Sometimes it’s just a new month with new movies, you know? I’m gonna dig right into it — there’s at least one collection which I want to draw attention to.
In fact, screw going in order, let’s start with Argentine Noir. I have been really digging Argentinian film in the last few months, both the classic era and the new wave. As it happens, I’ve seen half of these six at Noir City festivals thanks to Eddie Mueller and the Film Noir Foundation; Never Open That Door and The Black Vampire are both reasonably fun, and I’d recommend making time for The Beast Must Die, which is acidic as hell. I will be digging further into this collection.
Then there’s New York Love Stories. I’m from Boston, New York exceptionalism leaves me cold. That said, OK, there’s gold in here. Carol is high on my list; Arthur is low. Somewhere in the middle, I see a movie I really liked at the time which may or may not have aged well: Kissing Jessica Stein. I just saw another sweet queer romcom from the early 2000s, which wasn’t all that good as a movie, but from the Letterboxd comments I’m not sure this one is going to redeem the era.
Arthur, man. Dudley Moore. Kids will find this hard to believe but he was a significant star back in the 80s. You think the Oscars are bad now? That thing got four Oscar nominations. Gielgud maybe deserved the win. That was the year of On Golden Pond, so sentiment was in the air.
Celebrate Black History is packed with strong movies. Oh, hey, little bit of Agnes Varda in there; Criterion thinks Black Panthers was a 1970 release for some reason. I’ve been meaning to see Daughters of the Dust forever (it’s not new to the Channel), so maybe this will push me over the edge.
As always, there are a couple of person-oriented categories: Starring Claudette Colbert, which satisfies my Golden Age yearnings for the month — can’t go wrong with her work — and Directed by Joan Micklin Silver. I don’t know Silver’s work, but from the writeup it sort of seems like I should. I like newspaper dramas so I’m adding Between The Lines to my watchlist. Also set in Boston! Nice compensation for the New York themed collection, OK. Ah, and a Directed by Buster Keaton collection. You’ve probably already seen most of this if you were so inclined; I think the Peter Bogdanovich documentary on Keaton is likely to be worthwhile, though.
Among the Criterion Collection Editions and the rediscoveries, I’m intrigued by Prévert’s Remorques because Jean Gabin is always interesting. Sara Gómez’s One Way or Another also seems likely to be worthwhile. Anyone who worked with Varda probably has something going for them. And right at the moment, having binged Céline Sciamma last year and having just watched my first Catherine Breillat movie, the Directed by Axelle Ropert collection is intriguing — another French woman director’s approach to children, adults, and human relationships? Sure!
Yeah, kind of a quiet month. New York Love Stories is obviously the keynote, and that doesn’t hook me, but hey — Valentine’s Day. They can’t all be perfect.
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