When director Guillermo Del Toro asks for quarantine entertainment recommendations, his famous friends sure don’t disappoint.
Del Toro took to Twitter Monday for help in passing the time during the pandemic. “What are you reading, what are you watching, what are you listening to, and how many days have you been indoors?,” Del Toro posted Monday morning.
Del Toro added that he has “been indoors for over a month… self-imposed. I have gone out only for primary needs: food, supplies, etc., and I have been mostly rewatching and re-reading.”
Among the content Del Toro said he was revisiting were several films by director Mitchell Leisen, including “Death Takes a Holiday” and “Easy Living.” For literature, Del Toro said he’s re-reading “The Devils of Loudon,” a thriller by dystopian author Aldous Huxley, calling it “incredibly pertinent to what we are going through and how autonomy can be destroyed in times of crisis.”
Director Ava DuVernay responded to Del Toro and said she’s doing “less discovery and more comfort viewing” during these uncertain times.
“My fave thing I’ve rewatched lately is ‘Belly.’ A classic in black cinema for its capture of our skin and of hip hop’s golden era,” the director of “Selma” and “When They See Us” tweeted. DuVernay also said she’s been listening to several radio stations on music streaming app Pandora, including the “Bon Iver station when I’m down” and the “Burna Boy station when I’m feeling better.”
James Mangold, director of films including “Girl, Interrupted” and “Walk the Line,” said that when he has time between research reading, he’s been watching 1964 classic film “Red Desert” and Japanese romantic fantasy drama “Ugetsu”.
Director Brad Bird, known for his work on Disney’s “Ratatouille” and PIXAR’s “The Incredibles” franchise, told Del Toro he was re-watching the 1951 film “A Place in the Sun,” saying the “chemistry between Clift and Taylor is through the roof!,” referencing the film’s stars Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor.