Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones being romantic in the romance LIKE CRAZY

As we go deeper into autumn, we’re getting quite the menu of movie choices.  Like Crazy is a romance, pure and not so simple.

PBS is featuring the top rate British spy drama Page Eight on this week’s Masterpiece Contemporary.

J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood’s interesting take on J. Edgar Hoover’s twisted psyche has some fine performances, but draaaaags.  In contrast, Margin Call is a taut financial meltdown drama with superb performances by Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci.  Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In is a beautiful and disturbing thriller – Out There as only Almodovar can do. The Ides of March is a fine political drama with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and George Clooney.  Drive is a stylishly arty and ultraviolent action film, also with Ryan Gosling.

On the lighter side, 50/50 is an engaging cancer comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen.  The raunchy comedy A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas is filled with lots of jokes and hilarious cameos by Neil Patrick Harris and Danny Trejo.

If you can still find it, don’t miss Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols’ brilliant tale of a psychotic breakdown with Oscar-worthy performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. One of the Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

I haven’t yet seen the psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the Week is the wonderfully sweet Beginners, with Ewan MacGregor and Christopher Plummer.  Other recent DVD picks have been Incendies (the year’s best movie so far), Errol Morris’ gutbustingly funny documentary Tabloid, the Jenna Fischer dramedy A Little Help , the heartwarming documentary Buck,  and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (1979).

DVD of the Week: Beginners

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Ewan McGregor’s dad (Christopher Plummer) has just died, shortly after coming out of the closet.  As if this weren’t enough to deal with, McGregor is a depressive anyway, with a rich history of sabotaging his relationships.  But then he meets Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds)(and they meet cute).

This is a winning comedy – one of the year’s best movies.  It’s smart, sweet and original.  All of the performances are excellent, especially Plummer’s, which should garner him an Oscar nomination.  All in all, Beginners is a notable achievement by director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker).

Movies to See Right Now

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George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ryan Gosling in THE IDES OF MARCH

50/50 is an engaging cancer comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. Margin Call is a taut financial meltdown drama with superb performances by Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci. Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In is a beautiful and disturbing thriller – Out There as only Almodovar can do. The Ides of March is a fine political drama with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and George Clooney. Drive is a stylishly arty and ultraviolent action film with Ryan Gosling.

If you can still find it, don’t miss Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols’ brilliant tale of a psychotic breakdown with Oscar-worthy performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. One of the Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

I haven’t yet seen J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood’s biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, or the raunchy comedy A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas or the psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the Week is Errol Morris’ gutbustingly funny documentary Tabloid. Other recent DVD picks have been Incendies (the year’s best movie so far), the romcom Crazy Stupid Love, the Jenna Fischer dramedy A Little Help , the heartwarming documentary Buck, the very original teen misfit movie Terri, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (1979).

DVD of the Week: Tabloid

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In Tabloid, master documentarian Errol Morris delivers the hilarious story of Joyce McKinney, a beauty queen jailed for manacling a Mormon missionary as her sex slave.  McKinney doesn’t like the film, but she has no complaint because two-thirds of the film is her telling her story in her own words.  The humor derives from her being such a clearly unreliable narrator – “barking mad” in the colorfully accurate description of a British journalist.  Morris came across her story decades after the kidnapping, when she had her dead dog Booger cloned from “Spirit Booger” into a litter of Korean-named Boogers.

Morris’ last two films (Standard Operating Procedure about the Abu Ghraib abuses and The Fog of War) were as funny as a heart attack.  But remember that Morris’ earliest films (Gates of Heaven, Vernon Florida and Fast Cheap & Out of Control) also focused on eccentrics and were plenty funny.  Just for fun, this time Morris even leaves in some of his snarky wisecracks to the interviewees.

This is one of the funniest movies of the year and the funniest documentary since The Aristocrats.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jeremy Irons in MARGIN CALL

If you can still find it, don’t miss Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols’ brilliant tale of a psychotic breakdown with Oscar-worthy performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. One of the Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

50/50 is an engaging cancer comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. Margin Call is a taut financial meltdown drama with superb performances by Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci.  Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In is a beautiful and disturbing thriller – Out There as only Almodovar can do. The Ides of March is a fine political drama with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and George Clooney. Drive is a stylishly arty and ultraviolent action film with Ryan Gosling.

Blackthorn is a beautiful but flawed Western set in Bolivia. Dirty Girl is a fun but unexceptional romp with promising newcomers Juno Temple and Jeremy Dozier.

You can still find The Guard, the Irish dark comedy starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, and Sarah’s Key, an excellent drama starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a journalist investigating very personal aspects of a French episode in the Holocaust. The Debt, with Helen Mirren, is a multigenerational thriller that addresses the costs of both truth and untruth.

I haven’t yet seen the raunchy comedy A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas or the  psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, which open this week. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the Week is Crazy Stupid Love. Other recent DVD picks have been Incendies (the year’s best movie so far), the Jenna Fischer dramedy A Little Help , the heartwarming documentary Buck, the very original teen misfit movie Terri, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (1979).

DVD of the Week: Crazy Stupid Love

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Crazy Stupid Love is an altogether very satisfying romantic comedy starring Steve Carell as the middle-aged sad sack who has been dumped by his longtime wife (Julianne Moore) and comes under the tutelage of uber lounge lizard Ryan Gosling, who in turn is falling for Emma Stone.   Lots of laughs ensue, leading up to a madcap climax in Moore’s back yard, before the film slows down for the last 20 minutes.  But, it’s plenty funny (and not many romcoms are these days).

Gosling, who earned indie favorite status playing tortured/damaged characters,  is great here as the guy who can melt any gal in a bar with stunning ease and speed.  Emma Stone is always good in comedies.  Lisa Lapira shines as Stone’s wingman, and Analeigh Tipton is excellent as Carrel’s babysitter.

Movies to See Right Now

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Ryan Gosling in DRIVE

The best of the current crop of films is Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols’ brilliant tale of a psychotic breakdown with Oscar-worthy performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain.  One of the Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

50/50 is an engaging cancer comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. Margin Call is a taut financial meltdown drama with superb performances by Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci. The Ides of March is a fine political drama with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and George Clooney. Drive is a stylishly arty and ultraviolent action film with Ryan Gosling.

Blackthorn is a beautiful but flawed Western set in Bolivia. Dirty Girl is a fun but unexceptional romp with promising newcomers Juno Temple and Jeremy Dozier.

You can still find The Guard, the Irish dark comedy starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, and Sarah’s Key, an excellent drama starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a journalist investigating very personal aspects of a French episode in the Holocaust. The Debt, with Helen Mirren, is a multigenerational thriller that addresses the costs of both truth and untruth.

I haven’t yet seen the two psychological thrillers that open this week, Martha Marcy May Marlene or Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, which opens this week. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the Week is A Little Help. Other recent DVD picks have been Incendies (the year’s best movie so far), the heartwarming documentary Buck, the very original teen misfit movie Terri, the delightful indie comedy Turkey Bowl and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (1979).

DVD of the Week: A Little Help

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A Little Help is a Jenna Fischer vehicle that illustrates the depth that Fischer can bring to even a shallow character.  In this dramedy, Fischer is suddenly widowed and must reassemble her life and support her quirky 12-year-old son despite the intrusions of her shrill, micro-controlling sister (Brooke Smith) and their chilly mother (Leslie Anne Warren).  Fischer’s biggest challenge is helping her son navigate social life at his new school, where he has told a preposterous lie on his first day.

Kim Coates steals every scene as a medical malpractice attorney.  Ron Liebman sparkles as the blowhard father.

Writer/Director Michael J. Weithorn made the very smart decision to hold Fischer’s character accountable for the bad choices she has made in her life.  If she were instead written as a completely innocent victim, the story would have lapsed into cliche.  Instead, it’s a pretty good movie and a fine showcase for Jenna Fischer.

All New: Movies to See Right Now

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Michael Shannon in TAKE SHELTER

The best of the current crop of films is Take Shelter , Jeff Nichols’ brilliant tale of a psychotic breakdown with Oscar-worthy performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain.  One of the Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

50/50 is an engaging cancer comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen.  Margin Call is a taut financial meltdown drama with superb performances by Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci.  The Ides of March is a fine political drama with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and George Clooney.  Drive is a stylishly arty and ultraviolent action film with Ryan Gosling.

Blackthorn is a beautiful but flawed Western set in Bolivia.   Dirty Girl is a fun but unexceptional romp with promising newcomers Juno Temple and Jeremy Dozier.

You can still find The Guard, the Irish dark comedy starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, and Sarah’s Key, an excellent drama starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a journalist investigating very personal aspects of a French episode in the Holocaust. The Debt, with Helen Mirren, is a multigenerational thriller that addresses the costs of both truth and untruth. 

I haven’t yet seen Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, which opens this week. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the Week is the heartwarming documentary Buck. Other recent DVD picks have been Incendies (the year’s best movie so far),  the very original teen misfit movie Terri, the delightful indie comedy Turkey Bowl  and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (1979).

DVD of the Week: Turkey Bowl

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This delightful indie comedy is set in a group of friends’ annual touch football game. Take a bunch of friends that haven’t seen each other for a while and put them in a competitive situation, and you’ve got a promising premise. Newcomer writer-director Kyle Smith pulls off a tight, well-paced 62 minutes of smart laughs.

The cast of relative unknowns is very good, especially Tom DiMenna and Bob Turton. At the screening that I attended, Smith said that the football game was tightly structured in the screenplay, but much of the dialogue was improvised by the cast.Smith financed the film with $25,000 that he earned from a reality TV show, and shot it over ten days in an East LA city park.

Smith is a native of Columbia, Missouri, and college football fans will note a very funny reference to an infamous Colorado-Missouri game.

After an earlier release on iTunes and VOD, Turkey Bowl is out on DVD.  Reward this bright and enterprising filmmaker, and rent this film – you won’t be disappointed.

I am adding Turkey Bowl to my list of Best Sports Movies to represent touch football.