What would Gale be doing now? Walking, writing, reading Heather Cox Richardson, or fighting to save democracy, most likely.

GALE AS A WRITER

Gale was a gifted writer. She spent most of her time doing work writing — crafting documents that helped organizations raise funds, and she was great at it. But she loved spending time letting her imagination run away with her. She wrote some lovely short pieces which you can read on this website, and perhaps one day we’ll get as much of her novel, Ferncliff, out if we can do so in a way that honors her intentions.

CLICK on the ROOT WRITERS pull-down menu in the upper right corner to see all the pages devoted to Gale McGloin on this website. Links below will take you to her short writing pieces.

People Tricks

Family Vacation

Barren Trees

GALE’S FAVORITE MOVIES (As shared by Roger Rouse, so Roger’s too), MID 2020 to LATE JAN. 2024

(just as a memento; there’s no reason why you should share our tastes)

After the celebration of Gale’s life, several people asked if I’d share the list of films that Gale and I watched from mid 2020 onwards.  I’ve decided to focus here on the “favorites” lists that she and I came up with each year along with my best guess about our favorites from January ’24, though I’ll happily pass along the list of everything we saw to anyone who asks.

The document begins with the movies we liked most over the entire period and then presents each annual list in turn.

As I mentioned at the event, Gale and I watched a movie or a video of a play almost every week for about three and a half years.  We viewed most of them on our own and then shared our thoughts during our long talks on Sundays.  (I think Gale saw all of the films for the first time during these years.  I’d seen some before but was happy to re-visit them and hear her thoughts.)

As you’ll see, our lists for each year distinguish films released during that year or late the prior year from ones that were released earlier.  As you’ll also see, we were lousy at being selective because we enjoyed so much of what we watched.  (The combined list omits the videos of plays but still includes over sixty of the more than 160 pieces we saw!)

We didn’t use detailed numerical rankings.  Instead, we grouped the movies in rough “clumps”.  The entries within each clump are listed in alphabetical order.

I’ve added each movie’s primary national setting and/or its country of origin, partly to show how widely we ranged.  I’ve also added the names of each film’s director, though movies are, of course, collective efforts.  I’ve used italics for the names of directors who identify as women, mainly to show that the number of great woman-directed films we saw increased significantly over the three and a half years – thankfully reflecting a global trend, though the industry’s still a long way short of equity.

We accessed many of the movies by using the US version of the streaming service, MUBI, or by using a VPN to reach MUBI’s offerings in other countries.  (The company knows people do this and hasn’t tried to stop it.)  We found most of the others on You Tube or Vudu (now Fandango at Home), services that allow the renting of individual films rather than requiring a monthly or annual subscription.   Once in a while we used free trials from subscription services to see movies that were only available on their sites.

The fact that we liked these films doesn’t mean that you will, of course.  It’s all a matter of personal taste.  But whatever your preferences, I hope there’s something here you find interesting… and maybe a few possibilities you’ll enjoy exploring.

The movies Gale and I liked most among our favorites

(alphabetical within each “clump”)

• The Conformist (Italy) – Bertolucci
• In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong) — Wong Kar-wai
• Nostalgia for the Light (Chile) – Guzmán – documentary  
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) – Sciamma

• Aftersun (UK) – Wells
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (US) — Poitras — documentary
• Decision to Leave (South Korea) — Park Chan-woo
• The Double Life of Veronique (Poland/France) – Kieslowski
• Pain and Glory (Spain) – Almodóvar
• The Quiet Girl (Ireland) – Bairéad
• The Three Colors Trilogy (Poland/France) – Kieslowski – in chronological order
  • Blue
  • White
  • Red
• This is not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (Lesotho) – Mosese
• The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran) — Kiarostami 

By Year:

2024 – released in US in late ’23

We didn’t watch anything in January that we thought was great but we did like these:

• Four Daughters (Tunisia) — Ben Hania
• How to Have Sex (UK) – Walker

2024 – released earlier

• All That Breathes (India) – Sen — documentary

2023 – released in US in ‘23 or late ’22

• Aftersun (UK) – Wells
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (US) — Poitras — documentary
• Green Border (Poland) – Holland
• The Quiet Girl (Ireland) – Bairéad
• Afire (Germany) – Petzold*

*[Gale loved Petzold’s work, as I do; we ended up watching all ten of his theatrical releases so far; we thought Transit and Phoenix were his best so far]

• Chile ’76 (Chile) – Martelli
• The Delinquents (Argentina) — Moreno
• My Imaginary Country (Chile) — Guzmán – documentary
• No Bears (Iran) – Jafar Panahi

*[Gale became a big fan of Iranian movies, especially ones directed by Kiarostami, Farhadi, Rasoulof, and Jafar Panahi (father of Panah)]

• Saint Omer (France) – Diop
• Women Talking (Canada) — Polley

2023 – released earlier

• The Battle of Chile – all 3 parts (Chile/France) — Guzmán – documentary
• Nostalgia for the Light (Chile) – Guzmán – documentary
• Tempestad (Mexico) – Huezo – experimental documentary
• The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran) – Kiarostami
• Chile, Obstinate Memory (Chile) – Guzmán – documentary
• I Am Cuba (Cuba/Russia) — Kalatozov
• The Koker Trilogy (Iran) – Kiarostami – in chronological order
  • Where is the Friend’s House?
  • And Life Goes On
  • Through the Olive Trees

2022 – released in US in ‘22 or late ‘21

• Decision to Leave (South Korea) — Park Chan-woo
• A Hero (Iran) – Farhadi
• Petite Maman (France) – Sciamma

• Hit the Road (Iran) — Panah Panahi (son of Jafar)
• Limbo (UK) – Sharrock
• The Lost Daughter (US) – Gyllenhaal
• Parallel Mothers (Spain) — Almodóvar
• Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico) — Huezo
• Rocks (UK) — Gavron
• There is No Evil (Iran) – Rasoulof

2022 – released earlier

• The Double Life of Veronique (Poland/France) — Kieslowski
• In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong) — Wong Kar-wai
• The Three Colors Trilogy (Poland/France) – Kieslowski – in chronological order
  • Blue
  • White
  • Red

• Close-up (Iran) — Kiarostami
• The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (US) – Field – documentary (free on YouTube)
• Taste of Cherry (Iran) — Kiarostami
• Volver (Spain) — Almodóvar

2021 – released in ’21 or late ‘20

• Azor (Argentina/Switzerland) — Fontana
• Identifying Features (Mexico) — Valadez
• Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always (US) – Hittman
• Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina) — Žbanić

• The Assistant (US) — Green 
• Bo Burnham: Inside (US) – Burnham
• Passing (US) – Hall

2021 — released earlier

• The Conformist (Italy) – Bertolucci
• Kes (UK) – Loach
• Stories We Tell (Canada) — Polley
• This is not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (Lesotho) — Mosese        

• A Bread Factory, Parts 1 and 2 (US) – Wang [via Carnegie Library’s Hoopla service]
• For Sama (Syria) – Al-Kateab and Watts — documentary
• Museum Hours (US) — Cohen
• Pride (UK) — Warchus
• Secrets and Lies (UK) — Leigh
• So Long, My Son (China) — Wang Xiaoshuai

2020 — released in US in ‘20 or late ‘19                                                        

• Pain and Glory (Spain) – Almodóvar
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) – Sciamma
• Sorry We Missed You (UK) – Loach

• Beanpole (Russia) — Balagov
• Collective (Romania) – Nanau — documentary
• Bacurau (Brazil) — Mendonça Filho and Dornelles
• Epicentro (Cuba/Austria) – Sauper — semi-documentary
• Undine       (Germany) — Petzold  

2020 – released earlier

• A Separation (Iran) — Farhadi
• I, Daniel Blake (UK) — Loach
• Phoenix (Germany) – Petzold
• Transit (Germany) – Petzold

• Barbara (Germany) – Petzold
• Land and Freedom (UK/Spain) – Loach