Another busy week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the wonderful family dramedy Left-Handed Girl, the layered character-driven drama Sentimental Value, and the witty and poignant Jay Kelly. Plus two recommended movies coming up on TV this week. And here are mini-capsules on some other current films and miniseries:
- The American Revolution: The Ken Burns five-part documentary on PBS is excellent. I learned a lot, even after multiple college courses and much reading and podcast-listening on the subject. It’s not as thrilling as The Civil War or Baseball, nut its both important and very watchable. Watch on you TV’s PBS channel, the PBS YouTube channel or the PBS website.
- Spinal Tap II: The End Continues: More of a fond tribute to the great This Is Spinal Tap than a sequel, this film returns the original stars with chuckles and the occasional guffaw. Some of the Biggest Names in music have cameos, and Elton John’s bits are the best. Valerie Franco adds a burst of energy as the band’s fearless new drummer. I treasure the original film, so I enjoyed most of this homage, but not all of these jokes work.
- Being Eddie: Eddie Murphy tells his version of his life and career in this Netflix doc. He is an interesting guy, but this is a puff piece.
REMEMBRANCES
Udo Kier proved that one can have a prolific career (275 IMDb credits) as a character actor in both art and cult cult movies. He worked with directors like Werner Rainier Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders and Lars Von Trier, and in Hollywood films like Johnny Mneumonic, My Own Private Idaho, Armageddon, Halloween and Ace Venture: Pet Detective. His visage, scarier as he aged, worked well in horror movies. and he did many, beginning with Jim Morrisey’s Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula. I’ll be writing about Kier’s last film, the very droll My Neighbor Adolf, when it comes out in January.
Lee Tamahori directed the intense and authentic Once Were Warriors, perhaps the best contemporary film on the Māori people and widely considered the greatest New Zealand film, and several Hollywood films, involving the James Bond Die Another Day.
CURRENT MOVIES
- It Was Just an Accident: trauma, justice and complications. In theaters.
- Left-Handed Girl: a family’s path to to catharsis. Netflix
- Sentimental Value: generational healing. In theaters.
- Nouvelle Vague: a subversive trickster bets that he is an artist, too. Netflix.
- Jay Kelly: finding that the ship has sailed. Netflix.
- Frankenstein: who is the real monster? In theaters and on Netflix.
- A House of Dynamite: a master filmmaker reminds us of the terrifyingly plausible. Netflix.
- Blue Moon: wit and vulnerability. In theaters.
- Die My Love: Jennifer Lawrence ablaze. In theaters.
- Nuremberg: matching wits with a master manipulator. In theaters.
- Eleanor the Great: grief, an appalling lie, redemption. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- One Battle After Another: sometimes hilarious, sometimes thrilling, always outrageous. In theaters, but hard to find. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but expensive..
- Kissinger: he sought to justify the means. PBS, American Experience website and YouTube channel.
- Death By Lightning: a statesman, a hack, a lunatic and one great story. Netflix.
- The Baltimorons: vulnerability, recovery, good-hearted laughs. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube Fandango.
ON TV
On December 9, Turner Classic Movies will broadcast The Phenix City Story; gritty, crisp and unvarnished, it’s a jarring contrast to 1950s Ozzie and Harriett American culture. It’s impossible to imagine a film noir that is more “ripped from the headlines”. The Phenix City Story is one of my Overlooked Noir; it’s hard to find to stream, so set your DVR for TCM this week.
And, on December 11, TCM will air a charming 2022 documentary that I had recommended during its blink-and-you-missed-it theatrical run – The Automat. It traces the fascinating seven-decade run of the marble-floored food palaces where one could put nickels in a slot and be rewarded with a meal. Filled with unexpected nuggets, The Automat gives voice to those nostalgic about the automat, but it is clear-eyed about why it didn’t survive. The Automat is the first film for director Lisa Hurvitz, who spent eight years on the project.
