This week: an absurdist comedy from Korea, a doc that gives voice to trans creatives, an insightful jazz biodoc, a movie about a really bad movie and Spike Lee’s latest.
REMEMBRANCE
The 5’5″ Ian Holm was a giant of the stage, where he created a definitive King Lear, and is most well-known in movies for playing Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings franchise. I remember Holm’s heartrending performance in Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, my choice as the most profoundly sad movie ever. He also appeared in supporting roles in some of my favorite movies: Young Winston, Jesus of Nazareth and the Branagh Henry V.
ON VIDEO
Yourself and Yours: The absurdism of Luis Buñuel meets the social awkwardness of Seinfeld in Hong Sang-soo’s Korean comedy. During its Bay Area virtual run at the Roxie, you can stream Yourself and Yours at Roxie Virtual Cinema.
Disclosure: This insightful (and even revelatory) documentary about the depiction of trans people on screen is moving and thought-provoking. Disclosure is streaming on Netflix.
Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things: A Must See for jazz fans, this well-sourced biodoc brings insights into the juvenile delinquent who became an innovative genius, Includes a never-broadcast interview in which Ella makes clear her views on race. It opens today in the Roxie Virtual Cinema.
Da 5 Bloods: Spike Lee’s latest features a great performance by Delroy Lindo and a couple other compelling elements, but it’s too long and drags. How Spike reflects on the Vietnam War and on the Black experience in America is far more evocative than is the story itself. Da 5 Bloods is streaming on Netflix.
You Don’t Nomi: A deep dive into the making and cult film aftermath of a terrible big Hollywood movie, Showgirls. I don’t find Showgirls, campy as it is, that entertaining on a so-bad-it’s-good basis, but You Don’t Nomi does contain many of its funniest, most awful clips. I watched it on Roxie Virtual Cinema, but it’s available to stream on all major platforms. There are much better movies about bad movies: Ed Wood (about Plan 9 from Outer Space), The Disaster Artist (about The Room), Best Bad Movie (about Troll 2)
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Driveways: I can’t think of a more authentic movie about intergenerational relationships than this charming, character-driven indie.
- The Lovebirds: A rom com with a playful plot and a truthful relationship.
- Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas.
- King in the Wilderness: an icon, floundering.
- The Bandit: A Hollywood buddy documentary that features some amazing movie stunts.
- Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.”
- Unfriended: Teenagers find horror on their own webcams.
- Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope.
- Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe.
- Outside In: A story of self-discovery with an astonishing performance by Edie Falco.
- The T.A.M.I. Show: The first concert film, featuring eight future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
- Cold Case Hammarskjöld: An investigatory documentary that sends-up the genre.
- Spaceship Earth: A visionary scientific experiment, unraveled from human foibles.
- Night on Earth: This indie has the funniest vignette and the saddest – all in one movie.
- Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons.
- The Whistlers: a shady cop and a mysterious woman walk a tightrope of treachery.
- The Wild Goose Lake: vivid nights in the Chinese underworld.
- The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot.
- Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project: it seemed crazy at the time…
- Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land.
ON TV
On June 30, 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.
