PRIDE MONTH: AWFJ'S ONE-A-DAY WATCH LIST

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MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 15, 2023: HO HO HOLIDAY VIEWING

December — and especially this December — is a very good time to seek a bit of seasonal levity in the form of favorite flicks for a bit of respite from the world’s worries. And so we present for your enjoyment AWFJ’s wonderfully varied list of recommended movies for your ho ho holiday viewing. The roster features romance, comedy, thrills and lots of food. Team MOTW has selected films that are upbeat, inspiring and spirited, although not all are directly connected to traditional celebrations. Wonder what’s in store?

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Opening December 11- 17, 2023 – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists highlights movies made by and about women. With a vigilant eye toward current releases, we maintain an interactive record of films that are pertinent to our interests. Be they female-made or female-centric productions, they are films that represent a wide range of women’s stories and present complex female characters. As such, they are movies that will most likely be reviewed on AWFJ.org and will qualify for consideration for our annual EDA Awards, celebrating exceptional women working in film behind and in front of the camera.

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THE ZONE OF INTEREST – Review by Liz Braun

The Zone of Interest is a film centered on the domestic life of Rudolf Höss, commandant of Auschwitz. This is a timely and terrifying film directed (and co-written) by Jonathan Glazer, and loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis. It is beautifully made, profoundly unsettling, and it is rightfully heralded as one of the most important films of the year. The story looks at the daily lives of Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Huller), who are raising their children in a lovely villa right beside the camp — an idyllic setting with a beautiful garden and a river nearby where the children swim. The chimneys belching black smoke day and night are just a little thing in one’s peripheral vision. There is no arm’s-length remove provided here by either history or movie-making, and for the viewer, psychologically speaking, there’s nowhere to hide.

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THE ZONE OF INTEREST – Maitland McDonagh

Both sensitive and slyly ambitious Rudolf Hoss (Christian Friedel) and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Huller), thrive on order and for the former, that’s an ideal qualification for military life. Rudolf quickly rises through the ranks, while Hedwig dedicates herself to being a wife and mother to the two children she quickly bears, Hans and Inge… yes, one girl and one boy, a child to replace each parent. Hedwig keeps an impeccable house, cultivates an impressive garden in which both flowers and vegetables thrive and raising Hans and Inge. Their lovely house would shine in the most competitive American suburb, their dog is adorable… and they radiate an unspoken but clearly shared belief in their own perfection: One that’s based on fulfilling an almost comical ideal of partnership, parenthood and division of labor while the crematorium visible over their back wall is converting enormous numbers of other people into greasy smoke and ashes.

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ORIGIN – Review by T.J. Callahan

Origin is an historical fiction drama based on the non-fiction book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by journalist Isabel Wilkerson. In Caste, Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winning features writer and New York Times bestselling author, explains that America’s founding ideology and ideals of liberty and equality for all are really an enduring hierarchy that isn’t racial, but an unspoken caste system much like that which exists in India.

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WONKA – Review by T.J. Callahan

If you can’t wait until Christmas to open your gifts, Wonka is a big box of sweet dreams. It’s the origin story of the creative confectioner who was concocted from the mind of iconic children’s author, Roald Dahl and now brought back to life by writer/director Paul King (Paddington). The ever-charming Timothee Chalamet dons the magical top hat to tell the tale of how a poor young man with a love of chocolate and a dream became the beloved candyman, Willy Wonka. He sings. He dances. And he does it well. He’s the Mary Poppins of cocoa beans.

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YOUR FAT FRIEND – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

At 350 pounds, Aubrey Gordon doesn’t mind the word fat. She finds the euphemisms worse. Curvy. Husky. More to love. The focus of the documentary Your Fat Friend, Gordon just might cause you to reevaluate how you view fatness, thanks to her frank talk and engaging personality. Enjoyably thought-provoking, the film covers her rise from an anonymous blogger to best-selling author and podcaster (Maintenance Phase, with co-host Michael Hobbes) while demonstrating how essential her attitude and advocacy are.

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SHADOW OF THE SUN – Review by Nadine Whitney

Miguel Ángel Ferrer’s debut feature and international Oscar submission The Shadow of the Sun is an enriching and emotional journey which unites two brothers who live in Acarigua a remote and insular city as they follow their dreams to present a song at a music competition in Caracas. Although The Shadow of the Sun is a touch formulaic it redeems itself with being cheeky, charming, tragic, and magical. Miguel Ángel Ferrer has made a glorious film which is an ode to brotherhood and acceptance, and most of all to living out loud and not hiding in anyone’s shadow.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Showrunner Ashley Michel Hoban’s DR DEATH Season 2 at Peacock – Brandy McDonnell reports

From writer, executive producer and showrunner Ashley Michel Hoban, Dr. Death Season 2 is based on the Wondery podcast of the same name. The sophomore season follows Miracle Man Paolo Macchiarini (Edgar Ramírez), a charming surgeon renowned for his innovative operations. When investigative journalist Benita Alexander (Mandy Moore) approaches him for a story, the line between personal and professional begins to blur, changing her life forever. As she learns how far Paolo will go to protect his secrets, a group of doctors halfway across the world make shocking discoveries of their own that call everything about Paolo into question.

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COMMON GROUND – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

In the once-barren grasslands of Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert, a rancher explains how changing his grazing practices brought the arid land back to life. Cattle’s hooves broke up the soil. Manure fertilized it, returning much-needed microorganisms. Eventually, the ground turned rich again, dark and moist like what one person likened to chocolate cake—and yielding a reward that’s also sweet. Tall grasses. Butterflies and other insects—even rain. “We are the rainmakers of the desert,” he says.

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