Author: Megan Purdy

Backlight: Hollywood Is a Hellscape But There’s Still Some Cool Projects to Look Forward To

The New York Times published a major investigative piece this week exposing decades of sexual harassment by Miramax head, Harvey Weinstein. NYT used a combination of named and unnamed sources, internal documents, and legal filings from settled claims to piece together a story of thirty years  of using his position to manoeuvre women into uncomfortable…

Disobedience, Sebastien Lelio

Disobedience Is A Slow-Burning Portrait of Grief, Love and Community

Disobedience Sebastián Lelio (director), Danny Cohen (cinematographer), Nathan Nugent (editor) Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola (cast) Adapted from the Naomi Alderman novel Disobedence by Sebastián Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz September 10, 2017 (TIFF) Sebastián Lelio made two films this year about women being denied access to the formal grieving process of their society. In…

A Fantastic Woman

A Fantastic Woman Is Fantastic

A Fantastic Woman Sebastián Lelio (director), Benjamín Echazarreta (cinematographer), Soledad Salfate (editor) Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Kuppenheim, Nicolas Saavedra, Amparo Noguera, Nestor Cantillana, Antonia Zegers, Sergio Hernandez (cast) Released February 12, 2017 (Berlin), April 6, 2017 (Chile) Marina and Orlando enjoy a night out to celebrate their relationship, which is only a…

mother! Is Unbearably Corny

mother! Darren Aronofsky (director and writer), Matthew Libatique (cinematographer), Andrew Weisblum (editor) Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer September 5, 2017 (Venice), September 15, 2017 (USA) There are three ideas in mother! and they’re all garage sale specials, ground so well trod by Hollywood that the film’s last minute twist is both guessable early…

Backlight: Women In the Director’s Chair

Seeing Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman turn into a huge commercial success is a special kind of schadenfreude. Superhero and other popcorn action films have been been particularly resistant to give female directors a chance, even while allowing mediocre white men to fail upwards, from mild indie successes to headlining major franchises. But it’s too easy…

2017 Comics Journalism and Critics Survey

Many people in comics feel uncomfortable discussing money. Many more feel uncomfortable confronting editors or employers about issues in the work environment. I decided to poll comics journalists and critics to find out: who they are, how much money they’re making, and how comfortable they are doing their work. This unscientific survey is open to…

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