Megan Seely in PUDDYSTICKS. Courtesy of Cinequest.
In the good-hearted and original comedy Puddysticks, Liz (Megan Seely) is a puddle of anxiety. She is a workaholic game developer for an enterprise whose company culture, despite its mission statement, could not be more anti-fun.
Liz stumbles on a self-help group, led by the ever blissed-out Sylvester (Dan Bakkedahl of Veep, Sword of Trust), where each participant must reveal their innermost secret. It’s cultlike and filled with psychobabble, but it seems to work for Megan and the others. And then Megan learns someone else’s secret…
Puddysticks is a scathing satire of tech workplace culture and the self-help movement, somehow without a hint of meanness.
Puddysticks is written and directed by Megan Seely (who also stars) in her first feature. Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Puddysticks.
Aylin Tezel and Chris Fulton in FALLING INTO PLACE. Courtesy of Cinequest.
The absorbing Scottish romantic drama Falling into Place begins on the Isle of Skye when two visiting London creatives meet outside a rowdy pub and flirt. Kira (Aylin Tezel), a theater set designer, is on holiday. Ian (Chris Fulton), a musician, has grown up on Skye and intends to shoehorn in an infrequent visit with his family. Kira is trying to get beyond a recent breakup, while Ian’s relationship is in its final throes.
When Kira hears that Ian has a girlfriend, she puts in the brakes, but she’s drawn enough to Ian that she accompanies him as he faces some family drama. Then, Kira and Ian return separately to London. The audience soon wants these two to get and stay together, but they’ll need to get past some trauma in Ian’s family, his current romantic entanglement, Kyra’s feelings for her ex, an attractive boss with his eyes on Kira and some bad timing.
Utterly devoid of the tropes in conventional movie romances, Falling into Place is profoundly authentic. This is the first feature for German-born writer/director Aylin Tezel (who also stars as Kira), and it’s a very strong and promising debut. As a director, she paces Falling into Place perfectly, keeping us eagerly engaged as the threads if Kira and Ian meet and part and meet again. She is especially adept directing the scenes in the Isle of Skye bar and the London art gallery opening, with lots of moving bodies and ambient sound. But it’s Tezel’s screenplay, without a single false note, that really soars.
I screened Falling Into Place for its US premiere at Cinequest.
Carrete in QUIXOTE IN NEW YORK. Courtesy of Cinequest.
The charming documentary Quixote in New York follows the 82-yer-old Spanish flamenco dance master El Carrete, who wants to cap his career by performing in a major NYC theater. It’s not that easy to mount a theater production, and he doesn’t have unlimited time to pull it off.
El Carrete himself is a hoot, funny AF and even makes rehearsals fun for everybody. Director Jorge Peña Martín has the good sense to give us a big dose of El Carrete. It’s a well-crafted film, especially the cinematography.
There’s a Can’t Miss seen where El Carrete watches a projection of Fred Astaire dance, and then dances himself in front of the screen, mirroring Astaire’s moves-flamenco-style.
This is an audience-pleaser. Cinequest hosts the US premiere of Quixote in New York.
Carrete in QUIXOTE IN NEW YORK. Courtesy of Cinequest.
Kirsi Paananen and Henri Malkki in GIANT’S KETTLE. Courtesy of Cinequest.
If you’re looking for an unadulterated art film, the stark Finnish drama Giant’s Kettle is your pick. First-time directors Marku Hakala and Mari Kaki make one bold artistic choice after another – no human dialogue, a static camera, shots of very long duration with very little action. Giant’s Kettle is an exploration of alienation, loneliness and yearning in a world hostile to connection.
Where did Hakala and Maki find those stunning locations – those Escher-like stairs, that rock balanced on another rock, that monstrous waffle front building, the hellish playground and that ominous hole on the ground?
There is no human dialogue in Giant’s Kettle (other than an anguished howl), and the filmmakers suggest that the sound be turned up. That’s because it isn’t a silent film – the very intentional ambient noises in the soundtrack add to the effect.
Audience patience is required. Two minutes go by before a character begins to appear and two more minutes before anything hints at happening. The static camera holds on shots of very long duration. We wat.ch a man and woman (and a yo-yo) on a bed…waiting. The filmmakers can get away with this pace because Giant’s Kettle is only 71 minutes long. Nevertheless, it’s not a movie for everyone.
Kirsi Paananen, in what is essentially a silent film performance, is heart-breaking, especially in long shot.
As we watch the man and woman, with her aching longing so apparent, edge together, it seems at times like we’re watching a Finnish motion picture version of Grant Woods’ American Gothic.
Cinequest hosts the US premiere of Giant’s Kettle.
Photo caption: Emma Stone in POOR THINGS. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m busy working on unveiling most of my Cinequest coverage on Tuesday; here’s my festival preview: Get ready for the return of Cinequest.
CURRENT MOVIES
Anatomy of a Fall: family history, with life or death stakes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
American Fiction: this can’t be happening. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube,
The Taste of Things: two passions: culinary and romantic. In arthouse theaters.
Golden Years: when dreams diverge. In arthouse theaters.
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
Youth: a glorious cinematic meditation on life. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: a Must See, perched on the knife edge between comedy and tragedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Gift: three people revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
Inez & Doug & Kira: the tangle of love, friendship and bipolar disorder. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon, Vudu.
Run & Jump: a romance, a family drama and a promising first feature. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Victoria: a thrill ride filmed in one shot. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KinoNow.
ON TV
George C. Scott (center) seethes while James Stewart (right) lawyers in ANATOMY OF A MURDER
Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting Anatomy of a Murder (1959) on March 2. I love this film for its great courtroom scene, for the great performances by James Stewart, George C. Scott, Ben Gazzara and Lee Remick, and for its exquisite pacing by director Otto Preminger. None other than the great Duke Ellington provides one of the very first jazz soundtracks (after Miles Davis’ Elevator to the Gallows and Johnny Mandel’s I Want to Live! in 1958).
The Fireman’s Ball (Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1967)
The Last Metro (Francois Truffaut, France, 1980)
Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, Denmark, 1987)
Indochine (Regis Wargnier, France, 1992)
8 1/2 and Mon Oncle are on my fifty or so Greatest Movies of All Time. The Fireman’s Ball and Babette’s Feast are two of my personal favorite films. (On the other hand, The Woman in the Dunes is a two-and-a-half hour slog.)
Of these, I’m highlighting Mon Oncle, Jacques Tati’s masterful fish-out-of-water satire of contemporary consumerism and modernist culture. In its deadpan way, I think it may be the most deeply funny movie of all time. If you have strong feelings (either way) for Mid-century Modern style, be patient and settle in. There’s very little dialogue and lots of sly observational physical humor. Tati’s use of ambient noise/sounds in the very spare soundtrack is pure genius.
Photo caption: Tim Blake Nelson and Gretchen Mol in THE INVISIBLES. Courtesy of Cinequest.
Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival, returns live and in-person March 7, back in downtown San Jose, with screenings March 7-17 at the California, Theatre and the Hammer Theater. Selected films from the program then move to Cinequest’s virtual platform, Cinejoyfrom March 21-31.
Highlights of the 2024 Cinequest include:
217 films, half directed by women, with many, many world premieres, US premieres and directorial debuts.
Films from 37 countries, including Germany, Spain, Canada, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Finland, Mexico, India, China, Brazil and Argentina.
New movies with Robert De Niro. Abigail Breslin, Ben Stiller, Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Tim Blake Nelson, Gretchen Mol, Bruce Greenwood, Shirley Henderson, Rupert Sewell, Rainn Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, Olivia Williams, Tovah Feldshuh and Josh Radnor.
See it here FIRST: Ezra, Hard Miles, Frida and The Trouble with Jessica are among the movies slated for theatrical release later this year.
A personal appearance by film star Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, And the Band Played On), who will receive an award and his latest film Hard Miles.
Cinequest’s Silent Cinema Event will present Douglas Fairbank’s The Mark of Zorro and Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality, accompanied by master organist Dennis James on the historic California Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer.
And, at Cinequest, it’s easy to meet the filmmakers.
At Cinequest, you can get a festival pass for as little as $199 (a ten-pack for $110), and you can get individual tickets as well. Take a look at the entire program, theschedule and the passes and tickets
As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty Cinequest films from around the world. Bookmark my CINEQUEST 2024 page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Tuesday, March 5.
Photo caption: Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.
The French romantic drama The Taste of Things is the story of a man consumed by two passions – an obsession with gastronomy and a profound love for a woman. It’s also one of the mouthwatering movies in the history of cinema.
The man is Dodin (Benoit Magimel), a famous gourmand in 1884 France, a key moment in the history of the culinary arts, when the master French chef Escoffier was still in his 30s. The woman adored by Dodin is Eugenie (Juliette Binoche), not coincidentally his live-in cook.
The Taste of Things begins with a long scene (15+ minutes) as Eugenie leads a team in producing an elaborate garden to table meal, with every ingredient prepared old school, the long and hard way. Fish quenelles are formed by hand, shrimp shells are boiled into a stock, and the quenelles are pached in the shrimp stock. It takes hours for a rack of veal turned into an OMG marvel. It turns out that this is a multi-course feast prepared for Dodin and his chatty four buddies. The guys all fall SILENT when the consommé appears, and then, as the courses pile up, don’t say anything more that isn’t about the meal itself or the history of gastronomy.
The fruit of Eugenie’s labor, exquisitely photographed, are the height of food porn. One highlight is a spectacular vol-au-vent. When Eugenue shows up with a giant croissant-like thing (a giant bioche?) that she and the four buddies dig into with their hands, there were audible gasps from the audience at the screening.
There’s even a scene with a culinary Holy Grail, now illegal in the US, fabled ortolans devoured as per tradition, with the diners’ heads under their napkins. Of course gastronomy, as any human endeavor, can be taken to silly extremes, which is illustrated by a dinner for Dodin and his friends, hosted by a prince under the mistaken impression that more is always better.
Eugenie prepares masterpiece after masterpiece for Dodin until her health falters, giving him the opportunity to express his love by preparing and serving her an even more formidable dinner.
The Taste of Things is a film by writer-director Anh Hung Tran, who certainly knows his way around movie passion and movie foods (The Scent of Green Papaya).
Benoit Magimel and Juliette Binoche in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.
It’s always a pleasure to watch the radiant Juliette Binoche, especially when she’s playing an endearing character like Eugenie, who keeps resisting Dodin’s offers of marriage even as she values his culinary partnership and welcomes him into her bed. Their relationship is perfectly summed up in the epilogue when Eugenie asks Dodin a question and receives his answer with bliss. She feels loved – and on her terms.
The Wife liked The Taste of Things less than I did, in part because she was less entertained by the long scenes of meal preparation, which captivated me. (I am The Movie Gourmet, after all.)
We both, however, thoroughly enjoyed the character of the culinary child prodigy Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), especially her reaction to her first Baked Alaska and her growing into a peer of Dodin’s.
The Taste of Things was France’s submission to the Academy Awards. It’s going on my list of Best Foodie Movies. It’s playing in a few arthouses now; I’ll let you know when it releases on VOD.
Photo caption: Stefan Kurt and Esther Gemsch in GOLDEN YEARS. Courtesy of Music Box Films.
The Swiss dramedy Golden Years begins as Peter (Stefan Kurt) turns 65 and retires. His wife Alice (Esther Gemsch) has been eagerly awaiting this day, which she sees as an opportunity for travel and to rekindle intimacy with Peter. In contrast, Peter doesn’t seem to have been thinking about it at all, but he begins to be consumed with his physical health and suddenly transforms himself into a mountain biking, vegan workout king. Alice wants to downsize, but he wants to stay in their house. Travel doesn’t interest Peter, but he feels trapped into joining Alice on a Mediterranean cruise that their adult children have gifted them.
Esther’s best friend unexpectedly dies, and Peter impulsively invites her heartbroken husband to join them on the cruise, which appalls Esther, who wants Peter to herself on the cruise. Esther has read her late friend’s hidden cache of letters and has stumbled on an explosive secret. Esther’s annoyance from Peter’s inattention simmers until it boils over into she staggers Peter by embarking on her own adventure.
Esther Gemsch, Ueli Jaggi and Stefan Kurt in GOLDEN YEARS. Courtesy of Music Box Films.
At this point, Golden Years departs from a comedy of manners into an exploration of dual self-discoveries. Indeed, there are Men-are-from-Mars moments when Peter is a clueless dunderhead about Esther’s expectations. But Peter’s needs have evolved, too, and Esther has also mistakenly assumed that he will want to do want she wants to do.
We all know couples who drift totally apart after decades of marriage, and there must be some couples who age with identical interests. Many couple have different, but complementary aspirations, or can build a new life together around some core commonality. The question that Alice and Peter face is, where are they on this continuum?
Will Alice and Peter compromise? Will they be able to accommodate each others’ needs? Will they live separate lives? Is there a Win Win?
Screenwriter Petra Volpe (The Divine Order) probes these questions in a consistently funny and engaging movie with a minimum of senior citizen tropes or cheap geezer cheap jokes. (It is very funny, though, when Peter’s Gen X co-worker brightly tells him that his old office will become a server room.)
Esther Gemsch in GOLDEN YEARS. Courtesy of Music Box Films.
Director Barbara Kulcsar keeps the story sprightly paced and maintains just the right balance between comedy and the more serious issues. Alice is the primary focus of the story, and the performance of actress Esther Gemsch is especially strong.
Golden Years opens in select theaters, including the Laemmle Town Center in LA, on February 23. I’ll remind you when the film arrives nationwide on digital on March 26.
Teo Yoo and Greta Lee in PAST LIVES. Courtesy of A24.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Drift. Getting ready for the Oscars, I just rewatched Best Picture nominees Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives and Killers of the Flower Moon with The Wife and her father. They all stand up, with Oppenheimer, as the top four on my Best Movies of 2023.
REMEMBRANCE
Carl Weathers retired from pro football at 26, played a football player in Semi-tough, and then the unforgettable Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise. He recently starred in The Mandalorian and directed some of it. Personal note: his film Action Jackson was playing theaters in Santiago, Chile, when I visited in 1984.
CURRENT MOVIES
Anatomy of a Fall: family history, with life or death stakes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
Victoria: a thrill ride filmed in one shot. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KinoNow.
The Gift: three people revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
Inez & Doug & Kira: the tangle of love, friendship and bipolar disorder. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon, Vudu.
Run & Jump: a romance, a family drama and a promising first feature. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Youth: a glorious cinematic meditation on life. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: a Must See, perched on the knife edge between comedy and tragedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Sam Jaffe, Sterling Hayden, Anthony Caruso and James Whitmore inTHE ASPHALT JUNGLE
On February 17, Turner Classic Movies presents the classic film noir The Asphalt Jungle. At the most recent Noir City film festival, film scholars Eddie Muller and Imogen Sarah Smith explained that the Production Code banned the depiction of the means of crime; director John Huston blasted right through that stop sign, making this the protype of all heist movies, with the intricate planning, the assembling of the team and then the real-time heist itself.
The crooks do pull off the big heist…and then things begin to go wrong. There aren’t many noirs with better casting – the crooks include Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe and James Whitmore. Lesser known Marc Lawrence and Brad Dexter light up their parts, too.
The 23-year-old Marilyn Monroe plays Calhern’s companion in her first real speaking part. Marilyn plays an alibi witness; when the police commissioner asks about her credibility (“How did she impress you?”) the interviewing detective replies, “Very much! She’s some babe!” Marilyn ‘s stardom must have soared by the time The Asphalt Jungle reached Italian theaters, because she is the featured figure in the Italian movie poster. Anyway, the final scene between Monroe and Calhern is both poignant and funny.
How noir is it? Even the cop who breaks the case goes to jail.
Marilyn Monroe and Don Haggerty in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
