Ladies and the Lens

I was chit chatting with a new friend about female directors and wanted to list some of my favorites from the past few years.

Celine Sciamma





Catherine Breillat








Marianna Palka





Andrea Arnold

Ms. Arnold has a new movie coming out called Fish Tank that made some people pee their pants with excitement at Cannes. You can also check out her short Wasp on Cinema 16 or the youtuberie.

District 13: Ultimatum

I can't fully recommend this movie since I haven't seen it, but the first film (with a shockingly different name, District B13, its hard to even make a connection between the two) was awe-fully fun to watch. The story eats away at itself half way through and the acting is on the weak side, which doesn't really matter since the film is in French and subtitled. The stunts are amazing (its a form of street gymnastics called parkour) and in most cases completely real. If you like action even a little try out District B13 before you waste any money on Ultimatum.

A Single Man

For You

A well made, poignant, little movie. Its not so little, since it stars Colin Firth with Julianne Moore trailing behind him, but it is a first film from a first time director. A Single Man is based on the book (same title) by Christopher Isherwood, and is considered to be a lynchpin in the canon of gay fiction. The story is short. It takes place in the mind of the main character George, which means the script couldn't function without a narrator resulting in minimal dialog and an overload of perfect images. Is it a Gucci ad? Yes. Is it good? Yes. You'll love the performance by Colin Firth and one scene in particular, between himself and Ms. Moore, that sums up the confusion between straight and gay partnerships. Its worth the watch. I recommend the theater—its too pretty to pass up.

For Me

I hate narrators (unless its Woody Allen or Julie Delpy), and flashbacks—there is no getting around this—are cheating. The script was so bare that Mr. Firth is positively forced to give an over the top performance. That said, this was a great first film from Tom Ford. (Think he'll do another?) I can't give him a pass just because this is his first foray, but it was strong and well made. Since the script was weak, the dialog was sparse. Thank you producers! With more time to look and think it added a level of thoughtfulness to A Single Man. The performances are good (some better than others), but the shining moments of this film will come from the conversations to follow. My main talking point has been that A Single Man captures a time when we knew gay men existed, but couldn't tell if it was the person sitting next to you on the bus, your neighbor, even your college professor. Its about a secret world that I was more than happy to have been given a peek of.

A Single Man Trailer