Bonnie & Maude

In a further exploration of the 'working women' conversation started in Episode 20, Eleanor speaks with Dave Itzkoff, author of the revealing new book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies. He shares some of on- and off-set anecdotes about screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky and star Faye Dunaway, and they ponder the lasting impact of Network, whose commentary on women in the workplace preceded concepts of "lean in" and "glass ceiling."

Many female movie characters have jobs. But what makes a "working woman" movie? Along with our guest, writer/producer/dramaturge Meg Sweeney Lawless, we focus on two unforgettable, hard-nosed working ladies in two classic films: His Girl Friday (1940) and Network (1976). Both films are dark comedies that offer behind the scenes looks at the world of news media, but we leave feeling very differently about its female leads -- why? What makes Rosalind Russell's fast-talking dame so different from Faye Dunaway cool and calculating Diana? You'll be surprised to discover that they have more in common than a first glance would suggest.

Hated by most critics upon its 1999 release, The Woman Chaser is a lost gem, available only on VHS or bootleg. Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld, The Tick) is a car salesman craving artistic release as an independent filmmaker in this neo-noir that walks the line between comedy and tragedy. The film hits every mark on the misogynist checklist in its path to illustrate masculine discontent.

Despite its many wrong turns, Kseniya and Eleanor were mostly charmed by the unusual tale of a cinema-loving lug and were intrigued by our guest Caroline Golum's surprising personal connection to the film. Viewing it as a child on late night television, free of feminist judgment, this tale of a man chasing a cinematic dream provided an erotic charge for young Caroline and  artistic inspiration for her future filmmaking and film programming.

---

Live Show Alert!

Bonnie & Maude Presents: You Are Hair -- an evening of edutainment on the subject of women's hair in television, film, and pop culture. 8PM / March 11, 2014 / Littlefield in Brooklyn, NY

More info here

---

Leave us a voicemail with your suggestions and thoughts: 530-628-3379

---Closing music: "Bacoa" by Les Baxter

We begin another snowy month in Brooklyn with a discussion of Frozen, the latest Disney animated film to take the box office by storm. As expected, Frozen has many familiar elements -- songs, orphans, princesses, endless mention of "true love," and an adorably goofy sidekick -- but the story (the first Disney animated feature to be directed by a woman!) also plays on what we know about fairy tale tropes and twists them in a direction that is focused more on sisterly love rather than romance.

Kseniya & Eleanor discuss their childhood impressions of Disney films, their surprised enjoyment of Frozen, and what they hope to see in future productions from the studio.

Bonus: we read some letters from our mailbag and play a voicemail message we received via 530-628-3379

--

Closing music: "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel

We discuss Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), a darkly hilarious mockumentary about a small town beauty pageant that turns violent. Kirsten Dunst once again flexes her comedic muscles, alongside Ellen Barkin and Allison Janney as "the white trash Laverne and Shirley." Amy Adams tries out the sexpot character long before the success of American Hustle or the awkwardness of Cruel Intentions 2. A terrific female cast all around and an unusual script by Lona Williams, who we hope to see more from in the future.

Joined by guest Rommel Wood, potentially the movie's #1 fan (she has pretty much the entire film memorized!), Eleanor and Kseniya explore the upsides of black humor, the downsides of pageant and small town life, and the rare instances of when violence against women is actually funny...to women.

Closing music: "Drop Dead Gorgeous" by New Mystery Girl

The final frontier: women surviving space by way of fearlessness, wit, sex, and a prominent stripping scene. In one of our laugh-iest episodes ever, Eleanor and Kseniya discuss Gravity (2013), Alien (1979), and Barbarella

(1968) with I Love Bad Movies co-editor Matt Carman. We debate whether Ripley is a cat lady, the concept of the "final girl," and Sandra Bullock's frequent vehicle troubles.

End credits music: Leonard Nimoy, "Music To Watch Space Girls By"

An epic tale of the horrors of motherhood. And who better to discuss this with if not one of our very own mothers? Eleanor, Kseniya, and Eleanor's mom, Dr.

Paula Kagan, delve into the surprisingly funny and spooky aspects of Polanski's classic film and our own early scares.

Dr.

Paula Kagan is an author, radical nurse, Associate Professor

of nursing, as well as an affiliated faculty member of Women & Gender Studies at DePaul University in Chicago.

An epic tale of the horrors of motherhood. And who better to discuss this with if not one of our very own mothers? Eleanor, Kseniya, and Eleanor's mom, Dr.

Paula Kagan, delve into the surprisingly funny and spooky aspects of Polanski's classic film and our own early scares.

Dr.

Paula Kagan is an author, radical nurse, Associate Professor

of nursing, as well as an affiliated faculty member of Women & Gender Studies at DePaul University in Chicago.

Spoiler Alert. Recorded

the morning of the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad, Kseniya and

Eleanor take a look at television's most riveting anti-heros--Breaking

Bad's Walter White, Mad Men's Don Draper, and Sopranos' Tony

Soprano--through the wives who must deal with them. Skyler White, Betty

Draper, and Carmela Soprano, often the recipients of Internet ire, are

in need of exploration and your hosts, with the help of Pop Culture

Happy Hour's Mike Katzif, are here to do so.

(For spoilage purposes, Orange Is The New Black, Orphan Black, Nurse Jackie and Enlightened are also briefly discussed.)

Music: "Nasty Gal" by Betty Davis

Related reading:

Kseniya and Eleanor return after a long summer of either getting married or avoiding a sunburn, respectively, so it's high time to catch up on the movies and TV, new and old, that were consumed. In addition to a chat about Orange Is The New Black, Kseniya brings A League of Their Own, Marie Antoinette, Magic Mike and Dogfight to the table, while Eleanor talks In A World, Bringing Up Baby, and All That Jazz.