Two takes on interracial romance

In A United Kingdom, a black man falls in love with a white woman, and their romance is tested by all sorts of opposing forces. In Get Out, a black man falls in love with a white woman, and...well, it’s a horror movie. It’s also well built, well acted, and well written, as is Kingdom.

Goodness, remember when movies mattered more than TV in Ye Olde National Conversation? It’s a pity neither of these is in the running for this, the year of #OscarNotSoWhite.

Speaking of women and minorities and horror, women are definitely a minority when it comes to directing, which may explain some of the impetus behind the horror anthology XX. Fellow critic Scott Marks approved of a little over half of the result: two of the four chapters plus the creative interstitials.

What else? Oh, yes, fellow Cortland High Class of ’91 alum Sam Tripoli is one of the best bits of the stand-up comedian documentary Dying Laughing, in part because he actually tells a detailed, lively anecdote about dealing with a heckler. (I’ve got a similar yarn from a Patton Oswalt visit to San Diego that would make a fine stand-up routine of its own. Something to work on for my future days as a starving ex-critic.)

And the romantic silliness of You’re Killing Me Susana was easy to watch, if nothing else.