julia stiles – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 17, 2025: WISH YOU WERE HERE

January 13, 2025January 13, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, gabby kono, isabelle fuhrman, jennifer grey, jennifer merin, jimmy fails, julia stiles, Kelsey Grammer, leslie combemale, lionsgate, loren king, Mena Massoud, nell minow, Phiphen Studios, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, wish you were here

Star-crossed lovers have been fighting for moments of happiness on the silver screen — and giving audiences an excuse for a good cry — ever since movies were invented, from Romeo & Juliet to An Affair to Remember to The Fault in Our Stars. Actor Julia Stiles’ feature directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, proudly joins the three-hanky club as it tells the story of Charlotte (Isablle Fuhrman) and Adam (Mena Massoud), whose one-night stand leads to something much more profound.

Reviews

WISH YOU WERE HERE – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 7, 2025January 13, 2025 Leslie Combemale Isabelle Furhman, jimmy fails, julia stiles, Melody London, Mena Massoud, renee carlino, wish you were here

You’ve seen this traditional story before, offered up in the great tradition of Dark Victory, Love Story, and, more recently, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Boy meets girl, love happens, but oops, one of them is dying. This feature directorial debut from Julia Stiles, who co-wrote the screenplay with Renée Carlino based on Carlino’s novel, is in that mold. There’s a reason tearjerkers are a viable sub-genre. They’re love stories with a side of schadenfreude. Stiles mines the genre well, allowing for a bittersweet love story good enough to question its death trap January release.

Reviews

CHOSEN FAMILY – Review by Betsy Pickle

October 8, 2024October 8, 2024 Betsy Pickle Andrea Savage, Chosen Family, heather graham, julia stiles, Odessa Rae, Thomas Lennon

A cute romantic comedy with a split personality, Chosen Family has a point to make, but it’s almost too busy going for jokes to decide what it is. Written and directed by and starring the likable and eternally youthful Heather Graham, Chosen Family combines family dysfunction with supportive, steadfast friendships, the fraught world of entrepreneurship, the perils of searching for a suitable romantic partner, the toxic nature of divorce and the scary power of the internet. (Is this a rom-com or a documentary?)

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT June 2023: Molly Conners and Jane Sinisi, Producers, Founders of Phiphen Studios in New Jersey

May 31, 2023August 21, 2023 Leslie Combemale Aldey Sanchez, Alice Guy-Blanché, diversity, Jane Sinisi, julia stiles, lionsgate, Molly Conners, netflix, parity for women, Phiphen, Phiphen Studios, Solex Studios, The God Committee

New Jersey has a stellar, and very important role in history of American film, particularly as it relates to female filmmakers. In 1912, Alice Guy-Blanché, the first female director in history, opened Solex Studios, one of the most successful studios in early American film, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Now two producers, Molly Conners and Jane Sinisi, have opened Phiphen Studios in Englewood Cliff. Their goal is to support and and be part of expanding the ever-growing New Jersey film community, which saw an increase in investment from $70 million in 2017 to over a half billion dollars just two years later in 2019.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Julia Stiles to helm WISH YOU WERE HERE Brandy McDonnell reports

June 16, 2021June 19, 2021 Brandy McDonnell directorial debut, julia stiles, phiphen pictures, renee carlino, twiw, week in women, wish you were here

Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor Julia Stiles is partnering with Phiphen Pictures for Wish You Were Here, which will mark Stiles’ feature film directorial debut. “I’ve been looking for the right story to direct as a feature for a while and have finally found it with Renée Carlino’s Wish You Were Here,” states Stiles.

Reviews

HUSTLERS – Review by Susan Granger

September 20, 2019September 20, 2019 Susan Granger 0 Comments constance wu, Hustlers, jennifer lopez, Jessica Pressler, julia stiles, Lorene Scafaria

When sleaze is not considered sleaze, it’s coupled with sisterhood. That’s the premise of Lorena Scafaria’s flesh & feminism chronicle, revolving around sex workers in a New York strip club.