The Best Offer (2013)

You may have seen this described as an Italian film. That's a little misleading: None of the major actors are Italian, all the original dialog is in English, and it wasn't obvious to me that most of the story took place in Italy. But in a subtle way, the Italianness still matters.

Virgil (Geoffrey Rush), a world-class auctioneer specializing in paintings and antiques, is prone to superstition and unfriendliness. This may explain why he takes interest in one client, Claire (Sylvia Hoeks), who begs him to break from his routine and pay house calls -- er, mansion calls -- to assess her inherited property, on the grounds that she hasn't allowed anyone to see her in 12 years. She's not deformed; she just stopped wanting to be seen, even by a doctor in an emergency. Virgil turns to his craftsman associate, Robert (Jim Sturgess), for advice on how to get her to open up to him.

Frida (2002)

Frida Kahlo was one of those names I'd heard on many occasions without giving much thought. Aside from her being a Hispanic artist, I couldn't have told you anything about her. So I figured if I got nothing else out of this movie, it would give me a rough idea of who she really was.

It begins in 1922 Mexico, when the first major event of her life happened. A reckless bus driver puts 15-year-old Frida (Salma Hayek, then in her mid-30s) in critical condition. She never fully recovers, possibly due in part to similarly incompetent surgeons. Her first love (Antonio Banderas) does not stay by her side. Fortunately, between little else to do and a newfound interest in Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), she hones her own painting skill -- to the point that he has no constructive criticism. They go on to marry, despite her knowing that Diego cheated on his first wife a lot. She later calls that a far worse accident than the bus crash.