Sneak Preview
Saw August Rush directed by Kirsten Sheridan (daughter of Jim Sheridan of My Left Foot fame) starring the incredibly talented Freddie Highmore this weekend. Very uplifting and moving film. Also stars Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys-Myers. In this season of depressing films, I think one has a chance to break out of the pack. Opens nation-wide on November 21.
More on Diablo Cody, it screenwriter girl. I'm fascinated by the continued press obsession with this woman. I am sure part of it is the fact that she was a former stripper - which every article mentions. She seems to be enjoying and reveling in her 15 minutes. Here are some interesting quotes from the EW piece on her and her upcoming film Juno. Even being in Hollywood for less than a year she already knows where women rate in the business.
"I think teenage girls deserve a better shake in cinema", she says pointing to My So-Called Life's Angela Chase as the rare female character in pop culture she's actually want as a friend.Did you notice the NY Times Magazine this weekend entitled Hollywood Goes West? Another completely male focused issue. The only women I noticed with the Questions for Patty Limerick column by Deborah Solomon (but she doesn't count as Hollywood to me); Jane Smiley and Nicole Krauss both have short pieces within the longer articles; pictures of Kelly Macdonald, Holly Hunter and Julianne Moore along with an exploitive picture of Tara Reid.
With buzz for Juno building, Cody has found herself a hero among young Hollywood women desperate to play something besides arm candy. "I Never get to meet with male actors because they don't need me," she says. "But actresses? Constantly."
And because she is the new broad in town, studios are sending her any and all projects that star a woman. "If there's a female protagonist or romance, they just assume it's up my alley. What, because I have a vagina?" (EW)
News
I've noticed that a lot of the stories and voices of the writer's strike have been male (Tina Fey on day one is a notable exception.) Here is a LA Times story of a single mother on strike.
A New Mother is Full of Joy -- and Fear (LA Times)
New film Holly takes on human trafficking (review to come soon)
More Than Cinema: a Campaign to End Child Sex (NY Times)
