beautiful film week (take 2)

Earlier this week, I responded to Abby's beautiful film week, and I interpreted it with a kind of "feel good" message. (I forget to add Il Postino and Pieces of April to that list, I believe.) But I've been thinking about all the ways in which the word "beautiful" can be used, and I thought I would post a few films that are aesthetically incredible to me:

- High Art: Lesbians, drugs, a tragic ending. I couldn't add this to the feel good list, but I do adore this movie. The protagonists are photographers, and the filmography greatly resembles the artwork on the walls.

- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: So lush, so gorgeous. And so many of you have already seen this one.

- Lost in Translation: I like the quiet subtlety of this movie, but I also am enamored with the raw images of Japan.

- Sex and Lucia: I felt a bit prude-ish when I requested this film on Netflix; I thought it would be a naughty film. No, actually, it has a good place on my "feel good" list, though I think imagistically, it belongs here much more. The countryside is gorgeous, the pauses, and silent moments are wonderful, where the viewer can simply take in the water, the land, the wind.

- Six Feet Under: OK, not film, but a television series, and my favorite. I love the colors in this film--the earthy tones. I always think of 3191 and other everyday photographers when I see the inside of their house. I want to sneak in with my camera, capture the still life of this family.

- Planet Earth: This could be playing in the background of any moment, an everyday meditation on the beauty of the great outdoors.

- Enduring Love: A great book, a good film. I loved the shots of the hot air balloon and in the art studio.

- Proof: Oh, to live in a giant old house, to live in a house overstuffed with academia, to live in an old house with great wooden floors and banisters.

- The Squid and the Whale: This time, an apartment in New York, bookcases chock full, the creaking corners of life incredibly appealing.

- Brokeback Mountain: You've seen this one too, I am sure. Oh, those mountains.

- Ma Vie En Rose: It reminds me of splashing around in a pool. A great celebration. Perhaps also a "feel good" movie.

And you? What are the films that made your eyes tingle?