Longtime Companion (1990)

***SPOILER ALERT***

I first saw this movie right after it came out. I was a college student, & my roommate & I had gone to the "art" theater to see it. I don't really remember much about the movie from back then. But I clearly remember that I spent 10 to 15 minutes sobbing in the ladies room after the movie was over.

One of my uncles, whom I was very fond of, died of AIDS in the mid-80's. I wasn't allowed to visit him & I didn't go to the funeral, so I never really felt any closure after he died. This movie brought everything to the surface for me. I cried for my uncle Brian, & for not being able to tell him goodbye.

I've never forgotten the grief that I felt because of this film. Now, almost 20 years later, I wanted to see this movie again, to see what exactly had triggered such a deep reaction.

It was definitely the ending when all of the friends who had died come back in a sort of fantasy beach reunion. What's so sad is that you want so badly to see them just one more time, to tell them that you love them & that you miss them. But it's just not possible. & for that, I cried again.

Longtime Companion on IMDb

House of Sand (Brazil, 2005)

What an exasperating movie! After her husband drags her to the middle of nowhere & then promptly dies, a woman is trapped in the deserts of Brazil, waiting for her chance to escape. With very little dialog & very little to move the film along, I found myself desperate to escape as well. Perhaps the film maker used this technique to make the viewer squirm. If so, he surely succeeded.

House of Sand on IMDb

Henry Fool (1997)

Funny, quirky snapshot of a small-town community. Everyone has some sort of disfunctionality. Great character development. Fun for the whole family. There was a dumb & dumber bathroom scene, but if you can overlook that, it's a great film.

This film was released in 1997, at the beginning of the internet "explosion". They make references to the internet that seem quaint now. Funny how quickly things change.

Henry Fool on IMDb

Lousiana Story (1948)

I was hoping to get a better connection to my roots with this film, since my mother's side of the family are New Orleans cajuns. The movie is registered as a national treasure & was nominated for an Oscar, though it didn't win. I suppose that's all because of its unique look at the cajun life, & possibly the cinematography. The story was secondary to the imagery & the camera angles.

Lousiana Story on IMDb

The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)

This movie is utter chaos. Family members die & no one seems to care. Brother & sister have sex all day long. Sister gets raped & is still pining for the boy who did it. Brother likes kissing a toothless woman. WTF? At least this movie was made when Rob Lowe was still cute.

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Machuca (Chile, 2004)

This story of the rich & the poor (& whether or not they can get along) plays over the backdrop of political strife in Chile in 1973.

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It helps to know a little bit about the political history of Chile when watching this movie. Maybe you've heard about Salvador Allende, the socialist leader, & Augusto Pinochet, the military dictator.

If not, or if you want to learn more, here are some links to get you started:
Chile: Two Visions, The Allende-Pinochet Era
Chile Under Allende
Augusto Pinochet: Villain to Some, Hero to Others
Pinochet on Wikipedia
Allende on Wikipedia

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

This movie reminded me of an episode of The Love Boat where Julie, the cruise director, wanted to be a part of the "club" that the male crew members told her existed. They said that to be initiated, she would have to memorize Moby Dick, which starts "Call me Ismael." (The only reason I know that is because of this episode.) She did memorize the book, but it turns out, of course, that the "club" was fake - they never thought she would actually commit the novel to memory. Lucky for her that in the future there is a community of people who have memorized books to preserve them & to protect them from the fire men.

For more famous first lines from novels, click here.

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Le Notti Bianche (Italy, 1957)

With movies like this, no wonder people believe that love is simple. Two strangers pass in the night, one just as naive as the other. If the story lacked content, the visuals were awesome. I love black & white!

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Freaks (1932)

What a crazy visual montage! The "freaks" are real circus sideshow people: a man who walks on his hands because he has no lower body; a woman with no arms who eats, smokes, etc with her feet; a pair of Siamese twins; a man with no arms & no legs who "walks" on his hips & shoulders. & this movie even has a plot!

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A Nous la Liberté (France, 1931)

A brief internet search tells me that the first "real" movie was made in the late 1890's, & that "talkies" were first introduced in the late 1920's. That would explain why this film had very little dialog, & why the soundtrack did not reflect all that was happening (for example, a handkerchief being ripped did not make a sound). I always associate overacting & too much make-up with early films, but the acting in this movie wasn't so dramatic, & the people looked normal.

It was a cute story, but I found myself wondering when it would end. Maybe that's a reflection of my own inattentiveness in today's world of over-stimulation.

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One Week from a Man's Life (Poland, 1999)

One week indeed! But what was the point of the whole thing? Maybe it'll come to me later.

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