ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Female Film Critics 24/375

Emily Bader

Reviews 

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

Guest Post , , , , ,

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.

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Reviews 

MY LADY JANE – Review by Susan Granger

Susan Granger , , , , , , ,

British Royal historians note that 16 year-old Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England and Ireland for just nine days in 1553 before she was incarcerated and executed as a heretic. As the narrator of My Lady Jane notes: “History remembers her as the ultimate damsel in distress….(But) What if history were different?”

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SPOTLIGHT 

SPOTLIGHT July 2023: Jennifer Esposito, Actress, Baker, Teacher, Director of FRESH KILLS

Jennifer Merin , , , , , , , , , ,

“Fresh Kills isn’t at all autobiographical, yet it’s all me, says first time writer/director Jennifer Esposito. “I did take pieces of people I grew up around and I used the essence of where I grew up to inform the characters’ world, but every character has some part of me in them. Staten Island, where I grew up and where the film takes place, felt very repressed and claustrophobic to me so that really influenced me when writing. The essence of the film is simple – it’s finding a voice in a world that tells you not to have one and I’ve felt that way my entire life.”

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Festivals Reviews 

FRESH KILLS (Tribeca 2023) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas , , , , , , , ,

Named after the Staten Island landfill of the same name, Fresh Kills is a satisfying up-close-and-personal twist on the traditional New York mob movie by actress-turned-filmmaker Jennifer Esposito. Seen through the eyes of quiet, watchful Rose (Emily Bader), this primarily 1990s set family crime drama focuses on her intense and sometimes fraught relationship with her mother Francine (Esposito) and older sister Connie (Odessa A’zion) as their lives are thrown into disarray in the aftermath of her father’s involvement in organized crime.

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