Movie Watching in Quarantine Times

by Murtada Elfadl

With all of us self isolating in quarantine the daily question of what to watch gains even more importance. Not only do you want to watch something good and entertaining but also something that will engross and really distract and take you away from the reality of the grave situation we are living in. Something soothing and comforting above all, however you never know where comfort might come from. 

Last night I thought a comedy was in order and based on Wes Anderson’s recommendation in a sweet email to The Criterion Channel I chose Arthur Hiller’s The-Out-of-Towners (1970) with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Denis. However I turned it off 15 minutes into the film. Lemmon constantly yelling his entitlement was not comforting nor funny. The rants were well written and the situations would have probably been funny in another context. But not at this time.

Last week the movie was Francois Trauffaut’s The Last Metro (1980)...

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Complete the Sentence(s)...

The last movie I saw in theaters was ___________. When movie theaters reopen I will _____________. 

Congrats to La Pfeiffer and "Henry Rose"

Michelle Pfeiffer's personal passion project, her unisex fragrances named after her son and daughter, have received terrific press since premiering about a year ago. They're far out of our price range but we wanted to say congratulations as they've recently received the Glamour 2020 Beauty Award for Best Fragrance and have also been doing well with men's magazines, too, logging strong sales for men's fragrances.

Filming French ExitWe didn't suspect that the reclusive goddess would stick around social media after launching her Instagram to support the fragrances but something about it suited her whims (yay!) and she has been fairly consistent since. She's not an oversharer, obviously, but it's a steady trickle. After years and years of scarcity for pfans it's nice to have her become something of a regular celebrity presence again. Plus her cat is soooo fluffy. We love.

Months before the novel coronavirus shut down Hollywood she completed work on her next leading lady role in French Exit. While the movie was expected to be released this fall in time for Oscar season we suspect that no films will have anything like secure release dates given how many have now been delayed. We'll just have to wait and see if and when Pfeiffer returns to the Oscar race at last.

All hail the great Glenda Jackson!

by Cláudio Alves 

50 years ago, Ken Russell's Women in Love was released in US theaters after having already opened in the UK the year before. Accusations of obscenity and licentiousness followed the picture across the Atlantic and, as it usually happens, polemic was a good catalyst for popularity. Nowadays, such arthouse offerings rarely get mainstream attention but the America of 1970 was a different place as far as moviegoing was concerned. In a time of radical change in society and tastes, Women in Love's tale of bohemian affairs, sexual candor and class hierarchies in 20s England was warmly received by critics and audiences alike. The performance of Glenda Jackson was of particular fame and catapulted the actress to the pantheon of celebrity.

So much so that, by April of 1971, she won the Oscar for Best Actress. To this day, it's one of the weirdest victories in the category's history…

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Review: Little Fires Everywhere

by Murtada Elfadl

This review only covers the first three episodes of Little Fires Everywhere.

In the second episode of the new Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere rich privileged white woman Elena Richardson (Reeese Witherspoon) asks the nomad artist Mia (Kerry Washington), who is her new tenant, to be her maid. You see she means well. She saw Mia and her teenage daughter asleep in their car and of course as any upstanding citizen would do, called the police on them for trespassing. Out of guilt she leased them her open apartment when by coincidence she recognized them later in the day. Now Mia has told her that she needs to juggle more than one job to make ends meet. The offer comes out naturally out of Elena's mouth. Only after she finishes saying the words does she realize what she has said and how it can be misconstrued. She back tracks by changing the job to “house manager.”

That scene is fraught with racial, class and socio-economic tension. It made me excited for the series and for watching Witherspoon and Washington tackle these issues...

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