Weekend at the Movies: No Heroes Here

I spent a weekend at the movies and found no heroes. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the films. However, view at your own risk. Let’s get into it.

Four Movies

I watched were:

1. Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
2. Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
3. The Tribes of Palos Verde (2017)
4. The Girl on the Mountain (2022)

All these movies are in the broad genre of “Dramas”. In other words: they are not Comedies; Fantasy; SciFi; Western; Action/Adventure; or Romance. They, in a sense, show contemporary reality and the real-time cultural zeitgeist.

Diary of a Mad Housewife

was amazing! I’d never watched it before. Notwithstanding, I knew it was the movie Neil Young was singing about in his song, A Man Needs A Maid. 

So what?

Was the movie accurate? My sense is – Yes, in some cases. Additionally, it is so sad. It’s about domestic life in America, in the 60’s and 70’s, of the upper-middle class. Moreover, the consequences of that on women and children. And men.

Basic Instinct 2

is disturbing. Because there is an unconscious truth to it. There are movies (and books) that show this subject better. (IMO) Such as:

• Body Heat (1981)
• Basic Instinct (1992)
• The House of Sand and Fog (2003)

Okay, more later.

The Tribes of Palos Verde

is a movie that evoked the most emotion from me (= sadness). Because I thought the movie so true of today’s zeitgeist. It again reflects a man in love with himself, but in so search of validation via a woman. Via sexual satisfaction … and so on.

The end result is how that impacts the children.

The Girl on the Mountain

is uplifting on the surface. And yet? What is the message?

In Conclusion

these are not uplifting films.

PS

to be continued.