854 Contributions by: Isabella Endrinal (Page 33)

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Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She’s now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She’s currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn’t coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.

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, 1997

Growing up and growing old over time leads to natural separation between friends, but it doesn’t mean that you’ll never see each other again. Career Girls depicts an ordinary reunion between two women Hannah and Annie, but through the subtleties of writer-director Mike Leigh’s dialogue, and the chemistry between Katrin Cartlidge and Lynda Steadman, it captures the weathered yet fond friendship they share, despite all that has happened to them. It’s naturally bittersweet, the same way we remember old friends, but it's also comforting, just having a friend that sees you for who you are, regardless of the time that has passed since you’ve last met.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Andy Serkis, Joe Tucker, Kate Byers, Katrin Cartlidge, Lynda Steadman, Margo Stanley, Mark Benton

Director: Mike Leigh

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, 2023

We all know that remaining unmarried when middle-aged doesn’t mean one is lacking, but even when we can acknowledge how dated this idea is, for women, there’s still the societal pressure, the loneliness, and the feeling of having missed an opportunity to have children. Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry is centered on one such middle-aged woman living in a small town in Georgia, and she has a fairly peaceful life… until she nearly dies and shortly forms an attraction to another man. Director and co-writer Elene Naveriani takes her time to delve deep into Etero’s story, the complicated grief she has towards the men that have raised her, as well as the spite towards the arbitrary goals other women have reached and made fun of her for. The journey does take a rather slow burn, but it’s wonderful to see a film so empathetic and nuanced about this dilemma, and free from the judgment many women have encountered on this topic.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Eka Chavleishvili, Lia Abuladze, Piqria Niqabadze, Tamar Mdinaradze, Temiko Chichinadze

Director: Elene Naveriani

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, 2009

As the 1970s brought about the civil rights movement, as well as the abandonment of the American Hays Code, the blaxploitation genre (portmanteau of “Black” and “exploitation”) became popular, with black artists reclaiming their image, albeit with B-films centered around themes of violence, drugs, and sex. Black Dynamite is an homage and parody to the genre, with low budget mistakes, over-the-top dialogue, and Super 16 shooting all combining in the most hilarious of ways through the smooth timing of leading man (and co-writer) Michael Jai White. It’s silly, and stereotypical, but all the jokes poke fun from a clear love and nostalgia of the genre.

Genre: Action, Comedy

Actor: Arsenio Hall, Baron Vaughn, Bokeem Woodbine, Buddy Lewis, Byron Minns, Cedric Yarbrough, Charlotte Stokely, Charmane Star, Chris Spencer, Damion Poitier, Darrel Heath, Irwin Keyes, John Salley, JR, Kevin Chapman, Kym Whitley, Michael Jai White, Miguel A. Núñez, Miguel A. Núñez, Jr., Mike Starr, Mykelti Williamson, Nicole Ari Parker, Nicole Sullivan, Obba Babatundé, Phil Morris, Richard Edson, Roger Yuan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Stacy Adams, Tommy Davidson, Tucker Smallwood, William Bassett

Director: Scott Sanders

Rating: R

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, 2015

Looking at the animated character designs, it seemed like Birdboy: The Forgotten Children would be a cutesy, creepy cartoon for children with a defanged Halloween aesthetic. But the cute animals of the island face a horror much scarier than plenty of terrifying tales, because their horrors mirror everyday poverty in a fictional island taken, destroyed, and tossed aside by an industry producing garbage. It immediately starts off bleak, with a father telling his son what became of the island as they pick up copper scraps for food, and as the film continues, desperation starts closing in, shifting the colors into a red, white, and black nightmare. Birdboy: The Forgotten Children takes on a different tone than what animation lovers are used to seeing, but it’s a welcome difference in a media landscape made to distract from today’s troubles.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Andrea Alzuri, Eva Ojanguren, Felix Arkarazo, Jorge Carrero, Josu Cubero

Director: Alberto Vázquez, Pedro Rivero

Rating: NR

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, 2013

When it comes to British period dramas, aristocrats are rarely portrayed as Black until relatively recently, with colorblind casting tending to focus more on acting talent rather than how race would affect and shape a character. That being said, while rarely acknowledged, Black descendants of British aristocracy actually did exist, and one of whom has been depicted in Belle. With the excellent Gugu Mbatha-Raw making her film breakthrough here, Belle reckons with the difficult questions of race and sex in 18th century Britain, contemplating the real woman’s options in a world determined entirely by blood and inheritance, a discussion brushed aside in other period dramas, but one that should be examined. While director Amma Asante does take plenty of liberties in the actual facts, she also excellently balances both the fictional romance and the historical realities Dido Elizabeth Belle had faced, making both parts as compelling and as essential as each other.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Alan McKenna, Alex Jennings, Andrew Woodall, Cara Jenkins, Daniel Wilde, Emily Watson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, James Northcote, James Norton, Matthew Goode, Miranda Richardson, Natasha Williams, Penelope Wilton, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, Tom Wilkinson

Director: Amma Asante

Rating: PG

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, 1994

If you like and remember the small budget New Hollywood comedies that bases its humor on witty, philosophical dialogue, you will like Barcelona. It’s about two white-collared American guys who move to the titular city for work, but while the film is entirely in English, the jokes’ punchlines form as a result of the clear contrast between what they believe of their homeland, and what the city believes of them. To be fair to these guys, the film makes clear some of it stems from the unease and disorientation they feel in a new city, which anyone, American guy or not, would likely feel in a new place. But in other scenes, the small talk, the reactions, and the silly ways Ted and Fred act reveal a certain bemusement towards earnest American idealism. Barcelona won’t work for everyone, but this comedy of manners paints a picture of a generation lost in the wider world around them.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Àngels Bassas, Chris Eigeman, Debbon Ayer, Hellena Taylor, Jack Gilpin, Mira Sorvino, Pep Munné, Pere Ponce, Taylor Nichols, Thomas Gibson, Tushka Bergen

Director: Whit Stillman

Rating: PG-13

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, 2002

When plucked out of your cushy, city life to labor on rural farmlands, it’s a tough change. It would have been a terrible one for Luo Min and Ma Jianling, if it wasn’t for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Rather than depict this transfer policy as pure drudgery, the film depicts it as somewhat of a nostalgic summer romance in warm-tone shots and casual slice-of-life moments inspired by the semi-autobiographical novella written by writer-director Dai Sijie himself. It probably felt that way to his generation as well. But make no mistake. Sijie subtly pokes fun at the censorship the ways teenagers would do, that is, by saying what adults would like them to say, but doing exactly what they were told not to, anyway. That being said, there is a bit of a Western bias here– the banned books are Western, after all, and the two boys sharing French embroidery and sewing patterns seemed to be a strange plot point– but Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress warmly depicts his generation without losing sight of the drastic changes they had to go through.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Chen Kun, Cong Zhijun, Wang Hongwei, Wang Shuangbao, Xu Yukun, Ye Liu, Zhang Chenghe, Zhou Xun

Director: Dai Sijie

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, 1990

For the longest time, family was everything. Traditions were maintained, opportunities were made and created for it, and the community helped each other, especially for immigrant families, who only had each other. Avalon holds plenty of the nostalgia of early 1900s America, but it’s mostly bittersweet with the way the American Dream slowly eroded the extended immigrant family, with the ever-changing times shifting each nuclear unit’s priorities, circumstances, and connection to the clan. Like seafarers seeking the titular utopic island, Avalon ponders on the way the family worked to reach for an abundance that they didn’t get to share as a whole.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Aidan Quinn, Alvin Myerovich, Anna Bergman, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elijah Wood, Elizabeth Perkins, Eve Gordon, Grant Gelt, Joan Plowright, Kevin Pollak, Leo Fuchs, Lou Jacobi, Ralph Tabakin, Tom Wood

Director: Barry Levinson

Rating: PG

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, 2012

As much as we like to imagine children being innocent, schoolyard bullying does happen, and sometimes it goes way past the regular teasing and ends up becoming something that could only be described as evil. After Lucia is the story of a girl that has experienced this after the death of her mother, leaving only her and her father behind. While Roberto does try to reach out to her, the death of her mother means the loss of a trusted adult, someone that Alejandra can talk about anything and everything with without judgment. Writer-director Michel Franco gradually escalates the terrible deeds done by Alejandra’s classmates, building up mercilessly that it leads to a terrible end. But ultimately, the ugliness of what happens emphasizes how a lack of open communication, a reluctant school administration, and an ineffective policy towards bullying easily places children in danger.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Gonzalo Vega Sisto, Hernán Mendoza, Mónica Del Carmen, Nailea Norvind, Paco Rueda, Tamara Yazbek Bernal, Tessa Ía

Director: Michel Franco

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, 2023

With elaborate sets, musical numbers, and an ensemble cast, Aachar and Co doesn’t feel like a regular budget-bound debut feature. In fact, director Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy, who also stars as Suma, pulls off this family drama with a whimsical yet period-accurate, Wes Anderson-esque style. This style keeps the film’s nostalgic and lighthearted tone, even as the siblings’ journeys, most especially that of Suma, go into darker times. As the family cycles through each of their weddings and funerals, Aachar and Co comments on the societal changes that shifted the lives of Indian women in the 1960s. The resulting film is just as bittersweet and nostalgic as the mango preserves the family makes.

Genre: Comedy, Family, Music

Actor: Anirudh Acharya, Harshil Koushik, Mandara Battalahalli, Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy, Sudha Belawadi

Director: Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy

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