November 19, 2007

Nina's Heavenly Delights, an uplifting film about following your heart, opens this Wednesday, November 21 in LA, and November 30th in NY. Director, Pratibha Parmar spoke with Women & Hollywood about the film and the struggles women directors go through to get their projects made.

W&H: Why was it important for you to tell this story?

Pratibha Parmar: Many reasons. One of the received wisdoms in the film industry is that you should always make your first film about something personal. So I chose to write a story that was based on my own experience of falling in love in a way and with a person that was a complete surprise! I wanted to tell a story that has at its heart a non traditional ‘forbidden love’ but using a traditional genre like romantic comedy.

W&H: It took seven years from writing the story until production. How did you persevere in your vision throughout that time?

PP: Now I know why they say make your first film about something you feel passionate about, because in that long seven year journey to get this film onto the screen, it really was sheer blind passion and determination that helped me to keep going. You hear so many more ‘No’s’ then you ever hear ‘maybe’ or ‘yes.’ It was also pride and sometimes anger that kept me going. I could see male directors with half the experience that I have making their debut features without the kind of intense struggle that I was going through, without having to ‘prove’ that they were ready to make a feature.

By the time I had come to make Nina’s Heavenly Delights, I had already made award winning documentaries and also directed a number of short dramas. So it was frustrating to say the least when I kept being asked by potential financiers if ‘I was confident enough to direct drama’ and ‘work with a big crew.’ I don’t think the majority of men in the film industry internationally have an innate sense of confidence in women directors in the way they do with male directors.

W&H: Did you write the film knowing that you would direct it? Do you think that more women directors are writing their own scripts because so few scripts are available to them to direct?

PP: Oh yes, when I wrote the story it was very much with a view to directing it. I am a director first and foremost and want to tell stories that I don’t often see on the cinema screens. I think first we have to be SEEN as directors to be even sent scripts for consideration. I am always having to generate my own work and that can often mean that you have to wait so many more years until you make your next feature. So it would be lovely to be sent scripts that have already gone through ‘development hell’ and are ready to go into production.

W&H: Music is a very important element in the film and brings life to many of the scenes especially in Bobbi's scenes. Talk a little about the importance of music in telling this story.

PP: Music has always been a key story telling device for me. I had chosen some of the songs in the film very early on. I wanted the texture of the music to reflect the world of the film which is a cross-cultural and cross everything else kind of world. The few Bollywood songs in the film have lyrics which help to advance the narrative. And then there are also contemporary pop songs like The Monkees’ ‘ Day Dream Believer’ and tracks from some great female singer/songwriters like Alex Parkes, Shelley Poole and Holly Vallance, whom many people will recognize. Music can trigger so many different emotional responses and you don’t always need dialogue when a lyric or a musical refrain can evoke the mood or story so much more effectively.

W&H: What do you want people to get out of this film?

PP: I want people to leave the cinema feeling happy, hungry and horny. No seriously – I want people to see the characters beyond their sexuality or culture. The film showed on British Airways long haul flights last Christmas and a friend was traveling from London to Delhi when it was screening. He got his whole cabin to watch the movie and at first a few of the Indian mothers were saying, ’oh dear, we didn’t know this happened in our communities,’ i.e., a woman falling in love with another woman, but then half way through the film, he said everyone forgot that Nina is gay and were rooting for her to win the cooking competition. It was great to hear that.

W&H: There are so few films released in the states that feature female leads and you not only have a woman lead in you piece, she is Asian and realizing she is gay. How is the film being marketed so that the widest audience possible will be exposed to the story? Do you think that the audience will be gay people, Asian people, Scottish people, women or all of the above?

PP: I hope that the audience will be people of every color, sexuality, musical tastes and everyone who enjoys a feel good movie! So far the film has screened at over 50 international film festivals – many of them mainstream festivals and some for niche markets. But across the board, the audiences have loved it. From Hong Kong to India to Paris to Turin, people have responded very positively.

The US distributors, Regent Releasing/hereFilms have been fantastic so far! They totally get that the movie has great potential to break out into the mainstream and so they are trying (with their limited resources) to get the word out there. Ultimately with films that are not ‘star’ led or have some kind of celebrity marketing push, it’s the WORD OF MOUTH that is crucial. So I really hope people who have seen it and like it blog about it, get onto Rotten Tomatoes and other sites and write or vote for it and help spread a buzz.

W&H: What does it mean to be a woman director in a world where so few women are directors? Do you feel an added responsibility?

PP: The main responsibility I feel is to myself as a story teller and to make films with truthfulness, honesty and integrity. In doing so, if the work inspires other women to want to become directors, then that’s terrific but I am not into carrying that ‘burden of responsibility’ for all women or all minorities for that matter. Having said that, I am an Associate of the Birds Eye Women’s Film Festival in the UK and have been their supporter since they first formed. As an active member of Women in Film & Television in the UK, I helped to initiate the Women Directing Change program where less experienced women directors get the opportunity to shadow more experienced film directors, both men and women. The abysmally low number of women directors is appalling- so I am supportive of anything that helps to change that.

Keep watch as to when the film will open in your city. More info: Nina's Heavenly Delights

News
Box Office- Margot at the Wedding playing in only two venues brought in over $82,000. Film expands to 35 venues in the top 12 markets, Wednesday.

Jennifer Jason Leigh stars with Nicole Kidman in husband Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding
Jennifer Jason Leigh Brings Home to Work With Her (LA Times)

Emmanuelle Seigner on Movies and Rocking Out (LA Times)

Linda Cardellini talks about ER's 300th episode
Nurse Role Gives Linda Cardelini a Nice Health Run on ER (NY Daily News

German director Doris Dorrie talks about her new film, How to Cook Your Life (indiewire)

Anne Thompson talks up Laura Linney's performance in Tamara Jenkins' The Savages.
Oscarwatch: The Savages Jenkins and Linney (Variety)

Not all young actresses get lured into the tabloid world. Why don't we hear more about them?
Young Actresses Focused on Careers (Variety)

A story about the International Women's Film Festival in Israel
Israel's female filmmakers get big boost with 'Women in the Picture' (Israel21c)

Tube Tonight
Friends with Money- Nicole Holofcener's look at how money gets in the way of friendships. (12:45pm and 8pm, ENCORE)

Grey Gardens- the cult documentary that spawned a Broadway show and now a movie starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore (7:15pm, SUNDANCE)

Weeds- season finale (10pm, SHOWTIME)

November 16, 2007

Review- Margot at the Wedding
Noah Baumbach is not afraid to write unlikable characters. I admire that. I liked The Squid and the Whale, his semi-autobiographical look at the demise of his parents marriage. His new movie, Margot at the Wedding, is at its core the story between two estranged sisters both on the brink of big life changes. The sisters are played by Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Baumbach's wife) who admirable take on Baumbach's complex script.

Neither one of them gives a false note, and it is important to note especially on Kidman's part, her continual risk taking movie choices. Looking at her roles you can see that this is a woman interested in growing as an actress, rather than being focused on box office. It turns out that some of the roles she played were in successful movies that made money, and then she was pigeon holed on the box office take for the rest of her films. It's the studios fault that they offered her millions of dollars for films they knew stunk and then blamed it on her for not being able to "open a movie." From my assessment of her career, I don't think she cares about being able to open a movie.

The sisters come together to celebrate Pauline's (Leigh) wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black) an unemployed musician/artist. The fireworks start immediately when Margot (Kidman) questions and judges Pauline's decision. They go at it and even they they say they are each others best friend, you know that they aren't, and that quite possibly they don't really like each other. Family is tough stuff and Baumbach is not shy. Margot, in judging Pauline, is deflecting her own downward spiral seen through self-medicating and told through rude comments.

Movie opens on two screens and will hopefully go wider soon.

_________

I am very angry at the folks at Criminal Minds right now. Here's why. I am a big fan of procedurals and have really enjoyed Minds especially when Mandy Patankin was on it, but I am getting tired of this whole mutilating and killing women theme which this show seems to relish. Then, on this last episode (which did great in the ratings) the one female character who actually has character, who is not stick thin, and plays the techie, got shot by a guy after their dinner date. The show totally played into the stereotype of if it seems too good it probably is, and perpetuates the bullshit that only skinny hot girls get the cute boys. They better resolve it well next week or else they will incure my wrath.

News
Jodie Foster will receive the Sherry Lansing Leadership award at the 16th annual Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast to be held in Hollywood on December 4th.

The movie 9 to 5 is now a stage play. It will be performed in LA and will star Allison Janney (CJ from the West Wing) in the Tomlin role.
9to 5 Set its World Stage Premiere (AP via Miami Herald)

Kristen Stewart will star in Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight (Variety)

Grey's Anatomy's Katherine Heigl is taking advantage of her star status by signing to star in Columbia's romantic comedy The Ugly Truth from the writers and director of Legally Blonde.
Katherine Heigl Set for Truth (Variety)

A Stuntwoman in Hollywood
Stuntwoman still Loves Her Occupation (Christian Science Monitor)

Rosie O'Donnell Returns to Nip/Tuck (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

I love America Ferrara from Ugly Betty. She is a breath of fresh air in a world of young women gone wild in Hollywood.
American Ferrara Relates to Her Ugly Betty Role

The fantastic Imelda Staunton talks about the roles for older women, and society's ridiculous obsession with youth.
Imelda Staunton on Her New BBC Drama


Tube to Watch

Tonight
Sunset Boulevard - 8am, HBOS
Bull Durham - 8pm, AMC

Tommorow
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle- 3pm, IFC
Born Yesterday (the version with Judy Holliday)- 10pm, TCM

Molly Shannon stars in the Lifetime movie More of Me where the busy mom divides into four separate women to deal with her busy life. Rent Year of the Dog instead. Shannon is much more interesting in that.

Sunday
The final chapter of The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard - 9pm, PBS
The Philadelphia Story- 10pm, TCM

November 15, 2007

Slooow News Day

Ellen Degeneres is in a really hot spot. She was planning on coming to NY to tape her show, but the Writer's Guild threatened to picket since she has basically been back at work since the writers struck. She stayed out the first day and twice didn't do a monologue, but she's at work. Her problem is that she is a syndicated show with WGA writers on the staff. Ellen is also a member of the guild. Most syndicated shows don't employ guild members. I don't envy her. Screwed if she does work, and screwed if she doesn't.
Ellen Under Fire

News
Renee Zellweger talks to Bazaar Magazine about remaining sane in Hollywood. It's sad when being able to be sane is not the norm.
Zellweger Says She's Proud of Her Sanity (USA Today)

Women's Murder Club- On the set, there's a lot of murder, but not any girl fighting
For Cast and Crew it Isn't a Club So Much as a Clan (USA Today)

Abbie Cornish soon to be big star on her role in Elizabeth
Abbie Cornish Found a Character in Her Corset (Sydney Morning Herald)

Tube Tonight
Cybill Shepherd is TCM's guest programmer with Ninotchka, Notorious and His Girl Friday. TCM, 8pm
30 Rock- Edie Falco guest stars as a democratic political operative who falls for Alec Baldwin's Jack.

November 14, 2007

Women's Murder Club - My Favorite New Show This Season
I have been looking for an excuse to talk up the Women's Murder Club, and an email from Sarah Fain, creator and showrunner is just that excuse. I know that critics kept falling over themselves to promote Pushing Daisies, which I find quite boring and I haven't watched my saved episodes for several weeks.

She emailed to clarify (guess that she has some time during the strike, fortunately for me) that she and her writing partner Liz Craft created the show and they run the show with R. Scott Gemmill. They are all executive producers along with Joe Simpson, Brett Ratner and James Patterson who wrote the book the show is based upon.

The show stars Angie Harmon who is so much better here than she was on Law & Order. I also especially like Paula Newsome as the medical examiner.

Show airs on ABC at 10pm on Fridays. This week's episode features Harmon's real husband, Jason Seahorn.

Variety has a series of stories on Women in Showbiz: The Politics of Change
One focuses on politics about how women in Hollywood are not all rallying behind Hillary Clinton (doesn't make them any different than women across the country). Story also mentions the HWPC (Hollywood Women's Political Caucus, disbanded ten years ago, which gave women in the biz a united political voice. I think we need to bring back HWPC!
Hollywood Women Split Political Loyalties (Variety)

Another focuses on the growing influence of lesbians. "These days, the war in Iraq looms large for lesbians, trumping even gay marriage and adoption rights as a front-burner issue." Well, duh. Ilene Chaiken, creator of the L Word and de-facto lesbian spokesperson adds: "Our voice is louder and stronger, and we have more potent meaning in the political conversation than we had in the past, when we were less visible." (Variety)
Lesbian Politics More Than Marriage

Pieces also include: How Hollywood Women are Speaking Against the Iraq War
Women Join Voices Against Iraq War
Stars Battle Violence Against Women
The Darfur Crisis
Hollywood Puts Spotlight on Darfur
AIDS
AIDS Awareness Goes Global
Animal Rights
Stars Speak Out About Animal Rights
Immigration
Hollywood Part of Immigration Debate

Good package, but I get annoyed when Variety dumbs down its pieces.

November 13, 2007

Remembering Adrienne Shelly and Supporting Women Directors

Last night the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, founded in memory of the murdered director, (director of this year's sleeper hit Waitress which could potentially get Keri Russell some nominations) had its inaugural gala with a reading of Adrienne's screenplay The Morgan Stories. Celebs scheduled to appear included: Alanis Morissette, Edie Falco, Mary-Louise Parker, Gina Gershon, Jason Patric, Leelee Sobieski, Nathan Dean, Jake Hoffman and Maria Tucci.

Women & Hollywood posed some questions to Adrienne's husband, and foundation founder, Andy Ostroy, about why he started the Foundation in his late wife's name.

Women & Hollywood: Why did you start the Adrienne Shelly Foundation?

Andy Ostroy: Following Adrienne's death, I was asked by many people where they could donate money in her name. Once I was able to think clearly about this, and consider Adrienne's passion for filmmaking, especially as a woman, the idea for the Foundation was born. I knew that it would be a very worthwhile cause that we could champion in her honor.

W&H: Why is it important to support female filmmakers?

AO: Overall, women are the true underdogs in filmmaking. Perhaps just 7% or so of all features are directed by women. This is an embarrassing statistic. Female filmmakers have a strong passion and a distinct message...and that voice needs to be heard more loudly. The Adrienne Shelly Foundation exists to help support these incredibly talented women as they strive to produce their work.

W&H: What type of grants will the foundation be giving out?

AO: We've provide a variety of financial awards that include film school scholarships, production grants, finishing funds and living stipends, ranging from $5000-$10,000.

W&H: What do you want people who are interested in women and film know about Adrienne Shelly?

AO: Adrienne was a one-of-a-kind human being with a unique voice that sadly is no longer with us. She brought a rare, magical blend of comedy, drama and unpredictability to her writing, all of which had ass-kicking female empowerment as its ultimate central theme. Had she lived, she would've undoubtedly gone on to become one of America's most prolific filmmakers. "Waitress" proved that.

______
Variety is running one of their regular features, this one is on comedy. As you can imagine, since there are hardly any comedies written by or about women, the section skews male. No actresses are featured, only one writer (Diablo Cody- guess if this was one year ago there would have been no female writers- how about Nancy Meyers?), and they have a section on Judd and His Merry Men. Several women -- Jenna Fischer, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Jamie Pressly and Amy Poehler are feauted in the Tube Titans story. I'm not even linking to it, I'm so disgusted by the whole package.

______
Since women are so infrequently honored and acknowledged in Hollywood, the Paley Center's "She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio" which honors 50 women for their contributions to TV and radio deserves note. Here is the list of this year's honorees:
Perry Miller Adato
Gracie Allen
Jay Presson Allen
Candice Bergen
Frances Buss
Peggy Charren
May Chidiac
Betty Cohen
Judy Crichton
Nancy Dickerson
Margaret Drain
Rebecca Eaton
Linda Ellerbee
Betty Furness
Amy Goodman
Lee Grant
Bonnie Hammer
Salma Hayek
Maria Hinojosa
Gwen Ifill
Marta Kauffman
Barbara Kopple
Claire Labine
Lynda La Plante
Margaret Loesch
Nancy Malone
Caryn Mandabach
Mary Margaret McBride
Beth McCarthy Miller
Marilyn Suzanne Miller
Andrea Mitchell
Gloria Monty
Christine Ockrent
Suze Orman
Rosie O'Donnell
Abbe Raven
Shonda Rhimes
Martha Rountree
Radhika Roy
Lucie Salhany
Jennifer Saunders
Martha Stewart
Hannah Storm
Nina Totenberg
Ellen M. Violett
Meredith Vieira
Judith Cary Waller
Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Yang Lan
Paula Zahn

The women will all be honored at a ceremony on December 6.
She Made It (Hollywood Reporter)

News
Jada Pinkett Smith will make her directing debut with her script for the film The Human Contract. Hubby Will Smith will executive produce. (Variety)

I'm kind of getting tired of writing about Diablo Cody like she is the only female screenwriter in Hollywood. It was cute for a while, but now its getting old. Cody and her Juno director (out December 5) Jason Reitman are reteaming for her new script, Jennifer's Body starring Megan Fox. "The film tells the story of a cheerleader who is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in a Minnesota farming town. Her "plain Jane" best friend must kill her, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the Satan-worshiping rock band responsible for the transformation." Sounds dreadful (Hollywood Reporter)

Damages has been renewed for two more seasons of 13 episodes each. Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan are all signed on.

Gilmore Girl Alexis Bledel has signed on to star in Ticket to Rise to be directed by Vicky Jenson. "Ryden Malby, a college grad who is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family while she attempts to find a job, the right guy and some direction for her life." Screenplay is by Kelly Fremon (I would venture a guess that she is a woman based on the film description) (Variety)

Sarah Michelle Gellar, hero to young women and former star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, appears on the cover of Maxim wearing just her bra. Why do young women in Hollywood feel they need to get naked to promote their movies? They never ask young men to do that.

Portia de Rossi, Ellen Degeneres' partner, is taking on her first gay role on Nip/Tuck.
De Rossi Nips at Challenges (USA Today)

Warner Bros TV and Telepictures are launching Mom Logic a website targeted at women with children. (Variety)

November 12, 2007

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.

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)

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.

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)

November 9, 2007

Movie of the Week- Steal a Pencil for Me
Being a nice Jewish girl from Long Island, I have seen my share of Holocaust documentaries. They are usually so disturbing that I tend to spend the next week incredibly depressed. That's what I expected when I watched the new documentary Steal a Pencil for Me, but that was not the case. Turns out Steal a Pencil for Me is an uplifting and hopeful love story told through the backdrop of the Holocaust.

In this compelling story by Academy Award nominee Michele Ohayon, the lovers Jack Polak and Ina Soep first meet at a party in Amsterdam in 1943. There are several big problems they must overcome to be together, the first is Jack's unhappy marriage, and the second is Hitler. Soon after meeting, they are both deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and it is under those brutal circumstances that their love blossoms shown through the letters they wrote to each other.

Amazingly, they both survived and just celebrated 60 years of marriage. An incredibly hopeful story born out of a time of deep despair.

Opens in NY and LA today.
More Info: Steal a Pencil for Me

Also opening: War Dance co-directed by Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
War Dance

News
Katee Sackhoff is really the only thing working in the disappointingly bland Bionic Woman.
Woman of Steel (Backstage)

An all-black revival of Cat on a Hit Tin Roof directed by Debbie Allen will open on Broadway in March. (Variety)

Winona Ryder has been cast as Spock's mother in the new Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams. In another case of Hollywood fantasy casting, Ryder is only 6 years older than Zachary Quinto who was cast as Spock. Wouldn't it make sense to cast someone who could actually be his mother to play his mother?

The Color Purple has figure out how to get African Americans to the theatre.
Color Purple a Family Affair (Variety)

Piece on Nicole Kidman who has two films coming up, Margot at the Wedding and the Golden Compass.
Nicole Kidman (USA Today)

Tube Tonight
Citizen Ruth- one of the funniest abortion dramas. Stars Laura Dern. (FLIX, 8pm)

November 8, 2007

Nina's Heavenly Delights - a delightful film
Put this film on your list when it comes to your town- Nina's Heavenly Delights, directed by Pratibha Parmar, one of the most fun and uplifting films I've seen in a long time. It's the story of a Scottish woman of Indian descent who returns home after her father's sudden death and winds up taking his place in a nationally televised curry cooking competition. The film deals with so many important issues like assimilation, family, being true to yourself all wrapped up in a whole lot of Bollywood fun. It really reminded me of the wonderful tone that I loved in Bend it Like Beckham. Film also has a great soundtrack.

Look for it in LA on November 21, NY on November 30, Portland, OR on December 28. other cities will roll out in early 2008. More info: Nina's Heavenly Delights

This column from the LA Times's Oscar columnist Gold Derby pisses me off. The headline is: Can Being Pregnant Help Helena and Cate to win Oscars? The column then goes on to discuss pregnant nominees who have and haven't won Oscars when pregnant. I find this so retro. Let's keep our eye on the ball. The issue we should be discussing is the lack of opportunities and roles for all actresses.

News
Interview with Michele Ohayon,director of Steal a Pencil for Me a documentary opening tomorrow in NY & LA (review tomorrow)
Michele Ohayon

Scottish Actress Kelly McDonald stars in the upcoming No Country for Old Men
Kelly McDonald's Chameleon Ways (LA Times)

Another Q&A with Alison Eastwood (AP via Yahoo)

November 7, 2007

Preview Review- Lions for Lambs
How psyched was I for a movie starring Robert Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep? Tom Cruise and I go way back to the early 80s where he spent some time on my bedroom wall during high school when he was breaking through in Risky Business and the under appreciated All the Right Moves. Meryl is good in everything she does (I can't think of a single movie where she was bad); and Robert Redford is well, Robert Redford - savior of independent cinema.

I would love to tell you that Lions for Lambs is the important war movie this fall, but I can't. It's not even the second or third important war movie this fall. It's a preachy, boring polemic that is an utter disappointment on all levels.

The story is told from three different perspectives. The first is Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. Cruise plays a Republican Senator hell bent on creating a new war strategy because we need to win this "so-called" war on terror. Streep plays a seasoned journalist called in to interview the Senator as the offensive is launched in order to report the facts on this brilliant new war strategy for Afghanistan. Much as I loved Tom Cruise when I was a teen, I think that he is virtually unwatchable nowadays. I had a really hard time separating his screen role from his off-screen role. I think that some of it was due to the fact that I kept thinking this smarmy Senator was going to jump on his office coach to try to convince the reporter that this new war strategy was the right thing to do.

The second story is about the soldiers (Michael Pena and Derek Luke) carrying out the Senator's offensive in Afghanistan with devastating results, and the third story is about a professor (Redford) trying to inspire a gifted student to give a shit about something more than getting drunk and getting laid.

Redford doesn't believe this is a war drama, he feels it's a human drama " which dares to ask the audience to question, wonder, and feel--and urges them to participate more fully in their own fates, as well as that of the country." Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan who also wrote this fall's The Kingdom this movie just makes me again realize how stupid and male focused war is, and how our world needs to figure out better ways to solve problems.

If you are looking for a film that asks provocative questions about war and what happens when soldiers come home see In the Valley of Elah. It's bleak and much stronger than Lion's for Lambs. (Opens Friday, November 9)

News
Glamour magazine gave out its annual women of the year awards this week. The awards went to Jennifer Garner, Shonda Rhimes, Elizabeth Edwards and Toni Morrison.
Glamour Women of the Year Like a Little Risky Business

Eleanor Ringel comments on the Alliance of Women Film Journalists site about the paucity of choices for women actresses. If these are the roles available for the A list, what's it like for everyone else?
2007 Roles for A List Actresses

New Line is banking on the girl driven franchise starting with the Golden Compass to take up the mantle of Lord of the Rings.
New Line Banking on Compass (Variety)

Interesting piece from The Guardian:

Director Josie Rourke has started off her new role as artistic director of London's Bush Theatre with some positive discrimination. When she arrived at the Bush in April, Rourke inherited four new plays, all written by men - David Watson's Flightpath, How to Curse by Ian McHugh, The Dysfunckshonalz by Mike Packer and Helter Skelter/Land of the Dead by Neil LaBute. Now, to balance things out, Rourke has appointed four female directors for them: Naomi Jones, Tamara Harvey, Patricia Benecke and Rourke herself. "It is essential to get the dynamic between male and female voices right," says Rourke. "It's a rare thing in this male-dominated world of theatre." (The Guardian)

---

---

Tube Tonight
Season Finale of the Sarah Silverman Show (10:30pm, Comedy Central)
Biography of Janis Joplin (11pm, Bio)
Joplin documentary recalls star's over-the-top lifestyle

November 6, 2007

Kasi Lemmons Talks to Women & Hollywood
Kasi Lemmons is one of the few female African American women directors working in Hollywood. Her most recent film Talk to Me is out now on DVD. Check out the review here: Talk to Me (Huffington Post)

Women & Hollywood: This film is a love story between two men, which is rarely seen on film. Why was it important for you to tell this story?

KL: One of the most important films for me growing up was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid which was a movie about male friendship. It helped shape my feelings about film relationships and I realized I didn't see that. I wanted to get inside a relationship between two men where they could be vulnerable and need each other. I feel that it's real, and yet men are very afraid of showing emotion and being demonstrative. It helps us to understand men more when we realize they are capable of these friendships.

W&H: When did you know you wanted to make the switch to the directing chair? (One prominent role Lemmons played was Jodie Foster's roommate in Silence of the Lambs)

KL: It happened very organically. It was the late 80s and I was into politics. I went to film school thinking I would put a camera on my shoulders and make documentaries. The first film I made was about being homeless in NY. But, I had a tendency to dramatize. Bill Cosby then hired me to write a screenplay (which was never produced) and that's how I got into the Writer's Guild.

The storyteller part of me was always very alive. I wrote plays all the time. At a certain point I had a story I could tell from the beginning to end and I realized I had to write it down. I wrote a part that I could play when I was 40. It happened faster than that. I met an agent and he said we had to put it together and find a director. People passed on it. One day I woke up and realized that I had to direct it (Eve's Bayou). I didn't suddenly decide that I was a director, and even after I directed Eve's Bayou I thought I was done.

W&H: It's unacceptable how few women and African American women directors there are working in film today.

KL: In every other field there are women. There are women in high levels of politics. There are women in high levels of management at the World Bank. There are women in high levels everywhere. Why is it that there are not more women directors? It just doesn't make sense. It's a particular backwards industry in this country. I can't speak for other countries because they seem better.

Storytelling is not like running the World Bank. Storytelling has a masculine and feminine side. We're dealing with humanity. As artists, women are wonderful at telling men's stories, as men have been wonderful at telling women's stories. Yet at the same time you need the push and the pull. You need the other side of the coin.

W&H: Why does this continue to be such a problem?

KL: It doesn't make much sense that they wouldn't be interested in women's visions. Look at television. They are always looking for women's stories to tap. I think it might have something to do with the concept of what a director is -- a white man between 30-50 with the hat on backwards in sneakers with a little scruff.

W&H: You lobbied for this film. Did you have to work harder to get this film?

KL: I had to get the meeting. I had to wait until they had gone through meetings with the usual suspects. I made it known that I wanted to do the movie and then the only moment of self consciousness I had was before the first meeting and it wasn't just that I was a woman. I went in super prepared and super passionate and I got through that meeting. I was half way through my second meeting and Mark Gordon said ok.

W&H: Is this Mark Gordon who produces for TV?

KL: He believes in the power of women. It's something he believes in and enjoys doing it without thinking. It's not that he is making a political statement, its just the guy he is. Mark saw my passion, heard what I had to say and said ok.

W&H: How important is it to tell African American stories?

It's very important but there have been stories I have been attracted to that have not been African American stories. I've written all kinds of things, however I am attracted to characters. African American stories have such a dynamic history, and it's my people so it's special to me. I think we occupy an interesting place in American history - very violent, very strong and triumphant and so I am drawn to those characters. I am drawn to stories.

W&H: What advice would you give a young woman director?

KL: Find a way of telling a story that represents an aspect of you, so you can use it as a calling card to help shape your identity so someone else doesn't put you in a box. Create something or find a piece of material that is a love letter to yourself.

W&H: What are you working on next?

KL: I'm writing a pilot for Mark Gordon and CBS. I am also writing a piece for Picturehouse on the civil rights movement.

Talk to Me is available on DVD now.

____________
Julia Roberts is basically the only female "star" today and she really hasn't toplined a movie in three years. In a new interview with Vanity Fair timed to come up with her new film Charlie Wilson's War, Roberts talks about her wish to stay at home to knit and compost. Here's a quote: "The highest high would be growing our food that I then make, and then composting and growing more -- that kind of circle." Wonder why they don't take us more seriously? (Vanity Fair via Miami Herald)

News
Day one of the writer's strike has already claimed a casualty - the premiere of Cashmere Mafia. Show was set to debut November 27. No new date has been announced.

Patrick Goldstein has an analysis of the failure of art-house films this fall. Could it be that TV is actually better than what's playing in theatres?
Art-House Depression

Interview with War/Dance co-directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine (IndieWIRE)

Angelina Jolie on her upcoming film Beowulf.
Beowulf Aroused Jolie's Maternal Feelings (ABC News GMA)

Profile on up-and-coming English actress Ruth Wilson
You Fight for Your Luck (The Guardian)

Brick Lane the films based on Monica Ali's novel and directed by Sarah Gavron has caused controversy in the Bangladeshi community in London. It opens there next week.
Controversial Brick Lane Film Hits Theatres (Reuters)

Jeanne Tripplehorn joins the cast of the HBO drama Grey Gardens as Jackie Onassis. Pic stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore.

Turkish filmmakers have taken up the cause of honour killing.
Can Film Help Put an End to Honour Killings? (The Guardian)

Judith Ivey will direct a revival of the musical Vanities on Broadway. "Set in the 1960s and '70s, "Vanities" follows the lives of three women who were best friends as high school cheerleaders in Texas." (Variety)

DVDs releasing this week
Blame it on Fidel: "Nina Kervel-Bey stars as 9-year-old Anna, a privileged young girl living in Paris and comforted by a simple life filled with order and routine. But over the course of one year, Anna's structured life is thrown into turmoil when her parents are drawn into Paris's turbulent and radical 1970s political scene. Julie Gavras (daughter of famed French filmmaker Costa-Gavras) directs this 2007 Sundance Film Festival competition entry." (Netflix)

Run Granny Run: "At age 89, Doris "Granny D" Haddock walked across the country in protest of big-money influence on elections. Five years later in 2004, she got a chance to run for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire. Learn her unlikely story in this engaging documentary. Chronicling the charismatic activist hero in her colorful travels, director Marlo Poras took home the Audience Award for Documentary Feature at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival." (Netflix)

November 5, 2007

Thought of the day- a woman can win the NYC Marathon nine months after having a baby, yet a woman cannot be bonded to direct a movie while pregnant. WTF?

WGA on strike- how will this effect women writers who already don't have an equal share of the jobs? One outcome could liberate me from the TV since I hate reality shows and if the strike goes on too long all that will be airing are reality shows. Since many people in America love reality shows and if the ratings are good, maybe the networks will decide that they will stick with reality and fuck the writers. Doubtful, but you never know.

EW's annual holiday film issue is out this week and includes a list of potential Oscar contenders. Typically, there is not one woman on the best director list. If they didn't give out Oscars for best actress and supporting actress, women probably wouldn't get any awards at all.

The European Film Award nominees (the European equivalent of the Oscars) were announced and films about women dominate the best film category. (There will be very different nominees for the Oscars, I guarantee)
The Best Picture nominees include:
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; La Vie en Rose, Persepolis and The Queen

For best actress the nominees are:
Marion Cotillard in LA MÔME (La Vie en Rose)
Marianne Faithful in IRINA PALM
Carice van Houten in ZWARTBOEK (Black Book)
Anamaria Marinca in 4 LUNI, 3 SAPTAMINI SI 2 ZILE (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Helen Mirren in THE QUEEN
Ksenia Rappoport in LA SCONOSCIUTA (The Unknown)

Awards will be handed out December 1 in Berlin.

Natalie Portman has signed a deal with Participant Productions to make socially relevant films for her newly formed company Handsomecharlie Films. First film for her company will be A Tale of Love and Darkness based on the Amos Oz novel which Portman will direct. Portman chose Participant because "we all have the same desire to make meaningful and artistically fulfilling films and are committed to the idea of stories leading to greater empathy and action for world issues." (Variety)

Missed this story last week by Anne Thompson about the fall being good for femme directed films. Gotta disagree with the assessment - five or six directed films (I have not counted, just guessing) by women out of 75 or so is not good in my book. When when will stop being happy with the crumbs?
Fall Proves Fruitful for Femmes (Variety)

Jennifer Lopez's film Bordertown about the murder of the women in Juarez directed by Gregory Nava is no longer slated for a theatrical release. Its going straight to video. Too bad, important topic. Variety said the film was booed at its premier last year. can it be that bad? Nava is a seasoned director? Anyone seen this film?

News
More of Tamara Jenkins from the NY Times' holiday movie issue.
An Unblinking Look at Death Without Nobility (NY Times)

Hilary Swank stars in the upcoming P.S., I Love You
Hilary Swank Finds Love at Last (LA Times)

Character actresses are few and far between these days. Here is one still kicking.
A Character of An Actress (New Zealand Herald)

Marjane Satrapi on Persepolis
Tales of an Iranian Bee Gees Fan (The Telegraph)

Brooke Shields has teamed with Tupperware to promote girls friendships and of course her new show Lipstick Jungle which is supposedly about female friendships.
In Life and in Lipstick Jungle, Brooke Shields Relies on Women

Showtime has renewed Weeds starring Mary Louise Parker for a fourth season. New episodes will air next summer.

Tube Tonight
American Masters honors Carol Burnett with a retrospective Carol Burnett: a Woman of Character (9pm, PBS)

November 2, 2007

Why Has I Could Never be Your Woman Not Been Released?

This Amy Heckerling written and directed film had been in the can for over a year. Several release dates have come and gone - first last May now November 9 and nothing, no info. And I have been very vigilant in trying to get to the bottom of the story but nobody is talking.

Film stars Michelle Pfeiffer as a woman who falls for the younger Paul Rudd. It doesn't seem that the typical story of the film being bad is the case here, because people who have seen it think its good.

Problem seems to be with the initial distributor Bauer Martinez who has had recent financial problems. The distributor listed on imbd is no longer handling the film and Heckerling is understandably remaining mum since she wants to get her film out.

If Amy Heckerling, one of the most talented female directors around, is having this many problems getting her film in the marketaplace with a star like Michelle Pfeiffer who had some good buzz this summer around Hairspray, what does that mean for other women directors?

_____________________

There are no female directed or female-centric films being released this weekend. If you are looking for something to see I recommend Gone Baby Gone.

November 1, 2007

Hollywood is obsessed with the potential writers strike so news about Hollywood is slooow. I'll leave the reporting on that subject to everyone else.

LA Times looks at the best supporting actress category. Their picks include:
Cate Blanchett- I'm Not There
Ruby Dee- American Gangster
Olympia Dukakis- Away from Her
Romola Garai and Saoirse Ronan- Atonement
Jennifer Garner- Juno
Catherine Keener- Into the Wild
Queen Latifah- Hairspray
Jennifer Jason Leigh- Margot at the Wedding
Fernanda Montenegro- Love in the Time of Cholera
Emily Mortimer- Lars and the Real Girl
Julia Roberts- Charlie Wilson's War
Amy Ryan- Gone Baby Gone
Meryl Streep- Lions for Lambs
Tilda Swinton- Michael Clayton

These choice seem quite, light. I haven't seen all the films but my top pick so far is Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone.

News
The 10th Anniversary African-American Women in Cinema takes place in NY from November 9-11.
More information: African American Women in Cinema

Variety pieces on Laura Linney and Catherine Deneuve on the eve of their tributes at AFI Fest.
Linney Practiced in Art of Deception
Deneuve Represents French Femininity

Lesbians are everywhere on Nip/Tuck (just nowhere else on broadcast TV)
More lesbians Than Ever on Nip/Tuck (After Ellen)

Meryl Streep will star in Nora Ephron's new flick Julie & Julia based on the best-selling book. Ephron will direct her own script, Amy Adams, about to break out in this month's Enchanted, will play Julie. (Hollywood Reporter)

Eliza Dushku will star in the new Joss Whedon series, The Dollhouse about a top-secret crew programmed differently for each mission for Fox. (Variety)

Julia Roberts will co-star with Clive Owen in Duplicity a couple crime caper ala Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

The Women's Murder Club received an order for three more scripts.

Tube Tonight
That Girl, Marlo Thomas appears on Ugly Betty. (8pm, ABC)
To Die in Jerusalem- documentary that profiles the families of a Palestinian suicide bomber and his victim. (HBO, 9pm)

October 31, 2007

Even Gay Movies Only Care About the Guys
EW has an interesting article this week about the Brokeback Effect on movies. The story lays out the argument that two years after the breakthrough film, Brokeback Mountain, nothing has changed. There are no new films with gay leads or gay themes in the pipeline. The article also talks about how much better TV is when dealing with gay characters.

The article strictly focuses on gay movies about men never even broaching the conversation about lesbians in film. Seems that just like the rest of Hollywood even a conversation about gay films leaves out the women.

Some interesting quotes.
"When audiences complain that Hollywood is out of touch with the rest of the country, it's invariably because a movie is deemed too liberal. When it comes to gay characters, however, it's out of touch for the exact opposite reason. In the past decade, America's attitudes toward homosexuality have shifted, particularly among young people."

"While television has been fostering greater acceptance for gay people, movies remain stuck in the 20th century. Almost two years after Brokeback, the best Hollywood can do with gay content is the ''I'm not gay!'' punchlines of Wild Hogs or the homoerotic homophobia of 300. Even the ''gayest'' studio movie of the year, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, climaxed with stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James horrified by the idea of a same-sex kiss. Here's the weird thing: Walt Disney, the company behind Wild Hogs, is the corporate sibling of ABC, which, with Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, and Desperate Housewives, is the most queer-inclusive broadcast network around. So what gives? How can TV shows be so progressive while movies seem so...old?"

Brokeback Effect

Strayed outside the girl movie theme this weekend and saw two good and different movies. First was Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carrell and Juliette Binoche. Film is directed by Peter Hedges who did What's Eating Gilbert Grape 14 years ago. Carrell plays a widower who writes an advice column while trying to raise three daughters. He meets and connects with Binoche at a bookstore then realizes that she is the girlfriend of his brother played by Dane Cook (who appears to be everywhere these days.) This funny, sweet family comedy also stars Diane Weist, John Mahoney, Allison Pill and Amy Ryan.

Speaking of Amy Ryan, she seems to be the "it" actress this fall and has put herself at the top of the list for the best supporting actress Oscar with her performance in Ben Affleck's Gone, Baby, Gone which I found surprisingly good. This drama about the aftermath of a girl's kidnapping is a true Boston story. A way better Boston story than The Departed ever was.

The fantastic Janet McTeer seems to be everywhere these days. I still can't get her performance as Nora in A Doll's House a decade ago on Broadway out of my head. Catch her in The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard on PBS and in Five Days on HBO.

News
ABC's Samantha Who starring Christina Applegate has gotten a full season pick-up.

Robin Wright Penn will star in Rebecca Miller's adaptation of her book The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. "The film takes an adventurous trip through Pippa Lee's past and present, as a methamphetamine-addicted mother whose husband leaves her for a younger woman. Pippa indulges in an array of erotic adventures while heading toward a quiet nervous breakdown." Film co-stars Julianne Moore and Winona Ryder. (Hollywood Reporter)

October 29, 2007

As Cate Blanchett gets ready to take over the reigns at the Sydney Theatre Company next year with her husband Andrew Upton, the backlash has begun. Sydney actor Colin Moody has gone public about his opinions. Did anyone one question the competence of Kevin Spacey when he was appointed at the Old Vic, or Roger Rees at the Williamstown Theatre Festival?
Blanchett Not Fit to Run Our Theatre (The Observer)

Megan Mullally, Karen from Will & Grace, is about to open in Mel Brooks' new musical Young Frankenstein
A Will to Success, Grace Under Pressure (LA Times)

ABC Hearts Women- all their new shows are doing well by targeted women with its news shows this season.
ABC In Sync With Women (MediaWeek)

Scaring and mutilating women wins the weekend box office. The millionth version of Saw (actually its #4) made $32 million over the weekend. I'm sick of these movies doing so well. Problem is, women likes these movies too. Why?

Lifetime has ordered a pilot tentatively titled "The Verdict" from Jonathan Price (Executive Producer of Cane). Premise is "the trial of a female celebrity accused of having her lover murdered." (Hollywood Reporter) Groan

October 26, 2006

Movie of the Week
Rails & Ties directed by Alison Eastwood
In a fall obsessed with political dramas Rails & Ties is a welcome respite. I'm not saying that this is a light and easy film to watch because it's not -- it is a character driven intense drama about love and loss which marks Alison Eastwood's directing debut from a script by Micky Levy.

Kevin Bacon plays Tom a man who lives in the world of trains. He is an engineer driving his train up and down the pacific coast, and then spends his free time building his model train in his garage. He is a closed off man. His wife Megan, is played by Marcia Gay Harden, a nurse who has recently been told that her cancer has returned again, and metastasized in her bones. They have a long-time indifferent marriage -- they love each other both pass each other by without really connecting. Megan's death sentence unleashes a torrent of emotions that Tom is incapable of handling. His pain stays deep down and hers just pours out.

Like many people in this situation Megan gets angry, because she thought she had so much time to do everything. Yet she wound up not doing anything. She says "I'm not afraid to die but to know I haven't lived terrifies me."

A terrible train accident changes their lives and a young boy named Davey winds up living with them and instantly changes both of them. Davey's arrival renews Megan and gives her a sense of purpose in her last days, and he also connects with Tom through their mutual love of trains. They become an instant, loving family something that has alluded Megan and Tom throughout their marriage.

The performances are quiet and wonderful. You see and feel their pain. Marcia Gay Harden is one of the best actresses of her generation, getting better and better with each role. In an early scene she is in the bathroom looking at the scar that was her breast and you can't but help hold your breath because these types of scenes are so rare, yet the rawness of that moment helps define the tome of the film. Eastwood doesn't rush any of the scenes, she lingers and let's you think before moving on. Newcomer Miles Heizer (Davey) is able to hold his own and more playing scenes with much more seasoned performers. This film is all about the characters and Eastwood skillfully is able to get nuanced performances from her actors that bode well for a long directing career.

News
Cate Blanchett goes from Elizabeth to Bob Dylan
The Power and the Glory (The Guardian)

Brooke Smith joins Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Eric Hahn.
Anatomy of a Career Move (LA Times)

Natalie Portman is confused. She runs around naked in the Darjeeling prequel then edits a Scholastic math magazine. We know you're a smart girl Natalie.
Natalie Portman Edits Scholastic Math Magazine (Newsday)

Tube This Weekend
Mrs Miniver (Saturday, 6am, TCM)

October 25, 2007

What Women Can Learn from Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry is a huge success, even a phenomenon. His new film Why Did I get Married? opened to over $21 million beating both George Clooney's and Mark Whalberg's new films. He plays by his own rules. He didn't screen the film in advance for the critics because he knows that the film critics (especially the newspaper critics) won't help sell tickets to his targeted audience which is Christian, middle-class, African American women. Not your typical Hollywood audience.

Tyler Perry gives me hope. Hope that thinking outside the system works.

Here are some other things I've learned from Tyler Perry.

1- Niche films can be successful. Lately, every article about women in Hollywood calls us a niche market. So if they want to categorize us that way, let's embrace it and use it. Perry built a brand first on a successful stage show, then with films, then with TV, then with books. He has upwards of 600,000 people on his email list. The TV business is more comfortable with niche shows and the successes of Seventh Heaven, Girlfriends, and Army Wives shows how far ahead TV is in its thinking. The concept of kitchen sink entertainment no longer works. With so many choices, you need to give people what they want when they want it.

2- Hollywood conventional wisdom is flawed. Even though there are several movies that are about and directed by women they will never really appeal to women because they have been developed in the Hollywood pipeline. We need to escape from Hollywood conventions and be adventerous.

3- Find independent financing outside the studio system. Venture capital has been streaming into the movie business and women need to get some of that money. When Perry first tried to get money for his films "hollywood executives told him that African Americans who went to church did not go to the movies. None of the majors would take a chance on Perry on his terms so he cut a nonexclusive deal with Lions Gate, the independent studio known for its horror films "Saw" and "Hostel." Lions Gate gave Perry total autonomy and released the $5-million movie, which was co-financed by the star. It grossed more than $50 million." (LA Times)

4- After you are a success, don't go Hollywood. This is the most important piece. Everybody wants to get a Hollywood deal and the studios bank on that. People try to parlay their small successes into bigger deals that at most times don't lead to movies being made. Perry has made a ton of money but has stuck with Lion's Gate and has just built a 75,000 foot production studio in Atlanta to make his films and TV. Keeping control of his vision and his brand is key to his success.

So, in following Perry's model, women we need our own money, our own studio and people who are willing to think outside the box. The issue I don't have any answer to is the distribution problem. There are a finite amount of screens and too much product. Perry could only get his film in 2,000 theatres.

What do you think?


News
Tamara Jenkins' tribute to Sundance Institute's Michelle Satter in presenting her the Women in Film Leadership award via Ann Thompson.
Satter has helped nurture female writers and directors including:
JULIE TAYMOR
ALLISON ANDERS
MIRANDA JULY
GINA PRINCE BYTHEWOOD
KIMBERLY PIERCE
NICOLE HOLOFCENER
ALISON MACLEAN
LISA CHOLODENKO
LAURIE COLLYER
HILARY BROUGHER
Michelle Satter (Variety)

More on Hollywood writer it girl Diablo Cody
Diablo Cody

New Trend: Movie theatres specifically for adults
(USA Today)

It's a sad time to be a indie producer. They are making great films that no one is seeing.
Indie Films Could Use a Little Sunshine (LA Times)

Alison Eastwood's film Rails & Ties opens tomorrow.
Alison Eastwood is Feelin' Lucky (LA Times)
See Women & Hollywood's interview with Eastwood
Women & Hollywood Interviews Alison Eastwood

Do We Keep Seeing Elizabeth Reinvented Because of the Lack of Strong Roles for Women?
Elizabeth Fatigue (BBC)

I gave up on Prison Break two years ago. Fox is looking to expand on the brand by spinning off a women's prison drama.
Fox Eyes Break for Women's Prison (Hollywood Reporter)

The Judith Miller movie is shooting now with Kate Beckinsale playing a much younger Miller type character.
Hollywood Plugs Its Tale of a Leak (Washington Post)

Penelope Wilton is a fantastic actress appearing now in the HBO drama Five Days about the search for a missing woman and the devastating effects on her family.
Unspoken Worlds (The Guardian)

Dakota and Elle Fanning have been cast to co-star with Cameron Diaz in New Line's adaptation of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. (Variety)

Mercedes Reuhl will star next spring in Edward Albee's The Occupant about the sculptor Louise Nevelson at New York's Signature Theatre Company. (Variety)


Tube Tonight
Carrie Fisher guest stars on 30 Rock (8:30pm, NBC)
Elizabeth Reaser returns to Grey's Anatomy a former amnesiac Rebecca (9pm, ABC) Also check out Reaser in Sweet Land now out on DVD about a mail order bride from Germany who comes to the mid-west after World War One and is not welcome to the town with open arms. Very nice, quiet movie. (Add it to your netflix cue)
Terms of Endearment (12pm Lifetime)

October 24, 2007

Women & Hollywood interviews Alison Eastwood, director of Rails & Ties (opening Friday)

Alison Eastwood's makes her directing debut with the small budget ($7m) drama Rails & Ties. The film is a powerful story of love and loss. Both Marcia Gay Harden and Kevin Bacon give Oscar caliber performances.

I was able to ask the director a couple of questions about this film and how it feels to be a woman director in Hollywood.

W&H: What was it about this script that made you want to direct?

AE: Originally, I had attached myself as a producer and after a couple of years living with the script and working with the writer (Micky Levy- a woman) I just grew to love these characters. I found them very real and touching and even though Kevin Bacon's character Tom is a very shut down person, I know people like that. I liked the ideas, the subject matter. Everyone deals with tragedy and loss but the idea is that through unsavory circumstances you can still find a way to have connections.

W&H: This is an intimate almost theatrical film not usually released by the major studios nowadays. How did you get this made?

AE: It was initially financed through Warner Independent. The situation with WB distributing came about because Warner Independent is a much smaller division and they had a few films coming out this year and they really weren't capable of distributing and marketing the film. I really lobbied for it to come out this year, films that are more character driven and deep usually come out in the fall, and I just didn't want to wait until next year. I'm lucky because a big studio is willing to get behind a small film with great actors.

W&H: This summer both of Lawrence Kasdan's sons had films come out and I asked myself where are the daughters? (Sophia Coppola is the most prominent and only director daughter I can think of) As the daughter of a director (father is Clint Eastwood) what was it like becoming a director?

AE: It felt natural. Subconsciously, I didn't want to get into directing because I've lived in the shadow and was trying to be an actress. Somewhere I thought I just don't want to go there. But I felt inspired by the story and it felt natural. He (Clint) always made it look easy, enjoyable and collaborative. I know it's not easy.

W&H: Why aren't there more women directing films?

AE: I think the biggest problem is that Hollywood is a boy's club and has been for a long time. It's shifting but we need to keep pushing ahead and developing projects and sticking together. I don't want to sound like a feminist, but we have to band together.

W&H: You don't want to sound like a feminist?

AE: Well I don't really like that term. it's always sounded a little radical to me. I certainly believe in equal rights for women but I also believe there is a way of doing things more subtly. The media makes it a negative term and I feel things can be done without being in your face or angry but showing by example.

In Hollywood, there are more women producers & actresses commanding bigger roles and bigger salaries and have production deals and production companies. It's just a matter of continuing to move forward and it will take a long time but since the 30s and 40s we've come a long way.

It's just a matter of doing good work. It doesn't matter if you are a man or woman, if your work is shabby you're not going to get any respect.

W&H: Did you bring different things to this script because you are a woman?

AE: I don't think a man would have picked this script. I found it to be emotional and touching. It meant a lot to me.

Thoughts: I was a bit disturbed by the feminist comment, but more about her conception that women are commanding higher salaries and better roles. Am I crazy or is this not true? Also, she says we've come a long way since the 30s and 40s- well come on of course we have. The movie business was so young then and the funny thing is that women had more power in the early days of Hollywood. If you are interested in learning more about those days check out Cari Beauchamp's fantastic book Without Lying Down about Frances Marion.

News
"Winners of the Lifetime Movie Network's Student Filmmaker Competition have been selected by judges Jennifer Lopez, Lauren Shuler Donner and Gale Ann Hurd. First-place winner is Liliana Greenfield-Sanders for Anna; second prize went to Jessica Marie Sutherland for Seven Turn. The pics will premiere on LMN and LMN.tv. (Variety)

The British Independent Film Awards nominees were announced. Women nominees include:
BEST DIRECTOR: Sarah Gavron - Brick Lane
BEST ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway - Becoming Jane; Tannishtha Chatterjee - Brick Lane; Sophia Myles - Hallam Foe; Kierston Wareing - It's A Free World...; Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/ACTRESS (combined category) Samantha Morton - Control; Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal

Hampton's Film Festival's winners include Birgit Moller's drama about a fading German model, Valerie which won the Golden Starfish best feature award. Other winners include:
Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue's Iraq War soldier portrait Body of War the audience award for best documentary, Chris Kraus' German female prisoner tale Four Minutes won the audience award for best narrative feature. Matthew Galkin's documentary I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA won the Golden Starfish Documentary Feature Film Award. Marisa Zanotti's At The End of the Sentence took home the Golden Starfish Short Film Award. (Hollywood Reporter)

Alexandra Pelosi is developing a fictionalized version of her HBO documentary Journeys with George about being on the campaign trail with George Bush. She was hired by uber-screenwriter Steve Zaillian for the project. (Reuters via Hollywood Reporter)
Bush Documentary Inspires Political Romance
King's Men Failure Spurs Project (LA Times)

Jessica Biel has been cast as the lead in Die a Little based on the novel by Megan Abbott. (Variety)

Ashley Judd stars in Helen the English language film debut of Mostly Martha director Sandra Nettelbeck. "Judd plays a woman who gives the illusion of leading a perfect life but actually harbors a dark secret." (Variety)

Shirley MacLaine will star in Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, for Canadian TV. Pictures also stars Hannah Endicott-Douglas stars as the young Anne Shirley, Barbara Hershey as the grown-up Anne Shirley. (Variety)

Tube Tonight
John Cusack still has a strong place in my heart. See him in the the classic Say Anything (8pm, FMC)
Guilty pleasure show Work Out serves up a special on how they spend their down time. (11pm, Bravo)

October 23, 2007

Gotham Awards Nominations Announced
Kicking off the awards season which seems to gets longer and longer each year even though they moved up the Oscars, are the Gotham awards from IFP.
Women nominees include:
Best Feature: The Namesake directed by Mira Nair
Best Documentary: The Devil Came on Horseback directed by Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern
Best Ensemble Cast: Talk to Me directed by Kasi Lemmons; The Savages directed by Tamra Jenkins
Breakthrough Director: Julia Loktev for Day Night Day Night
Full list of nominees: Gotham Awards (Indiewire)

News
Megan Fox from this summer's smash the Transformers (which had possibly the worst dialogue I have ever seen in a movie) has been cast in Diablo Cody's Jennifer's Body. Fox plays a cheerleader who gets possessed and starts killing boys and has to be stopped by her best friend. Yuck. (Hollywood Reporter)

Julia Stiles will play a stalking victim who falls for her stalker (come on!) in the adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's Cry of the Owl. I'm disgusted. (Hollywood Reporter)

Tony Kaye talks about his abortion documentary Lake of Fire.
See my review here: Lake of Fire Review
Right to Choose (The Guardian)


DVDs Out This Week
My So-Called Life, which introduced us to Claire Danes and Jared Leto as her object of affection, Jordan Catalano, complete series is out now. (I loved this show)
Mr. Brooks- most people missed this thriller when it was in the theatres. It's worth a look. Stars Kevin Costner, William Hurt and Demi Moore

Tube Tonight
Season finale of Damages on FX (10pm). This show has not yet been renewed. LA Times makes a plea for its renewal.
Making a Plea for Damages (LA Times)

October 22, 2007

Review- Matters of Life and Dating
If you're noticing a lot of pink around the reason might be that it is October, breast cancer awareness month. Tonight on Lifetime is the premiere of their annual breast cancer movie Matters of Life and Dating starring Ricki Lake and Holly Robinson Peete. Lake plays Linda Dackman a 30-something woman single woman who is concerned about returning to the dating scene after a cancer diagnosis and mastectomy. Film is based on the book Upfront by Dackman.

Sometimes Lifetime movies are annoying because they try too hard not to be serious. Having had my best friend just go through breast cancer, I got pissed that Lake looked so good after surgery, and that the amount of time from diagnosis to the operating room was like a nanosecond. But the film did calm down after Linda joins a support group and meets Nicole (Robinson Peete) a former camp friend whose circumstances are quite different from hers -- she has no health insurance and is $100,000 in debt from the cancer.

This is not the best movie about breast cancer -- Lake overacts throughout -- but I always give Lifetime credit for tackling subjects other networks won't touch. I just wish they would trust themselves by now to know that we will watch and that the scripts don't need to be so cheesey anymore. My advice to Lifetime is to trust your audience, we are smarter than you think.

Film Comedies No Laughing Matter for Actresses
LA Times writer Carina Chocano takes on the new and disturbing trend -- the lack of roles for women in comedies.

Here are some interesting quotes.

When actress Isla Fisher (girlfriend to Sascha Baron Cohen of Borat fame and new mom) remarked on the dearth of decent comedy roles for women earlier this month ("I realized after 'Wedding Crashers' there aren't that many comic opportunities for women in Hollywood," she told Details magazine. "All the scripts are for men and you play 'the girl' "), the comment was widely picked up, with most of the headlines making some allusion to feminism.

So now in order to justify the truth, you can take comment and label it as "feminist" as a sure way to make sure it doesn't get treated seriously.

The idea that a girl might play anything other than "the girl" in a studio comedy is so far out of the mainstream that it's considered an experimental concept, not to mention a major financial risk. It seems that not a week goes by without a dust-up about the alleged misogyny of studio executives, or a lament about the state of women's careers in Hollywood, or an explosion of frustration on feminist blogs. (Hope she's referring to me)

Smart girl brings up the new Susan Faludi book and our culture's obsession with gender roles. She also refers to David Denby's summer piece in the New Yorker about romantic comedies. Here is my take on the Denby piece. A Fine Romance

"The (hot) girl" so thoroughly displaced the loopy broad -- that venerable type -- from American comedy, that it's hard to imagine where comedians such as Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, Lily Tomlin, Diane Keaton or even Julia Roberts would fit in today.

The "likability" of the male hero has become such an imperative in American comedies -- even in small, woman-written ones such as "Lars" -- that a movie will sooner make a nice guy out of a dude in love with an anatomically correct Barbie than give us a girl's point of view.

When you think about the comedies with female protagonists, you have to go way back to movies like "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Clueless" or to a bad movie such as "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which inverted the fantasy and grossed $354 million worldwide. Maybe there's a lesson in Tyler Perry's ability to tap what is clearly some major pent-up demand from an underserved audience. Half the population is a pretty big niche audience.

Great piece, but as women are 52% of the population the whole niche thing is getting old. Read the piece: Film Comedies No Laughing Matter for Actresses

The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard
Since I got my Tivo a couple of years ago I hardly watch anything in its proper time slot. Last night I turned on The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard to get me to Brother & Sisters. Suffice it to say I haven't watched Brother & Sisters yet. I loooved this movie. I am a political junkie, especially for women in politics, and this film was my ultimate fantasy movie. The mini-series was written by Sally Wainwright and the premise is that Ros Pritchard (played so well by Jane Harrocks who is more known for her comedy), a manager of a Costco type superstore decides to get in the race to be a member of Parliament because she believes she can do as good a job if not better, than the current candidates who wound up in a fist fight outside her store.

Her candidacy sparks other women to get into the race gets people talking about politics and throws the British political system into a tizzy. Her party is called the Purple Alliance and she not only wins her seat, but becomes Prime Minister as a woman with no political experience whatsoever (she still seems more competent than our current president). Reality sets in immediately and she is confronted with international crises making her question her ability to handle the job.

There are several more parts on consecutive Sunday evenings on PBS. if you missed the first segment it will re-air on October 25 at 1am on PBS. Don't miss this.

News
Weekend Box Office: Women's movies shut down. Neither Rendition nor Things We Lost in the Fire did much business this weekend despite the relatively good reviews for Things. According to a spokesperson for Paramount, Things fared well with adult women. (LA Times)

The Jeff Robinov/Warner Brothers no more women in leads comment seems to have made its way to the heartland and people are pissed. Check out this story from the Kansas City Star.
Movie Studio Exec's Statement About no Women Leads Sparks Protests (Kansas City Star)

Stephanie Allain, one of the most successful African American female producers spoke this weekend at the Filmmakers Forum in LA.
Stephanie Allain (IndieWire)

Vanessa Redgrave was her usual outspoken self when receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Hampton's Film Festival.
Redgrave Bathes in Controversy (Hollywood Reporter)

Halle Berry talks about her career and her new film Things We Lost in the Fire
A Career So Strong it Survived Catwoman

Rod Lurie who is very good with women in politics and power has started shooting a new thriller Nothing but the Truth starring Kate Beckinsale and Matt Dillon. Other cast members include: Angela Bassett, Noah Wyle, Alan Alda, Vera Farmiga, Harry Lennix and David Schwimmer . Beckinsale stars as a reporter who reveals the identity of a CIA agent and is sent to jail for refusing to reveal her source. Bassett plays her editor in chief. (Hollywood Reporter)

Zooey Deschanel has been cast as the female lead in the new Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man. (Hollywood Reporter)

Tube Today
Diane English just wrapped the remake of The Women (scheduled now to be released in fall 2008) but the classic is on TV today. (2:30pm, TCM)

October 19, 2007

Movie of the Week - Things We Lost in the Fire
Things We Lost in the Fire is the American debut of the acclaimed Danish director, Susanne Bier (After the Wedding). It is a brutal and intense depiction of grief and recovery.

Halle Berry plays Audrey Burke a woman living a privileged life in the Seattle area with her two children and husband Brian (David Duchovny). On a typical ice cream run on an ordinary evening, Brian is shot to death trying to intercede between a man beating his wife on the street. Berry is understandably devestated as is Brian's best friend since childhood Jerry (Benicio Del Toro), a drug-addict whom Audrey resents because Brian refused to give up on him. But fate brings them together because they both loved Brian the most. Audrey brings Jerry into their home giving them both a second chance.

Bier spends a lot time focusing on her characters and their raw emotions. There are multiple close-ups of Berry's eyes and face, and these close-ups enhance the rawness of their emotions.

Both Berry and Del Toro are terrific, especially Del Toro. His scenes of a drug relapse and then detox are brutally real and hard to watch.

Even though Berry won the Oscar for Monster's Ball and is one of the top film actresses, she still has to fight for this role. "I think most actors have to fight for the good parts...they're so few and far between, especially for women. Audrey wasn't written as a black character, so I wasn't the first thought on anyone's mind."

Bier was nervous that in coming to America worried that she wouldn't have the same artistic freedom she enjoyed in Denmark. But she was proved wrong: "coming to American, I was expecting that I would experience certain restraints, like being asked to make the movie more mainstream, but in fact it was quite the opposite," she says. "I received comments like, 'be more courageous, be more daring...make it more dangerous.'" (Since these quotes come from the press materials I think they are probably a bit generous.)

Bier is a top-tier artist and we should all welcome her with open arms into American theatres. The film opens in 1,142 theatres today.

Some words for Shonda Rhimes
Private Practice the new show from Shonda Rhimes just got a full-season pick-up at ABC. Here's what I want to say to Shonda: either get Amy Brenneman some meds or shut her up. I am so angry that she is constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown (and she's the shrink!) cause she got dumped by her boyfriend who then quickly married a younger woman. Yes, it sucks, but enough already. Also, Audra McDonald is constantly bitterly angry all the time. What I like about Grey's Anatomy (the flaws within each character), I hate on Private Practice. Give those girls some backbone.

USA Today talks to the Oscar prognosticators
Here's what they say about the actresses who have a chance at the nomination

Female contenders from the past nine months have a strong chance this year because pundits see few flashy roles for women in the as-yet-unreleased films. That bodes well for Jodie Foster's vigilante in The Brave One, as well as Angelina Jolie's take on Mariane Pearl in the docudrama A Mighty Heart.

Julie Christie stands a strong chance for her role as a woman slowly forgetting her husband as she enters the early stages of Alzheimer's disease in the heartbreaking Away From Her. "She's one of those actresses, like Judi Dench or Helen Mirren, who is so iconic that she can't be ignored," Stone says.

Another likely actress contender is Keri Russell for her cynical, pregnant piemaker in Waitress. "It's from Fox Searchlight, and they are incredibly good at pushing their movies," Stone says of the studio behind last year's Little Miss Sunshine and The Last King of Scotland. "They're pushing hard on Waitress."

O'Neil adds La Vie en Rose, starring Marion Cotillard as singer Edith Piaf. It's a tiny film, but he believes voters make room for non-commercial films. "They hold on to the box office week after week after week," he says. "And they find their audience."

Pre-Fall Premieres Shift Oscar Race (USA Today)

Joanna Langfield of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists gives her take on the recent Warner Brother controversy.
As I've been saying all along, it's up to us women to support these movies.

Some of these femme made and/or oriented movies will be good. Some will not. But they are being made and released–along with a lot more male-oriented pictures. Whether they make money (and therefore, encourage the funding of similar projects in the future) or not is, ultimately, not only up to the studios, the critics and media, it’s also very much up to the ticket buying public.

The Femme Flick Flap (Alliance of Women Film Journalists)

News
Paula S. Apsell, Senior Executive Producer at Nova will be awarded the 2007 pioneer award on December 7 by the International Documentary Association.

Toni Collette to star in Showtime series The United State of Tara from Steven Spielberg. Collette will play the mother of two teenagers who have some sort of dissociative identity disorder. Diablo Cody the new "it" girl writer is executive producing and writing. (Variety)

Screen star Deborah Kerr dies at 86 (Reuters)

Naomi Watts who is set to star in a remake of The Birds talk about her career and why she is drawn to dark roles.
Naomi Watts Talks about Hollywood the Hard Way (The Guardian)

Laura Dern and Diane Ladd will star in Bruce Dern's directorial debut Hart's Landing making it a family affair. Picture is written by Ashley Reed. Story "centers on a daughter attempting to regain custody of her son and seeking out her father -- who left her when she was 3 years old." (Variety)

Leslie Bibb will headline Miss Nobody. Also cast Missy Pyle and Kathy Baker. (Variety)


Weekend Tube
Damages Marathon- if you've missed this FX show starring Glenn Close today is your day to stay in bed and watch the whole thing. (FX)
The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard- Masterpiece Theatre presents how an average woman gets sucked into politics and winds up as Prime Minister in England. (Sunday, 9pm- PBS)