awfj-admin – Page 2 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

EVERYBODY LOVES JEANNE – Review by Nadine Whitney

August 24, 2023August 27, 2023 awfj-admin Blanche Gardin, Céline Devaux, Everybody Loves Jeanne, french films, Laurent Lafitte, Tout le monde aime Jeanne

Céline Devaux has crafted an airy and enjoyable romp which carries with it some very perceptive commentary about how we construct our inner and outer selves. Everybody Loves Jeanne is a delightful peek inside the mind of an over achiever who probably needed to fall down so she could learn who she is. It also understand the complexity of grief – whether that be grief for a parent or grief for a career and smashed dreams. Witty and brilliant, Everybody Loves Jeanne is a gift.

Guest Posts Reviews

LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL – Review by Dana Ziyasheva (Guest Post)

October 12, 2022June 21, 2023 awfj-admin Chinese films, chinese tv, Dana Ziyasheva, Love Between Fairy and Devil, netflix, Wang He Di

The Chinese show Love Between Fairy and Devil is such a carefully choreographed ballet of emotions and thoughts on the nature of love, power, and society — hammering home its points with an impossibly attractive cast and a highly addictive soundtrack — that I, a bone-weary middle-aged woman with grown-up kids, found myself pledging all my time (and the entirety of my soul) to it.

Reviews

REACHER – Review by Susan Granger

January 31, 2022February 5, 2022 awfj-admin alan ritchson, Amazon Prime series, Malcolm Goodwin, Nick Santora, Reacher

Based on Lee Child’s first novel, Killing Floor (1997), this new, eight-episode Amazon series is steered by astute showrunner Nick Santora (The Sopranos, Prison Break, Lie to Me), while charismatic Alan Ritchson cleverly incorporates Reacher’s physical stature with high intelligence and deadpan wit. Jack Reacher is a fascinating character. Living off his military pension, he’s a stealthy loner who relishes his anonymity, traveling around the country with only a folding toothbrush, lapsed passport and the clothes on his back.

Reviews

AIR DOLL – Review by Diane Carson

January 27, 2022February 12, 2022 awfj-admin Air Doll, Bae Doona, Dekanalog, Hirokazu Kore-eda, japanese films, tokyo

Air Doll watches an inflatable sex doll come to life and reveal Tokyo. Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda has a well-earned international following as well as numerous awards. The distribution company Dekanalog, dedicated “to the release of the most unique filmmaking voices,” will now provide on-demand access to Kore-eda’s 2009 Air Doll, a provocative look at contemporary Japanese society and the individual need for, as well as the elusiveness of, affection.

Reviews

AMERICAN RUST – Review by Susan Granger

January 27, 2022January 29, 2022 awfj-admin American Rust, Dan Futterman, jeff daniels, Maura Tierney, showtime

Just like the collapse of that corroded bridge in Pittsburgh, the cancellation of American Rust – filmed in and around that same city – demonstrates the ruination or what can happen when a crime drama isn’t properly developed or cared for, making it of little use to anyone. Developed by showrunner Dan Futterman, the TV series is set in a small, fictional Pennsylvania town where the chief of police becomes involved in the murder investigation of a corrupt ex-cop.

Reviews

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE (Sundance FF 2022) – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 25, 2022January 30, 2022 awfj-admin Daryl McCormack, emma thompson, Good Luck to You Leo Grande, Katy Brand, Sophie Hyde, sundance film festival 2022

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is a rare example of writing, direction, and performance in perfect balance, that gel together into something even more than the sum of its parts. Though certainly a fun film to experience in the moment, it will be one that many viewers will be appreciated more and more in retrospect. The first half hour feels like the slow escalation of what becomes an emotional rollercoaster, but like Nancy (Emma Thompson) does, it’s best to just put your hands up and enjoy the ride.

Festivals Reviews

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY (Sundance FF 2022) – Review by Martha K Baker

January 24, 2022January 24, 2022 awfj-admin bill cosby, documentary series, showtime, sundance film festival 2022, W. Kamau Bell, We Need To Talk about Cosby

Among the many significant aspects of W. Kamau Bell’s analysis of Bill Cosby is Bell’s timeline. Bell addresses the issue of Cosby because both are Black and both comedians, albeit one a seeming role model and the other once a fan. Who better than Bell to talk about the comedian who went from America’s Dad to a pervert?

Movie of the Week Reviews

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 14, 2022 – WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA

January 9, 2022January 22, 2022 awfj-admin aclu, betsy bozdech, Black history, Cate Marquis, civil rights, documentaries, emily kunstler, jeffrey robinson, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Marilyn Ferdinand., motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, sarah kunstler, sherin nicole, susan wloszczyna, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America

Once more, for those in the back: The United States is a racist country. As lawyer Jeffrey Robinson, the deputy legal director and director of the Trone Center for Justice & Equality at the ACLU, clearly and eloquently reminds viewers in Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler’s must-see documentary Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, the U.S. was founded by White men who enslaved Black people, and that legacy has had an impact on everything that has come since.

Reviews

KURT VONNEGUT: UNSTUCK IN TIME – Review by Martha K Baker

November 19, 2021November 21, 2021 awfj-admin

Filmmaker Weide spares nothing about Vonnegut’s moodiness (PTSD?), his vanity, his humor, his teaching, and writing and writing and writing. He includes Vonnegut family films and photographs as well as images of Vonnegut’s escape into art work, stand-alone as well as included in Breakfast of Champions. Weide plays audio of phone calls Vonnegut made to him and video of letters he wrote to Weide; the documentary presents interviews with Vonnegut’s children and nephews, his friends, like reporter Morley Safer.

Reviews

PASSING – Review by Jennifer Merin

October 18, 2021October 29, 2021 awfj-admin motw, Movie of the Week, nella larsen, Passing, rebecca hall, Ruth Negga

Passing is Rebecca Hall’s beautifully realized directorial debut. Written, produced, and directed by Hall, the film is an adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 eponymous novel about two Black women who were best friends during their childhood days in Harlem and who, after having gone their separate ways for decades, are accidentally reunited in the tea room of a downtown NYC hotel.