Watched Daisies (dir. Věra Chytilová, 1966)   

Points of Discussion: 

- Czechoslovak New Wave 

- Film's stance against communism 

- Film's impact on Věra Chytilová as a filmmaker 

- Editing, plot structure, and aesthetic

References:

- Czechoslovak New Wave (Wikipedia article)

- Daisies (film) (Wikipedia article)

- Věra Chytilová (Wikipedia article)

Watched The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (dir. Jacques Demy/ 1964)  

Points of Discussion: 

- French New Wave 

- Interpretation of the melodrama 

- Jacques Demy's world building with color schemes and musical choices

References:

- 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times (The New York Times Youtube Channel)

Watched Queen (dir. Vikas Bahl/2014)  

Points of Discussion: 

- Bollywood Cinema 

- QUEEN pushing Bollywood's traditional conventions 

- The importance of studying World Cinema

References: 

- Film Review: ‘Queen’ (Variety article by David Chute/ 2014)

- The Best Bollywood Movies That'll Sweep You Away (Oprah Daily article by Prakruti Patel and Elena Nicolaou/ 2020)

Watched City Lights (dir. Charlie Chaplin/ 1931)  

Points of Discussion: 

- City Lights: a new silent film in the talkie era 

- Comedy: the fastest aging genre 

- Charlie Chaplin: the perfectionist film director

References:

- Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (Mental Floss article by Bill Demain/ 2012)

- Watch Charlie Chaplin Demand 342 Takes of One Scene from City Lights (Open Culture article by Colin Marshall/ 2013)

Watched To All the Boys: Always and Forever (dir. Michael Fimognari/ 2021)  

Points of Discussion: 

- Is this movie more of a romance movie? Coming-of-age? Or both? 

- Character developments across all three films 

- Directorial choices of Michael Fimognari 

- Compare/Contrast movies and books 

- Why the change of directors from the first and last two movies?

References:

- Michael Fimognari on ‘To All the Boys 3’ and Great High-School Cinema (Observer article by Max Gao/ 2021)

- To All The Boys 3: Is The Ending The Same As The Book? (Capital FM article/ 2021)

Watched My Neighbor Totoro (dir. Hayao Miyasaki/ 1988)

Points of Discussion: 

- Totoro as a personified coping mechanism 

- Totoro as a god 

- Totoro conspiracy theories 

- Miyasaki's bright animation and dark themes

References:

- My Neighbor Totoro: Why We Need Totoro (The Take Youtube Channel)

- MY CONSPIRACY THEORY NUT NEIGHBOR, TOTORO (Article by MAMI SUZUKI/ 2013)

- My Neighbor Totoro (Review by Roger Ebert/ 2001)

Watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma/ 2019)  

Points of Discussion: 

- The Female Gaze 

- Laura Mulvey's article, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" 

- Lack of a musical score in the film

References:

- “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” Is More Than a “Manifesto on the Female Gaze” (The New Yorker article by Rachel Syme/ 2020)

- Portrait of a Lady on Fire: Daring to See (The Criterion Collection Essay by Ela Bittencourt/ 2020)

- Céline Sciamma and Adèle Haenel on Portrait of a Lady on Fire (vpro cinema Youtube Channel)

- "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (article by Laura Mulvey/ 1975)

Watched The Big Sick (dir. Michael Showalter/ 2017)  

Points of Discussion: 

- The Sick Girl Trope 

- How is this film a love story on many levels? 

- Traditions

References:

- The Sick Girl Trope, Explained (The Take Youtube Channel)

- The Big Sick – the year’s most likably unlikely romcom (The Guardian article by Mark Kermode/ 2017)

Watched Loving Vincent (dir. Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman/ 2017)  

Points of Discussion: 

- The process to make the first fully-painted feature length films 

- We are Armand Roulin 

- Effect of casting famous actors/actresses 

- Comparisons to CITIZEN KANE (1941)

References:

- BBC piece about Loving Vincent, the world’s first fully painted feature film (Sarah Wimperis Youtube Channel)

- Loving Vincent: The Sense Of Truth (Jesse Tribble Youtube Channel)

- Film Review: ‘Loving Vincent’ (Variety article by Peter Debruge/ 2017)

Watched The Disaster Artist (dir. James Franco/ 2017)  

Points of Discussion: 

- Tommy Wiseau as a character 

- Reflection on THE ROOM (2003) 

- Can THE DISASTER ARTIST be seen as a "How-To" Video?

References:

- Review: In ‘The Disaster Artist,’ How to Fail at Moviemaking (New York Times article by Manohla Dargis/ 2017)

- The Disaster Artist review – James Franco's ode to bad film-making is a riot (The Guardian article by Benjamin Lee/ 2017)