Alexandre Koberidze’s Georgian slice-of-life, pseudo-silent, slow film aesthetic meets magical realism and romantic comedy in What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, and the result is magnificent.
Author: Dan Stalcup
Nouchka van Brakel’s films center around women asserting their identity via a sexuality outside of the mainstream. In The Cool Lakes of Death, protagonist Hetty’s “taboo” is simply being a woman of assertive sexuality in prudish 19th century bourgeoisie.
Fellini’s first solo directing effort is a light and uneven — but still ultimately satisfying — romantic comedy farce with undercurrents of satire.
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Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Nights of Cabiria traces the romantic misadventures of the title character, played to perfection by Giulietta Masina, owner of one of the great expressive faces in the history of cinema.
If narrative momentum is your thing, whatsoever, then Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a bit of a slog to get through.
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Hercules (1997)
Hercules has a bit of a reputation as a minor Disney Renaissance work, mostly because it has a light comic tone while still adhering to a fairy tale-esque hero’s journey story arc, perhaps lending it an air of excessive breeziness where dramatic punch is expected.
Where The Little Mermaid 2 is content to retread the original’s story, but in reverse and less coherently and uglier, Ariel’s Beginning at least tries something new. It doesn’t exactly stick the landing, but I’d still put it in the upper half of Disney’s direct-to-video sequels.
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Frozen (2013)
As the father of two daughters who love princess stories, Frozen is more of a utilitarian commodity to me than a piece of cinema.
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Training Day (2001)
I’m not quite sure this movie realizes that it’s a neo-noir.
What’s this? A film from the 1970s that treats homosexuality with nuance and earnest generosity, not as a big icky farcical hoot or a facade for depravity? To be fair, I am very much NOT up to speed on my queer cinema history, but given that this felt like a fair depiction in 2021, I can only imagine how progressive it was 42 years ago.