Made in Dagenham

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: In 1968, Ford Automotive's female factory workers in Dagenham, England went on strike to try to get equal pay for women, and in the process shut down the whole plant, putting their own husbands out of work, and pissing everybody off.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine James, Daniel Mays, Andrea Riseborough, Miranda Richardson, Jaime Winstone, Rosamund Pike, Kenneth Cranham, Richard Schiff, Rupert Graves, Marcus Hutton, Roger Lloyd-Pack

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Anything worth having is worth fighting for. But in this day and age, we've all grown so entitled about what we think we deserve that we don't think we still have to fight to get it, and sometimes I wonder if any of us will ever have anything worth having again.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I finally understand why I'm reading so much about Andrea Riseborough in all the Hollywood trade magazines. In this movie, she looks like Angelina Jolie with a potty-mouth and a low class British accent. So as you can imagine, she has all the good lines.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Most of the time... then again, women's lib has been my issue since elementary school, where I used to pick fist-fights with the boys just to prove that a girl could beat them up, so maybe it's just me.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I can't imagine any of the British Awards will overlook this Norma Rae for Limeys.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The British don't ever seem to put actors in their movies who can't act. Can you think of anyone in any British movie that was less than excellent?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I'm trying to figure out what it is about Nigel Cole that attracts him to so many projects about the plight of women. In Calendar Girls he fought against ageism geared at women by telling the story of a group of women over 50 who put together a nude calendar, and here he follows that up with what can only be described as part two of a natural trilogy. I'm thinking the final installment should be about a group of women who figure out how to get their husbands to do housework.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: You know this script is British because nothing gets overly dramatic or in your face, and right when you think of the obvious comeback for a character, they say something much more subtle, and possibly more effective than the obvious.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/made-in-dagenham/51718/video/made-in-dagenham-trailer-no-1/648405641001

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The Social Network

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of how Mark Zuckerberg invented--ahem-- stole the idea for Facebook.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Rashida Jones, Rooney Mara, Brenda Song

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Facebook has changed the way we live our lives, so finding out that every person behind its creation is a total a-hole is enlightening-- by which I mean disheartening.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Any time you see a character with such profound sociopathy, it's bound to make you laugh once or twice. I mean, come on, people who can't relate to others are hysterical!

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It certainly should make cry the good people at MySpace and Friendster. They're probably still scratching their heads as to why Facebook is having so much more success than they are, for providing basically the same service.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Yes. It's the front runner in buzz so far, and why shouldn't it be? When there are no movies out about handicapped people, the next most likely award recipient is always the tortured genius-- probably because being on the brilliant side of retarded is still considered a handicap.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Jesse Eisenberg is perfectly cast as the sort of stuck-up, entitled, Harvard nerd that I've often encountered. Armie Hammer's portrayal of the stuck-up, entitled, Harvard jerk also ressembles my experience of Harvard people. And Andrew Garfield, who constantly gets rave reviews and hot upcoming roles (like Spiderman), is totally not growing on me.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: David Fincher has certainly done more showy movies than this one, which doesn't stand out as having a branded-imprint directing-wise. For this kind of story, though, that's probably a wise choice.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Okay, I know Aaron Sorkin is a genius and all that, but instead of giving him carte blanche, I feel like somebody's gotta point out that nobody talks like that. In particular, I was struck by the fakeness of the first conversation between Mark and his girlfriend, right before she breaks up with him, as well as the introduction of the Winklevoss twins, as they pompously row their crew boat, several boat-lengths ahead of their competitors, calmly discussing how one of them should row forward while the other rows backwards to make it a fair race. Come on!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-social-network/1413499/trailers

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The Stoning of Soraya M.

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When an Iranian man’s wife refuses to divorce him, because he’s not offering her enough money to put food on the table for their daughters, he mounts a plot to get rid of her so that he can marry the 14 year old girl of his dreams.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marno, James Caviezel, Navid Negahban, Ali Pourtash, Davis Diaan, Parviz Sayya, Vachik Mangassarian

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. (In case you didn’t already gather that from the title.) This is a powerful and disturbing movie, based on a true story. All of you should be strong enough of heart and mind to see this gut-wrenching film about the inhumanities being procured against women around the world, but I know that some of you aren’t. Yes, that is a challenge. I double-dog dare you to see this amazing film.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: It’s not too big on the comic relief. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the whole stoning a girl to death thing?

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: : If it doesn’t, you have the heart of a Jihadist, and you should sign yourself up to the Terror Watch List immediately.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It's showcasing at the L.A. Film Festival this weekend, and since that's run by the same organization as the Independent Spirit Awards, it's safe to say it's on its way. The only concern I have for this film, is that it's a little too good to get a Spirit Award nomination, and far too much about stoning a woman to death, for any of the voters to actually sit through it... wimps!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: You'll find out that Shohreh Aghdashloo’s first nomination (for House of Sand and Fog) wasn’t just a fluke. She is an Oscar caliber actress. And it's fun to see Jim Caviezel playing a French-Muslim as his follow up to Jesus, although I wasn’t sold on his efforts to sound French.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: It all takes place in a tiny little, picturesque Iranian town, built into a mountain, so it’s very beautiful to look at in all its claustrophobia. But at times the lighting goes from a fairly dark scene to an extremely bright scene, and my pupils literally had difficulty adapting and refocusing on the image… Something to consider for all you cinematographers out there.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: With a story this powerful, a screenwriter doesn’t have to do much outside of not mess it up. Which, thankfully, Cyrus and Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh didn't.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: The Iranians and the Muslims are not going to like how they’re portrayed in this film. But it’s a true story, so maybe instead of being offended, they should take part in re-educating the branches of their religion and culture that give men all the rights and women none. Also, when you see how government is run at the small town level in Iran, it sheds a lot of light on how their recent Presidential election could've gotten so messed up.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/the%20stoning%20of%20soraya%20m/trailers

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