The Bride (1985) Can a male scientist create a woman “as bold and proud as a man. A woman equal to ourselves.” What a chauvinistic question, especially when the man christens his perfect woman “Eva,” after Genesis. Designed, I suspect, as a vanity project either for Sting or for Jennifer Beals, the screenwriter Lloyd Fonvielle … More The Bride (1985)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) Carmen Maura gives a defining performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish screwball comedy. Inspired by Jean Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine, the film reveals a ‘new woman’ of the Post-Franco generation, someone who, like Pepa, caught in a whirlwind of passionate breakup, takes control of her life, and, … More Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Frida (2002) “In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, the country’s artists forged a new painterly vocabulary, which fused European modernism with local folkloric traditions, and became a global phenomenon.” After years of problems getting this screenplay produced, Julie Taymor was hired to direct this biopic based on a biography of Frida Kahlo. Selma Hayek … More Frida (2002)
Foxy Brown (1974) Jack Hill wrote and directed Pam Grier in this classic blaxploitation film about a woman who takes revenge on the mobsters who murdered her man. “Well who’s black and what is a black person?” – Pam Grier Beneath all the pop pizzazz, Jack Hill channels Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time … More Foxy Brown (1974)
