Citizen Dame Citizen Dame

This week, the Dames are going to work with three great comedies about women in the workplace. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy star in Desk Set (1957); Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton team up against their terrible boss in 9 to 5 (1980); and Melanie Griffith squares off against Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl (1988).

The Dames welcome guest Nannina Gilder to talk about the films of Kinuyo Tanaka, a director who carved out a space for herself in Japan's male-dominated film industry with feminist masterworks such as Love Letter, The Moon Has Risen, and Girls of the Night.

This week, the Dames talk about the career of six-time Academy Award nominee Thelma Ritter. And we dive into three of her great performances: All About Eve (1950), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), and Rear Window (1954).

This week, the raunchy ladies are talking raunchy ladies doing raunchy lady things, like failing to go to Vegas, starting female fight clubs, and learning about the importance of female friendships. Spoilers abound for Bridesmaids, Joy Ride, and Bottoms, but we're pretty cool about it.  

This week the Dames look at historical films and biopics directed by women. Strangely rare and often underpraised, we sit down to talk about three great examples: Julie Taymor's Frida (2002), Ana DuVernay's Selma (2014), and Regina King's One Night in Miami (2020).

We get a little excited this week talking about current (and past) Best Picture nominees directed by women. While we're focusing on three films this year (Barbie, Anatomy of a Fall, and Past Lives), we also remind everyone that female directors have been around since the creation of cinema. Come for the trenchant critical commentary, stay for the statistics! 
Some of our past Oscars episodes, with bonus statistics!, can be found here: Oscar and the Dame 
Best Supporting Dame