I’m happy to report that this Friday several women-centered films are opening in theaters, some in limited release. While I doubt these films will all be fabulous feminist explorations of gender constructs that also depict women’s actual real-life experiences–and some of them might even be anti-feminist (I don’t necessarily have high hopes for What to Expect When You’re Expecting, based on the trailer)–at least we get to see women represented onscreen. Sometimes that feels like a low bar to set, but it’s significant considering how rarely it occurs. So here they are, accompanied by movie trailers and film synopses (taken from Rotten Tomatoes). And remember, we welcome review submissions for our Guest Writer Wednesday series. Check out the guidelines!
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Over the moon about starting a family, TV fitness guru Jules and dance show star Evan find that their high-octane celebrity lives don’t stand a chance against the surprise demands of pregnancy. Baby-crazy author and advocate Wendy gets a taste of her own militant mommy advice when pregnancy hormones ravage her body; while Wendy’s husband, Gary, struggles not to be outdone by his competitive alpha-Dad, who’s expecting twins with his much younger trophy wife, Skyler. Photographer Holly is prepared to travel the globe to adopt a child, but her husband Alex isn’t so sure, and tries to quiet his panic by attending a “dudes” support group, where new fathers get to tell it like it really is. And rival food truck chefs Rosie and Marco’s surprise hook-up results in an unexpected quandary: what to do when your first child comes before your first date? — (C) Lionsgate
A journalist covering police assigned to a juvenile division enters an affair with one of her subjects.
The Color Wheel is the story of JR, an increasingly transient aspiring news-anchor, as she forces her disappointing younger brother Colin to embark on a road trip to move her belongings out of her professor-turned-lover’s apartment. Problem is, these grown up kids do not get along, and are both too obnoxious to know better. Chaos and calamity are not far behind her beat up Honda Accord. Too bad that nobody else in the world can stand either of them. Not Colin’s neglectful girlfriend, nor JR’s former high school friends, nor strangers they clash with at pretty much every step of their hopeless and increasingly infuriating voyage of frustration, failure and jerks. It can only be a matter of time before JR and Colin arrive at the strangest and most unsettling of resolutions and put to rest their decades of animosity, half-baked sibling rivalry and endless bickering. Resting uncomfortably somewhere between the solipsistic, unrepressed id of late Jerry Lewis, and the confrontational pseudo-sexual self-loathing of Philip Roth and shot on grainy 16mm black and white evoking the motels, diners and loners of Robert Frank’s America, The Color Wheel is a comedic symphony of disappointment and forgiveness.
When newlywed Molly Reynolds returns to her long-abandoned family home, reminders of a nightmarish childhood begin seeping into her new life. A malevolent force, whether her own haunted past or some supernatural ‘thing,’ tirelessly seeks to overwhelm her. Alone and isolated in a centuries-old manor, she soon begins an inexorable descent into depravity. Somewhere in the house, in the terrible space between psychosis and possession, lies an evil that will pull Molly and all those around her into darkness and death. — (C) Official Site
A single mother struggles to raise her son Emmett while dreaming of escaping her small Southern boardwalk town. Her long time affair with the very married, Mormon Sheriff Richard Tipton is thrown into question when he decides to run for public office. Things are further complicated when Emmett begins a romantic relationship with Tipton’s daughter. Virginia and the town-populated by Amy Madigan, Toby Jones, Yeardley Smith-are full of secrets and everyone knows Virginia can only keep things together for so long. Virginia is a funny, touching drama that looks at the American Dream and what it takes to keep it together. — (C) Official Site
Hysteria is a romantic comedy with an accomplished cast led by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones and Rupert Everett, that tells an untold tale of discovery – the surprising story of the birth of the electro-mechanical vibrator at the very peak of Victorian prudishness. — (C) Sony Classics
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
A portrait of legendary fashion magazine editor Diana Vreeland. She was one of the twentieth century’s greatest arbiters of style who dazzled the world with her unique vision of style high and low.
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