Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Britt Lower in SENDER, playing at both the SLO Film Fest and at SFFILM festival. Courtesy of SLO Film Fest.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the historical epic Magellan and my continued coverage of the film festivals in San Francisco and San Luis Obispo – both under way now:

CURRENT MOVIES

  • The Drama: the darkest romantic comedy that I’ve ever seen. In theaters.
  • Is This Thing On? uncoiling the bewilderment of a break-up. Hulu (included,) Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Heel: don’t try this at home. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Grazia: it’s time to get past his malaise. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters.In theaters and VOD.
  • Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Mercy: not as good as the premise. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV.
  • Magellan: slower than the slowest slow boat. Criterion.

ON TV

Alain Delon in ONCE A THIEF

On April 27, Turner Classic Movies presents a sadly forgotten 1965 neo-noir, Once a Thief. In his first American movie, French leading man Alain Delon plays Eddie, an ex-con trying to go straight. He’s a got a wife (Ann-Margret), a daughter and an apartment in a downscale San Francisco neighborhood. Supporting his family is hard because an obsessively vindictive cop (Van Heflin) is harassing him and causing him to lose job after job. As Eddie becomes more and more desperate, his estranged brother Walter (Jack Palance) shows up with two equally scary confederates, trying to enlist Eddie in a heist.

You might reasonably think that Once a Thief is all about the dream pairing of Delon and Ann-Marget, then the two most gorgeous human on planet earth. Indeed, we see the two adoring each other in various states of undress, but their love is very innocent. It’s the supporting performances that elevate Once a Thief:

  • As his cop persecutes Eddie, the usually relatable Heflin makes Inspector Javert look kind.
  • Character actor John Davis Chandler, unsurpassed at playing weaselly psychos, plays the most unhinged fiend since Richard Widmark’s Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death.
  • Screenwriter Zekial Marko plays a dodgy beatnik who casts off lines like, “Lickity split talk talk jazz“. and, grilled about heroin use at his apartment, says “If they want a shoot a bit, that’s their bag, not mine. I’m clean. Check my lines. Just boo, grass, juice, straight, you know.”

The ending is suitably noirish. Along with the Anthony Quinn/Jackie Gleason/Mickey Rooney version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, Once a Thief is probably the darkest film directed by Ralph Nelson (Lillies of the Field, Father Goose, Charly). The French movie title translates as Killers of San Francisco.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd in POWER BALLAD. Courtesy of Lionsgate

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’ve been previewing both of next week’s film fests – San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM), the longest-running film festival in the Americas, and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLO Film Fest), a brilliantly curated regional film fest, with what may be unique surf and skate film elements. Both SFFILM and SLO Film Fest are screening Power Ballad, the latest from John Carney, writer-director of Once, Sing Street and Flora and Son, and Sender, .an absurdist psychological thriller fresh from SXSW, starring Britt Lower (Severance), Rhea Seehorn and Jamie Lee Curtis. Here’s my pre-fest coverage:

CURRENT MOVIES

  • The Drama: the darkest romantic comedy that I’ve ever seen.In theaters.
  • Is This Thing On? uncoiling the bewilderment of a break-up. Hulu (included,) Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Heel: don’t try this at home. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Grazia: it’s time to get past his malaise. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters.In theaters and VOD.
  • Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Mercy: not as good as the premise. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV.

ON TV

Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell in HIS KIND OF WOMAN

On April 18 and 19, Turner Classic Movies presents another of my Overlooked Noir and one of the most fun to watch: His Kind of Woman. A down-and-out gambler (Robert Mitchum) is offered a deal that MUST be too good to be true; he’s smart enough to be suspicious and knows that he must discover the real deal before it’s too late. He meets a on-the-top-of-the-world hottie (Jane Russell), who is about to become down on her luck, too. Witty entertainment ensues. Bonus: this will be on TCM’s Noir Alley, with intro and outro by Eddie Muller, the Czar of Noir.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Zendaya and Robert Pattinson in THE DRAMA. Courtesy of A24.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the darkest rom com I’ve ever seen, The Drama, and the 1996 John Sayles masterpiece Lone Star. If you missed Lone Star on TCM, you can stream it from Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango.

And I’ve also posted my First Look at the SLO Film Fest, with its very promising program.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • The Drama: the darkest romantic comedy that I’ve ever seen. In theaters.
  • Is This Thing On? uncoiling the bewilderment of a break-up. Hulu (included,) Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Heel: don’t try this at home. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Grazia: it’s time to get past his malaise. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters.In theaters.
  • Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Mercy: not as good as the premise. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV.
Matthew McConaughey in LONE STAR.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Laura Dern and Will Arnett in IS THIS THING ON? Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the distopian AI thriller Mercy and the unusually thoughtful romantic dramedy Is This Thing On?

Note: The engrossing indie family drama East of Wall and the historical psychodrama Nuremberg are now both on Netflix.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Is This Thing On? uncoiling the bewilderment of a break-up. Hulu (included,) Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Heel: don’t try this at home. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Grazia: it’s time to get past his malaise. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters.In theaters.
  • Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Mercy: not as good as the premise. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV.

ON TV

Matthew McConaughey in LONE STAR.

Set your DVRs to record the 1996 John Sayles masterpiece Lone Star on April 9 on Turner Classic Movies. It’s a great multi-generational story of mystery, corruption, racism, forbidden love and redemption, and the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. The cast is also phenomenal: Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, Kris Kristofferson, Elizabeth Pena, Francis McDormand, Miriam Colon, Joe Morton and Ron Canada.

I love and admire this film so much, and I was amazed to see that I hadn’t written about it in the 15-year history of this blog. So, on Monday, I’ll be publishing a full review.

Kris Kristofferson in LONE STAR.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Stephan Graham and Andrea Riseborough in HEEL. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the absolutely wild Heel and the lyrical La Grazia, plus a revamped CURRENT MOVIES section below.

As Cinequest enters its final weekend, I’ve posted Wrapping Up Cinequest and Cinequest Movies Go On-line Today. You can watch some very good Cinequest movies through Sunday night, and I recommend that you do so.

Note: The engrossing indie family drama East of Wall and the historical psychodrama Nuremberg are now both on Netflix.

REMEMBRANCE

Valerie Perrine always had a sex kitten image, but she held her own in some seriously good movies: Slaughterhouse-Five, Lenny, Superman, The Electric Horseman.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Heel: don’t try this at home. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Grazia: it’s time to get past his malaise. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters.In theaters.
  • Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.

ON TV

Rita Moreno, F. Murray Abraham and Jack Weston in THE RITZ.

On March 29, TCM airs a milestone in LGBTQ cinema, the 1976 madcap comedy The Ritz. A straight and very square suburban businessman (Jack Weston) is fleeing from his homicidal mobster brother-in-law (Jerry Stiller) and hides out in the very last place one would look for him – a gay bathhouse in Manhattan. The Ritz is a fish-out-of-water farce with lots of comic mistaken identities. Today, it’s plenty dated, and a handsome but squeaky-voiced detective (Treat Williams) falls especially flat. But it’s one of the first movies with a decidedly queer setting, and F. Murray Abraham plays one of the first entirely sympathetic and relatable gay movie characters. Rita Moreno is all in as Googie Gomez, the house entertainer. Watch for John Ratzenburger (Cliff the mailman in Cheers and the voice of many Pixar movies) as a bathhouse patron.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Milos Forman’s THE FIREMEN’S BALL, airing this week on TCM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Fackham Hall. ICYMI here are my Thoughts on the Oscars.

I’m still covering the ongoing Cinequest film festival, with all my coverage linked on my Cinequest 2026 page. Watch for my festival wrap-up on Monday and, on Tuesday, my recommendations for Cinequest movies you can stream at home.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters. In theaters.
  • Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.

ON TV

THE FIREMEN’S BALL

On March 22, Turner Classic Movies presents Miloš Forman‘s 1967 Czech comedy The Firemen’s Ball.  In his youth, Forman lived through the Nazis, who he described as evil, and the Communists, who he described as absurd. The Firemen’s Ball is a comedy of errors set during the annual ball of a small town fire brigade. It’s an obligatory occasion, and everyone is just going through the motions. No one is willing or able to do what they are supposed to be doing, whether it is protecting the raffle prizes or even putting out fires. The film eviscerated the moral bankruptcy of the Communist society.

The bumbling old farts on the ball committee try to put on a beauty contest; they shanghai a bunch of young women in attendance and parade them around the committee room to prep them for the pageant. The Wife was offended by the sexism of the scene, but she didn’t stick around to see the committee get their comeuppance when the contestants themselves blow up the Big Announcement and turn the committee members into objects of ridicule. Stick with it – the whole movie is only 73 minutes long.

Movie to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale in THE BRIDE!. Courtesy of Warner Bros.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – we’re in the first weekend of Cinequest, which I’m covering for the fifteenth year, and all my Cinequest coverage is linked on my CINEQUEST 2026 page.

I’m not done with Cinequest coverage, but I just published a new review of The Bride!

The Oscars are coming up Sunday evening, and I’m generally rooting for One Battle After Another and It Was Just an Accident, and specifically for Jessie Buckley, Teyana Taylor, Jacob Elordi, Mr. Nobody Against Putin and for Frankenstein to sweep the awards for production design, costumes, score and, of course, makeup.

Note: The wonderful A Little Prayer: which made both my lists of Best Movies and Most Overlooked Movies of 2025, is now included (free) with Amazon Prime.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

William Powell and Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY

We’re living in a time when we could use some wit, silliness and decency, so we’re fortunate that, on March 14, Turner Classic Movies is airing the timeless and fantastic comedy, My Man Godfrey (1936). An assembly of eccentric, oblivious, venal and utterly spoiled characters make up a rich Park Avenue family and their hangers-on during the Depression. The kooky daughter (Carole Lombard) brings home a homeless guy (William Powell) to serve as their butler. The contrast between the dignified butler and his wacky employers results in a brilliant screwball comedy that masks searing social criticism that is still sharply relevant today. The wonderful character actor Eugene Pallette (who looked and sounded like a bullfrog in a tuxedo) plays the family’s patriarch, and he’s keenly aware that his wife and kids are completely nuts.

I feel strongly about this 90-year-old movie, which I first saw when it was only 36-years-old. We talk about screwball comedy, but this is the gold standard. And we need to remember the comic genius of Carole Lombard, who died supporting the war against fascism when she was only 33.

Movies to See Right Now

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This week on The Movie Gourmet – my First Look at Cinequest, previewing the Silicon Valley fim fest, which opens on Tuesday. On Sunday, I’ll publish my Best of Cinequest and followup with more Cinequest recommendations on Tuesday. I have been covering Cinequest for 15 years.

Here’s my farewell to Robert Duvall, one of the essential figures in cinema in my lifetime.

I also watched the Paul McCartney doc Man on the Run on Amazon, which was somewhat entertaining. Directed by prolific documentarian Morgan Neville (who won an Oscar in 2013 for 20 Feet from Stardom) with McCartney’s cooperation, it’s well-made and exceptionally well-sourced. It’s just hard for me to be enthusiastic about the subject, which is the eleven years right after the Beatles’ breakup, when McCartney led the band Wings; my take on Wings runs the gamut from indifferent to loathing.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies.

Robert Duvall was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but he won his Best Actor Oscar for Tender Mercies, coming up on Turner Classic Movies on March 10. Duvall plays a once-famous country-western singer who has sabotaged his career and his family life with alcoholism and bad choices. Hey, mister, were you really Mac Sledge? Yes, ma’m, I guess I was. He’s trying to reboot with a new wife, but will his estranged daughter give him a second chance? Novelist Horton Foote won the screenplay Oscar. Duvall did his own singing and even wrote two of Mac Sledge’s songs, Fool’s Waltz and I’ve Decided to Leave Here Forever.

Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Jessie Buckley in HAMNET. Courtesy of Focus Features.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – reviews of two overlooked films, Dennis Hopper’s searing drama Out of the Blue and the deliciously subversive Argentine comedy Human Resources. Slamdance is under way, and here’s my coverage:

Note: Two highly recommended movies – both Oscar-nominated – The Secret Agent and Mr. Nobody Against Putin are now available to stream at home. And all of the big Oscar movies are now available to watch at home.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Carmen Maura and Penelope Cruz in VOLVER.

On March 4, Turner Classic Movies plays Pedro Almodovar’s Volver. Almodovar’s signature is a female-forward movie that is a subversively hilarious exploration of dark subjects – and that fits Volver to a tee. There is murder and parentage secrets , along with a body conveniently stashed in a freezer, plus a ghost who isn’t. The mostly female cast is headed by Penelope Cruz (Oscar nomination) and Carmen Maura. Cruz, of course, is a global A-lister, and Maura, like Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes and Roddy De Palma, we know best from her collaborations with Almodovar (Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom, Matador and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.).

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Wagner Moura in THE SECRET AGENT. Courtesy of NEON.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – the Slamdance film festival is under way right now:

Note: Two highly recommended movies – both Oscar-nominated – The Secret Agent and Mr. Nobody Against Putin are now available to stream at home.

REMEMBRANCES

Here’s my farewell to Robert Duvall, one of the essential figures in cinema in my lifetime.

Director Frederick Wiseman was one of the most influential documentarians; he didn’t invent cinéma vérité, but he was one of its most famous practitioners, beginning with his first film, the disturbing psychiatric prison exposé Titicut Follies in 1967. Some of his best work came when Wiseman was in his 80s: Boxing Gym, In Jackson Heights and Monrovia, Indiana.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Ingrid Thulin and Victor Sjostrom in WILD STRAWBERRIES

On February 21, Turner Classic Movies presents the one non-depressing Ingmar Bergman film, Wild Strawberries. There’s no denying that Bergman is a film genius, and he’s influenced the likes of Scorsese, Coppola, Altman, Kieślowski and basically much of the last two generations of filmmakers. But I don’t recommend that casual movie fans watch Bergman’s gloomiest movies just because they “are good for you” – I want you to have a good time at the movies.

Wild Strawberries is the story of an accomplished but cranky geezer. His indifferent daughter-in-law is taking him to be honored at his college. On their road trip, they pick up some young hitch-hikers and then a stranded couple. Each encounter reminds the old doctor of an episode in his youth. As he reminisces, he can finally emotionally process the experiences that had troubled him, helping him finally achieve an inner peace. It’s a wonderful film.