I watched another 6 movies last week:
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- I’m not sure Map to the Stars is particularly insightful as a satire, or has anything to say beyond “aren’t celebrities weird and awful?” But they are particularly weird and awful here, in some interesting ways, with good performances, so it’s worth a quick tour.
- George Washington maybe felt like more of a groundbreaking indie upon its release in 2000—Roger Ebert called it “such a lovely film” full of “voluptuous languor—but there is still something to be said for its sad and quiet beauty, the understated performances by largely non-actors.
- La Llorona is devastating and scary.
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- I don’t know that 2007’s 3:10 to Yuma is any better than the 1957 version, but it’s helped enormously by the two lead performances.
- There are probably better, or least more important, blaxploitation movies that came after Cotton Comes to Harlem, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless.
- The King and I certainly isn’t non-problematic in its casting and its dated lack of racial sensitivity, but I don’t think it’s ever intentionally dismissive or insulting to the culture it’s trying to portray. Both Brynner and Kerr are good in the roles, and there are some lovely songs.
I also rewatched the lovely and heartbreaking Rachel Getting Married, which was one of Jonathan Demme’s best films. And I say that knowing he made The Silence of the Lambs.