Posts Tagged Rosemarie Dewitt
STEELE PICKS: Best Films of 2015
Posted by Amy Steele in Film on December 30, 2015
I’m not a film critic although when I worked at Harvard Business School I was the film critic for The Harbus and it was great fun going to screenings and interviewing actors such as Claire Danes, Rose Byrne, Donnie Wahlberg, Rose McGowan, Aidan Quinn, Andie MacDowell and David Cronenberg.
I’m a music critic and a book critic. That’s my focus. I can’t do everything. Yes, I cover the occasional television program.
I love film. I love indie film. I try to see a new film in the theater each week and my Netflix account [both streaming and DVD] remains quite active. I saw about 200 films this year. I don’t always pick the award winners but I pick what truly moved me. 5/20 of these films directed by women. 9/20 written or co-written by women. Many strong, intriguing female protagonists in these films.
Far from the Madding Crowd
directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
screenplay by: David Nicholls
starring: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen
Brooklyn
directed by: John Crowley
screenplay by: Nick Hornby
starring: Saorsie Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
Carol
directed by: Todd Haynes
screenplay by: Phyllis Nagy
starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
directed by: Marielle Heller
screenplay by: Marielle Heller
starring: Bel Powley, Kristen Wiig, Alexander Skarsgaard
Spotlight
directed by: Tom McCarthy
screenplay by: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
starring: Mark Ruffalo, John Slattery, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton
Tangerine
directed by: Sean Baker
screenplay by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian
Suffragette
directed by: Sarah Gavron
screenplay by: Abi Morgan
starring: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep
Room
directed by: Lenny Abrahamson
written by: Emma Donoghue
starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers
While We’re Young
directed by: Noah Baumbach
screenplay by: Noah Baumbach
starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver
Love and Mercy
directed by: Bill Pohlad
screenplay by: Oren Moverman, Michael A. Lerner
starring: Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks
Grandma
directed by: Paul Weitz
screenplay by: Paul Weitz
starring: Lily Tomlin, Sam Shepard, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden
Sicario
directed by: Denis Villeneuve
screenplay by: Taylor Sheridan
starring: Emily Blunt, Benecio Del Toro, Josh Brolin
Mistress America
directed by: Noah Baumbach
screenplay by: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
starring: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke
Steve Jobs
directed by: Danny Boyle
screenplay by: Aaron Sorkin
starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen
Infinitely Polar Bear
directed by: Maya Forbes
written by: Maya Forbes
starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky
McFarland, USA
directed by: Niki Caro
screenplay by: Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, Grant Thompson
starring: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts , Johnny Ortiz
The Age of Adaline
directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
screenplay by: J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz
starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford
Advantageous
directed by: Jennifer Phang
screenplay by: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang
starring: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams
Digging for Fire
directed by: Joe Swanberg
written by: Jake Johnson, Joe Swanberg
starring: Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sam Rockwell, Orlando Bloom
I Smile Back
directed by: Adam Salky
written by: Paige Dylan
starring: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles
Chi-Raq
directed by: Spike Lee
written by: Spike Lee
starring: Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack
notable performances: Bryan Cranston in Trumbo; Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road; Will Smith in Concussion; Amy Schumer in Trainwreck
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on DVD: films directed by/ written by women
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD, Film, Women/ feminism on February 21, 2014
Wadjda
Written and directed by: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Starring: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani
–a smart, spunky, brave Saudi girl signs on for her school’s Koran recitation competition to earn the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that she really wants even though it’s frowned upon for girls to ride bikes in Saudi Arabia.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
–A young Pakistani man chasing corporate success on Wall Street finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family’s homeland.
Directed by: Mira Nair
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Hudson
–riveting, intense film that questions intentions, good vs. evil, nationality, identity and prejudice with Nair’s gorgeous, thoughtful, heartbreaking direction.
Touchy Feely
–A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s floundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his healing touch.
Written and directed by: Lynn Shelton
Starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, Ellen Page, Josh Pais, Allison Janney
–quirky, charming, sweet
Adore
–two best friends fall in love with each other’s teenage sons
Written and directed by: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Robin Wright, Naomi Watts
–unsettling topic but with Wright and Watts it’s beautifully acted and as much about friendship as about these affairs with the young men. plus gorgeous, idyllic scenery.
Afternoon Delight
–Rachel, a savvy stay-at-home mom finds herself stuck in a rut of volunteering at preschool auctions, a lackluster sex life and long-gone career. When she visits a strip club to spice up her marriage and meets McKenna, she ends up adopting her as the family nanny.
Written and directed by: Jill Soloway
Starring: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor
–smart, astute script. unique film.
The Lifeguard
–29-year-old woman questioning her life’s direction, quits her reporter job in New York and moves home to Connecticut. she takes a job as a lifeguard and falls into a friendship with a teenager.
Written and directed by: Liz W. Garcia
Starring: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gumer, Martin Starr
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FALL FILMS ON MY RADAR
Posted by Amy Steele in Film on September 12, 2013
12 Years a Slave [Oct 18]
Director: Steve McQueen
starring: Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt
–a free black man from upstate New York gets abducted and sold into slavery in pre-Civil War United States
Touchy Feely [Sept 6]
Writer/director: Lynn Shelton
Starring: Rosemarie Dewitt, Ellen Page
–A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s floundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his healing touch.
Enough Said [Sept 20]
written and directed by: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss
–a divorced woman learns the man she’s interested in is her new best friend’s ex-husband
Rush [Sept 27]
directed by: Ron Howard
Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde, Chris Hemsworth
–great competition between two British car racers in the 70s. looks amazing.
Don Jon [Sept 27]
written and directed by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Glenne Headly, Tony Danza
–guy addicted to porn. written and directed by JGL looks to have a lot to say about mass culture.
Gravity [Oct 4]
director: Alfonso Cuaron
starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
–an accident leaves an astronaut and an engineer adrift in space. this looks so freaky.
Runner Runner [Oct 4]
written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien
starring: Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck
–not sure why Justin Timberlake’s been cast as a college student. It’s another of those off-shore entrepreneur meets an online poker player.
Captain Phillips [Oct 11]
Dir: Paul Greengrass
starring: Tom Hanks
–based on true story of ship hijacked by Somalian pirates. I’m all in.
Great Expectations [Oct 11]
directed by: Mike Newell
starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Flemyng, Toby Irvine
–A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom [Nov 29]
starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris
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Promised Land: film review
Posted by Amy Steele in Film on January 6, 2013
Description: When he’s dispatched to a small town similar to one he grew up in, a salesman [Matt Damon] for a natural gas company grows conflicted.
“You offered us money. All we had to do to get it was be willing to scorch the earth beneath our feet.”
This quiet film shows both sides of the natural gas issue through the eyes of a small farming community that’s struggling with a failing economy. As a natural gas company swoops in to buy up land, various people consider their future options. Will money from the company improve their lives or will the natural gas development exploit them and destroy their values? Wish it covered fracking in a bit more detail. Wonderful, thoughtful script by Matt Damon and John Krasinski and superb acting by Damon, Krasinski, Frances MacDormand, Rosemarie Dewitt and Hal Holbrook.
Promised Land is provocative and even confusing with a great twist. I got a bit teary at the end. Matt Damon’s character gives this speech to a farmer about how he grew up in the Midwest and couldn’t wait to get out of there and how the guy is most likely subsidized by the government and he didn’t understand why he’d keep on doing something that was so unforgiving and so outdated. To me that’s honest and makes complete sense. As much as people don’t want to give up the way things are, sometimes change needs to happen. We could re-allocate our resources in different ways. We need to embrace progress and change and move into the future without harming each other, our environment and animal.
–review by Amy Steele
Starring: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances Mac Dormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook
Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenplay: Matt Damon and John Krasinski
Studio: Focus Features
Rating: R (for language)
Release Date: January 4, 2013
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About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
Entertainment Realm by Amy Steele is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at entertainmentrealm.comCopyright © 2009. All writing, unless otherwise noted, by Amy Steele.
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