss Sunshine This is a guest review by Melissa Richard. Look around… this place is fucked! I don’t want these people judging Olive—fuck them! You’re the mom—you’re supposed to protect her! Everyone is gonna laugh at her, Mom… please don’t let her do this. Look, she’s not a beauty queen. She’s … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: Protecting Olive in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’”
Easy Rider poster: “A man went looking for America. And couldn’t find it anywhere…” “Although the masters make the rules / For the wise men and the fools / I got nothing, Ma, to live up to… For them that must obey authority / That they do not respect in any degree… My eyes collide … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: ‘Easy Rider’: Searching for a Free America That Doesn’t Exist”
The Go-Getter movie poster This is a guest post by Melanie Killingsworth. The Go-Getter doesn’t scream “feminist.” The central character is a guy named Mercer; in fact, the movie doesn’t actually pass the Bechdel test, because no one really talks to anyone besides Mercer. Mercer’s first words – to himself and the audience at large … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: ‘The Go-Getter’: A Male-Led Feminist Film”
This is a guest review by Marcia Herring. Movie poster for Spring Breakers In a lifetime, how many chances are we granted to truly reinvent ourselves? Growing up, I would often daydream about taking a trip: leaving my conservative duds, Midwestern accent, and semi-closeted life behind me. I would wake up and magically be able … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: ‘Spring Breakers’ Forever”
The story of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha continued in Sex and the City 2 (2010) This is a guest post by Emily Contois. I’m not embarrassed to admit it. I totally own the complete series of Sex and the City—the copious collection of DVDs nestled inside a bright pink binder-of-sorts, soft and textured to … Continue reading “Travel Films Week: ‘Sex and the City 2’: Hardcore Orientalism in the Desert of Abu Dhabi”
Written by Myrna Waldron. Howl’s Moving Castle travelling through the mountains The next film featured in my “Miyazaki Month” retrospective is Howl’s Moving Castle. It was the successor to Spirited Away, which was supposed to be Miyazaki’s Swan Song, but then again so was Princess Mononoke. Dude’s never going to retire, and that’s just fine. … Continue reading “Miyazaki Month: Howl’s Moving Castle”
A brand new start for the young set of One Life To Live. (pictured: Andrew Trischitta as Jack, Laura Harrier as new Destiny, Kelley Missal as Dani, and Robert Gorrie as new Matthew) Written by Janyce Denise Glasper When One Life to Live got canceled at the same time as All My Children, I felt … Continue reading “On ‘One Life To Live’: Two Young Women Spiral Into Predictable Complications On Hulu’s Soap Reboot”
