summer films

I try to track the films I'm seeing on a Google Doc so I can brag about how many I see in a given year. This year I'm up to 19 films seen in theaters, which is right on track for my goal of seeing 50 movies this year (I tend to see more films in the winter months).

A few films I've seen recently were very noteworthy.

The first was Obvious Child, which I saw on the same night that the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision was rendered.

from here

The story is about a young woman named Donna (played by the amazing Jenny Slate of Bob's Burgers glory) who has a one-night stand and gets pregnant. She decides to have an abortion and the film actually shows her going through the procedure.

It felt monumental to see it the same night the Supreme Court limited the rights of women to make medical decisions with their doctors relating to their health and well being. I'm glad someone is out there, making films about abortions and life as a girl in your twenties and all the crap that goes along with it. I'm glad a funny, touching, cute, moving film can cover such a range of topics tactfully and truthfully in a time when it feels like to be a woman and consider making choices about your reproductive health is somehow controversial and everyone's political business. You go Jenny Slate!


The other film of great note was Ida.

photo from here

Entirely moving, and monumental for completely different reasons, Ida is a subtle, haunting, incredible story of a young woman about to take her vows as a nun when she visits her only living relative and discovers she is a Jew who barely escaped death in WWII Poland. Her aunt, played by the amazing Agata Kulesza, is one of the most incredible characters I've ever seen in a film — she is a force.

While bleak at many times, Ida was also bright and at a quick 80 minutes it felt like not a moment was wasted telling the story of Ida and her aunt.

The woman who played Ida, Agata Trzebuchowska, has the most incredible face that was only amplified in black and white. Everything about this film was mesmerizing and reminds me of why I love film so deeply.

♢