debor009

I'm drawing up my grocery list in preparation for a day of cooking turkey, but I just saw that Shawn Christensen's film Before I Disappear is opening this week and I had to say a few words. I saw his short film Curfew , which won more than 40 film festival awards before taking the Oscar for short film in 2012. It was very funny and clever and an example of what a writer can come up with if his take on life is prefaced with "What if....?" Before I Disappear is Curfew taken to feature length. Here's the gist: "At the lowest point in his life, Ritchie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his 11-year-old niece, Sophia, for a few hours." (The film actually opens with Ritchie in the bathtub cutting his wrists. I will say no more.) Christensen has added a few name actors to the feature, like Ron Perlman , but he still stars himself as Ritchie and has retained Fatima Ptacek as Sophie. I actually thought Ptacek was the weakest link...

The Goblin Baby , Shoshana Rosenbaum's supernatural short, premiered to a full house on September 27th at RiRa's in Georgetown. Michael Gabel , Oriana Oppice and I were among the cast who attended. Well done, Shoshana! On to the film festivals! (L to R) Actor Michael Gabel, actress Kathryn Browning, writer/director Shoshana Rosenbaum (and son), actress Oriana Oppice, and production staff Robin Noonan-Price and Victoria Buksbazen.

This is why we don't have more women filmmakers....no confidence. I saw a 2007 film at the DC Shorts Laughs festival Friday night called "Speed Dating," which was written and directed by Crystal Liu . It was not only funny and original (and my favorite) but it had that element that makes a great story - surprise. But is there a trailer or clips on YouTube or anywhere that I can link to and give this young lady a plug? No. Any contact information? No. Not even a poster to go with the listing on IMDb. Only a few positive write-ups, but otherwise nothing. And Ms. Liu hasn't made another film since, apparently. Instead she's working as a script coordinator for TV. What a waste! Hey, Crystal, you've got talent! Make movies!

A big obstacle for actresses of a certain age (mine, for example) is too often being relegated to roles as disempowered characters, even though the world reflects a very different reality and the majority of casting agents (and now many directors and producers) are women. You would think that they would make the connection that if a 55-year-old man can play the "powerful person in charge," so can a 55-year-old woman. Not so. If a woman is cast as a district attorney, for example, she'll more often be 27 and chosen for reasons other than her credibility as a D.A. (Which brings to mind Danny DeVito in Norman Jewison's 1991 Other People's Money , opposite Penelope Ann Miller as the D.A. and his love interest. I think Norman Jewison is terrific, as are both actors, but Miller looked like she was 12 at the time and, yes, the pairing was cringe-worthy.) E. Katherine Kerr as Sen. Grace Comisky In acting, what I see being offered to older actresses are roles as little o...