The ongoing revival of ‘Jennifer’s Body’ plus more of the best movies in L.A.

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

‘Anatomy of a Fall’

Sandra Hüller in the movie “Anatomy of a Fall.”

(Cannes Film Festival)

While it would be easy to assume that theaters are being taken over this weekend by “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” there are other movies opening this weekend — including this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, “Anatomy of a Fall.” Directed by Justine Triet, the film tells the story of an author (Sandra Hüller) accused of causing her husband’s death after a suspicious fall from the upper-floor window of their French skiing chalet. It’s not just the author who is put on trial, but the details of the inner workings of her marriage.

Reviewing the film, Justin Chang calls it “less a whodunit than a who-spun-it.” In his view, it “spends two-and-a-half hours demolishing the very idea of empirical, observable truth. From its witty opening image of a ball bouncing down a flight of stairs — one step at a time, a seemingly accidental but carefully engineered tumble — Triet’s movie is a monument to the ambiguous and unknown, a labyrinth of half-glimpsed causes and vague, sinister effects.”

Nicolas Rapold spoke to Triet and her co-writer and partner Arthur Harari in a interview that touched on the uniqueness of a real-life couple writing a marital murder mystery during the pandemic lockdown. “Most of the time we would be in the same flat and so, in order to concentrate, we would write on our own,” Harari says. “She would try something first and then send it to me, and I would propose changes and send it back. A lot of emails.” It got more interesting from there.

The ‘Jennifer’s Body’ revival continues

Amanda Seyfried in the movie “Jennifer’s Body.”

(Doane Gregory / Twentieth Century Fox)

“Jennifer’s Body,” the 2009 horror-comedy about teenage girls and demonic possession written by Diablo Cody and starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, remains a fascinating case study in how a movie can be received in its moment and reassessed over time. The movie was largely misunderstood when it first came out and now stands as a sharp, fun, startlingly angry thriller that, as the years go by, seems an essential text and a snapshot of a very specific moment in time.

The media frenzy around both Fox at the height of her “Transformers” fame and Cody during her inevitable post-“Juno” backlash meant that “Jennifer’s Body” was primed for a takedown. The movie itself was a thorny, complicated study of female friendship and desire, as well as a look at the aftermath of assault — subjects that hadn’t yet fully entered the cultural conversation. It just landed weird. Critics and audiences alike weren’t ready for it. It’s ongoing revival, with a newly devoted fandom, has been exciting to see and instructive in remaining open to new assessments of movies it would be all too easy to file away.

Vidiots will be showing the movie on Saturday and Monday, with director Karyn Kusama and producer Jason Reitman appearing in person for the Saturday show. That event on Saturday is already sold out, but there are typically some walk-up tickets available on the day of the show. Given the warm enthusiasm of the Vidiots audience, both of these screenings should feel like real events.

Other points of interest

‘The World’s End’ / ‘This is the End’ On Tuesday and Wednesday the New Beverly will play a smartly paired 10th anniversary double-bill of apocalyptic comedies wth Edgar Wright’s 2013 “The World’s End” and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s “This Is the End.”

The latter, a meta-comedy with a cast that includes Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride playing exaggerations of themselves, is both a celebration and a farewell to a certain kind of studio comedy. The movie is a hilarious last hurrah.

I reviewed “The World’s End” when it was initially released, noting, “Amid the action-comedy trappings emerges a sharp story on self-centered nostalgia and personal growth. … Few filmmakers working today make movies with quite the same enthusiasm as Wright does. His work is vivid and exuberant, as if he is having fun doing it and more than anything wants to share that feeling, from one fan to another.”

Sofia Coppola hits L.A. This weekend will see multiple appearances by Academy Award winner Sofia Coppola. At the American Cinematheque’s Aero Theater on Saturday, she will introduce a double-bill of 2003’s “Lost In Translation,” and 2013’s ”The Bling Ring.” Then on Sunday she will be back for a Q&A after her new film “Priscilla,” an adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s memoir, “Elvis and Me.”

Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the Cinematheque The Cinematheque will also be hosting Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan this weekend, fresh from his recent appearance at the New York Film Festival. Having picked up a best actress prize for Merve Dizdar when it premiered earlier this year at Cannes, Ceylan’s new film, “About Dry Grasses,” has been selected as Turkey’s submission for the International Feature Academy Award. Ceylan will be there for a Q&A at the Aero after the film on Sunday, as well as on Tuesday for a screening of 2011’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.”

‘Joan Baez: I Am A Noise’ The new documentary “Joan Baez: I Am A Noise,” directed by Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky and Maeve O’Boyle, finds the singer and activist, now 82, reflecting on her life and storied career. Baez herself will be appearing for Q&As at the Nuart this weekend, with avowed fan Lana Del Rey joining to moderate the conversation on Friday.

Speaking to Erin Osman, Baez noted why she decided to be so remarkably candid for the film, saying, “There were some times where I thought, ‘Really? I have to talk about that.’ But then I’d think, this is supposed to be honest. This is my legacy. Now, each time I see the film, I see more that I didn’t know [about myself]. It’s been an emotional ride. And I am delighted with how it came out. Wrinkles and all. It’s honest.”