Carrie Rickey has been The Philadelphia Inquirer's film critic for 21 years and writes the newspaper's Flickgrrl blog. She has reviewed films as diverse as "Water" and "The Waterboy," profiled celebrities from Lillian Gish to Will Smith, and reported on technological beakthroughs from the video revolution to the rise of movies on demand. Her reviews are syndicated nationwide and she is a regular contributor to Entertainment Weekly, MSNBC and NPR. Rickey's essays appear in numerous anthologies, including "The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll," "The American Century," and the Library of America's "American Movie Critics."
Molly Haskell revisits “Gone With the Wind” in “Frankly, My Dear,” a slim but rich volume that persuasively explains why the 1939 film blockbuster it inspired continues to revolt and rivet Americans. To read it is to catch Scarlett Fever. Read more>>
Book Reviews,
Essays and Features,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Many have written about the horror of “Bride Wars”. I think it’s a marketing tool for the fashion and wedding industries. Read more>>
Essays and Features,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Nice message, if one with considerably less bite than the source material. English has taken Luce’s insight that for women, friendship can be a lethal weapon, and blunted it in the warm bath of self-help. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Despite a winning performance by Anna Faris, the cutest thing in platform shoes since Goldie Hawn, the film falls on its keister so many times that before long the perky pinkness turns bruising black-and-blue. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Donaldson, deft maker of kindred political intrigues such as Marie, No Way Out, and Thirteen Days, directs in a wry, spry style, propelling viewers through the densely plotted story that connects the high-born to low-lifes. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
In drama, Frances McDormand’s perpetually pursed mouth signals that she is a no-nonsense gal. In comedy, however, her pinched kisser is just as perpetually contradicted by merry eyes that see all and are amused by most. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Who says movies aren’t educational? Films about prehistoric life offer so many unexpected lessons. In 10,000 B.C., Roland Emmerich’s tedious, ludicrous and harmless glimpse of the dawn of civilization, we see the origins of modern hair and makeup. The humans have dreadlocks and mud-masques, and so do the woolly mammoths. Very hip, very organic. Always a good thing when predators and prey are coordinated. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
As Hillary Clinton faces the full-court press this primary season, I am reminded of Joan Allen in The Contender (pictured), where a U.S. Senator (D. - Ohio) stands firm against defamers who fear a female vice-president. Read More>>
Essays and Features,
Women on Film
To the extent that the film has any value beyond the charms of its principals, it satirizes how women are (mis)treated in the workplace. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film