When last year I spoke with Illeana Douglas we discussed her work highlighting the accomplishments of women behind the camera. We also talked about her involvement as executive producer of the Kino Lorber five-disc collection “Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers.” As I've discovered, Douglas is continuing her mission by hosting TCM’s annual “Trailblazing Women” series for the second year in a row. The current

There is always a time when the topic of Female Directors becomes pertinent. Kathryn Bigelow winning her Oscar for “The Hurt Locker” certainly raised the subject.  But that was seven years ago.  Now, Patty Jenkins’s recent “Wonder Woman” success is picking up the topic.  The problem seems to be continuing the trend.  In an effort do just that, writer/producer Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story," “Feud”) has started a new fellowship aimed at supporting the cause. 

“Year by the sea” is based on the New York Times best-selling memoir by Joan Anderson. It stars Karen Allen (“Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Animal House”). Executive-produced by Tony-award winners Daryl Roth (“Kinky Boots,” “Indecent”) and Terry Schnuck (“Beautiful”), “Year” was written, directed and composed by Alexander Janko. “Year” recounts empty-nester Joan Anderson’s (Karen Allen) decision not to follow

A quintessential American, a great actor, major playwright and poet, Sam Shepard is one of those human beings whose very presence uplifts and makes the world a better place.

Shepard was a playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director. He wrote no fewer than forty-four plays and various books (short stories, novels and memoirs). In 1979 he received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

For "Dunkirk" Christopher Nolan cast the puppy-eyed lead singer of One Direction, Harry Styles, as a British soldier during the famed 1940 evacuation. This is entirely appropriate. I say this because the British Army fought World War II with the ferocity of a boy band. I don’t understand why the British feel such a reflex to celebrate it.

Here’s a trip down the the pathway of British military performance in World War II: the British spent a month fighting in France, during which time they got whipped by a German army that was riding horses ten years earlier.

A virgin inspired by a divine sense of mission. A legendary sword. A bitter battlefield stalemate. And a France in need of saving. "Wonder Woman," the summer’s biggest hit, has been hailed for resurrecting one of the great heroines of the past. But the heroine being revived isn’t only the comic book phenomenon. It would be Joan of Arc, as well.

The story of St. Joan was one of the strangest black swan events in all of history. I’m sure the English and Burgundian French military planners laid out many possibilities during the Hundred Years War; it’s unlikely they were worrying much about losing

Why The New York Times, in their own June 9th ranking of the twenty-five best films of the twenty-first century, felt the need to take this moment to reflect on the best cinema of our still-young century is anyone’s guess. My suspicion is that they are just starved for content during the summer months, traditionally the worst time for serious-minded moviegoers, although there are some promising films coming soon