Guest Post – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

On Career Longevity and Receiving a Retrospective – Julie Carmen comments (Exclusive Guest Post)

June 6, 2026June 7, 2026 Guest Post Arrow Films, Balboa Theater, career retrospective, CinemaSFbay, Fogcutter Film Series, kino lorber, Redshirt Pictures, Robert Mailer Anderson, SONY Pictures Entertainment, Synapse Films, the female gaze, universal pictures, Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging

As an actress, I have not been hot news for decades, so you can imagine my surprise when CinemaSFbay proposed a three night Julie Carmen retrospective to take place July 7, 8, 9th at the newly refurbished nonprofit Balboa Theater with Fogcutter Film Series Q&As moderated by author-filmmaker Robert Mailer Anderson and an after party. To be treated as relevant because I played the female lead in a catalogue of titles that were influential back in the day feels like I walked into a bright interrogation room. Suddenly people want to know Regine Dandridge’s back story and whether Linda Styles is real.

Guest Posts Reviews

ROOMMATES – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

April 21, 2026April 26, 2026 Guest Post AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Chandler Levack, Chloe East, guest post, Mentorship Program Critic, roommates, Sadie Sandler, walker conger

Even if you had a wonderful freshman year roommate, I’m sure the “what-if” questions have crossed your mind as you’re settling into your new shared space. “What if we have nothing in common?” “What if they take my stuff?” “What if they expose my secrets?” “What if they set my things on fire?” In Chandler Levack’s Roommates, you will see all of these “what-ifs” play out in wildly unexpected ways.

Guest Posts Reviews

SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN – Review by Abby Perkins (Mentorship Program Critic)

April 6, 2026 Guest Post abby perkins, Adam DiMarco, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Camila Morrone, Gus Briney, Haley Z. Boston, horror, jennifer jason leigh, Kate Trefry, netflix, series, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, Victoria Pedretti

Are you sure he’s the one? Before you walk down that aisle, make sure you know the answer – the wrong choice could be your doom. Through eight episodes of unexpected twists and gory surprises, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen leaves you leaping for that next episode button. It’s original and clever, while also taking inspiration from what works in horror – relying on atmospheric creepiness without the overuse of jump scares, found footage, through-the-lens point-of-view, and an unanticipated betrayal that shakes everything up. The success of the show lies in its ability to remain engaging even when the hide-behind-the-blanket moments take the backseat.

Guest Posts Reviews

JULIE & JULIA – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

March 23, 2026March 24, 2026 Guest Post amy adams, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, guest post, ju;ie powell, Julia Childs, julie & julia, Mentorship Program Critic, meryl streep, nora ephron, stanley tucci, walker conger

Nora Ephron said in a 2009 NPR interview that she “…learned to cook from that cookbook [Mastering the Art of French Cooking], and, what’s more, became completely infatuated with the person who’d written it.” Food was a very important part of Ephron’s life and her cinematic career, so it’s fitting that her final film would cover a woman and a topic that has been with her nearly her entire life.

Guest Posts Reviews

ROOSTER – Review by Abby Perkins (Mentorship Program Critic)

March 10, 2026March 15, 2026 Guest Post abby perkins, Ali Greer, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Charly Clive, Danielle Deadwyler, Dylan Shepard, hbo max, limited series, Rooster, Steve Carell

Parents are supposed to help their children through all of life’s struggles, especially the struggles they’ve been through themselves. However, what do you do when your child faces their biggest obstacle but you have no advice for them, since you aren’t close to getting over the same obstacle you’ve faced yourself? Rooster follows beach-read author Greg Russo (Steve Carrell), who is spending time at his alma mater after Katie, his daughter and a professor at the college, is left by her grad-student-banging husband. The HBO series’ pilot, shows a father and daughter, riddled with their own insecurities and personal issues, realizing that they are both hot messes. Rooster reminds us that everyone is living life for the first time.

Guest Posts Reviews

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

March 2, 2026March 8, 2026 Guest Post Anthony Minghella, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, cate blanchett, gwyneth paltrow, Jack Davenport, jude law, matt damon, Patricia Highsmith, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Talented Mr. Ripley, walker conger

When Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) first plays the piano while wearing a borrowed Princeton jacket, there’s no way to expect what a thrilling ride director Anthony Minghella will take you on for the next two hours in his 1999 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, this underrated entry of Damon’s extensive filmography captures the beautiful Italian scenery of small, tight-knit towns and the expansiveness of Rome and Venice. Aided by the heavy use of jazz throughout the score, the film paints a picture of a carefree, “la dolce vita” post-war lifestyle that would be very enticing to a struggling New York restroom attendant like Tom Ripley.

Guest Posts Reviews

LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLYN BESSETTE – Review by Abby Perkins (Mentorship Program Critic)

February 25, 2026February 26, 2026 Guest Post AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Carolyn Bessette, hulu, John F. Kennedy Jr., Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, Paul Anthony Kelly, ryan murphy, Sarah Pidgeon, series

Spanning over seven years, Love Story follows John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) from their first meeting to the day they tragically lost their lives. Kelly has come out of nowhere, quickly making a name for himself with an emotionally grounded performance and electrifying chemistry with Pidgeon – you may recognize her from last year’s I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot and her Tony-nominated performance in Stereophonic in 2024.

Reviews

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

February 18, 2026February 22, 2026 Guest Post Emily Bader, Mentorship Program Critic, people we meet on vacation, the female gaze, Tom Blyth, walker conger

Are rom coms back? Did they ever really go anywhere? Whatever you may think about the state of the romantic comedy film, this adaptation of Emily Henry’s popular novel, People We Meet on Vacation, is a heartfelt, funny, and summery adventure reminiscent of the classics we know and love. The “friends to lovers” trope in this film calls back to moments in other beloved rom coms like When Harry Met Sally, 13 Going on 30, and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. It’s not necessarily trying to do anything new within the genre, but rather utilizing what already works and still crafting a unique, yet familiar story.

Commentaries

DROP DEAD CITY: NYC in Film During the 1970s – Essay by Yael Friedman (Guest post)

February 6, 2026February 8, 2026 Guest Post al pacino, documentary, Drop Dead City, Dustin Hoffman, federal bailout, martin scorsese, Michael Rohatyn, Motion Picture Production Code, NYC fiscal crisis, Pauline Kael, Peter Yost, robert deniro, urban crisis, Yael Friedman

The wonderful recent documentary Drop Dead City by Michael Rohatyn and Peter Yost about the 1975 fiscal crisis is a fittingly dramatic retelling of this pivotal moment in the city’s history. It is, of course, titled after the famous Daily News headline from when President Gerald R. Ford allegedly told the city to “drop dead,” after Mayor Abe Beame and Governor Hugh Carey arrived in Washington, hats in hand, asking for federal aid. The film shows the disdain for New York held by politicians and folks elsewhere, and the righteous indignation of New Yorkers after seeing the headline. Ultimately, President Ford’s conviction to let New York City fail did not prevail, his coarse morality tale about the role of government and the spendthrift Sodom was disrupted. With aid from Washington and a new austerity plan created by the newly formed Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC), New York pulled back from the brink–––even if to emerge a lesser city in many ways.

Reviews

SIRAT – Review by Yael Friedman (Guest Post)

January 21, 2026January 25, 2026 Guest Post Bruno Nunez, guest post, Kangding Ray, Oliver Laxe, Sergi Lopez, Sirat, Yael Friedman

Literal and metaphorical guardrails suddenly evaporating. We are plunged into the reality that the end of the world is not waiting to announce itself. Sirat follows a charming motley crew of nomadic Europeans ravers, somewhere in southern Morocco. A party in a desert fills up the screen with this moonscape beset by electronic beats, basslines, dancing bodies in various states of rejection of polite society. We are totally immersed, easily led into this pilgrimage, ready to hand ourselves over to this camaraderie, to feeling fully embodied in dance and drugs, the rest of the world melting away. The beautiful and unrelenting score, by Kanding Ray, never lets you unhook.

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