The Last Ten Films I’ve Seen

1. Little Women (Greta Gerwig)
2. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
3. 1917 (Sam Mendes)
4. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
5. Ford v Ferrari (James Mangold)
6. Little Women (Greta Gerwig)
7. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir)
8. Interiors (Woody Allen)
9. Atlantic City (Louis Malle)
10. Gretel & Hansel (Oz Perkins)

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1- The cliche you hear now about The Irishman is that if you see it in the theater you will be enthralled and if you watch it on Netflix, you will be bored.  I watched it on Netflix

2- I loved and admired Little Women so much that I saw it again in the theater about a week after the first viewing. It was an even richer experience.

3- Interiors.  Oy vey.  Read this.

4- After the extremely disappointing revisit to Interiors, I am happy to report that I found Atlantic City even more poetic and moving than I remembered it.  A film for the ages.

5- I had a rip-roaring time watching 1917. They also serve who only entertain.  Thank you Sam Mendes.

6- I watched Gretel & Hansel in a state of confusion. I didn’t have a clue what it was trying to do. Creepy atmosphere was successfully achieved but what was it about?  Still, I had fun watching it and it was less than 90 minutes long, so no harm done. Look at this picture of the witch. Ripping off the innkeeper in Isle Of The Dead?

The Last Ten Films I’ve Seen

1. Magnificent Obsession (Douglas Sirk)
2. Danton (Andrzej Wajda)
3. I Fidanzati  (Ermanno Olmi)
4. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)
5. A Woman’s Face (Gustav Molander)
6. The Steamroller and the Violin (Andrei Tarkovsky)
7. That Forsyte Woman (Compton Bennett)
8. The Catcher Was a Spy (Ben Lewin)
9. Florence Foster Jenkins (Stephen Frears)
10. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir)

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1- The Steamroller and the Violin – A tender film from Andrei Tarkovsky? Well, it was a student project, but it is really lovely.   No indication at all of the strenuous films to come

2- I was obsessed with the BBC version of The Forsyte Saga when it played here in the 70s. Because of that, I turned my nose up at the MGM version That Forsyte Woman.  First of all, what a silly title. Second, Errol Flynn as the homely Soames Forsyte?  But watching it now it is a solid MGM adaptation, a good example of their ‘Tradition of Quality’.  I wonder why there weren’t more films of these books.  The story and characters are so rich

3- I think we take for granted how talented and multi-faceted Meryl Streep is.  Her output is an embarrassment of riches.  What can’t she play.  Each character is uniquely conceived and not like any other.  Bette Davis was as brilliant, but she was always playing a Bette Davis character.  Streep as the infamous Florence Foster Jenkins is poignant, hilarious and infuriating.  Another work of genius.