This week on The Movie Gourmet – (finally!) new reviews of Broker and Living. Check out my ever-updated Best Movies of 2022. Plus two filmmaker remembrances.
REMEMBRANCES
Melinda Dillon was Oscar-nominated for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. But my favorite Dillon performance will also be that of another mom, who is worried her son will shoot his eye out in A Christmas Story. She also shared an intimate scene with Paul Newman in Slapshot, and said, “I spent 10 and a half hours naked in bed with Paul and absolutely loved it.”
Cindy Williams, before her TV success in Laverne and Shirley, made two of the 50 Greatest Movies of All Time. George Lucas’ American Graffiti is about that moment in 1962 when the innocence of the 1950s was months away from being replaced by the turbulence of the 1960s, for which nobody in America was prepared; she played the girlfriend of Ron Howard’s Steve, whose willfulness got her in a situation that was more than she could handle. Williams’ apparent sweet innocence was also perfect for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, where it is revealed that her character was not so threatened after all.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters.
- Living: what is it to live? In theaters.
- Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
- The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
- Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
- Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
- The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
- Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
- Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
- Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
- The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
- All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
- Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
- Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
WATCH AT HOME
After pausing through the Holidays to highlight the best movies of 2022, I’m returning with The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE.
- Mustang: repression challenged by the human spirit. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Truman: how to say goodbye. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Love & Mercy: a tale of three monsters and salvation. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, AppleTV.
- The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser: Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu.
- Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land. Amazon, AppleTV.
- Little Dieter Needs to Fly: an unimaginable escape and a quirky guy Project Nim: .Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- We Believe in Science: denying science on a monumental scale. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
On February 15, Turner Classic Movies airs the underseen The Man Who Cheated Himself, in which a cop falls for a dame who makes him go bad. But it’s not just any cop and not just any dame.
The cop (Lee J. Cobb) isa seasoned and cynical pro who knows better. The woman (Jane Wyatt) is a puddle of capriciousness and carnality. Jane Wyatt is best known as the mid-century suburban mom/wife in Father Knows Best, rock steady and super square. But in The Man Who Cheated Himself, Wyatt got to uncork more hysterical unreliability, sexual predation and neediness than in all of her other roles combined.
And, odd for a San Francisco-set noir, it is definitely not fog-shrouded. The day I saw The Man Who Cheated Himself at the 2018 Noir City film festival was one of those gorgeous sunny days that San Francisco gets in the winter – and that’s what the movie looks like.
The Film Noir Foundation has restored The Man Who Cheated Himself, but it’s not yet available to stream. See it this week on TCM.