The Projector #46: The Big List (Patreon)

(The Transfiguration)

by Keith Phipps

I usually end this newsletter with a bunch of links to articles worth reading, and we’ll get to those this week, too. But our own Tasha Robinson shepherded a piece this week that deserves a special shout-out, particularly in a newsletter going out on Juneteenth. At Polygon, Tasha spoke to Adam Davie, a film enthusiast and extremely active Letterboxd user who’s compiled a massive (and still-growing) list entitled “Black Life on Film.” (It’s currently at 1700+ films.) It’s a tremendous resource Davie has conveniently broken down into 20 categories, ranging from “Action” to “Westerns.” It’s a great reminder of some major movies you might have missed, but also a way to ferret out some more obscure titles. The Western, category, for instance has obvious picks like Blazing Saddles, but also true obscurities like Harlem Rides the Range (currently streaming for free on Tubi) and the blaxploitation era Charley One-Eye, starring Richard Roundtree.

What the list lacks is much in the way of commentary. Fortunately, Tasha’s interview with Davie has plenty of that. Asked to make picks in each category, he replies with some quirky, unexpected choices and insightful commentary on well-known films like Get Out. A sample, discussing a former Next Picture Show pick, Sorry to Bother You:

White Voice is definitely a thing. I don’t even think it’s something I try to put on anymore. It’s an everyday part of my life, because I live in a predominantly white community. There’s that need to make sure you’re accepted, and that’s one way to do it. It’s not just when you’re on the phone, trying to get money out of somebody’s pocket. It’s just one of those ways of coping with a world where white supremacy rules or dictates our every move, how we adjust and cope with the situation we’re dealing with. But it’s used hilariously in the film. I love how he takes some of these ideas that could really be painful for a lot of people, particularly black people, but he puts a humorous spin on it as well.

Also, he picks the disturbing 2016 film The Transfiguration as his horror recommendation. Good pick! So read that piece, check out the list, and find something new to watch.

Oh, and also enjoy our latest episode, a discussion of all things Studio Ghibli with a special focus on Castle in the Sky, which some of us had never seen before.

Other items to read:

• The big HBO premiere this week is Perry Mason. Keith Phipps reviewed it for TV Guide. Noel Murray plunged into Mason lore for The New York Times. 

• The Oscars are extending their window of eligibility thanks to COVID-19. Good idea? Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri argues otherwise.

• For The Guardian, Scott Tobias looked at The Apartment at 60.

• For The New York Times, Scott Tobias spoke to Ivy Meeropol about her new documentary Bully.Coward.Victim. a film about Roy Cohn, the man who pushed for the execution of Meeropol’s grandparents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

• At The Atlantic, David Sims talked to the screenwriters of forthcoming Next Picture Show pick Da 5 Bloods.