Tagged with 52FilmsByWomen

Films by Women: Five Movies to Watch in March

Films by Women: Five Movies to Watch in March

Talk about timely (especially after last month’s very delayed publication of this column)! My latest spotlight on films by women is available for stuffing into your eyeballs over at Paste Magazine, featuring the mixed-bag A Wrinkle in Time (decent, not great, but definitely an influencer); the very good Oh Lucy!, a Japanese dramedy starring Shinobu Terajima, featuring Josh … Continue reading

Films by Women: Five Movies to Watch in February

Films by Women: Five Movies to Watch in February

If you didn’t find any chances in February to catch up on movies directed by women, let me help you out: Here’s a list of five, per my new monthly feature for Paste Magazine. You’re welcome, America. (Sorry, I wasn’t around when this went up, so I’m behind in sharing it. Still, I’d recommend checking these out, … Continue reading

Review: Half Magic, 2018, dir. Heather Graham

Review: Half Magic, 2018, dir. Heather Graham

It gives me no pleasure to dunk on a movie directed by an established Hollywood actor turned first time filmmaker, especially a movie like Half Magic, which is clearly the product of personal experience and an act of catharsis for its author, Heather Graham. But Half Magic is really only half good at best. I won’t go … Continue reading

Review: Bitch, 2017, dir. Marianna Palka

Review: Bitch, 2017, dir. Marianna Palka

Every so often, I watch a movie for review, I like it, and as much as I can articulate the things I like about it, I…can’t articulate a fucking thing about why I like it, or what it means on a cultural or even just a niche level. That’s my experience with Marianna Palka’s new film, Bitch, … Continue reading

Review: Angels Wear White, 2017, dir. Vivian Qu

Review: Angels Wear White, 2017, dir. Vivian Qu

We turn to movies, more often than not, for escape and distraction, for the promise of having our woes assuaged, if only for a couple of hours, in the calming glow of the silver screen (whether in large or small formats). Occasionally, though, the movies deny us, as in Angels Wear White, the new film by … Continue reading

Best of Criterion’s New Releases, September 2017

Best of Criterion’s New Releases, September 2017

Good news! I’m still here. I’m suffering a writer’s drought, but I’m still here. And here’s our first break in the drought: Paste Magazine’s monthly Criterion Collection round-up, this time for September (because that’s how months work). As with most Criterion months, September ’17 is pretty good, I think; I can’t speak for a couple … Continue reading

Review: The Tiger Hunter, 2017, dir. Lena Khan

Review: The Tiger Hunter, 2017, dir. Lena Khan

Casting people of colors in roles that demand they speak in regional accents they don’t have is insulting, but what if – what if – a movie directed by an Indian-American woman (Lena Khan!) cast an Indian-American actor (Danny Pudi!) as a guy from India and thus required him to adopt an Indian accent? I’m not sure … Continue reading

Review: Lemon, 2017, dir. Janicza Bravo

Review: Lemon, 2017, dir. Janicza Bravo

Here it is, at long last (that is, if you think six months qualifies as “long”): My review of Janicza Bravo’s excellent debut feature film, Lemon, a chronicle of defective but self-aggrandizing whiteness, starring Bravo’s husband Brett Gelman (also serving here as co-writer; they’re a real team).  There are reasons and then some why I like … Continue reading