When I started this blog in 2016, I made a master list of all the films directed by women that I wanted to write about; after many years, I've only made the tiniest dent.
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Highly stylized and reminiscient of directors like David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, and Sergio Leone (but not in a derivative way). It's mainly neo-noir, but with a heavy dash of spaghetti western, and a touch of classic horror. Composed mainly of wide shots and shot in lush black
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I knew immediately that this film was shot in Brooklyn, but had I not known the year, I would have had trouble guessing. It opens at a strip club with ladies dancing to Khia's "My Neck, My Back," but somehow feels timeless. The cinematography, which
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Absurd in the best kind of way. About twenty minutes in, my boyfriend turned to me and asked, "what is this?" I couldn't answer because I truly had no idea. It's as stylized as a Wes Anderson film, as strange as David Lynch,
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Soft, gentle, and kind... until it knocks you down on the ground and guts you like a fish. If you let it, this film will emotionally crush you and leave you silently crying in bed, trying not to wake your partner.
If you can avoid it, don't
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The world is a shitty, gruesome place filled with shitty, gruesome people.
The loss of virginity isn't a magical, special act that happens between two people who love each other. It's not Marissa and Ryan, Chuck and Blair, Jane and Michael. It's often
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Kickass. So, so, so kickass.
"Wonder Woman" is all the words we keep cross stitching on pillows: Boss Bitch. Patriarchy Smashing. Nasty Woman. Feminist As Fuck. Squad. Girl Power.
Remember in "The Force Awakens" (Abrams, 2015) when Rey kicks Kylo Ren squarely in the chest
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Charming, joyful, and engaging. If this film ended after the scene of Val (Regina Casé) finally splashing around in the pool, I would sing its praises completely; however, it takes a weird detour that doesn't seem to fit with the tone or narrative style. The ending ties
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Hysterically funny. I grew up watching Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers, so I knew this film would be right up my alley. Elaine May is a master of physical comedy and I laughed for at least five minutes during the scene where she was stuck
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I won't sugarcoat it: this film is incredibly depressing. If I had worse parents, I might be in a position similar to Wanda's right now. Thankfully, Jim & Joni Pugh encouraged me to get the fuck out of my sad hometown and do what makes
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Unsettling and difficult to categorize. "Raw" exists outside of reality in a "Twin Peaks" Season One kind of way. To enjoy it, you must completely suspend your disbelief and succumb to Julia Ducournau's fucked up, gloomy, alcohol-fueled world.
You might find yourself running
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Heavily nostalgic. "Big" reminds me what it was like to be twelve-years-old and wanting so desperately to be independent from my parents even though I still loved and needed them.
Twelve-years-old is right around the time when I realized, "Oh, shit... I shouldn't play
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Like a Brontë novel come to life, "The Piano" is dark, Gothic romance at its best. It's a quiet, intensely emotional film, where everything is depressing and beautiful at the same time. As with many Jane Campion projects, it makes me want to immediately plan
