Indies aside, women in film still face an uphill battle
"Bridesmaid's" Kristen Wiig (left) fakes suicide to jump start
her playwright career and gets put in custody of her gambling-
addicted mom Annette Bening in "Girl Most Likely," in theaters
July 19. Amanda Seyfried plays the pioneering "Deep Throat" porn
star in the flick "Lovelace," in theaters Aug. 9.  "The Heat"
opened to $39 million over the weekend. That's a nice number,
considering it's about what the female buddy-cop comedy cost to
make. It was better than the very good $35.4 million opening co-
star Melissa McCarthy's hit comedy "Identity Thief" enjoyed in
February, way better than the $26 million first weekend superhit
"Bridesmaids" had two years ago -- and it humiliated the
testosterone-driven, $150 million action spectacular "White
House Down," which premiered this weekend, quite inadequately,
to less than $25 million.  All of which is good news, obviously,
for women in Hollywood, who have had it pretty rough of late.  A
study published by the U