Female Film Critics 24/375
Shot after French sculptor Prune Nourry learned of her breast cancer diagnosis and capturing elements of her treatment, Serendipity works as a compact collection of the artist’s creations and a meditation on what her cancer diagnosis means for her as a woman and as a creative force.
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More than anything, perhaps, Moonlight Sonata provides a powerful reminder (as if we needed one) that truth can be far more compelling than fiction. It showcases elements — memorable characters, gripping conflicts, striking imagery— that many contemporary fictional features never bother to attempt, let alone achieve.
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You’ve probably always wanted to see Werner Herzog’s tattoo, right? Now’s your chance. Folklorist, writer, and filmmaker Alan Govenar’s documentary Tattoo Uprising features vintage footage of the mercurial auteur showing off his Ed Hardy design,
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For all the information available about Easy Rider — the motorcycle builders, the heated arguments over the screenplay, the production conflicts and crises, the yin and yang of the meditative Wyatt and the volatile Billy, the improvised insults of the locals, and other incredible minutiae — to me what distinguishes and elevates the film is the visceral experience of it.
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Really, all Janice Engel had to do was run as many old videos of the great Molly Ivins, journalist and iconoclast, to entertain her worshippers. Heaven knows, there is plenty of tape to unspool, bushels of quotes to regale, and heaps of one-liners to rehearse. But Engel does more than that in this classic biopic.
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No one can ever accuse stalwart British filmmaker Ken Loach of lacking focus. Now over five decades into his feature filmmaking career, with his latest movie Sorry We Missed You he continues his near-unwavering focus on the systematic dehumanization of those struggling to survive in the meat grinder of late capitalism.
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Strong performances from a stellar ensemble anchor Human Capital, an adult drama about decisions made and consequences suffered, told from the perspectives of several characters from two different families — one wealthy, one not — in upstate New York.
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Jennifer Lopez sizzles in the sexy, crime drama, “Hustlers” from director/writer Lorene Scafaria, which is about a group of savvy women strippers who exact revenge on their rich Wall Street clients. The movie is based on Jessica Pressler’s 2015 New York magazine article “The Hustlers at Scores.”
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Zombi Child is a dense, intelligent film that soars by combining a robust critique of colonialism (both in its past and present manifestations) with a moving coming-of-age story about a young Haitian girl a long way from home.
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A remake of a Danish film, Blackbird focuses on a family coming together to celebrate the last weekend of the matriarch of the family’s life. Lily (Susan Sarandon) is terminally ill and starting to feel her body shut down. Instead of waiting for her condition to get worse and taking away her self-sufficiency, Lily decides she wants to end her life her way, on her own terms.
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