Posted on March 23, 2010 by Darren
Jennifer Aniston’s romantic comedy The Bounty Hunter may not have quite set the US box office alight last weekend (coming third behind Alice in Wonderland and some film even I’ve never heard of), but she’s still one of Hollywood’s biggest name leading ladies currently on film – and I don’t see that changing. And she’s 41 years old. Sandra Bullock, that darling of the nineties romantic comedy, spent last year reaffirming her golden touch, with the surprising-even-by-the-standards-of-the-genre romantic comedy The Proposal and an Oscar-winning role in The Blind Side. There was also a Razzie-winning role in All About Steve, but she even managed to use that to demonstrate that she is still one of the queens of Hollywood. And she’s 45 years old. Are the attitudes towards women – particularly leading women – changing in Hollywood?
Is Aniston on a winning Streep?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: age, ageing women, ageism, films, gender, hollywood, jennifer aniston, leading ladies, leading roles, meg ryan, middleage, Movies, Oscars, sandra bullock, sexism, the bounty hunter, women, women in their forties | 6 Comments »
Posted on March 11, 2010 by Darren
Disney: It’s not for boys.
It emerged earlier in the week that Disney changed the name of their next almost-conventionally-animated movie from Rapunzel, which makes sense, to Tangled, which doesn’t. People were a little confused, since Disney has traditionally been fairly straightforward in making its adaptations – Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, Snow White, The Little Mermaid and so on are all named for the myths and stories which form their basis. Why the sudden name change? Apparently because boys won’t go to see Disney movies. Apparently they are more likely to go and see a movie called Tangled.
All tangled up...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, cartoons, disney, male audience, Movies, rapunzel, sexism, tangled, the princess and the frog | 19 Comments »
Posted on March 6, 2010 by Darren
The best part of The Walking Dead is the premise, brilliantly summed up by Robert Kirkman in his afterword: why do zombie movies end? The answer is quite logical, as he concedes, in that people don’t want to spend their life in a cinema watching 24-hour zombie movies. Okay, most people don’t want to do that. Somewhat forshadowing the recent announcement we’d be getting a Walking Dead television series (from Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist, no less), Kirkman argues that comics and television are the only media that can truly support a longterm continuous narrative. What happens after your favourite zombie film ends? It’s an interesting premise to be sure. It’s just a shame that the initial twelve issues of the series don’t quite live up to it.
Better off red?
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: black and white, Comics, end of the workld, frank darbont, image comics, review, robert kirkman, sexism, the walking dead, zombie apocalypse, zombies | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 13, 2010 by Darren
Who says sexism is dead? To look at the bulk of the romantic comedy genre, you wouldn’t know it. The subtext of any given mainstream big budget romantic comedy is that guys are stupid and unaware dinosaurs, while women are just the tiniest bit uptight and are neurotic in a mild and endearing manner. The Ugly Truth probably isn’t the worst offender – I felt much worse coming out of 27 Dresses, to be honest – but it is the most recent one I’ve seen.
It's a familiar dance...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: gender, gerard butler, Katherine Hiegl, Movies, non-review review, review, romance, romantic comedy, sexism, sexist, the ugly truth, valentine's day | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 29, 2009 by Darren
There is an interesting article in The Guardian written by Samantha Morton, which lauds Nicole Kidman’s decision to announce that Hollywood treats women as sex objects and Matt Damon’s announcement that he won’t do excessively violent films. They are both valid points for discussion, but I’m never quite sure what to make of it when an artist makes a public anouncement like that, clearly politicising their work. Anyone who neede Nicole Kidman to tell them that Hollywood treats women as objects obviously hasn’t been paying attention to any film released ever, and I doubt anyone will be particularly surprised to here Matt Damon won’t turn up as a lead in Saw. That’s not to diminish their observation, but part of me is always uncomfortable abou the increasing politicalisation of actors and celebrities in our culture.
Not kidding around...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, discussion, film, Movies, nicole kidman, role models, samantha morton, sex objects, sexism, the guardian, violence, Why Nicole Kidman was brave to speak out | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 22, 2009 by Darren
A trend I’ve noticed appearing over the last few years is the none-too-subtle attempt to genre-shift movies away from the stereotypical audience demographics associated with those genres to other stereotypical audience demographics. I’m speaking of course of the trend to sell movie genres that have generally been associated as ‘chick fare’ to ‘manly men’. At the moment we have the news that a manly manly musical is being adapted to big screen by Hairspray helmer Adam Shankman – Rock of Ages will be a jukebox musical featuring artists like Journey or Twisted Sister and appears to be a blatant play for the middle age male audience.
Rock on, man...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: film genres, gender roles, genres, mamma mia!, men, movies for me, movies for women, musicals, rock of ages, romantic comedies, sexism, sexist, stereotyping, women | Leave a comment »
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