I had a Filmstruck Friday night after another pretty long work week, and watch La Cienaga, (The Swamp)from the Criterion channel, which is included in the premium subscription. It was a story of stagnant Faulknerian misery with a lot of sadness, anger, and control constellated around awful alcoholic parents, in a fallen province. Pretty much everyone in the film was dying for love, and it felt like transgression and violence could erupt at any moment. But it was more than just a psychological potboiler, it had beautiful cinematography, and a slow, languid, naturalistic vibe. These characters were deep in the weeds of dysfunction and the camera showed the process of survival in real time, with love and respect, especially for the female characters. It's not comfortable, but if you can sit with it, it's human.
I also checked out Adventures in Moviegoing with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in conversation with the director Philip Kauffman. I would definitely put Kareem on my personal council of really cool people, along with Jimmy Carter and Mike Watt.
*****