With naught but an hour to write this column | foolishly accepted a rather nasty challenge: write about flicks that feature empowered women but avoid the standard "strong female" actresses (Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Pfieffer, Jodie Foster, and -gasp- Babs). As well, the movies would have to be ones that I'd want to watch and, worse yet, that I'd actually feel confident in recom- mending. Determined to abstain from copping out with Thelma and Louise, or with Cher, Winnona Ryder, and Bette Midler, | sat myself down in a room full of my young, empowered, female friends and opened it up to discus- sion. You know what? We sat around for almost forty- five minutes and came up with practically nothing. The Empowered Female is nearly non-existent. And The Empowered Woman Who's Not White is an even greater rarity. But before we all join hands and march downtown chanting “All men must die", | did come up with a few that you might want to check out. | Shot Andy Warhol Starring Lili Taylor. Directed by Mary Harron (who's also at the helm of the upcoming American Psycho. Sooo...! don't know what you think about that). Now, | didn't want to fall into the trap of picking films that featured so-called empowered women that were only empowered because they were crazy. But Madame Taylor's anvil-like portrayal of Valerie Solanas is so strong | figured I'd let this one slip in. This is say- ing a lot considering how much | generally despise her gravelly acting. Additional viewing: Stanley Tucci's The Impostors. Out Of Sight Starring Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ah, Jennifer Lopez before she started playing around as a pop diva. A driving force in the film, Lopez is not only self-reliant, resourceful, bold, and smart, she's incredibly sexy at the same time, proving that "empow- ered" doesn't necessarily mean “madass she-man". _ Oh, and Ving Rhames is in this movie, and he's pretty cool. Additional viewing: The Return of the Killer Tomatoes. Woman Of The Year Starring the impeccable Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Directed by George Stevens. Ms Katherine plays a newspaper world affairs columnist who hooks up with Mr Spencer, a sports writer. The dilemma? She puts her job first. Now, there's a few antiquated concepts floating about in this feature, but given the era it's quite the flick, and you'd have a hard time finding a stronger screen presence than Kate Hepburn. Additional viewing: Adam's Rib, Look Who's Coming To Dinner. Once Were Warriors Starring many Maoris. Directed by Lee Tamahori. This one's for the strong of character. A story of an abused and rather downtrodden wife, Once Were Warriors wades through some grueling moments, so be forewarned. There's a heavy amount of brutal spousal abuse as well as a really disturbing rape scene. It's tough going, but by the end you'll have great deal of admiration for the wife character as she picks herself up and out of her shite situation. Additional viewing: | don't know any direct connec- tions to this film, but if you just want something New Zealandish, you could watch Heavenly Creatures. Runners Up: Orlando (| wasn't sure if this was an empowered female or male or what, but it's good), La Femme Nikita (mention strong women and people say Nikita. | think her character was a tool, and | think the actress was a tool, and | don't really like this movie. So, actually, don't rent this), Dead Man Walking (powered by the acting supernova that is Susan Sarandon!), Terminator 2 (featuring Linda Hamilton as can of whup-ass that actually holds up well within the film's seething testosterone), Highway 67 (it's hard not to look strong when your acting against Don McKellar), Shallow Grave (home of the conniving bee-yatch), and Baby Boom (Diane Keaton shows us that she can have a kid and run a successful pablum industry at the same time. Now that's impressive!. And in the eighties, at that!). PLAY STOP With naught but an hour to write this column | foolishly accepted a rather nasty challenge: write about flicks that feature empowered women but avoid the standard "strong female” actresses (Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Pfieffer, Jodie Foster, and -gasp- Babs). As well, the movies would have to be ones that I'd want to watch and, worse yet, that I'd actually feel confident in recom- mending. Determined to abstain from copping out with Thelma and Louise, or with Cher, Winona Ryder, and Bette Midler, | sat myself down in a room full of my young, empowered, female friends and opened it up to discus- sion. You know what? We sat around for almost forty- five minutes and came up with practically nothing. The Empowered Female is nearly non-existent. And The Empowered Woman Who's Not White is an even. greater rarity. But before we all join hands and march downtown chanting “All men must die", | did come up with a few that you might want to check out. shot Andy Warhol Starring Lili Taylor. Directed by Mary Harron (who's also at the helm of the upcoming American Psycho. ‘Sooo... don’t know what you think about that). Now, | didn't want to fall into the trap of picking films that featured so-called empowered women that were only empowered because they were crazy. But Madame Taylor's anvil-like portrayal of Valerie Solanas is so strong | figured I'd let this one slip in. This is say- ing a lot considering how much | generally despise her gravelly acting. Additional viewing:. Stanley Tucci's The Impostors. Out OF Sight Starring Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. ‘Ah, Jennifer Lopez before she started playing around as pop diva. A driving force in the film, Lopez is not _ BEN SMITH'S MIGHTY GOO VIDEO SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SOCIALLY BASEMEN’ ‘RIDDEN only self-reliant, resourceful, bold, and smart, she's incredibly sexy at the same time, proving that "empow- ered” doesn't necessarily mean “madass she-man". Oh, and Ving Rhames isin this movie, and he's pretty cool. Additional viewing: The Return of the Killer Tomatoes. Woman Of The Year Starring the impeccable Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Directed by George Stevens. Ms Katherine plays a newspaper world affairs columnist who hooks up with Mr Spencer, a sports writer. The dilemma? She puts her job first. Now, there's a few antiquated concepts floating about in this feature, but given the era it's quite the flick, and you'd have a hard time finding a stronger screen presence than Kate Hepburn. ‘Additional viewing: Adam's Rib, Look Who's Coming To Dinner. ‘Once Were Warriors Starring many Maoris. Directed by Lee Tamahori "BY BENJAMIN ASA SMITH This one's for the strong of character. A story of an abused and rather downtrodden wife, Once Were Warriors wades through some grueling moments, so be forewarned. There's a heavy amount of brutal spousal abuse as well as a realy disturbing rape scene. It's tough going, but by the end you'll have great deal of admiration for the wife character as she picks herself up and out of her shite situation ‘Additional viewing: \ don't know any direct connec tions to this film, but if you just want something New Zealandish, you could watch Heavenly Creatures. Runners Up: Orlando (\ wasn't sure if this was an ‘empowered female or male or what, but it's good), La Femme Nikita (mention strong women and people say Nikita. | think her character was a tool, and | think the actress was a tool, and | don't really like this movie. So, actually, don't rent this), Dead Man Walking (powered by the acting supernova that is Susan Sarandon!), Terminator 2 (featuring Linda Hamilton as can of whup-ass that actually holds up well within the film's seething testosterone), Highway 61 (it's hard not to look strong when your acting against Don McKellar), Shallow Grave (home of the conniving bee-yatch), and Baby Boom (Diane Keaton shows us that she can have a kid and run a successful pablum industry at the same time. Now that's impressivel. And in the eighties, at that). POWER @® STOP