Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in THELMA. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures | photo by David Bolen.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – reviews of two overlooked films now available to watch at home: the breathtakingly original psychological drama Discreet and the lyrical biodoc Without Getting Killed or Caught.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Netflix.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.

WATCH AT HOME

Aubrey Plaza in BLACK BEAR

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

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Noir City 18: South Korea: The Housemaid & Black HairNOIR CITY: INTERNATIONAL II #NoirCity18 www.NoirCity.com Sunday, January 26, 2020 SOUTH KOREA 2:00, 7:00 PM THE HOUSEMAID (HANYO) A middle-class Korean family spirals into a delirious nightmare...
THE HOUSEMAID

On July 27, Turner Classic Movies airs a WOWZER – the 1960 Korean horror/noir The Housemaid. A couple hires a maid, who turns out to be the domestic from hell. Seduction, deception, threats follow…and who will poison whom? I screened this film for a recent Noir City, and although I can’t say that it’s one of my favorites, it does keeping stunning the audience with ever darker twists. Often considered one of the top Korean films of all time. TCM will present The Housemaid on Noir Alley with intro and outro by Eddie Muller.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Dakota Johnson in DADDIO. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m covering the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, which opened Thursday. Here’s my SJFJFF preview and my festival recommendations. Also, a new review of the evocative and highly evocative psychodrama I Saw the TV Glow.

REMEMBRANCE

Shelley Duvall in THE SHINING

Shelley Duvall will be best remembered for playing the wife of Jack Nicholson’s decompensating writer in The Shining. It’s hard to discuss American cinema of the 1970s without mentioning Duvall because six of her first seven movies were Robert Altman films (Brewster McCloud, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, Buffalo Bill etc., and 3 Women; the seventh was Annie Hall, in a hilarious turn as an Alvy Singer sex partner. She also played the waitress who prods Steve Martin’s Cyrano character into wooing Daryl Hannah’s Roxanne in Roxanne.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. In theaters.
  • Daddio: intimacy between strangers. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • Sorry/Not Sorry: revelatory, and posing the smartest questions. In theaters.
  • Confessions of a Good Samaritan: of course, wouldn’t you?…WHAT? In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • Mother Couch: obstreperous mom, surreal situation. In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.
  • Kinds of Kindness: disgustingly indulgent. In theaters, primarily arthouses.

WATCH AT HOME

Paul Giamatti in JOHN ADAMS

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SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY

Need 100 minutes of emotional uplift? On July 20, Turner Classic Movies brings us the gospel music documentary Say Amen, Somebody. This 1982 art house hit is almost never on television, and has been hard to find, although you can now stream in on Criterion, AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango. The film traces the genre from gospel pioneers Willie Mae Ford Smith and Thomas A. Dorsey to contemporary artists. The music is stirring and infectious.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Jodie Comer in THE BIKERIDERS. Courtesy of Focus Features.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of two fine documentaries and an acting showcase – Penny Lane’s exploration of shocking altruism, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, a thoughtful dive into #MeToo accountability, Sorry/Not Sorry, the sweet, but not overly sentimental Perfect Days, and the Dakota Johnson-Sean Penn two-hander Daddio.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. In theaters.
  • Daddio: intimacy between strangers. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • Sorry/Not Sorry: revelatory, and posing the smartest questions. In theaters.
  • Confessions of a Good Samaritan: of course, wouldn’t you?…WHAT? In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Mother Couch: obstreperous mom, surreal situation. In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.
  • Kinds of Kindness: disgustingly indulgent. In theaters, primarily arthouses.

WATCH AT HOME

VERY SEMI-SERIOUS

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On Saturday, July 13, Turner Classic Movies airs John Sayles’ 1988 Eight Men Out, which tells the true story of the Black Sox Scandal – the Chicago White Sox players who fixed the 1919 World Series.  Sayles used actors, not baseball players, but the baseball scenes are totally authentic.  The characters of star players Eddie Cicotte (David Straithern), Buck Weaver (John Cusack) and Shoeless Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney) and owner Charles Comiskey (Clifton James) vividly come alive. Watch for Sayles himself and Studs Terkel playing sportswriters Ring Lardner and Hugh Fullerton.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption. Jodie Comer and Austin Butler in THE BIKERIDERS. Courtesy of Focus Features.

You know it’s a good week when you can see Ghostlight, The Bikeriders and Thelma in theaters, and you can stream Challengers, La Chimera and Hit Man at home. This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Jeff Nichol’s superbly character driven The Bikeriders and the unabashedly surreal comedy Mother Couch, and the disgustingly self-indulgent Kinds of Kindness.

REMEMBRANCE

Robert Towne is best known, justifiably, for his Oscar-winning screenplay for Chinatown, one of my Greatest Movies of All Time; but director Roman Polanski perfected the script by changing the ending over Towne’s objections.  However, Chinatown was only one of a string of brilliant screenplays penned by Towne between 1973 and 1982 – The Last Detail, The Yakuza, Shampoo and Personal Best. Starting in 1967, Towne was also the uncredited script doctor who polished Bonnie and Clyde, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Godfather and Heaven Can Wait.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Mother Couch: obstreperous mom, surreal situation. In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.
  • Kinds of Kindness: disgustingly indulgent. In theaters, primarily arthouses.

WATCH AT HOME

Aksel Hennie in HEADHUNTERS

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

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Anton Walbrook and Dyana Wyngard in GASLIGHT.

On July 8, Turner Classic Movies will play the less well-known 1940 version of Gaslight. In GASLIGHT, GASLIGHT and gaslighting in domestic violence, I wrote about this film, the more familiar 1944 version and gaslighting itself. This original 1940 version is also especially well-acted. Anton Walbrook is suave and evil as the hubbie and Dyana Wyngard is unforgettably haunting as the wife. Only 19 minutes in, we see his duplicity, manipulation and control. Frank Pettingell is very good as the detective, and the cast includes Robert Newton (Long John Silver in the 1950 Treasure Island). Cathleen Cordell plays the oversexed maid Nancy in a less nuanced performance than Angela Lansbury’s in 1944. This 1940 film version is reportedly the most faithful to the stage play source material.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in THELMA. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures | photo by David Bolen.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new reviews of the important documentary The Grab, the family drama Ghostlight and the clichéd western The Dead Don’t Hurt, which is not always plausible or understandable. Ghostlight joins Hit Man and Thelma as the Must See movies.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Banel and Adama: we want to be together and left alone. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life: creativity with self-indulgence. In NYC and LA theaters now and digital on July 3.
  • Waiting for Dali: here’s the cuisine; where’s the surrealist? AppleTV, 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, 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.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.

WATCH AT HOME

Charlie Hunnam in THE LOST CITY OF Z photo courtesy of SFFILM

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Just for fun – on July 3, Turner Classic Movies will air A Bucket of Blood, a campy minor horror movie much more interesting as a window in beatnik culture. By 1959, beatnik consciousness was ripe for exploitation by low-budget movie wizard Roger Corman, who produced and directed A Bucket of Blood.  The story is about a loser who covers a dead cat with plaster of Paris and is acclaimed as a talented sculptor.  He embraces the hoax and starts hunting victims to cast into human “sculptures”; hence the horror and the bucket of blood.

“Beatnik” conjures up 20-somethings adorned in black turtleneck sweaters (and black leotards for women), berets, goatees and dark glasses; they’re in coffee houses snapping their fingers to applaud poetry and jazz.  And they’re conversing in hip cat patter.  Watch A Bucket of Blood and you’ll get a dose.

A Bucket of Blood stars Corman favorite Dick Miller, the subject of That Guy Dick Miller; ubiquitous game show host Burt Convy, as a young actor, played Lou. Can you dig it?

Movies to See Right Now

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Richard Roundtree and June Squibb in THELMA. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures | photo by David Bolen..

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the audience-pleasing comedy Thelma, the good-hearted Catalan farce Waiting for Dali, the thoughtful artist biodoc Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life, the unpretentious 1976 ground-breaker Car Wash and 1964’s The Strangler, which is pretty perverse even for a serial killer movie. Plus a preview of Frameline, the oldest and longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world, now underway in the Bay Area.

Wow – in just two weeks, the Movie Gourmet has produced reviews of six new 2024 movies and three revivals, along with previews of two film festivals. Whew.

REMEMBRANCES

Donald Sutherland became a famous character actor playing quirky misfits in The Dirty Dozen and Kelly’s Heroes, and became a star as an iconic subversive in M*A*S*H*. His performances in Klute and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are indelible. Sutherland finished with 199 IMDb credits, including the Hunger Games franchise, and had three films released in 2023.

Anouk Aimée starred in some of the most iconic European art films of the 1960s: Fellini’s 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita and Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman.

Tony Lo Bianco first made his name in a perverse movie that became a cult film, The Honeymoon Killers. He went on to act in the 1970s classics The French Connection, The Seven Ups, Jesus of Nazareth, and lots and lots of TV work. I especially admire his performance in John Sayles’ City of Hope.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Banel and Adama: we want to be together and left alone. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life: creativity with self-indulgence. In NYC and LA theaters now and digital on July 3.
  • Waiting for Dali: here’s the cuisine; where’s the surrealist? AppleTV, 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, 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

Brady Jandreau in THE RIDER

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Richard Widmark in THE KISS OF DEATH

On June 25, Turner Classic Movies airs the classic film noir Kiss of Death. Victor Mature plays an ex-con with horrific luck – he gets caught on a heist and takes the rap for his cohorts; this leads to a long sentence and a double-cross with impacts to his wife and kids. Seeking to see his kids again, he is released back on the streets to set up the double-crossers for the DA. Mature, too often dismissed for his campy sword-and-sandal movies, did his finest work in film noir – especially I Wake Up Screaming, Kiss of Death and The Long Haul. But the flashiest performance in Kiss of Death is Richard Widmark’s film debut as psychopath Tommy Udo, who chortles maniacally as he pushes an old lady in a wheelchair down the stairs to her demise; Widmark went on to play indelible neurotics and sleazes in noir for the next three years (Roadhouse, Panic in the Streets, Night and the City, No Way Out, Pickup on South Street) before becoming an A-lister.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in HIT MAN. Courtesy of Netflix.

This very busy week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the enormously fun Hit Man, the Senegalese fable Banel and Adama, the searing coming-of-age drama How to Have Sex, and the re-release of the most kinetic movie you’ll ever see, Run Lola Run.

La Chimera, one of the year’s best films, may now be watched at home on Amazon, AppleTV or YouTube. So is the Jessie Buckley/Olivia Colman comedy Wicked Little Letters.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. In theaters.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Banel and Adama: we want to be together and left alone. 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. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • 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

Barbara Stanwyck in WITNESS TO MURDER

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Otis Day, Antonio Fargas and Darrow Igus in CAR WASH. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.

On June 19, Turner Classic Movies will air a 1970s time capsule, the unpretentious ground-breaker  Car Wash. Car Wash portrays the raucous hijinks and foibles of the crew at a downtown LA car wash and samples a range of African-American perspectives, from an angry African nationalist to a corrupt preacher. Car Wash was the first film by an African-American director shown in competition at Cannes (and possibly the most unabashedly low brow Cannes entry). Three cast members – Bill Duke, Ivan Dixon and Melanie Mayron – became prolific directors themselves. Comedians George Carlin, Richard Pryor and “Professor” Irwin Corey have cameos. And the title song became a major disco hit. This is a very fun movie. I’ll be posting a complete review on Sunday, but go ahead and DVR it. now

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.

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

ON TV

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,