Moviegoing (Pandemic) - June

The horrors--the pandemic continues, with 120,000 now officially reported dead (and who knows how many deaths remain unreported), the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police, the steady tide of state murders, the growing protests against the administration and the state security apparatus, the administrative crisis plaguing the federal government, the general sense of chaos and misrule....I won't list the roll of devastation except to note that the economy is cratering, people continue to get sick and die from Covid-19, the administration's and countless others' disinfo and misinfo continue, and we are supposed, somehow, to function. Make it make sense! (I also rang in my birthday and thanked the gods I made it to another year, so far Covid-free.) Perhaps in response to the ongoing catastrophe I did watch more movies this past month than during prior ones. I think my tally exceeded 40. Does that sound right?

Movies & TV shows watched during June:

Greetings from Africa

Symphony in Black*

A Rhapsody of Negro Life* 

Totally F***** Up*

The Owls

Hoagy Carmichael

Variety*

Janine

A Bundle of Blues

Je, Tu, Il, Elle* (It wasn't what I thought but it's still groundbreaking)

She Don't Fade* (one of my favorite of Cheryl Dunye's films)

The Potluck and the Passion*

St. Louis Blues

Artie Shaw's Swing Class

And When I Die I Won't Stay Dead* (Bob Kaufman, resurrected in this documentary)

Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho

People Like Us

Bazodee* (a Trinidadian love story)

Pretty Dudes 

Homecoming* (series, season 2)

El Violinista* (a stunning documentary about a young Haitian violinist who heads to the DR & resumes his passion for the violin)

A Miami Love Story*

Kafou* (Haitian filmmaking with wit)

Before I Do

Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie* (Buñuel at his late career best)

The Dark Past

The Fountainhead (as bad as I remembered)

Tristana*

Vanilla Sex

A Rhapsody in Black and Blue* 

Audience* (Lesbian filmmaking pioneer Barbara Hammer's film about the impact of her work with audiences around the country)

Guerrillière Talks* (Vivienne Dick's experimental shorts)

Two Knights of Vaudeville*

Dirty Gertie from Harlem* (landmark early Black cinema)

Urban Rashomon (my favorite Khalik Allah entry on Criterion Channel)

Water Lilies* (a Céline Sciamma gem)

Angst Ist Seele Auf / Ali: Fear Eats the Soul* (an old fave)

My Josephine* (early Barry Jenkins)

Portrait of Jason* (one of the all-time great, complicated Black queer portraits, esp. for its era)