SO6 Episode 05: Screen Bitches - What We’re Watching

“What have you been watching?” “See anything good lately?” are questions many of us routinely ask each other, especially during the pandemic. A trusted recommendation for a movie and, for some of us even better, a series with many seasons is cause to celebrate.  How often, though, do you hear of a good movie or series about, for, or by older women? Not often. So when we heard about the film “Let Them All Talk” at the end of 2020, we asked book agent Malaga Baldi, Debbie Zimmerman who heads Women Make Movies and Emmy-nominated former TV producer and wellness and lifestyle coach Renata Joy to join us for a conversation about it and other films and series featuring older women. Two Old Bitches, Joanne and Idelisse, call them geriatric rom-coms. You know the ones we mean. “Something’s Gotta Give,”(Diane Keaton), “It’s Complicated” (Meryl Streep), “Book Club” (Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candace Bergen, Mary Steenburgen), “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (Judy Dench and Maggie Smith) and a number of others sprinkled over the past two decades. Too many of them are not very good. “Why is that?” the five of us wondered. We have some answers and laughs we’d like to share with you, as well as a list of films and series we recommend.  And, we enjoyed doing this so much that we plan to do it again.