April 23, 2008

Will it be a Good Summer or Bad Summer for Women at the Movies?

One of my favorite issues of my favorite magazines arrived in my mailbox this weekend -- the Summer Movie Preview from Entertainment Weekly. Summer is the time where Hollywood makes most of its money, where we see all the tent-pole (boy) action-adventure (boy) films. I love going to the movies in the summer and I am usually less stringent about what I see, cause hey, it's summer. Here are some movies to put on your list to look forward to.

Sex and the City- loved the show, can't wait for the movie. I know that some people have feminist issues with the show, I don't - May 30

Brick Lane- A young Bangladeshi woman in London. Based on the best-selling novel- June 20

Wanted- can't really tell enough about this except that it looks like Angelina Jolie is back to her ass-kicking Tomb Raider days.- June 27

Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl- for the girl in your life. Those gigantic dolls come to life in the shape of Abigail Breslin- July 2

Mamma Mia!- Meryl sings along with Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and the daughter with the big eyes from Big Love Amanda Seyfried gets her big break playing Streep's daughter. Can't wait. July 18

Streep was asked this question by EW: This is a female-centered movie, written, directed and produced by women. How did that feel?

Meryl Streep: Very different. And the story celebrates all the good female stuff. So much of what we see now about girls feels retrograde. It's all backniting. But this is right smack back to the sisterhood of the '70s. That made me happy.
Hounddog- Deborah Kampmier's coming of age story starring Dakota Fanning. July 18

American Teen- Nanette Burstein's Sundance winning documentary which looks at teens in Indiana- July 25

Frozen River- Courtney Hunt's Sundance winning dramtic effort tells the story of two women who smuggle illegal immigrants. - August 1

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2- for the tweeners. The film reunites the four actresses who are now in college and navigating young adulthood.- August 8

Towelhead- tells the coming of age story of a 13-year-old girl who is sexually abused by a neighbor. Based on a true story. - August 15


What Else I'll Be Seeing
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- can't wait, especially to see the return of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood and Cate Blanchett as a page boy haired KGB agent.
Iron Man- the thinking man's action film
The X-Files- I Want to Believe
Batman, The Dark Knight