Susan Wloszczyna – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

HERE AND NOW – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

November 1, 2018November 5, 2018 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments here and now, motw, Movie of the Week, sarah jessica parker

Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, the story takes place in Manhattan, but is a far cry from her Cosmopolitan-swilling single lady escapades in Sex and the City. Instead, it is about a moody singer in the midst of preparing for a major engagement who learns that she has a possibly deadly brain tumor.

Reviews

WHAT THEY HAD – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

October 23, 2018October 28, 2018 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments blythe danner, elizabeth chomko, hilary swank, Michael Shannon, motw, Movie of the Week, robert forster, taissa farmiga, what they had

“Grandma drank the holy water,” says Taissa Farmiga’s moody college student. “At least she’s hydrated,” says Michael Shannon as her uncle who laughs mostly to keep him and the audience from crying. That first-time filmmaker Elizabeth Chomko can pull off this sort of humor in a movie that revolves around the evil disease that is dementia is a feat achieved primarily based on the strength of her casting choices.

Reviews

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

October 9, 2018October 15, 2018 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments lee israel, Marielle Heller, Melissa McCarthy, motw, Movie of the Week, nicole holofcener

The arrival of Can You Ever Forgive Me? is more than enough evidence that McCarthy is the real deal as she closes off her usual buoyant avenues of emoting for a darker, morose and complex persona – one paved in frustration and failed opportunity that is uniquely female in nature. Her usual brassy bravado is tucked away beneath a frumpy veneer of bitterness, disappointment and deeply seated resentment over anyone else’s success.

Reviews

JANE FONDA IN FIVE ACTS – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

September 17, 2018September 23, 2018 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments

Having read Jane Fonda’s insightful personal 2005 memoir, My Life So Far, I knew of her five so-called acts that were primarily defined by the men in her life, but pictures often speak louder than words, and filmmaker Susan Lacy does a masterful job of summing up this amazing female icon with her documentary, Jane Fonda in Five Acts.

Reviews

THE WIFE — Review by Susan Wloszczyna

August 12, 2018September 6, 2018 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments annie starke, glen close, jane anderson, motw, Movie of the Week, the wife

I was somewhat distracted by a nagging voice in my head as I was savoring the sight of Glenn Close slaying it in The Wife as a devoted yet increasingly fed-up spouse of a self-described “narcissistic bastard” of an acclaimed novelist. “How does she not have an Oscar yet,” it kept saying every time she took her modulated slow-burn performance to the next level of perfectly expressed pique. Yes, it is often annoying when a critic makes awards predictions before the season starts. But with six losses under Close’s belt for career-defining and culturally significant roles – making her the living actress with the most nominations without a win – such speculation is hard to resist.

Reviews

THE BOOKSHOP — Review by Susan Wloszczyna

August 11, 2018September 6, 2018 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments cherry jones. emily mortimer, Isabel Coixet, marcturtletaub. movie of the week, movie of the week #MOTW, patricia clarkson, the bookshop

Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson in one movie? That is a dream team right there. Despite such a quality cast, however, The Bookshop will likely test the patience of those who require peppier pacing and more compelling drama, even in a well-meaning film set in a British seaside village in 1959. Director Isabel Coixet’s screenplay, based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel, focuses on Florence, a young widow (Mortimer) who decides to open a book store in an old damp house in the heart of the community.