Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: A scene from Tracey Arcabasso Smith’s RELATIVE. Courtesy of Gravitas.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the psychological thriller The Origin of Evil, the irresistible documentary Chasing Chasing Amy and the Hong Sang-soo character study The Woman Who Ran.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Challengers: three people and their desire. In theaters.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • The Origin of Evil: the angry, the unhinged and the evil. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. In theaters.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. In theaters.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • After Antarctica: one man, two poles. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s: real, uplifting, essential. On PBS and the PBS App.
  • Monkey Man: a massacre, one bad guy at a time. In theaters.
  • The Taste of Things: two passions – culinary and romantic. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Golden Years: when dreams diverge. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: origins of love, fictional and otherwise. Waiting for release.
  • The Woman Who Ran: is the payoff worth the slow burn? AppleTV, YouTube.

WATCH AT HOME

Brian Wilson (seated left) in BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD. Courtesy of Nashville Film Festival.

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Margaret Tallichet in STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR

On June 12, Turner Classic Movies Stranger on the Third Floor named as the first film noir by more scholars than any film. (Personally, I go with the more popular and influential The Maltese Falcon, released 14 months later.) Indeed, due to the groundbreaking cinematography of Nicholas Musaraca, Stranger on the Third Floor did pioneer the look of German Expressionism in an urban American crime drama – so it has the look of a film noir. An indifferent justice system convicts a loser (Elijah Cook, at his most loserly) while an obvious psycho killer (Peter Lorre as a malevolent elf) scurries free.

Even the bland reporter (John Maguire) hates his obnoxious neighbor so much that he has his own murder fantasies. His torment leads to a surreal nightmare. Most of the 1940 audience had probably never seen anything as bizarre as this dream sequence.

Stranger on the Third Floor has its corny aspects. But it’s worth watching for Musaraca’s cinematography – what was in 1940 an entirely fresh look.

Peter Lorre in STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Bill Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor in CHALLENGERS. Courtesy of MGM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Wicked Little Letters. I also recently added Take Aim at the Police Van (wild title, wild movie) to my collection of Overlooked Neo-noir.

REMEMBRANCES

Documentarian Morgan Spurlock broke through with his McDonalds exposé Super Size Me.

Casting director and producer Fred Roos enhanced the films of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas by advocating for then unknown actors like Al Pacino, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Carrie Fisher, Richard Dreyfuss, Rob Lowe, Cindy Williams, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon and Mackenzie Phillips.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Challengers: three people and their desire. In theaters.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. In theaters.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. In theaters.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • After Antarctica: one man, two poles. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s: real, uplifting, essential. On PBS and the PBS App.
  • Monkey Man: a massacre, one bad guy at a time. In theaters.
  • The Taste of Things: two passions – culinary and romantic. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Golden Years: when dreams diverge. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Woman Who Ran: is the payoff worth the slow burn? AppleTV, YouTube.

WATCH AT HOME

Helen Mirren in EYE IN THE SKY

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Roger Livesey in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP

On June 1, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1943 masterpiece The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a remarkably textured portrait of a man over four decades and his struggles to evolve into new eras. Written and directed by the great British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, this is a movie with a sharp message to 1940s audiences about modernity, as well as a subtle exploration of privilege that will resonate today.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Will Steger in AFTER ANTARCTICA. Photo courtesy of SFFILM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the Arctic/Antarctic exploration documentary After Antarctica and Ethan Hawkes’ Flannery O’Connor biopic Wildcat, plus seven movies that are The best of TCM’s Memorial Day Weekend.

I also added Take Aim at the Police Van (wild title, wild movie) to my collection of Overlooked Neo-noir.

REMEMBRANCE

Dabney Coleman in TOOTSIE

Dabney Coleman, a versatile and prolific character actor, perfected the clueless, boorish boss characters in 9 to 5 and Tootsie. As gifted as he was in those comedic roles, he also worked in a wide range of fine movies: Downhill Racer, Cinderella Liberty, Midway, Go Tell the Spartans, North Dallas Forty and Melvin and Howard. Coleman topped off his career with roles in Boardwalk Empire, Ray Donovan and, as John Dutton, Sr., in Yellowstone.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Challengers: three people and their desire. In theaters.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. In theaters.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • After Antarctica: one man, two poles. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s: real, uplifting, essential. On PBS and the PBS App.
  • Monkey Man: a massacre, one bad guy at a time. In theaters.
  • The Taste of Things: two passions – culinary and romantic. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Golden Years: when dreams diverge. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Woman Who Ran: is the payoff worth the slow burn? AppleTV, YouTube.

WATCH AT HOME

Sylvie Mix and Bobbi Kitten in POSER. Photo courtesy of Oscilloscope Films.

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See my The Best of TCM’s Memorial Day Weekend.

On May 28, TCM presents , the triumph of silent filmmaking, Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction masterpiece Metropolis. An uber-futuristic movie that is almost 100 years old. Still-spetacular sets, Lang used giant scale, Evertyone should see this film at least once. Verry trippy,

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Josh O’Connor and Bill Faist in CHALLENGERS. Courtesy of MGM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the reflective documentary Relative and my suggestion to watch the Oscar-winning documentary Amy at home INSTEAD of seeing Back to Black in a theater.. And, Challengers and La Chimera, both on my running list of Best Movies of 2024 – So Far, are still in theaters.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Challengers: three people and their desire. In theaters.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. In theaters.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s: real, uplifting, essential. On PBS and the PBS App.
  • Monkey Man: a massacre, one bad guy at a time. In theaters.
  • The Taste of Things: two passions – culinary and romantic. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Golden Years: when dreams diverge. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.

WATCH AT HOME

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Mariko Kaga in PALE FLOWER

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THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

On May 23, Turner Classic Movies airs The Battle of Algiers, the story of 1950s French colonialists struggling to suppress the guerrilla uprising of Algerian independence fighters.  Although it looks like a documentary, it is not.  Instead, filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo recreated the actual events so realistically that we believe that we are watching the strategy councils of each side. Among the great war films, it may be the best film on counter-insurgency.  In 2003, the Pentagon screened the film for its special operations commanders.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Zendaya in CHALLENGERS. Courtesy of MGM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Challengers, Civil War and Ennio. It’s May, and we finally have two movies in theaters that will rank with 2024’s best: Challengers and La Chimera.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

 Itsaso Arana in THE AUGUST VIRGIN. Photo courtesy of Outsider Pictures.

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Lizabeth Scott, Dick Powell and Raymond Burr in PITFALL

On May 16, Turner Classic Movies features one of my Overlooked Noir, Pitfall (1948), a noir thriller without either a conventional sap or a conventional femme fatale. Dick Powell plays a WW II vet who is bored with the post-war suburban humdrum, and Lizabeth Scott plays a gal with terrible taste in boyfriends. Neither deserves to be dragged into a thriller, but they are. Raymond Burr, again, makes for a menacing sicko stalker.

Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott in PITFALL

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Carol Duarte and Josh O’Connor in LA CHIMERA. Courtesy of Neon.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – Coming up on TV – a great silent actor’s only talkie. Next week – new revies of Challengers and Ennio.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie and Ben Foster in a scene from Debra Granik’s LEAVE NO TRACE< playing

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THE BLUE GARDENIA
Anne Baxter, sipping a Polynesian Pearl Diver, with Raymond Burr in THE BLUE GARDENIA.

On May 7 on Turner Classic Movies, The Blue Gardenia presents a 1953 view of date rape, with lecherous Raymond Burr getting Anne Baxter likkered up into a blackout drunk with Polynesian Pearl Divers. There’s a very nice twist on the whodunit: when she wakes up, she doesn’t remember killing him, but he sure is dead. There’s even a cameo performance by Nat King Cole.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Josh O’Connor in LA CHIMERA. Courtesy of NEON.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of La Chimera and continuing coverage of both the SFFILM and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, both underway now. Here’s my latest festival coverage:

REMEMBRANCE

Eleanor Coppola was the wife of director Francis Ford Coppola and the mother of director Sophia Coppola. Eleanor Coppola herself directed perhaps the best ever documentary film about the making of a movie, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Tom Hardy in LOCKE

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Linda Hunt and Mel Gibson in THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

On April 29, Turner Classic Movies presents Peter Weir’s 1982 political thriller The Year of Living Dangerously, starring Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. In the exotic setting of Sukarno’s Indonesia, this film has gripping intrigue, romance and a neo-noir ending.

The stars were each coming off their first major feature, Weaver’s Eyewitness with William Hurt and Gibson with the original Mad Max. The Year of Living Dangerously made them both solid A-list movie stars. Linda Hunt won an Oscar for her gender- and race-crossing performance as the local fixer.

Weir had made the fine Australian films Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli. This major MGM release brought him success in his first Hollywood picture and empowered Weir to follow with Witness, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show and Master and Commander.

Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson in THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

Movies to See Right Now

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June Squibb and Fred Hechinger appear in THELMA, the closing night film of both the SFFILM and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by David Bolen.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – we’re all about the upcoming SFFILM and SLO Film Festivals. Both fests start next week, and I’ll soon be posting my recommendations from both programs. The closing night film for both San Frnacisco and SLO is Thelma, which will become a popular hit when it’s released into theaters in June.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Richard Basehart in HE WALKED BY NIGHT

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Richard Roundtree in SHAFT.

Richard Roundtree died last year, before the release of his very sweet final performance in Thelma. Roundtree’s FIRST MOVIE role was as the iconic John Shaft in Shaft. He went on to over 250 more screen credits, including four more as John Shaft. Although in my mind, the biggest star of Shaft was Isaac Hayes’ music, Richard Roundtree was, along with Pam Grier, the most significant on-screen force in Blaxploitation cinema. Turner Classic Movies is airing Shaft, on April 22.

Who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks?

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Benoit Magimel and Juliette Binoche in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.

This busy week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Monkey Man and Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s, plus first looks at the upcoming SFFILM and SLO Film Festivals.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD

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KILLER’S KISS

On April 18, Turner Classic Movies will present one my Overlooked Noir, a young Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss; it will be on Noir Alley with an intro and outro by Eddie Muller. It doesn’t take long to realize that Killer’s Kiss is not a typical film noir – there’s Kubrick’s own bracing visual style, an interracial relationship and a comically absurd fight to the death. The cast matched a couple one-hit wonders with the pioneering African-American actor and civil rights activist Frank Silvera.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart in LOVE LIES BLEEDING. Courtesy of A24.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’ll soon be posting on Monkey Man, which I will NOT be recommending, and Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s, which you should DVR on PBS Monday. Love Lies Bleeding is still the best choice in theaters.

REMEMBRANCE

Louis Gossett, Jr., won an Oscar for his drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman. He also played Fiddler in Roots, amid 198 other screen appearances.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

Harry Dean Stanton in LUCKY. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

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Erich von Stroheim, Anne Baxter and Franchot Tone in FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.

On April 6, Turner Classic Movies will present an underseen Billy Wilder wartime noir, Five Graves to Cairo. It’s th movie Wilder made immediately before Double Indemnity, and it’s not a masterpiece like that or Stalag 17, Sunset Blvd., Ace in the Hole or Some Like It Hot, but it’s a pretty good suspense thriller with a great cast. The film was released just thirteen months after Rommel’s victory over the British in Tobruk, Egypt. British Corporal Bramble (Franchot Tone) has survived the battle and wandered, alone, into an isolated desert hotel run by Farid (Akim Tamiroff) and his French maid Mouche (Anne Baxter). Suddenly, the German Army move in, led by Rommel himself (the great director Erich Stroheim). To survive, Bramble impersonates the hotel’s recently deceased waiter, who unbeknownst to Farid and Mouche, was a German spy. The tension comes from Bramble, Farid and Mouche walking on egg shells as they perpetuate the deception while Bramble tries to elicit critical military intelligence from the Germans. Tone and Baxter, reliable movie leads of the 1940s, are very good. The wonder character Tamiroff is vivid as always here, fifteen years before his greatest performance as Uncle Joe Grandi in Touch of Evil. Von Stroheim, in no way impersonating the real Rommel, gives a bravura performance as the German commander.

Anne Baxter and Akim Tamiroff in FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.