President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Claudia Puig

I Love The Lives of Others and Hate Forrest Gump

Photo by Aaron Salcido.

Claudia Puig, president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, is currently a critic for NPR’s “FilmWeek” and a contributor to NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” Before moderating a Zócalo/UCLA panel discussion titled “Will Black Panther Really Change Hollywood?” at the ArcLight Hollywood, she spoke in the green room about soufflé, a nun who taught Eastern religion, and films that the public loves and she hates.

Q:

What superpower would you most like to have?


A:

Toss-up between flying and reading people’s minds.


Q:

What dessert do you find impossible to resist?


A:

A chocolate soufflé I had at a Cajun place in Santa Barbara, a place called The Palace Grill.


Q:

What teacher or professor changed your life, if any?


A:

I had a teacher, believe it or not, in high school, a Catholic girls high school (which I would not recommend), who was a nun. In the 1970s, she was open-minded, and she taught a class called comparative religions. We learned about Western and Eastern religions, about Daoism, Islam, all of it …. And then she taught a class in religious literature. She opened up my mind.


Q:

Where do you go to be alone?


A:

I like to go walking. My neighborhood is in a canyon, and there’s an area that’s off the roads—a little hiking trail. It’s just a verdant and peaceful world up there. When I see green, it makes me happy.


Q:

Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime?


A:

Netflix. Followed by Amazon. I don’t do Hulu at all.


Q:

How many movies do you see in a year?


A:

A couple hundred.


Q:

What, if anything, will you eat or drink while watching a movie?


A:

An iced tea or water.


Q:

You are currently program director for the Mendocino Film Festival. What sort of films play best there?


A:

A lot of environmentalist documentaries, political documentaries, music documentaries, films about social issues. We showed Dolores about Dolores Huerta, and she was there. It was a huge hit. We also showed Rumble: Indians Who Rocked the World—a documentary—and they loved it.


Q:

What is your favorite non-American film?


A:

A German film, The Lives of Others, closely followed by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.


Q:

Is there a publicly beloved film that you can’t stand?


A:

Terms of Endearment, I hate. Forrest Gump, not a fan. Titanic, hate. I could go on.


Q:

What was the last book you read?


A:

Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng.