I’ve been absorbed in preparing for Cinequest’s Online Film Festival Cinejoy, which begins next Saturday, March 20. I’ve already screened over a dozen films from the program, and there are some winners in the program.
As usual, I’ll be publishing a festival preview with recommendations and writing about individual films. Here is my coverage of previous festivals: CINEQUEST. Follow me on Twitter for the very latest coverage.
Here’s a wistful note – the last movie that I watched in a movie theater was on March 5, 2020, at last year’s Cinequest, which had to be shut down mid-festival because of COVID. It was The Burnt Orange Heresy, and I sat, not yet masked, in a corner of the 1122-seat California Theatre, distanced about 20 feet away from other festival goers.
ON VIDEO
- Nomadland: refusing to be defeated. THE YEAR’S BEST MOVIE. Hulu.
- Jumbo: a girl and her ride. Laemmle.
- Minari: who gets to decide on a family’s dream? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
- Sound of Metal: Seeking anything but stillness. Amazon (included with Prime).
- Black Bear: Ever surprising. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play
- Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You: Wiser and still vital. AppleTV.
- Mayor: potholes and tear gas, all in a day’s work. Roxie.
- MLK/FBI: about America then and about America today. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer: a good man tracks down evil. Netflix.
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: searing, with an electric performance. Netflix.
- The Personal History of David Copperfield: Dickins alive, at last. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- Another Round: Humanity buzzed. Amazon.
- Mank: biting the hand. Netflix.
- One Night in Miami: four icons share one pivotal moment. Amazon.
- Martin Eden: Jack London in an art film (link goes live soon). Laemmle.
- Ammonite: When the slow burn is a dud. Amazon.
ON TV
If you want drama, Tennessee Williams ladles it on thick in 1958’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which Turner Classic Movies presents on March 17. The movie version of Williams’ steamy Southern Pulitzer Prize-winning play stars Elizabeth Taylor in a slip and Paul Newman with a crutch and a drink. Taylor and Newman are great, but Burl Ives steals the movie as Big Daddy. Madeleine Sherwood is outstanding as the weaselly daughter-in-law Ida.
Okay, so they couldn’t explicitly mention homosexuality on screen in 1958, but that doesn’t tke away from the dramatic tension. And, think about this – let’s all forebear the course word bullshit and substitute mendacity.