This week: a brilliant comedy with a heartbreaking back story. It’s a good week for movies on TV, with perhaps the best political documentary and the most kinetic movie you’ll ever see. And the return of the most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE.
ON VIDEO
Sword of Trust: a sharply funny social satire with a bonus – a rich and moving character study. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Tab Hunter Confidential: heartthrob in the closet. Amazon
- Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street: the origin story of an institution. AppleTV.
- The Face of Love: who is she really in love with? Amazon.
- Augustine: obsession, passion and the birth of a science. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- The Brainwashing of My Dad: some insight into our national madness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
On May 16, Turner Classic Movies airs one of the greatest political movies of all time – The Times of Harvey Milk, the documentary Oscar winner from 1984. It’s the real story behind the 2008 Sean Penn narrative Milk – and with the original witnesses. If you pay attention, The Times of Harvey Milk can teach you everything from how to win a local campaign to how to build a societal movement. One of the best political movies ever. And watch for the dog poop scene!
And, you’ll never see a more kinetic movie than Run Lola Run, which TCM is airing on May 1. Lola (Franka Potente) has only 20 minutes to raise 100,000 Deutschmarks and save her boyfriend’s life from his gangster boss. In only 81 white knuckle minutes, writer-director Tom Tykwer has Lola desperately sprinting around Berlin in three different scenarios.
Incidentally, Potente is now a director, and her new film Home with Kathy Bates played at SFFILM (although I missed it).
Run Lola Run is also available to stream on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
