Now you must catch up on these excellent movie choices before lesser summer movies clog the screens at the multi-plex:
- Mud, the gripping and thoughtful story of two Arkansas boys embarking on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities – learning more than they expected about love and loyalty. Mud is also one of the best movies of 2013.
- At Any Price is a thought-provoking psychological drama and a rare glimpse into modern corporate agriculture.
- Another thought-provoking father-son drama is The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper.
- The surefire crowd pleaser The Sapphires is a charmer about Australian Aboriginal teens forming a girl group to entertain troops in the Vietnam War.
- The French In the House is clever, darkly funny and slightly creepy.
Other films out right now:
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist offers a compelling performance by Riz Ahmed and a thriller ending, but holes in the story and the miscasting of Kate Hudson dim the effect.
- Kon-Tiki is a faithful, but underwhelming account of a true life 5,000 mile raft trip across the Pacific.
The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers. Football fans should tune into ESPN’s 30 for 30 for Elway to Marino, an inside look at several astonishing stories from the 1983 NFL draft. Available on VOD, Greetings from Tim Buckley is a film for those who want to see an actor depict interior conflict with very little external action.
The Iceman, starring Michael Shannon as perhaps the most prolific real-life hit man, is opening this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
You’ve got to get ready for the May 31 release of the year’s best romance, Before Midnight. Therefore my DVD/Stream of the Week are its prequels, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset – director Richard Linklater’s two uncommonly authentic and intelligent romances with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are available on DVD from Netflix and streaming on VOD from Amazon , iTunes, Vudu and other VOD outlets. Before Sunrise is free with Amazon Prime.
Tomorrow night, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting Billy Wilder’s deliciously cynical Ace in the Hole, starring Kirk Douglas as a reporter exploiting and then manipulating a cave rescue. Released in 1951, it’s as timely a comment on tabloid journalism and infotainment as if it had been made last week. (Some folks may have seen it under the alternative title The Big Carnival.)