On the Basis of Sex Is the Pick of the Week

The Supreme Court has been in the news a lot lately. Obviously, they make a lot of major decisions that affect everyday life in America and so they are watched very carefully. Donald Trump has now appointed two justices, which will have an enormous effect on the Court for decades to come. Depending on which side of the aisle you sit, this is either a great time to be an American or the signaling of end times. I hate talking politics online but I will say his choices did not meet my approval.

But as always, there is a light that shines in the darkness and her name is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Appointed by Bill Clinton, she has been a leading voice for the liberal wing of the Court and a role model for women across the country. Strangely, there have been two films released about her in the last couple of years.

Last year saw the release of RBG (which I also made my Pick of the Week), a documentary about the Justice and now we have the narrative film On the Basis of Sex, which follows a young Ginsburg who, as a lawyer, takes a gender discrimination case to the U.S. Court of Appeals. It stars Felicity Jones as RBG, Armie Hammer as her husband, and is rounded out by Kathy Bathes, Justin Theroux, and Sam Waterson.

I still haven’t managed to watch RBG, so maybe I’ll make this a double feature sometime soon.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

Welcome to Marwen: Based upon the 2010 documentary Marwencol, this Robert Zemeckis film tells the story of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp, who was brutally attacked in 2000, which put him in a coma for nine days. Upon awaking, he found he had little memory of his previous life and he decided to create a little WWII Belgium village in his front yard and populate it with tiny, realistic-looking dolls of himself, his friends, and his attackers. The documentary is fascinating and I was excited to see Zemeckis making a film about it, but the reviews have been pretty terrible.

Mirai: Japanese animated film about a young boy who runs away from home after his baby sister is born, leaving him feeling left out. He stumbles upon a magical garden that allows him to travel in time where he has adventures with his mother when she was young and his sister when she’s all grown up.

Holmes and Watson: Because we needed another Sherlock Holmes adaptation. This one stars Will Ferrell as the detective and John C. Reilly as Doctor Watson. It is supposed to be hilariously funny but judging by the awful trailer and the terrible reviews I’m guessing it fails.

Berlin, I Love You: Another series of short films set in an exotic city in the I Love You series.

Emmannuelle / Emmanuelle 2 / Goodbye Emmanuelle: Kino Lorber presents this trio of French erotic films starring Sylvia Kristel as a jet-setter who has numerous sexual liaisons in well-lit, soft-focus, exotic settings. I reviewed the first one.

Night On Earth (Criterion Collection) / Stranger Than Paradise (Criterion Collection): Criterion brings forth two Jim Jarmusch films on Blu-ray.