Grab Your Pals And Watch The Emotionally Raw Girlfriends

Back in a 1980 interview, Stanley Kubrick remarked that a recent American film he adored was the Claudia Weill 1978 feature Girlfriends. Particularly interesting in his praise of the project was him noting bewilderment over it not doing well at the box office (as Kubrick can attest with his own works like 2001: A Space Odyssey, good films sometimes just can't translate quality to strong box office), how well-made the feature was and that it had a thoughtful quality that reminded him of European cinema. Heed the words of Stanley Kubrick dear reader, Girlfriends is very much worthy of the praise this iconic filmmaker heaped upon it.

Cleo from 5 to 7 Is Yet Another Quietly Powerful Triumph For Director Agnes Varda

If Spike Lee's 25th Hour was about peoples present being impacted by events from one person's past, Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 is a story about how the uncertain future of one individual impacts the present-day lives of other individuals. Whose future turns out to have such an immense ripple effect? That would be Cleo (Corrine Marchand), a woman who we are introduced to as getting her future getting told to her by way of a fortune teller and her tarot cards. What kind of future do these objects foretell for Cleo? Not a good one, which, despite attempts by the fortune teller to twist what the cards have said into something more positive, sends Cleo into a spiral of despair.

Agnes Varda and JR Go On A Road Trip Packed With Engrossing Kindness In Faces Places

Iconic director Agnes Varda started out her filmmaking career with La Pointe Courte, a sobering look at a relationship in crisis, but her newest film is a complete 180 from 1955 feature in terms of tone. That newest directorial effort of hers is called Faces Places and one just feels pure joy from watching it. There are few movies I could say this about without some kind of caveat (The Muppets is one of the only other scant few titles I can think of to earn that distinction), but Faces Places really is that enjoyable to watch. From its humorous opening sequence establishing various ways that it's two lead characters did not meet to its heartfelt conclusion, Faces Places keeps a smile on your face and a sincere sense of kindness emanating from every fiber of its being.

La Pointe Courte Was A Subtly Ambitious And High-Quality Inaugural Directorial Effort For Agnes Varda

While many films detailing a couple going through turmoil in their relationship may depict such upheaval in grandiose ways, like things being flung across the room or large speeches, acclaimed director Agnes Varda went in a different direction. For her very first time directing a feature film, Varda filmed a portrait of quiet romantic agony, one where two people engage in intimate conversations that have them forced to confront where their relationship now stands. The Honeymoon is over, as they say, and it's time for the two lead characters of La Pointe Courte to figure out where exactly they go from here.