sigourney weaver – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER – Review by Susan Granger

December 14, 2022December 17, 2022 Susan Granger Avatar the way of water, james cameron, Sam Worthington, sigourney weaver, zoe saldana

It’s been 13 years since James Cameron’s Avatar was released. And it’s well worth the wait to see his $350 million Avatar: The Way of Water, demonstrating how he uses cinematic technology to create a new, fantastical Na’vi realm on a distant moon called Pandora. Working with James Cameron, screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have developed an emotional arc for each motion-captured character. The result is compelling, fully digital sci-fi, highlighted by cinematographer Russell Carpenter’s dazzling visual effects, particularly the breathtaking deep-sea sequences.

Reviews

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER – Review by Diane Carson

December 12, 2022December 17, 2022 Diane Carson Avatar the way of water, james cameron, Sam Worthington, sigourney weaver, zoe saldana

Avatar: The Way of Water highlights spectacle plus heady issues. For thirteen years, the much-anticipated sequel to Avatar has required intensive production work. Now, Avatar: The Way of Water rewards the long wait with an extravaganza of special effects cinematic spectacle. And as the title announces, a great deal of action takes place in and around water with thrilling play, risky adventures, and rousing combat.

Reviews

CALL JANE – Review by Martha K Baker

October 31, 2022November 6, 2022 Martha K. Baker call jane, Hayley Schore, Joy Griffin, Phyllis Nagy, Roshan Sethi, sigourney weaver, The Janes, Wunmi Mosaku

In Chicago in 1968, housewife Joy Griffin watches the Democratic National Convention on television. She sees police officers, their heads capped in “blue brain buckets,” beat protesters against the Vietnam War. The noisy news establishes the political climate in 1968, but whispers surround the issue of abortion in the pre-Roe era of Call Jane, a well realized look at reproductive history.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK November 4, 2022: CALL JANE

October 29, 2022October 30, 2022 Jennifer Merin Aida Turturro, betsy bozdech, call jane, Cate Marquis, Chris Messina, elizabeth banks, grace edwards, jane collective, jennifer merin, kate mara, leslie combemale, loren king, nell minow, Pam Grady, Phyllis Nagy, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, sigourney weaver, susan wloszczyna, Wunmi Mosaku

Based on the true story of the Jane Collective, a group of young feminist activists who facilitated underground abortions in the Chicago area in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Phyllis Nagy’s heartfelt Call Jane illustrates, clearly and empathetically, why access to safe, affordable abortions is an essential aspect of female healthcare. The movie may take place 50-plus years ago, but in a world where the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the issue has never felt more timely.

Reviews

CALL JANE – Review by Loren King

October 24, 2022October 30, 2022 Loren King call jane, Chris Messina, elizabeth banks, Movie of the Week, moyw, Phyllis Nagy, sigourney weaver

As an accessible film with a solid lead performance, Call Jane is an important addition to the Janes’ story and a reminder of the power of collective action. It’s hard not to feel sorrow and anger when, at the end, the Janes celebrate Roe v. Wade and the dissolution of the group. But it’s also a call to action.

Reviews

CALL JANE – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

October 24, 2022October 26, 2022 Susan Wloszczyna call jane, Chris Messina, elizabeth banks, Movie of the Week, moyw, Phyllis Nagy, sigourney weaver

The timely abortion rights film Call Jane, directed by Phyllis Nagy, starts off in Chicago in 1968, as the city and the nation are teetering on the brink of violent political upheaval. We meet a well-off suburban housewife Joy Griffin (Elizabeth Banks, who is the stand-out in the cast) leads an ordinary life with her husband and tween daughter. But when Joy’s pregnancy leads to a life-threatening condition, she must navigate a medical establishment unwilling to help. She then finds learns about the “Janes,” an underground organization of women who provide Joy with a safer alternative — and in the process — changes her life.

Reviews

THE GOOD HOUSE – Review by April Neale

September 22, 2022September 23, 2022 April Neale Beverly D'Angelo, Kevin Kline, maya forbes, Paul Guilfoyle, sigourney weaver, The Good House, Wallace Wolodarsky

Sometimes, the illusion of having it all together is an art in survivor subterfuge, especially when you are a kingfisher in a small Massachusetts coastal town where the prime properties are the big catch. The Good House is a bittersweet dramedy starring Sigourney Weaver as Hildy Good, a well-educated local New England real estate agent whose story shows us how the ignored loose ends of our lives can be the undoing of the fabric that holds us together, and that the value of old and real friendships that stand the test of time is a priceless commodity to preserve at all costs.

Festivals Reviews

CALL JANE (Sundance FF 2022) – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 25, 2022September 20, 2022 Leslie Combemale Aida Turturro, call jane, Chris Messina, elizabeth banks, grace edwards, jane collective, kate mara, Phyllis Nagy, sigourney weaver, Wunmi Mosaku

Call Jane is inspired by the work of the underground activist group Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberationl. From 1968 to 1973, the group helped thousands of women to get pre-Roe V Wade abortions. Directed by Phillis Nagy, the film stars Elizabeth Banks as suburban housewife who becomes involved helping members of the organization, aka The Janes, after they helped her to end a life-threatening pregnancy.
Several documentaries and narratives have told the story of these women or used the organizaation as a backdrop, but Call Jane has the highest profile yet, featuring A-list talent that includes Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, and Wunmi Mosaku.

Reviews

CALL JANE (Sundance FF 2022) – Review by Lauren Anderson

January 22, 2022January 23, 2022 Lauren Anderson (Archived Contributor) Aida Turturro, call jane, Chris Messina, elizabeth banks, grace edwards, jane collective, kate mara, Phyllis Nagy, sigourney weaver, Wunmi Mosaku

Call Jane tells the story of sisterhood among a group of women aptly called “The Janes.” They provided abortions at a time when an all-male Supreme Court forbade women from getting them legally. The film is set in the late 1960s, but the story couldn’t be more timely today with the Supreme Court considering rolling back what Roe v. Wade accomplished.

Reviews

MY SALINGER YEAR – Review by Maitland McDonagh

March 3, 2021March 3, 2021 Maitland McDonagh J.D. Salinger, Joanna Rakoff, margaret qualley, My Salinger Year, sigourney weaver

The trouble with My Salinger Year isn’t that it’s a terrible movie–it’s not. It’s that its version of Joanna Rakoff ‘s novel is so profoundly uninteresting; earnest, naïve, bright without being especially perceptive and untested by the kind of experiences that fiction writers use to force such unformed characters to develop.

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