Movies that age badly are fascinating to me. What to make
of a movie that was well-regarded more than two decades ago upon its release,
part of the Weinsteins’ Miramax success blitz in the 90s, and even garnered
some middling awards attention, but left me scratching my head in wonderment at
how anyone in their right mind ever thought this was a good movie. There are
movies I don’t like that get lots of good critical attention where I can at
least understand what people have fallen for. In the case of Como agua para chocolate – or Like Water for Chocolate in English – it
struck me as more than just failing to appeal to my taste, but flat out bad
filmmaking on a nearly objectively technical level.
