Click here to view the embedded video.

To manage her many intrigues, the lovely Lady Mary definitely could use what my new fave writer Brené Brown calls a “move a body” friendship. Until this week, I’d never read Brené Brown’s theory of what makes the truest sister bond, but thanks to my fellow travelers in my (amazing) Mondo Beyondo “Dream Lab” online course, I’ve seen the light. You’ll have to read Brené’s explanation for yourself; I can’t possibly do it justice. But trust me: with just a teeny soupçon of dark humor, she imagines the bleakest scenario in which we might call upon our sisters for help, the one in which we need and deserve support without judgment.

How far would you go, could you go, have you gone for the sisters in your life? Do you know who your move-a-body sister friends are? It’s worth pondering, before you need them. Watch some great TV, study up with Brené, and chime in.

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Let me start by saying: I lived for the show, even as I rolled my eyes at its absurdity. And I really, really hated the first movie, which I thought made no sense, and had no heart. But this movie? Granted, it’s an unwieldy, high camp mash-up of The Wizard of Oz, Ishtar, a Bollywood spectacular and a commercial for the United Arab Emirates tourism board. It’s way too long. Its politics, if you can call them that, have all the sophistication of a Muck Boot. Even so? It spoke to me.

Maybe it’s the fact that Charlotte and Miranda, the two characters whom I most closely resemble (c’mon, you know you’ve played the “which Sex and the City girl are you?” game) are now mothers struggling, not always successfully, with juggling the exhausted ambivalence and fierce love that dominate the years of mothering small kids. Maybe that storyline has become tired, but not to me: I thought the film’s empathy for both of their struggles was compelling and authentic.

Maybe it’s the ballsy way this film really, really let Samantha out of the box, so to speak: Her libidinous behavior is outrageous to the point of dangerous and appalling, and that also rang true for me for a highly sexual woman confronting the not-so-sexy parts of aging.

But I think most of all, I liked that in this film, Carrie is finally let off the hook, and the audience with her, of being held up as some sort of representative every-woman, which she so clearly is not, and has never been. Most of us are never, ever going to be Carrie Bradshaw, live in Louboutins, and marry Big. And that’s ok. She’s living an original life, and so should we, whatever slings, arrows, wrinkles and wrong turns that may bring.

Whatever flaws you can find with this film, despite its absurd foray into the lives of the unimaginably rich, I don’t think it can be accused of being shallow. (And given that the first film was exclusively about shopping, that’s saying something.) Good for you, girlfriends.

(P.S.–TSP’s youngest sister, Anastasia, took a look at the feminist aspect–or not–of the SATC brand in this post.)

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From Poppy de Villeneuve's "You Are Everywere"

PROLIFIC PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER Poppy de Villeneuve is at it again. Back in March we highlighted her first film for T , the New York Times style magazine. (All five parts of that film, The Park, are here.) Now she’s  released another, You Are Everywhere, a stripped down, meditative, surprisingly intimate view of last year’s Coachella music festival. Like much of Poppy’s work, the film seems deeply influenced by Richard Avedon’s photographic collection, In the American West (one of my favorite art books, as it happens). Enjoy this poetic film, and for more on Poppy and her influences check out our profile of her and sister Daisy, an accomplished illlustrator.

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'Thelma and Louise' is on my must-rewatch list this spring

I‘VE BEEN TRAVELING, a lot, lately, and can’t wait to settle back into what passes for a normal routine back on the home front. But my husband’s going to be out of town for work on and off for a while. Can you guess what that means? It’s all about control.

Remote control. The clicker. You see, my lovely husband tends to drive the DVD train around our house. He manages the Netflix queue, he tends to pick more of what we watch, and though his tastes are broad, they’re not, you know, a broad’s. So while he’s away, I’m planning a major indulgence in sister flicks of every genre. I’m pulling some favorites from our own comprehensive list here on TSP (you have visited the Sister Flicks list over in the Sisterpedia, haven’t you??) but I’m always looking for more ideas.

While I queue up all six seasons of Sex and the City, can you help me add some new/old favorites I may have forgotten? Bring ‘em, sisters. I’m making the popcorn.

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W E LOVE IT WHEN readers, unprompted, send emails or leave comments about the ways they’re celebrating sisterhood, of any stripe, in their own lives. The communication we got from reader Laela last week was particularly exciting, as it combined three things we absolutely love: cinema, sisterhood, and doing something for women in need.

Laela decided to honor Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, October 2, with a gathering of sister friends. Her letter read, in part:

“I have invited a dozen of my close women friends to come over, watch the film Born Into Brothels, drink a glass of wine, share food and conversation and donate money to this a great cause, Kids with Cameras, helping our young sisters in India. It means a lot to me, personally, to connect with the women I am close to, yet in a way that is connected and helpful to women and girls anywhere. I have been thinking lately that maybe I miss ‘the red tent’ (yes, a reference to the book, but not the book itself). I long for the opportunity to hang out with women… talk our hearts out, laugh and comfort each other, and if we were braiding one another’s hair, even better!”

That’s it, isn’t? We’re all craving the opportunity to connect with our sisters, and if we can do something to help other women at the same time, it’s an even more fulfilling experience.

What do you do to connect and help out sisters, whether those you were born with , those you’ve found along the way, or the sisters you don’t even know yet?

(If you’re not familiar with the Academy Award-winning documentary, Born into Brothels, or the work of the organization Kids with Cameras [now operating not just in Calcutta, where the documentary was filmed, but also in Cairo, Jerusalem, and Carrefour, Haiti] be sure to visit their website. Many thanks to Zana Briski, the film’s director and the founder of Kids with Cameras, for the image above. The art produced by the children, and the meaning and joy it gives them, is stunning.)

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Keira Knightley and Hayley Atwell in 'The Duchess'

ISN’T IT GREAT (and rare) when your husband (or any other guy in your life) chooses a smart chick flick for movie night? My movie-loving husband surprised me with The Duchess last week, though had he really known what it was about, I’m not sure he would have picked it.

Based on the life of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, an 18th century ancestor of Princess Diana’s, the film is a complicated, if not completely satisfying, look at the confinement and powerlessness that characterized the lives of even aristocratic women in those times.

Played with great subtlety by Keira Knightley, Georgiana finds herself forced into a loveless marriage with Ralph Fiennes, who only wants her to bear him a son, to secure his right to the family fortune. Unfortunately for her, she produces daughters instead. Georgiana is forced to raise his child from an affair as her own, and then to endure living with both her husband and his lover, Lady Elizabeth Foster, when the Duke will neither give up his affair or allow Georgiana to leave the marriage.

The story is heartbreaking, without being overwrought, and left me once again feeling how vulnerable women have been (and so often continue to be) to the confines of economy and patriarchy.

(Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Ralph Fiennes, whom I plan to make my next husband, is delightful to look at and listen to, even as his behavior is boorish in the extreme. Ah, the English.)

What’s lined up in your Netflix queue? If you need suggestions, be sure to check out our newly updated list of the ultimate sister flicks.

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LEGENDARY ACTIVIST LAWYER William Kunstler is now the subject of a documentary, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, which opened today in Park City, Utah. This is no ordinary biography, though. The film is directed and produced by two of Kunstler’s four daughters. Sisters Emily and Sarah Kunstler, who were teenagers when their father died, say that “Making this film has been a magical way of bringing him back to life.” Since 2000, the sisters have had their own production company, Off Center Media, which produces award-winning documentaries about injustices in the criminal justice system.

Kunstler, who was called “the most hated and most loved lawyer in America” by The New York Times, came to fame defending the Chicago Seven, charged with inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. You can watch the trailer for the film here.

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We decided to watch it as a family movie for the last night of “vacation,” and oh, what a thrill. Though the film isn’t literally about sisters, it is all about sister-friends. Donna, the mamma of the title, has her best friends (and former girl-group singing partners), Tanya and Rosie, with her for moral support during the wedding of her daughter, Sophie (who also has her BFFs close at hand.) Meryl Streep has never looked more beautiful, or, it seems, had such fun with a part, and Christine Baranski and Julie Walters are beyond hysterical.

While the plot is ostensibly about Sophie’s search for her father’s identity, the appeal of the film is in the delirious joy all these women feel at singing and laughing and soaking up each other’s company (not to mention the glorious Greek sunshine). I couldn’t stop laughing and singing myself, and as a bonus, my kids liked it so much that they were dancing along with every musical number. Mamma Mia! may just find you running off to iTunes to download ABBA’s greatest hits–don’t say I didn’t warn you.

OTHER FILM LINKS ON TSP:

• TSP master list of sister flicks
• TSP holiday sister-flick list
• ‘Persepolis‘
• ‘Nothing Like the Holidays,’ and ‘Doubt’
• ‘Secret Life of Bees,’ I’ve Loved You So Long,’ and ‘Rachel Getting Married’

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Click here to view the embedded video.

I guess I wasn’t paying attention (so sue me, I have children) but I didn’t realize that the film hiding in the TV room was the film adaptation of a book I’d been curious about, but never managed to read (again, I blame my young son and his younger sister).  The book, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, tells a fictionalized version of the author’s childhood in Tehran, set against the backdrop of the overthrow of the Shah, the Iran-Iraq War and the rise to power of the Islamic fundamentalist government. (The book was followed by a sequel, Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, which is also incorporated into the film.)

The grief the little girl feels at the loss of a unique sisterhood is breathtaking.

The political content is fascinating, but it’s the viewpoint of a young girl (and eventually, young woman) that makes this film shine. Marjane is an outspoken, creative only child caught in a society that is increasingly hostile to women; yet, all around her, she has amazing examples of powerful women, in particular, her beloved grandmother. When Marjane has to leave Iran for Europe (not once, but twice) the grief she feels at the loss of a unique sisterhood is breathtaking.

In keeping with the book, the film is animated, mostly black and white, and in French with subtitles (a dubbed version is available on the disc, with excellent cast ranging from Gena Rowlands to Iggy Pop). It’s worth also watching the “making of” for further insight into Marjane’s personality and creativity and the work of the many artists who collaborated to make the film.

Please, please, rent this film, and let me know what you think–it’s got much fruit for discussion, and is guaranteed to make you appreciate the love of your sisters.

OTHER FILM LINKS ON TSP:

• TSP master list of sister flicks
• TSP holiday sister-flick list
• ‘Nothing Like the Holidays,’ and ‘Doubt’
• ‘Secret Life of Bees,’ I’ve Loved You So Long,’ and ‘Rachel Getting Married’

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Our friend

IT WASN’T SUPPOSED to be quite like this. We were supposed to launch this little project, and gather steam week by week, enticing our readers with more and more tales of sisterly devotion (or dysfunction.) Three weeks in, we felt pretty good–you were reading; discussions were happening; topics we hadn’t thought to cover arose spontaneously and took on their own lives. Week 4 was supposed to be even better–we had momentum, we thought.

And then.

You see, we four founding TSP sisters live in a beautiful, but unforgiving part of the country. We are all close enough to drive to meet, but far enough away that we often gather via Skype, rather than in person. The beauty, of course, of telecommuting, and telemeeting, is that real distance doesn’t matter, as long as the bits and bytes keep flowing. It turns out that enough ice can stop that flow dead in its tracks.

Our region (western Massachusetts, and the Hudson Valley and Capital region of upstate New York) was hit with a humdinger of an ice storm 10 days ago. We were warned, but the weather here is changeable, and dire predictions don’t always come to pass. Plus, as a recent returnee to the Northeast, the truth is, I didn’t really have any idea what “ice storm” meant (besides being the title of one of my favorite films.)

It turns out that what it means is this: trees that look like they’ve been snapped off halfway up their trunks by an angry, perhaps drunk, giant. Roads so slick that your car slides–hopefully gracefully–down your hill, rather than pausing to turn into your driveway. School is canceled. And the power goes out.

For me and Marion Roach Smith, living an hour or so apart in very different communities (hers a bit more suburban, mine decidedly rural) this meant no power for days. I am fortunate to have a generator, which gave me some electricity, but more important, heat and water (no city water here: we draw from a well with, you guessed it, an electric pump). Marion wasn’t so lucky–without supplemental power, about all she could do was drain her pipes and hope for the best.

Ironically, Margaret, whose home is arguably in the most remote location, never lost power at all. She just had to wonder why her partners-in-crime had gone (quite literally) off the grid and off the radar, incommunicado and unable to tend to our newborn sister-site. And she was powerless to help us.

As it turns out, both of our families emerged relatively unscathed (and with good stories to tell, always the upside of adversity for writers). The day after the storm was the most beautiful I’ve experienced to date in this beautiful part of the world I call home. We hope you’ll understand our absence–isn’t that what sisters do?

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