Over the weekend, director Joe Wright spoke to a crowd at WonderCon in San Francisco, and among other things, he heroically criticized Sucker Punch for its shameless objectification of women.  And Joe Wright should know a little something about terrible movies set entirely in the protagonist’s imagination, he directed Atonement.

“For me, one of the main issues in terms of women’s place in society and feminism is the sexual objectification of women,” said Wright, speaking at Wondercon in L.A. on Saturday. “That’s something that feminists in the ’70s tried to fight against but has been totally lost in the 21st century consumer-celebrity world. So for me, when I look at the poster for Sucker Punch it seems actually incredibly sexist, because it is sexually objectifying women regardless of if they can shoot you or not.”

Yes, it takes a real hero to finally take a stand against Zack Snyder’s sleazy whorephanage fantasy that everyone hated and hardly anyone saw.  But tell us, Joe, is bullying bad?  What of breast cancer?  Is this terrible scourge stealing away our mothers and sisters?  And please, be sure to phrase your answer in the form of semi-meaningless, PC buzzwords.

“I have a kind of immediate, knee-jerk reaction to such iconography,” Wright continued. “I remember when the Spice Girls came out in the mid-’90s and it was all about girl power, but one of them was dressed as a baby doll, do you know what I mean? That isn’t girl power, that isn’t feminism. That’s marketing bullsh*t. And I find it very, very alarming.”

You’re right, this terrible objectification is keeping our western women down, as evidenced by young women out-earning their male counterparts in 147 of America’s 150 biggest cities.  We should cover their flesh and start treating them better, like they do in Afghanistan.  That would be so much more “feminist.”  It’s nice to finally see someone who’s against all this marketing bullsh*t.  Wait, why are you at WonderCon, again?  It’s not to promote a movie, is it?

Wright’s Hanna, in which a totally not-scantily clad young girl kicks a bunch of ass, opens on Friday.

Oh right, that.

Read the rest of this entry »

The movie, based on Sophie Kinsella’s best-selling book, stars Isla Fisher as the adorable, silly, and sassy heroine Becky Bloomwood.

Trailer here.  Try not to stab anything.

This character is so “adorable, silly, and sassy” that she runs up massive credit card debt on ridiculous-looking outfits (silly!), then lies about her credentials to land a job at a magazine (sassy!), makes several clumsy mistakes while a cute guy is watching (adorable!), and ultimately finds a husband (inevitable!).  That’s the template for every one of these chick flicks: goofy girl works for a big city media outlet, has bad first impression with future husband, hears lecture from sister/mother/friend, ignores lecture, does something stupid that angers future husband, buys ice cream, realizes sister/mother/friend was right, apologizes to future husband in front of onlookers, is forgiven, buys wedding dress.  Roll credits featuring the “Feel the Rain on Yo’ Skin” song.

– RoboPanda