March meant SXSW (though I only saw three films) and several 2018 films in theaters. I saw one film three times (keep reading to see what!) and spent a good deal of the mont rewatching Frasier (again), but 16 of the films I watch last month were directed by women (that’s more than half of the month’s viewing). As always you can see everything I watched after the cut.

1. Teströl és lélekröl (On Body and Soul)
2. The Party (2018)
3. Volver a empezar (Begin The Beguine)
4. Italiensk for begyndere (Italian For Beginners)
5. Che strano chiamarsi Federico (How Strange To Be Named Federico)
6. Brutti, sporchi e cattivi (Ugly, Dirty and Bad)
7. A Wrinkle in Time
8. Thoroughbreds
9. Family (2018)
10. Fast Color
11. Half The Picture
12. The Legend of Lylah Clare
13. Irreplaceable You
14. Planetarium
15. Oh Lucy! (2018)
16. Just Wright
17. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
18. Love, Simon
19. The Connection (1961)
20. Ornette: Made in America
21. Mr. Roosevelt
22. The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
23. No Questions Asked
24. Naturally Native
25. The Colour of His Hair
26. The Love Witch (2016)
27. The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

1880s: 0
1890s: 0
1900s: 0
1910s: 0
1920s: 0
1930s: 1
1940s: 0
1950s: 1
1960s: 2
1970s: 1
1980s: 2
1990s: 3
2000s: 1
2010s: 16

Family, 2018 (dir. Laura Steinel)

I saw this delightful family comedy at SXSW and it really hit all the right notes for me. It stars Taylor Schilling as an emotionally stunted aunt who has to take care of her teen niece for a week. Things go awry when the girl begins making friends with juggalos. I had to look up what that was, but it didn’t detract from me connecting with this story, which is equal parts sweet and sour. I’m not sure if it has distribution yet, but I sure hope it does soon!

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, 1997 (dir. Mira Nair)

Really, really don’t read any plot summary of this film. Every single one online is incorrect. This is a film with a deeply feminist agenda. Nair and co-writer Helena Kriel tackle Indian history and traditional via the Kama Sutra and marriage practices to shine a light on the patriarchal nature of that history and those traditions. The women in this film find strength in their femininity and in each other. This is a film about women lifting each other up, not fighting each other for men.

Love, Simon, 2018 (dir. Greg Berlanti)

I’m not gonna lie, I saw this movie three times in March. I loved it. It’s cheesy and unabashedly romantic, but dammit so am I. Because of the way in which the story is told it is a film that get more rewarding upon repeat viewings. Nick Robinson plays the titular Simon, a gay teenager who has yet to come out to anyone in his life, who falls in love with a fellow closeted teen in his school via an anonymous emailings. I love teen movies and honestly I wish I had a film like this when I was a youth and I hope this means more wide-release, mainstream, and yes, cheesy gay rom-coms in the future.

The Count of Monte Cristo, 1934 (dir. Rowland V. Lee)

Robert Donat was born to play this role! This is such a fun film from start to finish. It’s romantic and gripping and even though I knew pretty much everything that was going to happen (although they changed a few plot points), I was into the ride I didn’t want it to end.

The Love Witch, 2016 (dir. Anna Biller)

Anna Biller did almost everything for this film: she wrote, directed, and produced it, plus she did the costumes, sets, edited it, wrote some of the score/songs, and painted some of the paintings featured in the film. A film from a truly visionary artist who brought a world to live almost completely on her own. It’s a very stylized look at romantic love and the way in which patriarchal traditions dictate the way in which (straight) men and women behave, often to their own detriment. Really, would make a great double feature with Nair’s film.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, 1995 (dir. Maria Maggenti)

Speaking of movies I wish I had when I was a youth, this is a movie that came out when I was a youth, but it wasn’t released by a major studio and it damn well didn’t come to my hometown theater. It follows out lesbian Randy Dean (Laurel Holloman) as she falls in love with a rich girl from school Evie (Nicole Ari Parker). Much to everyone’s surprise, including Evie, she falls in love right back! What a sweet film this was. I’m so glad I finally got to see it.

So that was March. April is already upon us and I’ve spent this whole day re-watching favorite movies instead of new-to-me films, but I did already rent some films from Videodrome, so I’ll get to watching those soon I promise.