Athletic Women Blog

Candace Parker is living proof that female athletes can compete at the very highest levels. She has some interesting things to say about that in this short video clip:



Be sure to watch Candace and her Lady Vols in the ongoing 2008 NCAA Tournament, too.

This blog generally steers clear of politics (there isn't even a category for it), and I prefer it that way. (To my mind, the time, attention, and money devoted to politics and politicians would be better spent dealing directly with the problems at hand.) This, then, is merely an observation and not an endorsement. But should Barack Obama get elected president, the United States will have its most athletic first lady ever. Michelle Obama, who stands nearly six feet tall, works out regularly, and it shows.

I'm not going to give you the old saw about how you can do anything if you set your mind to it, because it is untrue in addition to being hackneyed. You can't do anything. But you can do a great deal, and probably much more than you realize. Indeed, an indomitable spirit can accomplish what many think impossible. You will find no better demonstration of this than Sarah Reinertsen:

Finally, finally I can say, unequivocally, that I've seen a formidable female action hero again. Doomsday's Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) is a tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners, git-r-done badass. You have that indelible impression fifteen minutes into the movie; it only grows from there. Mitra is simply the best action heroine I've seen in a long time, and probably one of the best ever. She has it all: the swagger, the physique, and the acting chops to close the sale.

Mitra's Sinclair is truly redoubtable, and a joy to watch. There is no jolt of cognitive dissonance when we see her leap into action, generally the case when the all-too-typical scrawny action heroine does so. She is athletic, muscular, substantial; her back and shoulders, for example, are broad and nicely developed, the mark of someone strong and fit. Thus, with Mitra, the action feels seamless, just as it should. In plain words, she looks the part. How refreshing!

The movie itself is, well, out of control. It's campy, often incoherent, extremely violent, even downright twisted, but loads of fun nonetheless. If you can stand the gore, you'll get your money's worth from Doomsday and then some. Moreover, it's worth seeing for Rhona Mitra alone. She was even better than I hoped or thought she would be. (The character she was given to work with was pretty awesome, too. Kudos to Neil Marshall for that.) Here we have the advent of a female action star, the like of which we haven't seen in a while; you don't want to miss it.

The reviews for Doomsday are coming in. Several reviewers merely pan the movie, which isn't a big surprise, but many—like io9, The Kansas City Star David Hiltbrand of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and now Skye over at Heroine Content—seem to have a more positive impression, albeit a somewhat qualified one, often preferring to view the movie as unadorned entertainment and not as an attempt at high art. It's especially worth noting that Rhona Mitra is getting high marks as an action star.

I plan to see Doomsday today. I'm sure I'll have my own thoughts as well, which I'll try to share later.

Could lots of fighting (knives, swords, guns, you name it), car chases, explosions, and more—with a pumped up Rhona Mitra at the center of it all—add up to the Amazon feminist's dream movie? We'll soon find out. Doomsday hits theaters March 14:

The casting of Lena Headey as Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been criticized, harshly at times. Readers of this blog know that I've had my misgivings as well. Moreover, those who pooh-pooh such criticism are simply being disingenuous, for they almost certainly wouldn't react the same way if people were, say, complaining about the selection of a scrawny male actor to take over an iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger role.

Nevertheless, Monday's season finale was, in a word, excellent. And as long as they don't force the issue (which, alas, they have done at times), Lena's Sarah Connor works, only not in the same way that Linda Hamilton's did. The difference has been made up by Summer Glau, though she has been underutilized thus far. Summer's transcendent athleticism—much like Jennifer Garner's, largely the result of years of ballet training—lends a convincing quality to her movement that shows up in action scenes and in how she carries herself generally. This, when it has been used effectively, has given the show the muscle it needs. Overall, acting, writing, and production have been superb.

Let's hope Monday wasn't the series finale as well—no word yet on whether SCC has been picked up for another season.