Stuff I've Been Watching September 2019

1. Boyfriend in Sight directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga. Spain. via Criterion Channel. I watched this movie with Marta
2. The Executioner directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga. Spain. via Criterion Channel
3. Peppermint Frappe directed by Carlos Saura. Spain. via Criterion Channel
4. In the Soup directed by Alexandre Rockwell starring Steve Buscemi, Seymour Cassell, and Jennifer Beals via Amazon Prime. I originally saw this movie on the big screen at the Detroit Film Theater in 1993.
5. Dolores directed by Peter Bratt documentary about the activist Dolores Huerta, who, along with Cesar Chavez organized American farm workers via PBS app in the Independent Lens series. I watched this movie with Monika. September 15.
6. Weekend in Havana via PBS app. Geoffrey Baer meets musicians, architects, dancers, and writers. Watched with Monika. 20 September.
7. Memories of Underdevelopment directed by Tomas Gutierrez Alea. 1968. Cuba. This film is the most renowned work in the history of Cuban cinema. After his wife and family flee in the wake of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the bourgeois intellectual Sergio (Sergio Corrieri) passes his days wandering Havana in idle reflection, his amorous entanglements and political ambivalence gradually giving way to a mounting sense of alienation. With this adaptation of an innovative novel by Edmundo Desnoes, Gutierrez Alea developed a cinematic style as radical as the times he was chronicling, creating a collage of vivid impressions through the use of experimental editing techniques, archival material, and spontaneously shot street scenes. Intimate and densely layered, Memories of Underdevelopment provides an extraordinary glimpse of lie in postrevolutionary Cuba. Part of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project via the Criterion Channel app. 20 September.
8. Cronos directed by Guillermo del Toro. 1993. Mexico. Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious feature debut with Cronos, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Frederico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself the possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as well as the target of a mysterious American named Angel (a delightfully crude and deranged Ron Perlman). Featuring marvelous special makeup effects and haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, Cronos is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating fantasy. Via the Criterion Channel app. 22 September
9. Redes (The Waves) directed by Emilio Gomez Muriel and Fred Zinnemann. 1936. Mexico. Early in his career, the Austrian-born future Oscar winner Fred Zinnemann co-directed with Emilio Gomez Muriel the politically and emotionally searing Redes. In this vivid, documentary-like dramatization of the daily grind of men struggling to make a living fishing on the Gulf of Mexico (mostly played by real-life fishermen) one worker’s terrible loss instigates a political awakening among him and his fellow laborers. A singular coming together of talents, Redes, commissioned by a progressive Mexican government, was co-written and gorgeously shot by the legendary photographer Paul Strand. Restored in 2009. Part of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project. Via the Criterion Channel app. 26 September.
10. Through The Wall. A six-minute documentary about an undocumented family divided by the US/Mexico border. In order to see each other, Uriel, Abril, and Julian must cross difficult terrain to reach the border fence where they spend time together through the wall. PBS Indies. Latino Public Broadcasting. Via the PBS app. 27 September.
11. The Shower. directed by Pepa San Martin. 2011. Chile. A couple separates. Elisa got a job outside the country and Manuela, who lived with her for five years, hasdecided not to accompany her. Unable to say goodbye, they spend the last morning together, refugees under the shower water. Via the Criterion Channel app. 29 September.