Female Film Critics 24/375
The film Loren & Rose is an adult film in the sense that it is for thinkers and those who love the sounds of the words, well placed and delivered by actors who understand and convey their character’s mission. And sometimes, a film comes along that provides a stark reminder of how fleeting life is, how transient we mortals are, and the only thing that lasts until we stop breathing are our memories if we are lucky to have our minds still working.
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The second installment of the animated version of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is finally here. While it’s critically acclaimed predecessor (Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse) spun a creative web of delight for fans, this comic book coupler has set new heights in CGI that make it a must see on the big screen. With all the attention to visuals though, the story suffers in the second act, but that gives us boomers time to relax and regroup for more integral action.
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New Jersey has a stellar, and very important role in history of American film, particularly as it relates to female filmmakers. In 1912, Alice Guy-Blanché, the first female director in history, opened Solex Studios, one of the most successful studios in early American film, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Now two producers, Molly Conners and Jane Sinisi, have opened Phiphen Studios in Englewood Cliff. Their goal is to support and and be part of expanding the ever-growing New Jersey film community, which saw an increase in investment from $70 million in 2017 to over a half billion dollars just two years later in 2019.
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There are as many kinds of LGBTQ+ films as there are LGBTQ+ people. In recent years especially, films in all genres —historical dramas, romcoms, experimental, documentaries— from filmmakers around the world have offered powerful and diverse perspectives on the queer experience. For each day of Pride Month in June, the AWFJ presents a sampling of 30 films that range in subject matter and storytelling style as they illuminate LGBTQ+ lives, past and present. At one time, it would have been difficult to come up with a list of 30 such films. Now, thanks to independent creative voices, increased access to global cinema, and film writers who discover and share their knowledge and enthusiasm for such work, the difficulty, happily, is limiting such a list.
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Mostafa Keshvari’s new feature, Unveiled, is a drama about a Muslim woman who finds an outlet for self-expression and freedom through acting. Farash is a spirited young wife and mother who has no problem balancing her religious faith with a healthy curiosity about life in general. Her husband Saeed, however, and uses religion like a cudgel to control his wife. Unveiled has a good feminist story to tell about what happens when the ties that bind become a noose. But, the overlay of strict formal religion (your choice — every orthodoxy oppresses women) just confuses the issue.
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Dalíland is a vibe. It’s never easy to capture the spirit of an individual on screen, particularly one as unusual and provocative as Salvador Dalí. The biographical details tend to be easier, depending on how a script is structured. Director Mary Harron’s effort, working from a script by her husband, John Walsh, is a mixed bag. Some aspects are wild, funny, and colorful, as the Catalan artist by all accounts was himself. Other parts of this movie, including some forced exposition through flashbacks and an ultimately cynical view of the surrealist painter and his wife, are questionable.
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Dramas set in the 80s walk a tightrope, often forcing us into a sense of nostalgia, romanticizing the decade even though it was far from inclusive. LGBTQ coming-out films also walk a tightrope, usually stuck in a world of early LGBTQ challenges without showing a character existing beyond the struggle of identity. Blue Jean is both of these genres. Yet, the combination defies the challenges and comes off beautifully as a sincere dialogue and, in some ways, a sincere amends and admiration among generations.
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Antonia Campbell-Hughes investigates what is in us all. Antonia Campbell-Hughes has worked as an actor in multiple productions across television, stage, and feature films, notably in Cordelia, 3096 Days and in Jane Campion’s Bright Star. Born in Northern Ireland but travelling around the world at a young age, Antonia developed multiple creative skills, including fashion design. She turned to screenwriting and then to directing with the marvelous and haunting film It Is In Us All starring Cosmo Jarvis. The film won an Extraordinary Cinematic Vision award at SXSW. Nadine Whitney spoke to Antonia about their journey from actor, writer, to director and the themes that inform their work.
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Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain will star in and executive produce the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series The Savant. The new eight-episode limited series will star the Oscar, SAG, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award winner in the lead role. Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye,.The Good Nurse, George & Tammy, Broadway’s A Doll’s House) will executive produce through her Freckle Films Production Company.
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If you haven’t been watching, this witty, wisecracking dramedy revolves around a bright ‘n’ beautiful Manhattan wife and mother, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), who, after discovering her husband Joel (Michael Zegen) cheating, marches into an East Village comedy club, grabs the microphone and electrifies the audience with an impromptu rant. Tying up the plot’s loose strands in the last episodes, it become obvious that resilient Mrs. Maisel has hit the ‘big-time’ – but what does that really mean – for her and those around her? What are the consequences of her choices? And what has she sacrificed?
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