52 Tuesdays movie rating: green light
Compassionate Australian drama about a teenaged girl’s sexual awakening that is complicated by her mother’s transgender transition to manhood.
coming of age
The Diary of a Teenage Girl movie review: crossing no-woman’s-land to adulthood
It shouldn’t be radical to see a movie treat a girl with this level of appreciation and understanding of her most intimate inner self. Yet it is.
Of Girls and Horses movie review: wishes are horses
A lovely film with a compassionate appreciation for how teen girls can often find a sort of comfort in clinging to their woundedness and pain.
Slow West movie review: dark horseplay
Michael Fassbender is never not worth watching, and his unique blend of cynical smarts and weary humor is perfectly suited to this bitterly funny road trip.
The Sisterhood of Night movie review: bitch hunt
There are no cartoon Mean Girls here; instead, we get striking portraits of girls in pain, desperately grasping for coping mechanisms.
Madame Bovary movie review: why woman why cry?
A cold, sterile film, bereft of the spirit and danger Gustave Flaubert’s groundbreaking novel demands.
McFarland USA (aka McFarland) movie review: run and deliver
“Put Kevin Costner in it and you’ve got a sporty Stand and Deliver. The script writes itself.”
Big Game movie review: small potatoes
A kid rescues the President. It sounds like a joke movie The Onion might invent to satirize Hollywood preposterousness, but I swear to god, it’s real.
Testament of Youth movie review: woman’s war story
A compassionate, distressing tale of a woman’s determination to find her own purpose, full of heartbreaking moments that pile up until they’re unbearable.
Girlhood and Honeytrap movie(s) review: mean girl streets
Two films about poor black teen girls offer harrowing — and very universal — portraits of how our culture tries to crush the spirit out of all girls.
