Movies to See Right Now

Chris Pine in HELL OR HIGH WATER
Chris Pine in HELL OR HIGH WATER

Topping my recommendations is the best movie of the year so far – the character-driven crime drama Hell or High Water. It’s atmospheric, gripping, and packed with superb performances. Hell or High Water is a screenwriting masterpiece by Taylor Sheridan. Must See.

Here are other attractive movie choices:

  • Really liked the New Zealand teen-geezer adventure dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
  • Florence Foster Jenkins is not just a one-joke movie about a bad singer – it’s a love story about trying to protect the one that you love.
  • Don’t Think Twice is a dramedy set in the world of comedy, another smart, insightful little film by Mike Birbiglia.
  • Woody Allen’s love triangle comedy Cafe Society is a well-made and entertaining diversion, but hardly a Must See.

Don’t have an unbridled recommendation for Mia Madre.

My Stream of the Week is the totally overlooked drama from earlier this year, A Country Called Home with Imogen Poots.   A Country Called Home can be streamed from Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

On September 20, Turner Classic Movies presents perhaps the most deeply funny movie of all time, Mon Oncle, Jacques Tati’s masterful fish-out-of-water satire of modern consumerism and modernist culture. If you have strong feelings (either way) for Mid-Century Modern style, be patient and settle in.  There’s very little dialogue and lots of sly observational physical humor. The use of ambient noise/sounds and the very spare soundtrack is pure genius.

Mon Oncle
Jacques Tati in MON ONCLE

Movies to See Right Now

Ben Foster and Chris Pine in HELL OR HIGH WATER
Ben Foster and Chris Pine in HELL OR HIGH WATER

Topping my recommendations is the best movie of the year so far – the character-driven crime drama Hell or High Water. It’s atmospheric, gripping, and packed with superb performances. Hell or High Water is a screenwriting masterpiece by Taylor Sheridan. Must See.

Here are other attractive movie choices:

  • Really liked the New Zealand teen-geezer adventure dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
  • Florence Foster Jenkins is not just a one-joke movie about a bad singer – it’s a love story about trying to protect the one that you love.
  • I found the documentary about Burt Reynolds and his stuntman/director Hal Needham, The Bandit, very enjoyable; it’s playing on CMT.
  • Don’t Think Twice is a dramedy set in the world of comedy, another smart, insightful little film by Mike Birbiglia.
  • Woody Allen’s love triangle comedy Cafe Society is a well-made and entertaining diversion, but hardly a Must See.

Don’t have an unbridled recommendation for Mia Madre.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the painfully timely Weiner, one of my Best Movies of 2016 – So Far. Weiner is available on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and DirecTV.

Today, Turner Classic Movies airs The Conversation.  And coming up on September 12, TCM delivers early Spielberg: The Sugarland Express (1974).  White trash anti-heroes (Goldie Hahn and William Atherton) pull off a jail break, but their harebrained scheme evolves into a man-hunt and then a hostage standoff.   The wonderfully underused Ben Johnson plays the lawman.

The young Steven Spielberg’s career trajectory as a director began with Duel and a couple of other TV movies, and then The Sugarland Express was his first feature.   Right after Sugarland came Jaws and Close Encounters and Raiders and ET and etc.   The Sugarland Express was made in that very brief period when big movie studios let auteur directors tell stories that today could only be made as “indies” (like The Conversation, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show, Taxi Driver, All That Jazz).

Movies to See Right Now

Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

Traditionally movie-poor August is past, but these are good choices:

  • Really liked the New Zealand teen-geezer adventure dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
  • Florence Foster Jenkins is not just a one-joke movie about a bad singer – it’s a love story about trying to protect the one that you love.
  • I found the documentary about Burt Reynolds and his stuntman/director Hal Needham, The Bandit, very enjoyable; it’s playing on CMT.
  • Woody Allen’s love triangle comedy Cafe Society is a well-made and entertaining diversion, but hardly a Must See.
  • I haven’t seen them yet, but readers with really good taste have recommended Captain Fantastic and Hell or High Water.

Not an unbridled recommendation for Mia Madre, opening today.

Tonight, Turner Classic Movies airs Robert Redford and Gene Hackman in Director Michael Ritchie’s Downhill Racer. It’s one of the best sports movies ever (Olympic skiing), and it came as all three filmmakers were poised to do some of their greatest work (The Candidate, The Sting, The French Connection).

On September 5,  Turner Classic Movies brings us a fantastic comedy,  My Man Godfrey (1936).  An assembly of eccentric, oblivious, venal and utterly spoiled characters make up a rich Park Avenue family and their hangers-on during the Depression. The kooky daughter (Carole Lombard) brings home a homeless guy (William Powell) to serve as their butler. The contrast between the dignified butler and his wacky employers results in a brilliant screwball comedy that masks searing social criticism that is sharply relevant today. The wonderful character actor Eugene Pallette (who looked and sounded like a bullfrog in a tuxedo) plays the family’s patriarch, who is keenly aware that his wife and kids are completely nuts.

William Powell and Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY
William Powell and Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY

Movies to See Right Now

Julian Dennison and Sam Neill in HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE
Julian Dennison and Sam Neill in HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE

The Movie Gourmet has been very quiet of late because I’m dealing with a major home remodel and a temporary move, as well as the demands of my day job, which seem to increase during even-numbered years. But I’ll be back in full force by mid-September, just in time for the big prestige movies of 2016. In the meantime:

  • Really liked the New Zealand teen-geezer adventure dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
  • Florence Foster Jenkins is not just a one-joke movie about a bad singer – it’s a love story about trying to protect the one that you love.
  • I found the documentary about Burt Reynolds and his stuntman/director Hal Needham, The Bandit, very enjoyable; it’s playing on CMT.
  • Woody Allen’s love triangle comedy Cafe Society is a well-made and entertaining diversion, but hardly a Must See.
  • I haven’t seen them yet, but readers with really good taste have recommended Captain Fantastic and Hell or High Water.

On September 1, Turner Classic Movies will be presenting the best work of Preston Sturges, the first workaday Hollywood screenwriter to transition into a major writer-director. TCM will be screening The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, Hail the Conquering Hero! and The Great McGinty, an impressive body of work that Sturges churned out between the ages of 42 and 46. Unfortunately, his turbulent personality led to conflict in his business affairs, which exacerbated his drinking. He burned out and was dead at age 60, but he left behind some of the very, very smartest and funniest movie comedies.

Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea in SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS
Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea in SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS