The New Women (2001)

The New Women is a post-apocalyptic adventure about Lisa LaStrada (Mary Woronov) and her small town group of women friends who clearly haven't come a long way, baby. Lisa spends her nights ... See full summary »

Director:

Todd Hughes

Writers:

P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes

Stars:

Mary Woronov, Jamie Tolbert, Sandra Kinder

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mary Woronov	...	Lisa LaStrada
Jamie Tolbert	...	Janet
Sandra Kinder	...	Tabby
Jane Ray	...	Claire
Roma Maffia	...	Virginia VanUpp
Jenny Shimizu	...	Lemongrass
Cheryl Dunye	...	Phaedra
Amy Hill	...	Gaia
Tracy Reiner	...	Dr. Fritzi Haller
Mary Scheer	...	Nancy
Michael White	...	Jay LaStrada
Matt North	...	Steve
Thea Constantine	...	Koko
Laurel Green	...	Dr. Richards
Dana Schwartz	...	Pam

Storyline

The New Women is a post-apocalyptic adventure about Lisa LaStrada (Mary Woronov) and her small town group of women friends who clearly haven't come a long way, baby. Lisa spends her nights pining over the infidelities of her philandering sheriff husband who is having an affair with her nemesis, Virginia Van Upp (Roma Maffia). A recovering alcoholic, Lisa falls off the wagon and tries in vain to drown her sorrows in booze, drugs and RV fantasies until one day, at a local barbeque, along comes a huge rainstorm that quite literally puts everyone in the entire world to sleep. In a couple of days, slowly but surely, all of the women wake up to a world that has come to a complete standstill. Well, not a complete standstill, their men remain fast asleep in comas, getting erections every forty-five minutes. There was definitely something in that rain! Now Lisa and her friends struggle to rebuild their world (and face their issues of low self-esteem) until they realize by degrees, as their men...

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Plot Keywords:

independent film | 

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Taglines:

You are now entering no man's land.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of The Opposite Sex (1956)

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Soundtracks

Sleep My Love
Music by Cary Berger
Words by Todd Hughes
Performed by Linda Thomas

User Reviews

What a terrific premise! What a dreadful movie!

What could have been a brilliant satire about civilization in a post-penile society gets mercilessly crushed under the weight of a clunky, wordy screenplay (NO one talks the way these characters do), horribly amateurish direction, and some of the worst production values since the days of 50s sci-fi. You'll laugh (but not at the jokes), you'll cry (out of agony), you'll wonder if it will ever end! Mary Woronov does an admirable job of trying to rise above the drudgery, but even her wealth of talent can't save this turkey. Filmed entirely in black and white (You know... "artsy!"), it looks like it was shot on video to save money. But no matter; even lustrous color wouldn't have helped. Lines fall flat. Cuts jump awkwardly. The action rolls along like a square wheel. Odd camera angles appear for no apparent conceptual reason. And when not speaking, the actors often look desperately hopeful but cruelly embarrassed. One has to hope that neither director Todd Hughes nor the producers quit their day jobs to make this, because from this effort it appears that none of them have ever actually seen a movie before, but have had one carefully described to them by a third party. With even a passing nod to semi-professional production or writing, this could have been a gem -- but the New Women smells like old fish. Run away, run away!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 March 2002 (Canada)

Filming Locations:

Claremont, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Interzone Inc., The Ebersole Hughes Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1