Recently in Film Category

*WARNING SPOILER ALERT*
This post contains the ending to "An Officer and a Gentleman", so if you haven't seen the movie and wish to, do not watch the video or read any further.

Of all the endings of movies out there, I believe this one to be the epitome of the whole Cinderella fantasy; where the girl is rescued by her knight in shining armor.

This movie should really piss me off, but there's something about it that grabs me, maybe it's the little girl in me that gets stirred when I watch it;
the little girl who read fairy tales when she was little, and wore dresses in an attempt to look like the princesses in Disney films.

Damn you Hollywood for forcing me to swoon, and telling me that I need a knight in shining armor to rescue me from my hell because I can't do it on my own. (gets all teary eyed)

To be fair the movie is a classic.

Hey everyone.

This is my first post here, but I have been following the site for a long time. I really love and support everything you stand for.

Anyway, so I was browsing my Google Reader this afternoon and saw the headline of one of the stories in the new movies section.

'Lesbian Vampire Killers'

I clicked on it, and it just go worse. The picture below is the poster for the movie which depicts a naked "lesbian" and two thumbs up.

I have seen a lot of fucked up things but i was still shocked by this.

I couldn't believe how low they would sink to advertise a movie.

Playing on the fact that pretty much every fucking male seems to get off on seeing two girls together (but god forbid two guys. No that would be GAY!). Not only that, but combining it with vampires. It's just lame.

This kind of thing is degrading to women, degrading to lesbians and even vampires...I hope they loose 3 times as much as they spend making it.

Anyway. That's pretty much all i wanted to say. Just wanted to get it out there. =)

- Ben

Perhaps I've been grading too many papers this week and my ability to communicate has sustained serious damage, because all I can say about this is puke. Double puke.

I saw the latest installment of the 007 franchise this weekend, "Quantum of Solace." Everyone else? Loved it. Me? Eh... I suppose I'm a "humorless feminist."

Here's my issue. Why can't there be an awesome female role in these sorts of movies? The latest Daniel Craig version has been touted as "new" and "progressive." Is it? Maybe. There is a "green message," and less emphasis on the fancy gadgets, but aside from that, it seemed to forget that women watch movies too.

I've never been the biggest Bond Fan.... But I always see the movies. The hard part for me is to take them seriously when the only roles for women are those of the motherly "M," or the power-hungry women who have beat the odds to become Bond's bedmate.

Forget Sarah Palin (oh how I wish I could), Hollywood has given us angry women a new, easy-on-the-eyes 'feminist' role model.

Meet Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Played by Keira Knightly in the cleverly-named "The Duchess," this woman is truly the old-time "new face of feminism." I mean, she's played by Keira Knightly! And she makes witty comments! What more could you ask for?

Quite a lot, it turns out. See, take "The Duchess," translate it forward by 300 years or so, and it's no longer a sexy period piece, it's a case study:

Having seen the preview for this film, and not knowing anything else about it, I agreed to go with my fiance and another male friend to the theater tonight to see it.  It started out pretty well, (if a bit generically) as another movie detailing fast spreading illness, quarantine, the breakdown of society in times of crisis, etc. 

However, about an hour into the film, after the villain of the film says that everyone will have to pay for food (the scene they show in the preview), AND after everyone has already paid with what material valuables they have, you guessed it.  They mandate that every room will have to pay with women in order to eat. 

"The Women" staring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, and Jada Pinkett Smith was sloppy, and witless. Beyond that they made an accomplishment - they had a token lesbian and black person with attitude! They brilliant thought to combine into one character.

The women treat their men like dogs, or let themselves be treated like dogs. Sylvia Fowler (Annette Bening) at the end talks about the new love interest, it was like "seeing her puppy in the pound like a kennel" or something to those lines. Jada Pinkett Smith dates her "supermodel" girlfriend as an accessory. Tanya (Debi Mazar) had every right to be angry - she is a person, not a pony to trot out for show.

I am the vice president of the Pro Choice group on my campus, and we are trying to plan a film screening and discussion panel. We're having some trouble coming up with a film to show. We want something contemporary enough that people will come to it, but also topical. Dirty Dancing is our fallback, but it's kind of overused. I do not want to show Knocked Up or Juno, which are two suggestions I've gotten so far, I'd really like something that is a little more topical so that there is more to talk about in the discussion. Any ideas?

I came across a very interesting article about women and Hollywood, specifically about how female characters are written and portrayed in Hollywood movies.  It'll be no surprise that film teachers discourage writing female characters that don't support the lead male character.  She puts forth a "test" that she describes.  It has three steps:

To pass it your movie must have the following:

1) there are at least two named female characters, who

2) talk to each other about

3) something other than a man.

Seems pretty simple, right?  Not really.  I started thinking about my favorite movies and had trouble thinking of ones that fit this bill.  You really should go to her article and read more in-depth about her experience as a female screen writer and how sexism pervades the whole system.

On June 28th 2008, I took my first steps onto the campus of the College of New Jersey for a cost-free, nine-day intensive study program for high school juniors at New Jersey's Governor's School of the Arts. The application process, which began in November 2007, had been long and rather stressful, but I was still nearly jumping with excitement at the prospect of working with other creative artists, particularly in my division - video and film.

Up until that point, I had never really encountered sexism or misogyny in regards to my future career in filmmaking. My parents have always encouraged me to pursue my dreams, however challenging they might be. Although my mother is slightly uncomfortable with "the f-word" of feminism, she respects my ambitions and has told me multiple times to "go out there and kick some butt, honey." I also consider myself lucky to have a mentor at our local television station who worked for a major network for forty years and has selflessly taken me under his wing. In a matter of a few months, I was directing entire episodes of our community television show - and loving the experience.