January 11, 2008

Movies This Weekend

Holiday holdovers will dominate again this weekend. With two new female centric films opening wide next weekend -- Mad Money and 27 Dresses-- this is your chance to see one of the holiday movies you missed because next weekend you will need to take yourself to one of new ones.

I saw Mad Money yesterday and thought it was quite funny and fun and way better than I expected. I am seeing 27 Dresses today. Next week I will be interviewing Callie Khouri writer of Thelma and Louise who is the director of Mad Money. Mad Money stars Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes.

Also opening next weekend is Teeth a hit at last year's Sundance Film Festival. Teeth is a female revenge comedy about a young woman who discovers she has a toothed vagina. I know it sounds strange but the film was quite funny. More to come next week.

Opened this week
The Business of Being Born (NY)

In Theaters
Juno
Atonement
The Orphanage
P.S. I Love You
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
August Rush
The Savages
Margot at the Wedding

WGA Awards
Not only do the writers know that women exist, women dominated the original screenplay category. There will be no ceremony this year in light of the continuing strike.
Nominees for the original screenplay awards include:
Diablo Cody for "Juno,"
Tamara Jenkins for "The Savages,"
Nancy Oliver for "Lars and the Real Girl."
Documentary screenplay category:
"Nanking" - Screenplay by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman & Elisabeth Bentley, Story by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman
"The Rape Of Europa" - Written by Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham and Bonni Cohen, Menemsha Films

Anne Thompson at Variety noted the inclusion of three women. "It is highly unusual for three women to be nominated, all for original screenplay. So kudos to Nancy Oliver (Lars and the real Girl), Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) and Diablo Cody (Juno)." (Variety)

Interesting Move
The new female road comedy Bonneville starring Jessica Lange,Kathy Bates and Joan Allen will get a sneak preview on Princess Cruises in mid-February a couple of weeks before it rolls out across the states. I imagine that they think the cruises would play to the older demographic that can help build word of mouth.

TV This Weekend
Queen Sized (Saturday, January 12, 9pm, Lifetime)
Queen Sized is a typical Lifetime movie- great premise, mediocre execution. Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky stars as an overweight high school senior who gets nominated to be prom queen as a cruel joke by the popular girls. This is one unhappy young woman struggling with her weight, the loss of her father (who also had a weight problem) and her mom (Annie Potts) who as a thin person just thinks if she gets her daughter to exercise and eat better that she will lose weight. Skinny people are so sadly pathetic when it comes to dealing with weight issues. It's not such a great movie, but at least she doesn't lose weight at the end. If you watch it with your daughters talk to her about bullying and eating. At least you can get a lesson out of it.

Sarah Connor Chronicles (Sunday, January 13, 8pm, FOX)
We all know the biggest bad ass character from the Terminator movies is Sarah Connor the woman who gives birth to the man who saves the world played by Linda Hamilton. Fox has smartly turned Sarah Connor into her own franchise with Lena Headey taking over for Hamilton. There is enough kick ass action to make guys and girls really happy.

The Complete Jane Austen (Sunday, January 13, 9pm, PBS)
For all you Jane Austen fans should be happy because over the next several months PBS will present the full Jane Austen cannon for your watching pleasure. Since there will be no new shows to watch due to the writer's strike, this Jane Austenathon sounds quite promising. There are repeats of classics like Pride and Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth as well as a new productions including the season premiere of Persuasion airing this Sunday.

News
Interview with Ellen Kuras, director of Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) which will screen at Sundance.
Ellen Kuras (Indiewire)

Interview with Courtney Hunt, director of Frozen River which will screen at Sundance
Courtney Hunt (Indiewire)