What We’re Watching
Two for The Road
Release date: April 27, 1967
Director: Stanely Donen
Screenplay by: Frederic Raphael
Score by: Henry Mancini
Staring: Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney
Plot: Two for the Road is a 1967 British romantic comedy-drama film. The film is about a husband and wife who examine their twelve-year relationship while on a road trip to Southern France. The film was considered somewhat experimental for its time because the story is told in a non-linear fashion, with scenes from the latter stages of the relationship juxtaposed with those from its beginning, often leaving the viewer to interpolate what has intervened, which is sometimes revealed in later scenes. Several locations are used in different segments to show continuity throughout the twelve-year period.
Watch: Amazon Prime
The Lobster
Release Date: May 15, 2015 (Cannes), October 16, 2015 (Wide)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Screenplay by: Efthimis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos
Staring: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman, Ashley Jensen, Ariane Labed, Angeliki Papoulia, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, Michael Smiley, Ben Whishaw
Plot: The Lobster is a 2015 absurdist dystopian black comedy film. In the film's setting, single people are given 45 days to find a romantic partner or otherwise be turned into animals. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize. It was shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 89th Academy Awards and for Outstanding British Film at the 69th British Academy Film Awards.
Watch: Amazon and Netflix
Le Mépris
Release Date: December 20, 1962
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenplay By: Jean-Luc Godard
Staring: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, and Giorgia Moll.
Plot: Le Mépris is a 1963 New Wave drama film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the Italian novel Il disprezzo (A Ghost at Noon) by Alberto Moravia.
Watch: Amazon
Phantom Thread
Release Date: December 25, 2017
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenplay By: Paul Thomas Anderson
Staring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps
Plot: Phantom Thread is a 2017 American historical drama film. Set in 1950s London, it stars Day-Lewis as a haute couture dressmaker who takes a young waitress, played by Krieps as his muse. This film features Day-Lewis in his final role before his retirement.
Watch: Amazon and Vudu
Wings of Desire
Director: Wim Wenders
Screenplay By: Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger.
Staring: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk
Plot: Wings of Desire is a 1987 German, romantic fantasy film. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Even though the city is densely populated, many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones. One of the angels, played by Bruno Ganz, falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist, played by Solveig Dommartin. The angel chooses to become mortal so that he can experience human sensory pleasures, ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one, and so that he can discover human love with the trapeze artist.
Watch: Amazon