Mamet not so much with the writing, respecting or being interested in women.
In which case, I'm just as happy to have no female characters than lame or evil ones.
Mal: If anyone gets nosy, just, you know... shoot 'em. Zoe: Shoot 'em? Mal: Politely.
'Serenity'
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A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Jesse - Jul 11, 2005 7:47:08 am PDT #5509 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Jessica - Jul 11, 2005 7:48:55 am PDT #5510 of 10002
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Nurse Betty is Neil Labute (ptooi!), not Mamet. It has its fans. I am not among them.
(I think the reason why Mamet's lack of interest in women doesn't offend me is that, unlike LaBute, he doesn't pretend fo be a feminist. He's a guy who writes about GUYS, period.)
Scrappy - Jul 11, 2005 7:50:48 am PDT #5511 of 10002
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
I think he's a great writer--I'm just sorry my gender doesn't seem to interest him at all.
Frankenbuddha - Jul 11, 2005 7:50:50 am PDT #5512 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
How about Nurse Betty? That's got a female protagonist, but I've not seen it. I remember it got pretty good reviews?
That's not Mamet, but Neil LaBute. I'm not sure he (LaBute) actually did the screenplay to that one though.
I love the Rebecca Pidgeon (sp?) character in STATE AND MAIN, but I would have loved anyone who replied to a question about having kids with "I never much saw the point of them." From a grade school teacher, no less.
Beverly - Jul 11, 2005 7:54:32 am PDT #5513 of 10002
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
For palate-cleansing Val Kilmerosity, I recommend Thunderheart.
Oh yes. Plus, Graham Greene, yum. That was a damn hot duo, there. Um.
Val is also hit or miss with me, but I love him so very much when he hits: Top Secret, Tombstone, Real Genius.
Yupyupyup.
Dudes, Willow.
For sheer fun and physicality, that would be a yeppers.
Vonnie K - Jul 11, 2005 7:55:45 am PDT #5514 of 10002
Kiss me, my girl, before I'm sick.
Also, is it me, or are there not very many female protagonists in Mamet works, and for "not very many" read none?
The Lindsay Crouse character in House of Games rocked, although she's not particularly likable. I like the Catherine Winslow character from The Winslow Boy very well, but of course, she's not a Mamet creation. Plus, I kept thinking how much more I'd have liked the character if she were played by someone like Cate Blanchett instead of Rebecca Pidgeon.
beekaytee - Jul 11, 2005 8:07:28 am PDT #5515 of 10002
Compassionately intolerant
Neil Labute (ptooi!)
Sing it, sister.
And I have a warm love for Thunderheart.
Years after I first bought it, a Native American friend vehemently stated that the incidents depicted were not 'based on' real events...they were real events. Gave the film a whole new depth for me.
Kathy A - Jul 11, 2005 8:20:12 am PDT #5516 of 10002
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
Didn't Mamet write The Untouchables? I think that that film proves that Kevin Costner can't play intensity without making me laugh at the attempt.
Mr. Broom - Jul 11, 2005 8:22:39 am PDT #5517 of 10002
"When I look at people that I would like to feel have been a mentor or an inspiring kind of archetype of what I'd love to see my career eventually be mentioned as a footnote for in the same paragraph, it would be, like, Bowie." ~Trent Reznor
That he did. Only thing that immediately springs to mind for me about that flick was the homage to Eisenstein's famous Odessa Steps sequence. I think I've forgotten everything else that happened.
Polter-Cow - Jul 11, 2005 8:26:15 am PDT #5518 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
How about Nurse Betty? That's got a female protagonist, but I've not seen it. I remember it got pretty good reviews?
I really liked it.
I like Val Kilmer and have never seen a Mamet film.