Posts Tagged Reviews

Quick hit: Fight racism and sexism in the art world

It’s no secret that the art world has something of a diversity problem.

Courtney has previously written about women in art, questioning the lack of gender equality in the art world and presenting some crucial ideas and resources for female artists.

And she has cited some grim statistics, including the fact that only 8 percent of the work that the Museum of Modern Art exhibits is by women. A similar problem exists for people of color and the art world, with some estimates putting those who frequent art museums at 92% white.

Yet there seems to be no shortage of talented, ambitious artists of all different races and genders who are eager to make it with their art, and an audience ...

It’s no secret that the art world has something of a diversity problem.

Courtney has previously written about women in art, questioning the lack of gender equality in the art world and presenting some crucial ideas and ...

Some thoughts on the “Beats, Rhymes & Life” documentary

I didn’t know what to expect when I went to see “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest,” a documentary directed by Michael Rapaport. A Tribe Called Quest is no doubt one of the most influential and groundbreaking hip hop groups to ever live. So of course I was curious. But there’s been so much drama surrounding the thing! Quibbles and quarrels around content, production, and credit made me skeptical from the jump. Perpetual critic Armond White panned it to Jay Smooth’s unsurprise, but many have praised it for elevating hip hop to new heights and doing justice to a somewhat complicated story about culture, genre, and stardom in just ...

I didn’t know what to expect when I went to see “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest,” a documentary directed by Michael Rapaport. A Tribe Called Quest is no ...

Not Oprah’s Book Club: Maine

Maine is the second novel from J. Courtney Sullivan, who I interviewed last year, and who co-edited the anthology Click with our own Courtney.

Like Sullivan’s first novel Commencement, Maine shows us the world through the eyes of four different women. This time, however, the women are connected not by the bonds of friendship, but by blood and by marriage – which, as we all know, sometimes fail to bind us together in the ways we might hope. And because the main characters in Maine are older than those in Commencement, Maine feels like a more adult version of Sullivan’s first book, as though Sullivan has grown up, and so too have the people through whom she tells ...

Maine is the second novel from J. Courtney Sullivan, who I interviewed last year, and who co-edited the anthology Click with our own Courtney.

Like Sullivan’s first novel Commencement, Maine shows us the world through ...

The Feministing Rom Com Review: Valentine’s Day

For the last year, I’ve been watching and reviewing romantic comedies as a part of the Rom Com Review series. I’ve reviewed:

Our Family Wedding, Date Night, Going the Distance, How Do You Know, Just Wright, Killers, Life As We Know It, Morning Glory, She’s Out of My League, The Back-Up Plan and The Bounty Hunter.

That’s eleven rom coms in total.

But I missed one. The year is almost at an end, and some of you might have noticed that I failed to review the biggest rom com of the year. I failed to review Valentine’s Day. It is indeed true that I did not review Valentine’s Day, partly because the Rom Com Review series didn’t start until March.

As it turns ...

For the last year, I’ve been watching and reviewing romantic comedies as a part of the Rom Com Review series. I’ve reviewed:

Our Family Wedding, Date Night, Going the Distance, How Do You Know, Just Wright, Killers, Life ...

The Feministing Rom Com Review: Morning Glory

You know what we see a lot of these days? Movies about uptight career women who don’t have the time or social skills for a relationship and are subsequently miserable! Thank god someone made Morning Glory, a movie about an uptight career woman who doesn’t have the time or social skills for a relationship and doesn’t really mind because she loves her work.

That “someone” is Aline Brosh McKenna, who also wrote the screenplays for The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses and Margaret Cho’s short-lived semi-autobiographical sitcom All American Girl. With Morning Glory, Brosh McKenna gives us a movie about a woman with a job that she really cares about, a job that she prioritizes, and that she sometimes allows ...

You know what we see a lot of these days? Movies about uptight career women who don’t have the time or social skills for a relationship and are subsequently miserable! Thank god someone made Morning Glory, ...

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The Feministing Rom Com Review: Life As We Know It

I was predisposed to dislike Life As We Know It. Firstly, Christina Hendricks’ character is killed off in the first twenty minutes, a near-unforgiveable sin in my book. Secondly, Life As We Know It stars Katherine Heigl. Heigl has made a name for herself, in movies at least, by playing the same character over and over again: the uptight, quasi-feminist career woman with no social skills, who can’t loosen up and learn to love until she inexplicably falls for the man she initially and understandably hated. This guy is usually and asshole or a slacker (or both!). Heigl’s characters are a Backlash view of women’s progress, personified. In Heigl-Backlash world, feminism has made the modern woman a miserable ball ...

I was predisposed to dislike Life As We Know It. Firstly, Christina Hendricks’ character is killed off in the first twenty minutes, a near-unforgiveable sin in my book. Secondly, Life As We Know It stars Katherine Heigl. ...

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