HOT TOPIC: MEN WRITE 70 PERCENT OF REVIEWS PUBLISHED IN AMERICA'S TOP 100 DAILIES... Shocked? Read more
FEATURED: "Frozen River" (star Melissa Leo and director Courtney Hunt on set, pictured above)
Jennifer Merin currently interviews directors, reviews films and DVDs for New York Press and covers nonfiction film for Documentaries.About.com. She edits Women On Film, the online magazine of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is President. She has written about entertainment for USA Today, US Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Endless Vacation Magazine, Daily News, New York Post, SoHo News and other publications. After receiving her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts (Grad Acting), Jennifer performed at the O'Neill Theater Center?s Playwrights Conference, Long Wharf Theater, American Place Theatre and LaMamma, where she worked with renown Japanese director, Shuji Terayama. She subsequently joined Terayama's theater company in Tokyo, where she also acted in films. Her journalism career began when she was asked to write about Terayama for The Drama Review. She became a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor after writing an article about Marketta Kimbrell's Theater For The Forgotten, with which she was performing at the time. She was an O'Neill Theater Center National Critics' Institute Fellow, and the institute's Coordinator. While teaching at the Universities of Wisconsin and Rhode Island, she wrote "A Directory of Festivals of Theater, Dance and Folklore Around the World," published by the International Theater Institute. Denmark's Odin Teatret's director, Eugenio Barba, wrote his manifesto in the form of a letter to "Dear Jennifer Merin," which has been published around the world, in languages as diverse as Farsi and Romanian. Jennifer's culturally-oriented travel column began in the LA Times in 1984, then moved to The Associated Press, LA Times Syndicate, Tribune Media, Creators Syndicate and (currently) Arcamax Publishing. She's been news writer/editor for ABC Radio Networks, on-air reporter for NBC, CBS Radio and, currently, for Westwood One's America In the Morning.
Much of the weird, half-baked humor is based on the smug idea that watching clumsy stoners being high is amusing but, unless you’re joining them, it isn’t. And, except for Katherine Heigel’s pivotal role in “Knocked Up,” women are barely noticeable in Apatow productions. Read the rest of this entry »
The subhead of a Warner Bros.’ “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” press release reads: In the STAR WARS galaxy, it’s not just the boys who get all the fun Read the rest of this entry »
In writer-director Courtney Hunt’s first feature, “Frozen River,” the two lead characters–both women–begin as rivals who, as mothers, are fighting for food, if you will, with which to feed their needy young. However, as they struggle to succeed, they realize their interests are actually mutual, and they form a bond as sisters. Read the rest of this entry »
Darryl Roberts, who comes to documentaries from music videos, commercials and narrative features, is an excellent researcher and storyteller. The elements he’s compiled in “America The Beautiful” add up to a powerful statement about issues that plague American women, causing them to endanger their health, go into debt and neglect the talents that make them unique and whole people. Read more>>
Congratulates to the seven women celebrated on Filmmaker Magazine’s latest “25 New Faces of Independent Film” list. They are: Read the rest of this entry »
Man On Wire’s cinematic tension equals the tension in the wire that supported Philippe Petit’s space walk between the twin towers. We know the outcome but, still, we hold our breath. If you weren’t around to see the real deal, this is a compelling reconstruction. It’s also a poignant memorial to the hallowed twin towers, which served as an icon for Petit, and continue to do so for us today. Read more>>
Nanette Burstein’s documentary provides an intriguing, insightful portrait of contemporary teen life as it plays among the white bread/bred group she’s selected to study. They are who they are, and the film is what it is: a glimpse into the hearts of teens in the heartland. Read more>>
By current superhero blockbuster standards, A Man Named Pearl, a quiet film about a real life hero, may seem lackluster. No conflicts, no special effects and its subject isn’t a big star-studded attention-getting costumed character. But this is little documentary will inform and inspire, and quietly amaze you. Read more>>
In this violent struggle between good and evil, evil nearly always seems to come out ahead. What keeps the film from sending the audience away shattered is that good never gives up. Read more>>
AWFJ highlights films by and about women Read the rest of this entry »