
Monika Bartyzel
Monika Bartyzel is a freelance writer and creator of Girls on Film, a weekly look at femme-centric film news and concerns, now appearing at TheWeek.com. Her work has been published on sites including The Atlantic, Movies.com, Moviefone, Collider, and the now-defunct Cinematical, where she was a lead writer and assignment editor.
Latest articles by Monika Bartyzel
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The outrageous, surprising, and prescient legacy of Boston Legal
feature Ten years after its premiere, the legal drama stands out for its unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The hidden feminism of Audrey Hepburn
feature Hepburn's legacy as a fashion icon has overshadowed the feminist messages of her films
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The real problem with the Disney Princess brand
feature The company's wildly profitable Disney Princess line sends a dangerous and regressive message to young girls. It's not too late to fix it.
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The complicated legacy of Working Girl
feature On its 25th anniversary, a look back at Mike Nichols' Working Girl, which is notable for both its feminism and its many problems
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The confounding problems of fan fiction
feature The disappointing new film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was derived from a piece of Harry Potter fan fiction. That's not a good thing.
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: How Lovelace fails to tell the real story
feature The new biopic, which stars Amanda Seyfried as the legendary Deep Throat star, fails to capture the tragedy and complexity of the real Linda Lovelace
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Why Before Midnight is a failure
feature The Oscar-nominated script for the third entry in Richard Linklater's acclaimed series totally whiffs on what made the first two films so special
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Stephenie Meyer, of The Host and Twilight fame, is not anti-women
feature Meyer has repeatedly been attacked for the problematic messages of her novels — but the truth is far more complicated
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The Heat breaks new ground by not being groundbreaking
feature Critics have attacked the film for failing to rise above the conventions of a buddy-cop comedy — even though that's exactly the point
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The Bling Ring is about all of us
feature As Sofia Coppola's new film shows, we no longer care about having experiences. It's all about documenting them so obsessively we don't realize we're having them
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Aspiring female filmmakers need male mentors, too
feature Hollywood's creative elite have relied on established mentors for decades — but women have rarely been a part of the equation
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: How Wild's Reese Witherspoon finally got a film worthy of her talents
feature The adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's bestselling memoir is Witherspoon's juiciest role in 15 years
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Wonder Woman's powerful feminist roots
feature With a Wonder Woman movie on the horizon, Hollywood has finally learned to embrace the best qualities of the superhero
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: It's time to push back against 'sexy' costumes for girls
feature In recent years, the Halloween costume industry has pushed 'sexy' costumes that hurt boys and girls alike. Enough is enough.
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: 9 forgotten rom-coms worth watching this Valentine's Day
feature A trip through cinematic history reminds us that there's more to the genre than Love Actually
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The best and worst for femme-centric film in 2013
feature As 2013 comes to an end, a look back at a tumultuous year for female directors and femme-centric films
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: How Divergent breaks new ground in the YA genre
feature Unlike Twilight or The Hunger Games, Divergent centers its narrative on the growth of a distinctly human girl
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Hollywood will try anything for a superhero movie — except a female director
feature The film industry is full of super-talented female auteurs. But when it comes time to pick a director for big-budget blockbusters, producers prefer untested men
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Clouds of Sils Maria is a beautiful look into fame and womanhood
feature Oliver Assayas answered Juliette Binoche's call for a "deep and complex female role" with this rumination on celebrity
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Hollywood's 4 percent problem
feature This year, a criminally low 4 percent of movies are going to be directed by women. It's time for the industry to fix this.
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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5 years of Girls on Film
feature On this column's five-year anniversary, a look at the ongoing evolution of femme-centric film in culture and Hollywood
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay isn't an action movie. It's a war movie.
feature In its third installment, The Hunger Games moves beyond the glitz of the first two movies to offer a hard-hitting look at the impact of war
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Girls on Film: Hollywood should stop pretending it's hard to make a female superhero movie
feature The Golden Age of Cinematic Superheroes has relegated women to underwritten supporting roles
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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Goodbye, Bunheads
feature The tragically short-lived ABC Family series, which was canceled this week, offered a raft of smart, compelling female perspectives
By Monika Bartyzel Last updated
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