I didn’t become a fan of Japanese animation until I was in college, (my mom forbade me to watch Sailor Moon as a kid because she thought it was sexist) and while I’m not a huge fan of anime/manga, I'm in love with the Studio Ghibli films. Co-founded by genius writer/director/animator Hayao Miyazaki, the studio won an Oscar for Best Animated Film in 2003, with Spirited Away. If you didn't catch that flick, you may have seen the amazing Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, or My Neighbor...

Hands up if you’ve seen Bridesmaids! OK, keep your hands up if you’ve seen it more than once. Trust me, you’re not alone. People all around the world—girls and guys alike—fell in love with the comedy film Bridesmaids last year. I’m sure many of them would love to see a sequel, too—that is, if you’re not too disillusioned by the fact that 90% of sequels are only half as good, at most, as the original. (Believe me, I’ve seen some duds.)   But if a sequel does...

Oh, Meryl. Is there anything you can’t do? You’ve been nominated for 16 Academy Awards, won two, and recently became the oldest cover star in the history of Vogue magazine. Now you’re racking up rave reviews for your stunning performance as Margaret Thatcher, a woman slightly less whimsical than say, Julia Child, but a woman who you nonetheless convince us to root for. This is what’s confusing about The Iron Lady (directed by Phyllida Lloyd)—Streep is so good as Thatcher that you sort of forget...

There's just something about Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant hacker who's the central character in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. Although the author never lived to see his books in print, he might have been amazed at how the world has become obsessed with his rather unique protagonist. Lisbeth is a genius, quite possibly on the autism spectrum, bisexual, heavily body modded, and defiantly self-reliant. She takes swift and brutal vengeance on those who have wronged her or her loved ones, although the understandably cagey woman has...

Pariah is the coming-of-age and coming-out story of seventeen-year-old Alike, played by Adepero Oduye, a former pred-med student turned actress. Alike is caught between worlds; she lives in a nice brownstone in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where her parents are in deep denial about their daughter's lesbian identity. Mom Audrey (Kim Wayans) wants her to dress more like a nice girl who goes to church on Sunday, while her dad Arthur (Charles Parnell) is a cop who knows deep down his daughter is gay but...

Review by Anna Bean The Diablo Cody-Jason Reitman dream team is back with another take on adolescence, but where Juno had its leading lady in a position to grow up too fast, the 37-year-old principal of Young Adult hasn’t yet embraced her adulthood. Mavis, played pitch-perfectly by Charlize Theron, is a Kardashians-watching, Diet-Coke-guzzling ghostwriter who pens Waverly Prep, a fictional young adult book series. Recently divorced and living in a high-rise in Minneapolis with her yippy little dog, Dolce, Mavis medicates her anxiety and depression with...

When I first heard about Shame, three little words were enough to interest me: full frontal Fassbender. Yes, yes, it’s a serious drama about sex addiction. I’m getting to that. But oh man, the chance to watch Mr. Rochester in NC-17 nude scenes—what a way to get butts in the seats. Written and directed by Steve McQueen (who also directed Fassbender in 2008’s Hunger), the film follows the escapades of Brandon (Michael Fassbender), an otherwise well-adjusted sex addict whose desires have consumed every aspect of...

It's no secret that we at BUST adore Miranda July. She's graced our pages a number of times (our Dec/Jan issue includes a blurb on her new book It Chooses You), and now we're pleased to announce that we've got the hookup for fellow fans of the filmmaker/writer/actress.  July's 2011 film The Future-- about a couple and the cat that changes their lives in a seriously surreal way-- is being released on DVD today, but we've got a chance for you to win your own...

For the past several years, Michelle Williams has been pretty much incapable of doing wrong. After acclaimed performances in movies like Brokeback Mountain and Blue Valentine (not to mention a couple of Oscar and Golden Globe nods), she's earned a reputation as one of Hollywood’s go-to “serious actresses.” Williams does seem like a decent choice to play an inimitable icon like Marilyn Monroe, but unfortunately her acting chops can’t save her in the oddly bland My Week With Marilyn (directed by Simon Curtis, written by...

And it's back. The fourth but fortunately not final (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) installment of The Twilight Saga hits theaters today, and wow, is it something. Did you ever think you'd hear the words "embryonic sac" uttered in a movie about teen vampires? Most of the audience at my 12:01 AM screening last night seemed to know these technical birthing terms were coming, but it was still hard for the entire theater not to laugh when Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) deadpanned, "The...