Reviews of movies and TV focused on women
All We Had hasn’t earned much hype, if any. But it’s a story about a mother and daughter relationship from a first time woman director – Katie Holmes – and merits at least a mention somewhere. This is that somewhere. Continue reading “Watch This: Trailer for All We Had”
Meadowland is a drama about losing a child and how individuals deal with grief. It received glowing reviews when it first came out, I was eager to see it. The opportunity finally arrived with Netflix adding Meadowland to its lineup. Continue reading “Review: Meadowland”
Meadowland starts next weekend in theaters. It will be available on Video on Demand the following week. It stars Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson as parents whose child is abducted. Here’s the synopsis.
In the hazy aftermath of an unimaginable loss, married couple Sarah (Olivia Wilde) and Phil (Luke Wilson) come unhinged – recklessly ignoring the repercussions. Phil, a New York City cop, starts to lose sight of his morals as Sarah puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations, falling deeper into her own fever dream. The directorial debut of cinematographer Reed Morano, Meadowland is a visceral exploration of grief and hope. Featuring Giovanni Ribisi, Elisabeth Moss, Ty Simpkins, John Leguizamo, Kevin Corrigan and Merritt Weaver.
From the preview, it looks like Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson get called upon to do more in their parts than we have seen them do before. According to reviewers who saw the film at festivals, both give outstanding, deep performances.
Director Reed Morano is pulling double-duty as cinematographer in this one. Check the image in the poster and up at the top. Olivia Wilde is looking out of the frame, lost somewhere. I expect Morano’s bringing her cinematographer ‘s eye to her directing process.
If you see the film, please share your impressions in the comments. I’d especially like to know if any trigger warnings for parents who have lost a child should be included in conversation about the film.
The Skeleton Twins stars Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. According to the trivia at IMDB, this duo have appeared together over half a dozen times in other movies and on television, including on Saturday Night Live. In this film they play twins. Their history and chemistry serves them well here. Both give impressive, nuanced performances.
Spoilers ahead. Continue reading “Review: The Skeleton Twins”
Ride was written and directed by Helen Hunt. In Ride, Helen Hunt plays the worst helicopter mom of all time to her college-age son Angelo (Brenton Thwaites). When he goes to California to spend the summer with his dad, she secretly follows him and watches his every move.
Spoilers ahead.
Over the next few months there will be several films with women leading the cast coming to your theater. I celebrate every one! Here are a few – I probably missed some. Let me know in the comments if there’s something I missed that shouldn’t be missed.
Keira Knightley and Chloë Grace Moretz head up the cast of Laggies.
You’re Not You features Emmy Rossum and Hilary Swank with Josh Duhamel providing the male lead.
The Good Lie belongs 100% to Reese Witherspoon.
In Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike is the gone girl. We also get lots of Ben Affleck. Did you read this book? It must have been hard to adapt as a movie because of the unreliable narrator issue. Be interesting to see if they can make it work.
The twins in The Skeleton Twins are played by Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. Luke Wilson is also in this one.
Oh dear, some really serious stuff is going on with Robin Wright who is playing Robin Wright in The Congress. Is it too soon to start drawing interconnections with every woman on the planet?
I hesitated to include The Last of Robin Hood because it’s really about Errol Flynn (played by Kevin Kline). And it’s about an old Errol Flynn taking a young woman as a lover. All kinds of YUK. But there seems to be enough of Dakota Fanning and Susan Sarandon justify it.
Several more upcoming films featuring women in the leading roles have been mentioned here lately. Just as a reminder, they are:
