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Female Perversions (1996) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski) |
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This is one fucked-up, pretentious movie, filled with symbolism, surreal dream sequences, bleached-out images, people wearing ancient masks, and other arty bullshit. There are visible boom mikes in at least two scenes. Elya walked by while I was watching it, saw two women falling ever downward into the depths of a crucifix-shaped swimming pool, and said, "let me guess. A woman directed it." Indeed. Since this movie is not worth discussing, an interesting question might be, "what is the best movie ever directed by a woman?" There have never been many to choose from, and the number is actually declining. Year after year, the percentage of films directed by men hovers around 95%. Martha M. Lauzen, a San Diego State professor who studied the issue, found that women directed seven percent of the 100 top-grossing films released in 2000, and that number dropped to four percent the following year. The situation is slightly better for screenwriters, but even there, women maxxed out at 14% in 2000, dropping to 10% in 2001. The most dramatic exclusion is in cinematography. Professor Lauzen's study shows that men were the cinematographers on 100% of the top 250 films in both 2000 and 2001! No unquestioned masterpiece has ever been directed by a woman. The IMDb Top 250 includes no film which has been directed by a woman, although the acclaimed kiddie film Shrek (#111 of all time) was co-directed by a woman and a man. No woman has ever won the Oscar for best director, and only two have been nominated: Lina Wertmüller for "Seven Beauties" in 1976 (7.5 at IMDb), and Jane Campion for "The Piano" in 1993 (7.3 at IMDb), both of which are basically art house films. Leni Riefenstahl, the "documentarian" who created Triumph of the Will (7.4), is often considered to be the most influential female filmmaker in history, although her contributions are often minimized by historians because they essentially served pro-Nazi propaganda. Other female directors with successful recent films:
(It takes 7.7 to make the all-time top 250 at IMDb.) Although Bigelow is the only one on the list who makes action films, none of the films listed above are truly chick-flicks by our objective definition, which requires that the rating from females at IMDb be at least a point higher than the male rating. Four of the films, Clueless, Frida, Eve's Bayou, and A League of their Own, come close to chick-flick status by that definition. Although the overall 7.5 ratings indicate a dead heat for first place among four films - Seven Beauties, Frida, Europa Europa and Antonia's Line - a look inside the numbers shows that Frida is clearly ahead of the others. Female voters alone would place Frida into "classic" status at 8.2, and Frida also ties Seven Beauties for the highest score received from male voters, if one discounts the documentary movies.
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| All of the films on the list above are good, but it seems strange to be discussing them as the best of all time. After a century of filmmaking, it is not at all unreasonable to argue that last year's Frida is the best film ever directed by a woman. I think Frida is a good movie, and I think Taymor's own Titus might be even better, but I was surprised to see that there has never been a clearly better film from a female director than Taymor's movies, after all these decades. That's staggering. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Taymor is really a major talent, and may well yet get a best director nomination, but time is not on her side. For all her talent, didn't get to direct a full-length theatrical feature until she was 47 years old! Film directing is the last boy's club. |
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I should add that Female Perversions is in the major leagues of female celebrity nudity, and it features some fairly well-known actresses who have not gotten as naked elsewhere. Although women created the film, Zalman King produced it, so you know it will be filled with cheesy eroticism. On the other hand, Tilda Swinton is not my concept of a hot babe. With her giant protruding ears, angular face, and lifeless hair, she always reminds me of that kid who played Alfalfa on The Little Rascals. But I've found that there is a woman for every taste, so if you want to see Alfalfa nekkid and transexual, here's your big chance. To be serious for a second, she is a good enough actress that she managed to be quite sexy in a lot of scenes. Well ...sorta sexy, anyway. |
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