movie

Just before taking her vows, young nun Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) visits her widowed uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), who tries to seduce her. Resisting his perverted advances, Viridiana struggles to remain faithful in a morally corrupt society. When she feels she has done something wrong, she attempts to relieve her guilt through charity, which only makes matters worse. Notoriously banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican, Luis Buñuel's audacious black comedy hit cinemas in 1961 like a Molotov cocktail. Made at Franco's request after two decades of self-imposed exile, Viridiana is Buñuel's raucous stealth attack on the dictatorship, a critique of bourgeois society, and a kick in the ass to the church for supporting fascism. Winner of the Palm d'or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961.

Indie musician Jim White is our guide on a trip to the southern half of the United States, where we encounter weird, wonderful music and hear some insightful stories. Deploying poetic and sometimes surreal cinematography, Andrew Douglas' semi-documentary portrait of poor white Southerners reveals touching, scary and sometimes bewildering truths about American life. Featuring appearances by The Handsome Family, Johnny Dowd, David Johansen, banjo player Lee Sexton, and novelist Harry Crews, among others.

Fading rock star John Norman (Kris Kristofferson) drunkenly stumbles into a nightclub show starring charismatic young singer Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand). Smitten, he whisks her off to his latest gig and they fall passionately in love. Esther soon becomes a major star, while Norman's career crashes. This campy remake of William Wellman's cautionary 1937 melodrama about the perils of celebrity is a glitzy showcase for Streisand, who also executive produced (and reportedly directed). The film's laughable dialogue, over-the-top musical numbers, and notable lack of chemistry between its romantic leads make A Star is Born an enjoyably silly artifact of 70s showbiz culture. It was also a key influence on Bradley Cooper's acclaimed 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga.