Leading Ladies: August 2006

by Kimberly Potts

Lionsgate Films

In limited release

Of The Descent, a horror flick about a group of female friends who embark on an annual outdoor adventure together, Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum says the director "is savvy enough to suggest even more than he shows. And he's old-school enough to load up on glimpses of good, clean, gruesome gore."
The Village Voice's Ella Taylor says Quinceanera, a family drama about a 15-year-old teen who finds out she's pregnant, is "saucy, rowdy, heartfelt, and [a] terribly sweet movie."
The New York Times's Jeannette Catsoulis says of My Country, My Country, a documentary about Iraqis living in their country under U.S. occupation, "Without comment but with unusual sensitivity, [the director] exposes the emotional toll of occupation on Iraqis and American soldiers alike."
Of Shock to the System, about a gay detective who suspects foul play when his top client allegedly commits suicide, TV Guide's Maitland McDonagh says, "The story delivers enough twists and turns to be engaging without feeling like work, and the overall vibe is dangerous and flirty rather than brutal or excessively graphic."

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