Category Archives: Women in Film

Now this looks intriguing… Trailer for THOU WAS MILD & LOVELY

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I’m not quite sure how this wasn’t on my radar but I just watched the trailer and I am so in. Check it out below…

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On a farm in rural Kentucky, father Jeremiah (Robert Longstreet) and daughter Sarah (Sophie Traub) squabble together like young puppies. Over crisp, verdant images of nature, of animals, streams and puddles, a mysterious, sensual female voice tells of her lover, who may be a person or may be the whole world. Enter Akin (Joe Swanberg), there to help out for the summer. He’s left his wife and child at home – and taken off his wedding ring as a precaution. Soon the three of them are circling each other, watching, feeling watched and knowing that their watching is not going unwatched. Within this atmosphere, a charged romance develops between Sarah and Akin that carries both an erotic tension and vague feeling of menace. When Akin’s wife Drew comes for a visit, the situation explodes, harmless fantasies giving way to a violent nightmare.

The seductive colors and shallow depth of field of Ashley Connor’s superb camerawork accentuate the ethereal nature of this enigmatic story. Josephine Decker’s second feature lets beauty and horror blithely flirt with one another like two coquettish flowers in the same inviting meadow.

Liz’s Review: The Homesman- A long winding journey.

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As a child I sat in a hard plastic chair in my town library and played The Oregon Trail until eventually my player died of dysentery. I thought it was cool to put my name on a list, hear it called out, and get to play for a whole 30 minutes all my myself. Little did I know/care that I was actually learning in the process. All of those memories came flooding back when I saw the new Roadside Attractions release, The Homesman. Read More →

Heartland Film Festival 2014 Jeremy’s Review: Ragnar Bragason’s ‘Metalhead’ Is Pure Icelandic Wonder With a Sparkling Performance by Lead Thorbjorg Helga Thorgilsdottir

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meatalhead posterFew countries produce as consistently high quality of film as Iceland. In my estimation, that is. The quantity of films that it produces is low, well at least those that somehow cross the pond and make it onto American screens, usually at film festivals such as Heartland. There are four Icelandic films that I’ve seen in this manner – Nói Albínói, The Seagull’s Laughter, Of Horses and farm animals that areatrained and live at this Horse Retirement Farms. All are unique in their own way, most of them are depressing (an aspect of Scandinavian film that I tend to enjoy) but still manage a way to get a laugh or two in just in case, and all have a laser-pointed direction on what makes their characters tick and tock and they do it so well. Ragnar Bragason‘s Metalhead is no exception.
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Bonus Clip: ‘Maleficent’ Q&A with Elle Fanning

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MALEFICENTPrincess Aurora: Don’t be afraid!
Maleficent: I am not afraid.
Princess Aurora: Then come out.
Maleficent: Then you’ll be afraid. Read More →

Jeremy’s Review: Peter Sattler’s ‘Camp X-Ray’ Captures Some Strong Performances and Nearly Delivers on Its Premise

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CAMPXRAY_FINISH_27x40_1_rgbThirteen years after we first waged war in response to the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania, we are still seeing a trickling of films addressing the consequences of the invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq. While there have been some great ones, the bulk of them have been documentaries – Hornet’s Nest, Restrepo and Standard Operating Procedure come to mind, while narrative films haven’t had quite the same success, The Hurt Locker winning Best Picture in 2009 being the shining example. There hasn’t been the same connection to the plight of the soldiers in these wars as, say, those who fought in Vietnam with Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Coming Home, The Deer Hunter and Full Metal Jacket leading the critical praise. Camp X-Ray is writer/director Peter Sattler‘s entry into the post-9/11 film mix. a film that hits some high points, but ultimately doesn’t capitalize on an interesting premise. Read More →

Liz’s Review: ‘HONEYMOON’ – to have and to hold from this day forward.

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They say things don’t change once you get married. That, my friends, is a load a crap. There is an inherent shift, albeit subtle for some. Maybe it is just a piece of paper, legally, but there is a certain emotional weight to being hitched to another human being… for life. Read More →

Liz’s Review: ‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’ delivers award winning performances.

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Now that I’m in my 30’s I realize I have so much more figured out than I did even 5 years ago. I have a great relationship with my parents, an adoring husband, and loyal friends. I go to dinner parties, send thank you notes, give random strangers a smile and compliment, and definitively take my coffee light and sweet. But, it’s the quiet moments in between I still wonder, “What the hell am I doing?” In Writer/Director Ned Benson‘s latest film The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, we find a couple at the beginning of the end of their marriage. Husband and wife want different things and neither knows how to cope. The slow deterioration of a man and woman once much in love is a sad, but all too true story we all know. This one particular is unique in the fact that it it told from two very different points of view. Benson takes a look at what happens when we let that little voice inside take over the conversation. Read More →

Liz’s Review: ‘I AM ELEVEN’ is universally charming.

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I Am Eleven_IAmEleven_posterWhen I was 11, I was dancing 5 days a week, going to girl scouts and slumber parties. Life was pretty incredible. I had not a worry in the world then. I did what I wanted, wore what I wanted, (when not in school uniform), loved The New Kids on The Block, and scrunchies. Everyday I came home from school and ate two pieces of American cheese folded into fourths. I was kind of peculiar, graceful yet awkward, bright and precocious, but I had a ton of friends and loved every day I was alive. Australian documentarian, Genevieve Bailey, recalls being just as happy at age 11. As an adult, she wondered if that was the case for kids today. Taking time off to travel, she decided that along here journey she would interview kids that were 11 and find out if they were as happy as we remembered being then. I AM ELEVEN proves to be a beautiful phenomenon and on the heels of the release of Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD, the timing could not be more perfect. Read More →

Liz’s Review: ‘Wetlands’… Gross and Glorious!

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I knew going into this film that the trailer alone was NSFW. I was in for a complete surprise when Wetlands as a whole blew the trailer way out of the water. Never have I ever experienced a movie so utterly disgusting and amazing at all once. Read More →

Liz’s Review: ‘Rocks In My Pockets’ – The extraordinary weight of sadness and madness.

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Mental illness is a hot button issue these days. We pretend to address it but if we’re being honest,  we continue to sweep it under the rug. In a brand new film by writer/director Signe Baumane, we follow the true story of her familial heritage, specifically with undiagnosed bouts of severe depression. Read More →

Melissa’s Review: Twisty & Scary ‘Cam2Cam’ Keeps You On the Edge of Your Seat

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I tend to shy away from horror as it has caused me to have scary dreams like a silly pre-teen. However, I branched out of my comfort zone when it was assumed I might not want to watch this flick due to it’s genre. It was with an open mind that I watch Cam2Cam and I really enjoyed it. P.S. unlike the poster suggests, a topless girl does not wield an axe while running at any point. Read More →

Here’s Your Chance to Contribute to Film Discussion & Celebration – Directed By Women: A Worldwide Film Viewing Party

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Here’s a fun opportunity for you to help fund for September of 2015 – Directed by Women: a worldwide film viewing party. From the website: “We’re throwing a worldwide film viewing party. Everyone’s invited to mobilize in their communities to celebrate women filmmakers and their work. It’s going to be so much fun… but we need people to take action now to make this possible.” The film viewing party will take place September 1-15, 2015, and the reason the campaign is being started now is to help participants join in the planning of the party and be an integral part of the project as it unfolds.

As of now, the project is 80% funded and the campaign has three days to go. You can read more from the initiative’s creator, Barbara O’Leary, in an interview she had with NUVO Magazine in Indianapolis here. So if you are interested in exploring women filmmakers and their work, check out the website or their Facebook page to see how you can help.

Good luck to Barbara and the Directed by Women team!

 

Melissa’s Review: ‘Lucy’ Is Not ‘Limitless’

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Lucy-04Lucy (written and directed by Luc Besson) may seem comparable to the 2011 movie, Limitless, but their only comparison is the concept of utilizing brain capacity via a drug. In Limitless, Eddie (Bradley Cooper) was a down-on-his luck writer with low motivation who suddenly gets his hands on a drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain capacity, thus making him instantly successful and popular. In Lucy, the title character (Scarlett Johansson) is a college student who is kidnapped to become a drug mule to a new drug when it burst inside of her. As Lucy’s brain capacity increases and the plot seemingly moves forward…oh, I’m not going to give it away. The point is, the action goes downhill. Read More →

VOD Today: ‘Kidnapped for Christ’ On Showtime

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Kidnapped for Christ posterIt’s scary to think that this happens, but it does. Check out the trailer below.

On Thursday, July 10th at 7:30pm ET/PT, SHOWTIME will premiere KIDNAPPED FOR CHRIST, a powerful, award-winning documentary that chronicles the shocking truth behind Escuela Caribe, a controversial Christian behavior modification program in the Dominican Republic for “troubled” U.S. teenagers.  Initially hoping to document the positive effects a boarding school like this could have on struggling youth, evangelical filmmaker Kate Logan is granted unprecedented access and allowed to live on campus for the summer.  Once there, Logan’s eyes are opened to the truth beneath the sunny façade of this remote reform school—kids being taken by force in the middle of the night, rumors of physical abuse, and staff imposing arbitrary and degrading punishments on the young students—and encounters students who change her life. Read More →

Liz’s ‘Boyhood’ New York City Press Junket Coverage

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Monday, I had the pleasure of participating in the New York press junket for BOYHOOD. In attendance were writer/director Richard Linklater, breakout star, Ellar Coltrane, and industry strongholds Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. With the film’s highly anticipated release, everyone in the theater was eager to get some deeper insight into this innovative new film. Below you will find some of my favorite highlights from the afternoon.

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 This movie is about growing up. Can you tell us what you remember about your first kiss? Read More →

Liz’s Review: ‘Boyhood’ – A Cinephile’s Dream

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How do you keep track of your life? With technology these days, it seems that we experience less and less and take digital snapshots of everything we eat, see, hear, and feel. Time is being recorded in short snippets each day. But do all these moments resonate to anyone but ourselves? We cannot forget how we got here. Life and time is not something that can be repeated. We need to pay more attention.

In Richard Linklater’s newest film, BOYHOOD, we are privy to 12 years of not just snapshots but real life moments in time. We not only follow Mason, but his mother, Olivia, father, Mason Sr. and sister, Samantha. 12 entire years of filming one family (and the same actors) through the eyes of a young boy of just 5, into his 18th year. These are the formative years that shape who we are. How we view our mother, father, and siblings forever impacts the choices we make in the future. In Boyhood we are along for moments like family outings, bike rides, first kisses, school, jobs, fights, marriages, both good and bad. These seemingly mundane moments are weaved into a brilliant narrative unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a film until now. Read More →

‘Happy Christmas’ In Theaters July 25th – On Demand June 26th

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When Jenny (Anna Kendrick), a hard partying 20-something moves in with Kelly (Melanie Lynskey), a budding novelist, her film director husband (Joe Swanberg) and their two-year-old son after a break up, the family’s idyllic life is shaken. Jenny begins a rocky relationship with their baby sitter-cum-pot dealer (Mark Webber), and she and a friend, Carson (Lena Dunham), bring Kelly to the realization that an evolution in her life, career and relationship is necessary for her happiness. A new comedy from the director of Drinking Buddies.

Written and directed by Joe Swanberg
Starring Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, Joe Swanberg Read More →

Liz’s Interview: ‘The Moment’ Director Jane Weinstock

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We trust what we see with our eyes. They are our tool to navigate through the world. What happens when your eyes deceive you? In Jane Weinstock’s The Moment, an international photojournalist Lee (Jennifer Jason Leigh) begins an affair with a writer she meets in a rehab center. John (Martin Henderson) has a rough past and after they break up, John mysteriously vanishes. This pushes Lee’s fragile psyche over the edge. Her ex-husband and daughter (Alia Shawkat) admit her to get help. In sessions with her therapist (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) Lee begins to have flashes of what may or may not be memories of the the night before John went missing. Can she trust herself? The film jumps in time and the audience is left with a labyrinthine puzzle to piece together. Jennifer is haunting in her quiet reflection. The photography in the movie is stunning and personal.

I was able to sit down with Jane and discuss the movie. Here are the top 10 highlights from my interview. Read More →

‘The Congress’ Starring Robin Wright – On iTunes/On Demand July 24th

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Love that Robin Wright is breaking out again and this looks very interesting with a great cast.

Drafthouse Films will release The Congress on iTunes/On Demand July 24, 2014, in select theaters August 29 2014, and in NY September 5, 2014.

Directed by Ari Folman

More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright, playing a version of herself) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent (Harvey Keitel) and the head of Miramount Studios (Danny Huston), her alias will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son and her digitized character will stay forever young. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio’s head animator (Jon Hamm), Wright’s digital double rises to immortal stardom. With her contract expiring, she is invited to take part in “The Congress” convention as she makes her comeback straight into the world of future fantasy cinema.

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