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SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE, MEET THE PATELS, GOODNIGHT MOMMY and Other September 18 Openers

Jennifer Merin 0 Comments , , , , , , , ,
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sleeping posterWriter-Director Leslye Headland’s clever new romcom, Sleeping with Other People, sizzles with frank and funny sexual humor. The protagonists (Alison Brie and Jason Sukeikis) become friends at sex addicts meetings and try to cool their hots for each other so they can stick to the program. Ha! Meet the Patels is about relationships, too. Filmmaker Geeta Patel’s documents her brother Ravi’s search for a mate via Indian matchmaking, a route suggested by their tradition-minded parents. Geeta and Ravi were raised in America, and their ‘experiment’ turns into a charming and insightful cross-cultural romp. Goodnight Mommy is a terrifying tale about twin boys who suspect their mom, recently home from the hospital with her head wrapped in bandages, isn’t really their mom. The film will give kids of all ages nightmares. The Perfect Guy, another femme-centric thriller, isn’t the perfect film. Think Fatal Attraction in reverse — a male stalking a women (Sanaa Lathan) with whom he’s obsessed. She turns to her old beau for help. A twist on the tired old damsel-in-distress theme. The Visit, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest reality twister, has a single mom (Kathryn Hahn) sending her daughter and son to her estranged parents’ house for a week of bonding. But Nana and Pop Pop turn out to be freaky and terrifying. Prepare yourself for repulsive images. Read the reviews

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Jennifer Merin

Jennifer Merin is the Film Critic for Womens eNews and contributes the CINEMA CITIZEN blog for and is managing editor for Women on Film, the online magazine of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is President. She has served as a regular critic and film-related interviewer for The New York Press and About.com. She has written about entertainment for USA Today, The L.A. Times, 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 then became 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. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association in the Film, Documentary and TV branches and a voting member of the Black Reel Awards. For her AWFJ archive, type "Jennifer Merin" in the Search Box (upper right corner of screen).