Year: 2023 Director: Lana Wilson Runtime: 138 minutes By Morgan Roberts It is difficult to talk about “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” without acknowledging the normalization of the sexualization of girls – literally children – and young woman. Present day knowledge and perspective has given us the license to not explain away or ignore our gut feelings. Brooke Shields, as an actress and a model, was … Continue reading “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” Review
By Brian Skutle If I was looking forward most to revisiting “The Full Monty” (1997), I was looking forward to revisiting our final film, Todd Phillips’s “Joker” (2019), the least. I have had very mixed feelings about this film since its release- would this watch change anything for the better? The Composer: Hildur Guðnadóttir Guðnadóttir is an Icelandic cellist and composer from a family of musicians. … Continue reading Oscar Winning Women: Film Composers (Part 3 of 3)
By Brian Skutle One of the reasons I wanted to do this series was to give these scores an opportunity to engage me in a fresh way, with not just a fresh rewatch of the film, but listening to them again as I wrote these pieces. None was more anticipated in that respect was the second one in this series, Anne Dudley’s score for “The … Continue reading Oscar Winning Women: Film Composers (Part 2 of 3)
By Brian Skutle Film scores have been a fundamental part of my love of cinema since the 1990s. A big part of what has shaped my taste in terms of what film music I respond to is that, from the outset, I tried not to limit myself to just following the titans of the genre- names like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and Alan … Continue reading Oscar Winning Women: Film Composers (Part 1 of 3)
Film critic Calum Cooper reviews the magically dark and enchanting stop motion feature “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” Continue reading LFF2022 Review: Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Film critic Calum Cooper continues coverage of the London Film Festival by reviewing investigative journalism drama “She Said”. Continue reading LFF2022 Review: She Said
By Brian Skutle When Disney first purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, naturally, one of the first thoughts for many a “Star Wars”(1977) fan was the idea of getting more films and TV shows. “Clone Wars”(2008-2020) was going on Cartoon Network, but the prequel era had divided the fan base. New stories were not just on my mind, however. A new trilogy of films meant, of course, … Continue reading The Musical Force is Female: Natalie Holt’s Score for “Obi-Wan Kenobi”
The moment I heard that Greta Gerwig was attached to the first live-action film about “Barbie” I was totally on-board, especially when I heard that the wonderful Margot Robbie was going to be playing Barbie herself. The film is set to be released July 21, 2023 (which seems like a long long way off). So, what details do we know so far about the “Barbie” movie? Continue reading Everything We Know About “Barbie” So Far…
By Joan Amenn Last year at the Hot Docs International Film Festival, I was blown away by a debut film called “Lady Buds” (2021) (My review can be found here: https://intheirownleague.com/?s=Lady+Buds.) I am so honored that I got to speak to director Chris J. Russo just before the big premiere of “Lady Buds” on STARZ streaming service this week. We talked about the film, the … Continue reading Exclusive Interview: “Lady Buds” Director Chris J. Russo
By Morgan Roberts Premiering at this year’s Sundance, “Sirens” is a documentary feature film following the lives of the women in the Lebanese metal band Slave to Sirens. The film explores the complexities of being in an all-female band, being misunderstood by society, and finding one’s voice. The film is directed by Moroccan-American filmmaker Rita Baghdadi. Baghdadi’s first feature film, “My Country No More,” was … Continue reading Sundance Interview with “Sirens” Director Rita Baghdadi
In Their Own League 