This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the British farce The Trouble with Jessica and extended coverage of the San Luis Obispo Film Festival – a film fest that punches above its weight:
Note that the delightful doc We Want the Funk is available for free on the PBS YouTube channel.
REMEMBRANCE
I’ve been on vacation, so this is my first chance to write about the late Val Kilmer. Kilmer applied his magnetism in unforgettable performances: Iceman in Top Gun, Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever. My favorite Val Kilmer turn was as an insouciant Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
CURRENT MOVIES
- We Want the Funk: Tear the Roof Off the Sucker. PBS.
- Thank You Very Much: provocateur explained. In theaters, Amazon, AppleTV.
- Art for Everybody: a contradiction revealed. Rolling out in theaters.
- Janis Ian: Breaking Silence: she stepped onto the roller coaster at 16. In arthouse theaters.
- The Trouble with Jessica: a diverting farce. In theaters.
- Chaos: The Manson Murders: the facts still are incredible. Netflix.
- Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius): rise, fall and legacy of a groundbreaking prodigy. Hulu.
- Mickey 17: lovable loser in space. In theaters.
- Bob Trevino Likes It: without dad’s encouragement, she’s stuck. In theaters.
ON TV
On April 29, Turner Classic Movies plays the Bang the Drum Slowly from 1973. A worldly MLB pitcher (Michael Moriarity) helps his slow-witted catcher (Robert De Niro), afflicted with aterminal illness, finish the season. It’s a weeper, but a very genuine one. This was the performance that got De Niro noticed. His next three movie roles were Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II and Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.