Reviews of movies and TV focused on women
Time for a brain dump: scattered thoughts about random TV shows. These things made an impression lately. I was bored by high fashion, impressed by a gritty look at American policing, and sad to see an old favorite say goodbye. Continue reading “Brain Dump: The Collection, Shots Fired, Switched at Birth”
Echo Park is Sophia’s (Mamie Gummer) story. We find her at a point in her life when she questions everything, she shakes up everything, and she turns a 180 on the way she’s been living.
There are spoilers ahead. Continue reading “Review: Echo Park”
Echo Park is a romance between Sophie (Mamie Gummer) and Alex (Anthony Okungbowa, who also produced) in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The film is directed by photographer and first time director Amanda Marsalis.
The brief film synopsis is, “Echo Park is a story of two people coming together across cultural economic and racial boundaries.” Continue reading “Watch This: Trailer for Echo Park”
This isn’t a review of Cake. This is a great big squee about Cake. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now. A big thank you to @joyfulng on Twitter for urging me to watch it.
Spoilers ahead. Continue reading “Review: Cake”
I am somewhat (okay, a whole lot) excited about Ricki and The Flash. The first excitement is the star Meryl Streep. Next, there’s the writer Diablo Cody.
But wait! There’s more! Check this out:
“Meryl Streep takes on a whole new gig – a hard-rocking singer/guitarist – for Oscar®-winning director Jonathan Demme and Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody in Ricki and the Flash. In an original and electrifying film loaded with live musical performances, Streep stars as Ricki Rendazzo, a guitar heroine who made a world of mistakes as she followed her dreams of rock-and-roll stardom. Returning home, Ricki gets a shot at redemption and a chance to make things right as she faces the music with her family. Streep stars opposite her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer; Rick Springfield, portraying a Flash member in love with Ricki; Kevin Kline as Ricki’s ex-husband; and Audra McDonald as Kline’s new wife.”
Oh, my, what a cast. Meryl Streep singing rock and roll and slinging a guitar around like she knows what to do with it. Oh, my.
There is something so magical about Meryl Streep. Just a glance at this image of her in her costume and you know she’s going to kill in this part. In real life she’s 65, matronly, wearing glasses and a not very exciting dress. Put her in front of a camera, yell action, and something special happens. I feel lucky to be able to watch what Meryl Streep does and be amazed by it again and again.
Mamie Gummer lets herself look like hell in this film. I love that. I love the smacking that Ricki gets from her family, from her ex husband’s new wife. I love the Rick Springfield, the Kevin Kline, the Audra McDonald. This film better be good, because I love it.
Enough already with the gushing. See what you think of the trailer. The film opens August 7.
Meryl Streep images © 2015 – Sony Pictures Entertainment
Cake stars Jennifer Aniston as a woman in chronic pain. The big excitement is that she doesn’t wear any makeup in the film. Aaackk! Looking at a woman with no makeup on may cause brain damage! Are you prepared to put your brain in danger by going to see Cake?
That isn’t right. I made that up. The real truth is acting in a film without wearing makeup may lead to an Oscar. The point is, if you’re brave enough to show your face without makeup, you must be a great actress and not just some airhead from Friends.
All kidding aside, chronic pain is no joke. I deal with it. Many people do. I think the topic of the film is going to connect with a lot of people. Many people understand the agony involved in daily living with chronic pain depicted in Cake. And, yeah, give me ALL the pills.
The film also stars Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Mamie Gummer, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Chris Messina, Lucy Punch and Britt Robertson. That’s an excellent cast. It’s directed by Daniel Barnz.
The film opens in January 2015. January is not the best month to release a film if you’re hoping for Oscar nods, but that’s the schedule.
This is the International trailer for The Homesman, which will release in the U.S. in November. The film stars and is directed by Tommy Lee Jones. Others in the film are Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, and Sonja Richter. The tale is about claim jumper and a pioneer woman, who team up to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa.
Meryl Streep is also in the cast. It looks like a small part based on the trailer, and the IMDB info for the film shows her name way down at the bottom of the cast list. The reason I’m making a big deal about it is that as far as I know this is the first film that Meryl Streep has appeared in with one of her children also in the cast. Grace Gummer is Meryl Streep’s daughter. (Another daughter, Mamie Gummer, is also an actress.)
