New Thread: Women in Movies

My blogs are often created as responses to requests of clients seeking research or to my own interests. I was recently put on the board of the new website www.Twolia.com and my blog on that site will be posted here as well because it is hitting that all important demographic: Woman.

Here is the first:
I am going to blog about women in film...starting with Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" which is bound for Academy Awards.

If you want to follow this blog, also sign up for free to www.imdb.com because that's where you can find out more about the names here. If you are a film professional, you might sign up ($100/ year) to www.IMDbPro.com where you'll get even more information with contact information.
So, Kathryn Bigelow has been an actress, is a writer, director and producer. A list of films she's directed (from IMDb of course) is here.

The Hurt Locker (2008)
Mission Zero (2007)
"Karen Sisco" (1 episode, 2004) - He Was a Friend of Mine (2004) TV episode
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)... aka K*19: The Widowmaker (USA: poster title)... aka K-19 - Showdown in der Tiefe (Germany)... aka K-19: Terreur sous la mer (Canada: French title)
The Weight of Water (2000)... aka Le poids de l'eau (France)
"Homicide: Life on the Street" (3 episodes, 1998-1999)... aka "Homicide" (USA: informal short title) - Lines of Fire (1999) TV episode - Fallen Heroes: Part 2 (1998) TV episode - Fallen Heroes: Part 1 (1998) TV episode
Strange Days (1995)
"Wild Palms" (1993) TV mini-series (hour 4)
Point Break (1991)
Blue Steel (1989)
New Order: Substance (1989) (V) (video "Touched By The Hand Of God")
Near Dark (1987)
The Loveless (1982)... aka Breakdown
The Set-Up (1978)
Her films are very male in that they deal with action, hard core crime, and in "The Hurt Locker", with war - this time in Iraq. After that absolutely fantastic film, you never need to see another movie on Iraq. I looked hard for the woman's touch and maybe found it in a rather out of place scene where one of the soldiers sneaks into a private home and the woman of the house yells at him until he leaves like a dog with his tail between his legs.

It looks like Bigelow is bound for the Oscars which brings to mind someone else's blog which I am going to post here as well. Anne Thompson in Thompson on Hollwood (TOH!) in her article (see Ladies First) says:

"If Kathryn Bigelow were to be nominated for best director, she would become only the fourth woman - and second American woman - ever to receive that honor. If “The Hurt Locker” were to be nominated for best picture, it would become only the seventh best picture directed (or co-directed) by a woman. And for the first time ever, she could have some female competition. Back in indieWIRE‘s post-Cannes awards check-in, we noted the first inclinations of this fantastic potential. Jane Campion (one of the previous three female director nominees) seems to be in good shape for contention after the Cannes screenings of her “Bright Star", and Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” was still enjoying the promise that met it at the Sundance Film Festival.

Both “Star” and “Education” - set for release in September and October, respectively - continue to seem like likely fixtures in the awards race. And they could possibly be joined by a few as-yet-unseen female-helmed films, from Mira Nair’s “Amelia” to Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest” to Nancy Meyer’s (who has supassed Penny Marshall as the highest grossing woman director) as-yet-untitled (It's Complicated) but promisingly cast (Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin!) new film. That makes for six strong female-directed possibilities - not to mention a slew of female-centric possibilities like Rob Marshall’s “Nine” and Lee Daniels’s “Precious” (oddly enough, both directed by gay men) - in these unchartered ten best picture-nominee waters. And wouldn’t that make good on the Academy’s suggestion that the fattened shortlist would “broaden the possibilities” of Oscar?

At this point, it would be surprising if five films that have already screened either theatrically or in festivals—“The Hurt Locker,” “Bright Star,” “An Education,” “Precious” and “Up”—did not end up serious contenders for Oscar’s top ten. That would make for half the list being filled with three female directed-films, a film directed by an African-American (which has never made the shortlist), and an animated film (which has happened just once in 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast”)."