Female Film Critics 24/375
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third in Rian Johnson’s whodunnit series starring Daniel Craig, is now on Netflix. Famed detective Benoit Blanc travels to upstate New York and takes up residence at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, not for confession, but to help a young priest, played by Josh O’Connor, investigate an impossible crime at this tiny church with a troubled past.
Read more
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc murder mystery – Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man – is a dud despite a star-studded cast. Unevenly written and rigidly directed by Rian Johnson, it’s chock full of eccentric yet underdeveloped Gothic archetypes who flit in and out – talking incessantly about morality, philosophy and Christian theology but actually saying very little, particularly when it boils down to whodunnit. The humor that once characterized the Knives Out franchise is missing.
Read more
It’s not exactly accurate that Rian Johnson’s follow-up Knives Out Mystery is called “-Glass Onion”- because the so-called ‘onion’ is actually a glass dome – with no layers and, essentially, hollow. Having relinquished his James Bond persona, Daniel Craig reprises the dapper Southern detective, Benoit Blanc, in this overly intricate Agatha Christie-like murder mystery set on a luxurious private island that’s populated by a motley assortment of colorful guests. Problem is: despite some intriguing cameos, none of the cast of characters in this whodunit is remotely likeable, so why should we care who murdered whom?
Read more
Gone are the cardigans and libraries. Gone the bookish air of a British mystery. Gone the cozy. In their familiar places are technology, a pandemic, wizardry, and glass galore. Writer/director Rian Johnson created a blockbuster with Knives Out, appealing to British mystery fans. He’s now created a much noisier, more intricate, more boisterous mystery but, nonetheless, an intriguing one.
Read more
Barbara Broccoli epitomizes what a great producer should be: smart, creative, passionate, tenacious, and successful. Along with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, she oversees one of the longest-running, most acclaimed, and most financially successful film franchises in the world. But she is not content with that achievement alone and consistently seeks to produce other films and theatrical stage productions as well as engage in philanthropy and activism. As a teenager she knew she wanted a career in the film industry and she set out with fierce determination to achieve that end and has risen to the top in her field with the awards, critical acclaim, financial success and respect of her peers to prove it.
Read more
To celebrate Valentine’s Day 2022, AWFJ is posting this virtual Valentine to express our love for our male colleagues who’ve embraced the causes of gender parity and inclusively, and to honor the work they’ve done and are doing to level the playing field for women working in film.
Read more
No Time To Die is more of an event than a movie, but that’s the territory with James Bond. Fans waited 18 months to see the film and everyone knows it’s Daniel Craig’s last time at bat as the famed British spy, so the film came freighted with massive expectations. Luckily, it’s hugely entertaining — with explosive action, wild car chases, fascinating spy gadgets, beautiful women, evil villains, somewhat incomprehensible plotting and many narrow escapes — but this time out with a whole new level of emotional engagement. Writing about women and film is what we do around here, so it’s important to note that Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) reshaped the story with the blessing of all concerned, including Daniel Craig, who described her as a “fucking great writer” to the Financial Times.
Read more
Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond that began 15 years ago with the elegant Casino Royale, ushering in a tough, charismatic 007 ends five films later on more of a whimper than a bang. Entertaining, if overlong, a weak villain and a third act that could have used a rewrite that put some thought into where you might go when you’ve written yourself into a corner betrays Craig’s swan song. He deserves better than this; so, does Bond.
Read more
Daniel Craig’s 007 movies follow a distinctive character arc, feature formidable women and not just “Bond girls,” and show a Bond that is feeling his age, not to mention the physical wear and the emotional tear of his “licensed to kill” career.
Read more
For Daniel Craig’s final performance as James Bond, he still has his license to kill, Aston Martin DB5 and enough weaponry to subdue countless henchmen. This 25th installment begins with a Norwegian backwoods flashback as a helpless, young girl witnesses a mysterious, masked killer stalking her and her mother, determined to wreak revenge for what her father did to his family.
Read more