Bitch Flicks’ Weekly Picks
What have you been reading/writing this week? Tell us in the comments!
The radical notion that women like good movies
What have you been reading/writing this week? Tell us in the comments!
Filmmaker Spike Lee |
Written by Robin Hitchcock
Any list of the “greatest” “essential” “best” “definitive” films (or books/tv shows/albums/Got Milk? ads/insert your pop cultural poison) is going to have its detractors. The controversy that inevitably follows these lists is a big part of the reason we make them in the first place. Dissecting a list’s failures and defending its bold choices is most of the fun. So I suppose I should thank Spike Lee for giving us all another opportunity to quibble, with his recently-released selection of 87 “essential” films he tells his NYU students every aspiring filmmaker must see. But mostly, I’m just so tired of this bullshit.
Spike Lee’s Milk ad, which is on my essential list. |
The only movie on the list with a female director is City of God, co-directed by Katia Lund. Spike Lee thinks aspiring filmmakers will have the essentials even if they have only seen one movie with a female (co-)director.
Amber‘s Picks:
Question Time: Women & Screenplays via Wellywood Woman
Teen Beat! 8 Teen Film Versions of Classic Literature by Kelly Kawano via Word & Film
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry by Mary Dore and Nancy Kennedy via Kickstarter
Leslie Knope’s sexuopolitical dreams are coming true by Chloe via Feministing
FFFF: Ellen Endorses “Bic for Her” Pens by Jarrah via Gender Focus
London Feminist Film Festival tickets now on sale! by Kyna Morgan via Her Film
Random Nerd Nostalgia: Wonder Woman for President by Aphra Behn via Shakesville
Stephanie‘s Picks:
Catching Up With Molly Ringwald by Shana Naomi Krochmal via Out
Portraying the Women Behind the Powerful Men by Hugh Hart via the LA Times
Mila Kunis Is Executive Producing a ’70s Period Drama About Feminism by Jamie Peck via Crushable
TV Show “Girls” Does More for Feminism Than Sex & the City Ever Did by Caroline Mortimer via Sabotage Times
Backlot Bitch: Flight Beyond Stereotypes by Monica Castillo via Bitch Magazine
Megan‘s Picks:
Martha Plimpton: Why Hollywood Activism Matters by Martha Plimpton via The Hollywood Reporter
The 6 Best Moments for Women in the 2012 Election by Emma Gray via The Huffington Post
Skyfall Unquestioningly Belongs to Dame Judi Dench by Charlie Jane Anders via Jezebel
Television Interview About Harassment in Gaming by Anita Sarkeesian via Feminist Frequency
Sexism in Hollywood: Where Are the Women in Argo? by Nico Lang via Women and Hollywood
The End of the Bond Girl and the Rise of the Bond Woman by Alyssa Rosenberg via Slate’s Double X
What have you been reading this week? Tell us in the comments!
Amber‘s Picks:
Jon Avnet, Rodrigo Garcia Launch Web Series and Shorts to Explore ‘Female Characters’ from Thompson on Hollywood
Woman with a Lens Restored: The Shirley Clarke Project by Manohla Dargis for The New York Times
The Status of Women’s Film Festivals from Women and Hollywood
Megan‘s Picks:
How to Lose Your Virginity Documentary Project by Therese Shechter via Kickstarter
Seventeen Magazine Says Thanks But No Thanks to Teen’s Photoshop Petition by Jenna Sauers for Jezebel
Brit Marling On Sexual Assault as a Default Obstacle for Heroines by Alyssa Rosenberg for Think Progress
Pariah Director Dee Rees to Helm Indie Love Story This Man, This Woman by Kevin Jagernauth for The Playlist
Female Reviewer Gets Attacked for Avengers Review by Melissa Silverstein for Women and Hollywood
What have you been reading this week? Leave your links in the comments!
Margaret Cho Rightfully Loses Her Shit by Margaret Cho from Jezebel
Kicking It on Kickstarter by Kathleen Sweeney from Women’s Media Center
Melissa Harris-Perry Talks MSNBC Show, Stereotypes of Black Women on ‘Colbert Report’ (video) from Huffington Post
Why “Yes, But” Is the Wrong Response to Misogyny by Greta Christina from freethoughtblogs.com
This is why we keep talking about gender in comedy by from Feministing
Leave your links in the comments!
Silver Spring, MD — Independent filmmaker Alyssa Michek must raise $5000 online to fund her short film “It’s All In My Head” in 30 days or less. The 25-year-old filmmaker is directing and producing her first professional short film. With experience directing student films, “It’s All In My Head” is her most ambitious yet, spanning five locations, shot on 16mm color film, with a professional cast and crew. Without a website like kickstarter.com Michek’s film would most likely never be made.
Kickstarter is a new way of funding creative projects “powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.” Instead of pitching to a studio, creators pitch to the kickstarter community, then use their network of supporters and self-promote in order to fund creative projects. In the first week Michek raised almost $1,500 and with 15 days left to go she is almost halfway there.
To promote “It’s All In My Head,” Michek, a DC native, is offering DC area residents access to special events. For a pledge of $150 spend a day on set. For $200 be an extra in the film with an open bar. With a pledge of $250 the backer and a guest will be VIPs at the film premiere.
“I’m a feminist,” says Michek, “and I think female perspectives are often under-represented in mainstream films.” Her film will center a woman’s story and encourage male viewers to identify with her, as the only fully realized character. “I wanted to come at this with a female perspective, but also have it be universal.”
“It’s All In My Head” is a 20-minute short film exploring the break-up script and how our culture shapes our concept of love. The film follows Alex and Michelle through their break-up showing the highlights of their relationship in flashbacks with voice-over from Michelle commenting on the relationship. Michelle criticizes the typical break-up speech and its excuses. She imagines herself in classic films that have shaped her concept of love and dreams a happy ending interspersed with contemporary film references. When she comes back to reality she finds that life is not like the movies.
“I do think our expectations and our concept of relationships are very much shaped by pop culture” says Michek “and most movies create unreal expectations.” With her film she hopes to combat and comment on these expectations and the culture that creates them.
Fundraising for “It’s All In My Head” ends August 6, 2011. If Michek does not meet her goal, she gets nothing. If all goes as planned, the film will shoot at the end of August and beginning of September and should be finished by the end of the year. Those interested in supporting the project should visit http://kck.st/nEZV4W to learn more.
For more information about this project or to schedule an interview with Alyssa Michek, contact her at alyssamichek@gmail.com or at itsallinmyheadfilm@gmail.com.