handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Pointless adaptation of the beloved children’s novel soaked in a gothic spookiness that seems to deliberately misunderstand the story. Neither literal enough nor magical enough. My heart was unmoved.
It’s Christmas for movies about women! Women-centered Mary Queen of Scots, The Favourite, Second Act, and Bumblebee all open wide over the holidays. Amazing.
Women get wide releases! Christina Hodson writes and Hailee Steinfeld stars in sci-fi action-adventure Bumblebee; Deborah Davis cowrites and Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz star in historical dramedy The Favourite; more…
Amanda Seyfried learns about her mother Meryl Streep’s past; Lauren Greenfield looks back to her childhood in glitzy Los Angeles to explore American materialism; and more…
Amanda Seyfried and Lily James sing ABBA tunes; Jodie Foster patches up criminals; Lauren Greenfield investigates Western materialism; and more…
Beautifully portrays a very universal experience — not only of immigration but of growing up — via an elegantly nuanced performance by Saoirse Ronan.
The state of women onscreen these days is so bad that a neutral score of zero is actually a positive! [This post is not behind the paywall.]
Adorable. So witty and compassionate and bittersweet and just the right little bit of snarky that you will cry tears of joy from the perfection of it.
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, but Harry Potter has been sold out since Christmas and, well, that’s the only new movie opening everywhere. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, … more…
