BlogHer - Escaping to the Movies? - Comments

Thanks for the recommendation

Suzanne Reisman — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:53:53 -0500

I'll be in town, and I will supplement my viewing of "Live Free or Die Hard" (yes, I am serious) with this film.

Suzanne, BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS)& Other Rants

You want to see a film about real women?

lisalisalisa — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:07:52 -0500

I recently went to a screening for a six-part documentary series all about the secret lives and conversations of women called "Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman." It was fantastic. It's a series of incredibly intimate conversations between the filmmaker, Jennifer Fox, and her female friends around the world. It was such an honest look at the issues surrounding modern female life and coping with the stigma against female sexuality. If you live in New York, it's going to be playing at Film Forum from July4th-17th and I think it would be a great film to get out to and support. You can check out the trailer on the website: www.flyingconfessions.com. If you're looking for a film about REAL women, I highly recommend it!

Try it, you might like it

Suzanne Reisman — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:19:12 -0500

I didn't like it, but it would be worth checking out to decide for yourself. The acting really was fantastic at the least. I just personally disliked the story itself.

Suzanne, BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS)& Other Rants

I refuse to watch any of the

heivilinj — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:05:02 -0500

I refuse to watch any of the so-called "Reality" shows. If I watch television to escape or to be entertained why should I subject myself to that? Don't I get enough of that silly kind of mindlessness in real life? Is it really entertaining to watch grown people behaving like idiots? Again, don't I see enough of that outside my "entertainment"?
(sorry, /rant off)

I saw the original remake of Oceans but haven't really been moved to watch either of the other two. I had read the good reviews of Waitress and had intended to see it, so it's disappointing to see your review.

Jim Heivilin

Mmmm... pie

Suzanne Reisman — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:53:19 -0500

Had the reviews of the film not been so positive, I probably would have suggested that I just meet for pie afterward! :)

Suzanne, BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS)& Other Rants

Oceans 13

Nordette — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:34:24 -0500

I enjoyed Oceans 13 as well as the first two. I had to see the first one because I remembered watching the original as a kid. I own a copy of the original Oceans Eleven starring the Rat Pack, released in 1960.

I think I like the remake more and its sequels, I like the music too. I especially enjoyed the scene in Oceans 13 with Brad Pitt and George Clooney getting misty over Oprah. Al Pacino was fun to watch as well. I love Al Pacino. He's such a good actor that you forget it's him and so the villain is just a man who annoys you who you want to see knocked down.

Matt Damon's fun tow watch as well. I like to see him do the scenes about his father. And Don Cheadle's cool also.

Like you, I refuse to watch Age of Love. From its previews it seems like one more way to pit women against women.

All right, you don't fool me. I know why you went with your friend to see Waitress. Who can say no to good pie? :-)

"Love is liquid. Brew and be drunkards!" ~~Nordette. And here's a link to the blog.

Escaping to the Movies?

Suzanne Reisman — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:13:30 -0500

The lack of women in a movie doesnâ€™t necessarily make it a bad flick. A movie with a primarily female cast â€“ even an extremely well-acted one â€“ is not necessarily a movie that all women will enjoy, either. Take, for example, two flicks out this summer: Waitress and Oceanâ€™s 13.

Waitress, a movie about a woman, with a large female cast, and directed by a woman, was reviewed at BlogHer by Jenny Lauck, who loved it. I had read glowing reviews of it as well, and when a friend suggested that we see it and then get some pie, I was all over it. Then I discovered that I hated the movie. Its dreamy take on domestic violence, unplanned pregnancy, cheating on your spouse, and stalking caused me to come up with a Movie-So-Over-The-Top-That-I-Want-Puke-Pie. I appreciate that it created a forum for womenâ€™s voices and an opportunity to show case female talent, but it wasnâ€™t my slice of pie.

Oceanâ€™s 13, on the other hand, pretty much dispenses with women, but at least it mindlessly entertained me. Gone are Julia Robertsâ€™s Tess and Catherine Zeta Jonesâ€™s Isabel, women with brains and guts, if maybe not the wisest taste in men. (Although I canâ€™t say I blame them for falling for such good natured hotties.) In is sizzling Ellen Barkin as Abigail, the highly competent right-hand â€œmanâ€ to an evil casino owner about to get his comeuppance from the Ocean crew. Unfortunately, Abby is played for laughs in a much less flattering way than previous women of Oceans. She is, as Matt Damonâ€™s super adorable character explains, a â€œcougar.â€ You know, one of those hot older women on the prowl for young man meat. (Currently, the habits of â€œcougarsâ€ may be scruntized on TV vying for some tennis guy against younger women â€“ gag with me now, aka â€œkittensâ€ â€“ on Age of Love, a show I refuse to watch on NBC on Monday nights.) And of course her attraction to young men is part of her downfall. Bah. This is no better than the cloying characters in Waitress.

There are happy mediums and other options. A movie doesnâ€™t have to be 50% female (or 50% male) to be great, and Matt Damon doesnâ€™t always appear in movies with lame women. OK, so Vera Farmiga didnâ€™t serve much purpose except to have sex with two hot men (Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Departed, but I liked that movie a lot anyway. (Great acting by Damon, DiCaprio, and Mark Wahlberg, the only hot guy in the movie that Farmigaâ€™s character didnâ€™t hook up with, made it fantastic. And who can resist Martin Sheen and Alex Baldwin when they give it their all?) I loved Franka Potente in The Bourne Identity, and am looking forward to more Julia Stiles and Joan Allen when The Bourne Ultimatum hits theaters. People are raving about A Mighty Heart, which I would also like to see, and which features a very strong female lead.

Sometimes, all it takes is realistic, identifiable portrayals of women to make me love a film. Sometimes all it takes a good doody joke. Thatâ€™s life, too.

Suzanne also blogs at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants