susanne bier – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 – Review by Susan Granger

September 21, 2026September 20, 2026 Susan Granger Akiva Goldsman, dianne wiest, joey king, Maisie Williams, nicole kidman, Practical Magic 2, sandra bullock, Stockard Channing, susanne bier, Xolo Mariduefia

Practical Magic 2 begins with “I’m sure you’ve heard tell of the Owens sisters,” reminding viewers of the spellbinding 1998 campy fantasy about a Massachusetts family of witches. Nearly three decades later, widowed Sally Owens has two grown daughters – Kylie and Antonia – who are totally unaware of their mystical. matrilineal curse: Any Owens woman who falls in love condemns that person to an early death. When heartsick Kylie discovers the mysterious ‘Book of the Raven’ and learns the truth about the tortured legacy that permeates her bloodline, she takes off for the Owens’ ancestral home in England, determined to break the ancient curse once and for all.

Reviews

THE PERFECT COUPLE – Review by Susan Granger

September 10, 2024September 11, 2024 Susan Granger Billy Howle, dakota fanning, drama series, Eve Hewson, Jenna Lamia, Liev Schreiber, netflix, nicole kidman, susanne bier, The Perfect Couple

A murder mystery really works when you have no idea whodunit until the final episode…and that’s how Netflix’s The Perfect Couple remains compelling. Opening with the entire cast dancing to Meghan Trainor’s Criminals, the surreal story quickly focuses on extravagant preparations for an extravagant wedding at a magnificent $40 million oceanfront estate on picturesque Nantucket Island.

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT December 2023: SUSANNE BIER, Award-Winning, Pond-Hopping, Genre-Diverse Director

November 30, 2023November 30, 2023 Jennifer Green Oscars Foreign Language, spotlight, susanne bier

Susanne Bier is among Europe’s most prolific and honored female film and television writer-directors. Her career filmography spans formats, genres and countries. Originally from Denmark, some of Bier’s best-known works, at least for international audiences, include Hollywood productions like Bird Box and In A Better World, and the Hollywood remakes of her original films, like Brothers and After the Wedding. Bier is said to be the first female director to win a Golden Globe (Best Picture, In A Better World), a Primetime Emmy (Directing, The Night Manager), a European Film Award (many, including Achievement in World Cinema in 2021) and an Oscar (Foreign Language Film, In a Better World). She currently co-chairs the Academy’s International Feature Film Executive Committee.

Reviews

AFTER THE WEDDING – Review by Diane Carson

August 19, 2019August 25, 2019 Diane Carson 0 Comments after the wedding, bart freundlich, julianne moore, michelle williams, motw, Movie of the Week, susanne bier

With today’s omnipresent information, shadow lives can be discovered and made public, and some decisions merit reconsideration. There are astonishing inequities between rich and poor in the U.S. and India, or almost anywhere in the U.S. But there’s a delicacy needed to presenting ideas for consideration, less can be more. Here the inequity is cast aside as the plot device it is, and the degree of Theresa’s stridency as an abusive boss telegraphs the lack of complexity with added misogyny.

Movie of the Week Reviews

MOVIE OF THE WEEK August 23, 2019: AFTER THE WEDDING

August 18, 2019December 21, 2019 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments after the wedding, bart freundlich, Cate Marquis, julianne moore, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Marilyn Ferdinand., maryann johanson, michelle williams, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, nikki baughan, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, Sheila Roberts, susan wlosczcyna, susanne bier

Boasting powerful star performances by Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore and a story with big, emotional twists, Bart Freundlich’s “After the Wedding” is a gender-swapped remake of Susanne Bier’s same-named 2006 Danish drama. It’s a thought-provoking look at life choices, legacy, and motherhood that will stick with you after the credits roll.

Reviews

AFTER THE WEDDING – Review by Erica Abeel

August 13, 2019August 13, 2019 Erica Abeel 0 Comments after the wedding, bart freundlich, julianne moore, michelle williams, susanne bier

In remakes of foreign films American directors sometimes copy the source almost to the letter. Other times they update their own version to reflect current issues. In After the Wedding Bart Freundlich and his team make the worthy effort of tweaking the original to bring women to the forefront. But much of the original’s savor is lost in translation.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: BIRD BOX Sets Netflix Records – Brandy McDonnell reports

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments birdbox, netflix, sandra bullock, susanne bier, week in women

That the post-apocalyptic female-centric sci-fi drama Bird Box, directed by Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock, has set a record in its debut, is more evidence that Netflix is destined and determined to shake up the film industry.

Reviews

BIRD BOX – Review by Nikki Baughan

December 15, 2018December 16, 2018 Nikki Baughan 0 Comments bird box, motw, Movie of the Week, sandra bullock, susanne bier

Susanne Bier is a filmmaker with an innate ability to mine the painful truths of the human experience in a way that is both deeply intimate and profoundly universal. And so it is with Bird Box, her first foray into genre filmmaking, that distills the daunting responsibility of parenthood into one woman’s seeming impossible journey of survival in a world overrun by unseeable monsters.

Interviews

Carey Mulligan on Strong Women Characters, Women Directors and FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD – Jennifer Merin interviews (Exclusive Video)

April 20, 2015June 8, 2020 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments Carey Mulligan, far from the madding crowd, jane austen, susanne bier

Carey Mulligan discusses playing Bathsheba Everdene, the independent heroine in the new cinematic version of Thomas Hardy’s classic female-centric novel,

Interviews SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT April, 2015: Susanne Bier, Director

March 31, 2015December 15, 2018 Julide Tanriverdi 0 Comments a better world, a second chance, Bradley Cooper, danish films, dogme, golden globes, jennifer lawrence, oscars, serena, susanne bier

Susanne Bier’s In A Better World won the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2011, putting her on Hollywood’s A-List. But transitioning from Copenhagen to Hollywood has been challenging. Bier’s Hollywood-honed Serena opened in March, 2015. after a two-year delay. Her extraordinary talent and unstoppable persistence put Bier in our April SPOTLIGHT. Read on…

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