Black Girl is a Masterful Reaffirmation of Its Titular Protagonists Humanity

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Gomis Diouana (Mbissine Therese Diop) came to this job as a domestic servant expecting one thing but got something else entirely. Originally residing in Senegal, she was enticed to take on this job working for a white French couple known only as Madame (Anne-Marie Jelinek) and Monsieur (Robert Fontaine) (two characters who smartly never get names so that they can only be known as people who carry on the legacy of racial horrors rather than as actual human beings) for the promise of money and taking care of children. Now that she's here, though, the truth comes out about what Gomis has actually become ensnared in. The children she was supposed to take care of are rarely around and she's stuck doing dehumanizing work for her employers while never being allowed to leave the house she lives in. Gomis came here to be an employee but she's instead become a prisoner.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Cuts To The Emotional Bone With Its Harrowing Performances And Camerawork

When the Hayes Code, a set of restrictions placed on what could or couldn't be depicted in American cinema in order to "protect the sanctity of the family", fell in 1964, American cinema suddenly had a golden opportunity on its hand to explore darker and more adult-oriented storytelling that had been off-limits for decades now. Studios didn't rush to make the filthiest movies they could imagine, but they did start to test the waters with what exactly they could do under the heavily reduced amount of restrictions placed on their art form. Come 1966, the Mike Nichols directorial effort Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? would help push those boundaries with a movie that wasn't afraid to talk about grim matters that would have been unspeakable had it been made in the Hayes Code era.

A Man For All Seasons Makes For A Great Companion Piece To Fellow Fred Zinnemann Directorial Effort High Noon

Anyone who's read my reviews for even the briefest period of time knows it's not unusual for me to have never heard of a beloved iconic movie. But I feel like my lack of knowledge on the existence of A Man For All Seasons is a tad more common than, say, being ignorant on the existence of Ang Lee's version of Sense & Sensibility until I saw a trailer for it on a DVD copy of A Man For All Seasons. Despite scoring a Best Picture Oscar back in the mid-1960s, I've rarely heard the film discussed or even mentioned at all in cinematic-based discourse. Perhaps this is because its victory at the Oscars that year didn't beat out a movie many consider to be widely superior or because it's widely considered to be an especially dismal Best Picture choice like The Broadway Melody, Crash or Green Book, two attributes that can spur up regular conversation.

Au Hasard Balthazar Is A Boldly Grim Cinematic Experience

Sight & Sound Voyage Entry #35
Placement On Sight & Sound Top 50 Movies List: #16                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            One of the biggest no-no's in the world of cinema is hurting animals. Kill all the people you like (so long as they ain't kids) but hurting an innocent animal? You've gone too far. That's a really understandable phenomenon to me because animals are awesome and the sight of seeing an innocent creature with less capabilities than a human being experiencing pain just feels icky. That's why I've never been big on hunting and that's why movies have typically eschewed showing animals in dire pain, though there are exceptions of course. Satantango decided to just abuse a poor cat in one of its worst and most pointless scenes while Old Yeller is famous for its climax that results in the demise of the titular canine.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #1): Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #1: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a new weekly series wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

What Kind Of An Impact Can One Man's Life Have? Andrei Rublev Sets Out To Answer That Very Question

Sight & Sound Voyage Entry #15
Placement On Sight & Sound Top 50 Movies List: #26 (tied with Rashomon)

It's gonna be tough for me to review Andrei Rublev, Andrei Tarkovsky's widely raved 1966 motion picture chronicling the life of an actual famous Russian painter. You see, I'm not familiar with Russian history in the slightest, let alone the various portions of the 15th century in that country this movie depicts. This means that, while I found much to appreciate, admire and even be outright enthralled by in watching the feature film, I did find myself feeling like I'd carry a greater appreciation for Andrei Rublev if I carried more familiarity with the time periods it depicts or even was just more accustomed to Andrei Tarkovsky's obviously individualistic style of filmmaking (this is my first time watching one of his movies).

The Battle Of Algiers Is A Grim Look At The Enduring Nature Of A Resistance

One of the best things about watching a number of older foreign motion pictures is that many of these titles offer me the chance to explore aspects of other countries histories that I have only heard about passing or never even knew existed, Jean Renoir's The Rules Of The Game was a good example of this, a 1939 motion picture that clued me in on the societal issues of that day and age in France. The subject of this movie review, the 1966 film The Battle Of Algiers, is another strong example of this phenomenon, centering itself on an eight year long North Africa conflict that I had no idea even transpired.

There's Plenty Of (GASP!) Fun To Be Had In Batman: The Movie

Before Ben Affleck, before Christian Bale, before Michael Keaton, before all of that...there was Adam West. West was the man who portrayed Batman in the 1960's Batman TV show and ended up becoming the first actor to portray Batman in a theatrical film (aside from Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowrey, who played the caped crusader in two different 15-chapter serial films in the 1940's) once that TV show got a film adaptation promptly titled Batman: The Movie. The feature film carries over the heavily stylized and campy aesthetic of the show with aplomb, there's really no limit to how absurd how this movie can get.

Which Grinch Is Best? (The Answer Is Obvious)

Here's another exciting entry in this Holiday themed column, 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

I've gotten really addicted to Patton Oswalts standup this week, the dudes just hilarious in his comedy. One great bit is where he talks about how a primary flaw with the Star Wars prequels is that they feel compelled to talk about the origins of beloved characters like Boba Fett and Darth Vader, which Oswalt likens to someone give you the starting ingredients for Ice Cream and saying it's just delicious as that confection.