Weekly Movie Recommendations

This week on The Movie Gourmet – my Cinequest coverage, some thoughts on The Woman King and remembrances of two actors who were not-so-well-known, but massively talented. And watch this space for The Movie Gourmet’s 2023 Oscar Dinner, coming imminently.

At the urging of The Wife, we caught up with The Woman King. It’s a very well-crafted movie, and a pretty good one. Like any war movie (or Western), there are the familiar elements of assembling the team, training for the mission, combat, rescue of comrades and the climactic battle. Of course, The Woman King is novel because we aren’t used to seeing a war movie with women warriors, and especially not African-Ancestry women warriors – and let’s not underestimate the importance of that. I was struck how much better The Woman King was than Top Gun: Maverick, even though they follow the same war movie conventions.

Viola Davis, of course, is one our most emotionally powerful screen actors, and it’s fun to see her cut loose as an action hero at age 58. Lashana Lynch is really excellent in The Woman King, just as she impressed me so much as Nomi the new Agent 007 in the Bond movies. Vetting the claim “inspired by true events”, I was impressed by this Wikipedia article on the Agojie.

REMEMBRANCES

Actor Tom Sizemore is most remembered for his Oscar-nominated performance as Tom Hank’s sergeant in Saving Private Ryan. Sizemore was intense and charismatic and hugely talented, but his longtime cocaine addiction kept him off the screen and in the tabloids, rehab and jail. In a rare leading role, Sizemore carried an excellent little neo-noir, The Last Lullaby; see it on Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu and redbox.

Prolific Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent was unforgettable in Away from Her, Sarah Polley’s Alzheimer’s movie with Julie Christie (my choice for the best movie of 2007). Pinsent piled up 152 screen credits, much of it lesser material on TV. He played a bad guy in one of my favorite neo-noirs, Chandler with Warren Oates.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Women Talking: safety and its costs. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Living: what is it to live? In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. back in theaters plus on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In very few theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Mustang: repression challenged by the human spirit. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Truman: how to say goodbye. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Love & Mercy: a tale of three monsters and salvation. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, AppleTV.
• The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser: Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu.
• Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Little Dieter Needs to Fly: an unimaginable escape and a quirky guy Project Nim: .Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• We Believe in Science: denying science on a monumental scale. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.

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

ON TV

On March 15, The Candidate reappears on Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar. The Candidate may still be the greatest political film of all-time, with a searing leading performance by Robert Redford. My day job, for 38 years, was in politics, and so many moments in The Candidate are absolutely real. Excellent supporting performances by Peter Boyle, Don Porter and Melvyn Douglas. (Significant parts of The Candidate were shot in the Bay Area, including San Jose’s Eastridge mall and Oakland’s Paramount Theatre.)

TCM is sandwiching The Candidate between two other great films of American politics, Seven Days in May and All the King’s Men.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – my coverage of Cinequest (links live later today), now underway, and a new review of Women Talking. Plus the following rant.

I finally got around to watching Top Gun: Maverick, if only because The Wife insists on catching herself up on all the movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. I knew that I was not the audience for this well-crafted movie, which is very entertaining on the most superficial level, and I acknowledge that the aerial training and combat scenes are technically unsurpassed. The actors all do their best with the hackneyed and well-worn dialogue, like “You’re where you belong. Make us proud.” But I wasn’t prepared for the insipidity of the happy endings of each plot thread; the only way Top Gun: Maverick could have been cornier is if they found out that Goose wasn’t killed in the first movie, after all. And, since I’m the last person to see Top Gun: Maverick, I don’t consider this a spoiler: although Maverick and Rooster each do something to sacrifice himself for the other, nobody is really sacrificed – this is another war movie where there is no human cost to the violence; (and the enemies are clad anonymously in Darth Vader-like headgear). The screenplay is cynically written to make sure no one feels sad after this movie – it is a fantasy. FWIW Jennifer Connelly is a huge improvement over Kelly McGinnis in the original Top Gun.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Women Talking: safety and its costs. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Living: what is it to live? In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. back in theaters plus on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Little Dieter Needs to Fly: an unimaginable escape and a quirky guy Project Nim: .Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Mustang: repression challenged by the human spirit. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Truman: how to say goodbye. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Love & Mercy: a tale of three monsters and salvation. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, AppleTV.
• The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser: Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu.
• Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land. Amazon, AppleTV.
• We Believe in Science: denying science on a monumental scale. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m busy screening movies that are programmed at Cinequest’s on-line festival Cinejoy, beginning next weekend. Of the current movies that I recommend, only Living, The Fabelmans: and Everything Everywhere All at Once are still relatively easy to find in theaters. The good news is that most are already streaming (see Current Movies below), and Empire of Light just became available to stream.

REMEMBRANCES

Early on, Raquel Welch was thought of more as a novelty movie star than as an actress. She had become instantly recognizable for displaying her spectacular figure in a skintight spacesuit (Fantastic Voyage), a doe-skin bikini (One Billion Years B.C.), a star spangled bikini (Myra Breckenridge), and flimsy undergarments (100 Rifles). In 1972, she proved that she could act in Kansas City Bomber. Welch nailed the character of a hard scrabble single mom committed to raising her kid while facing one indignity and bad choice after another. (Welch herself had two kids by the time she was 21 and was divorced at 24.) In 1973, she demonstrated brilliant comic acting chops in The Three Musketeers,

Her birth surname was Tejada; she took Welch from her first husband. Welch’s father was Bolivian, and her cousin was the first female president of Bolivia.

Director Hugh Hudson’s FIRST FEATURE won the Best Picture Oscar – Chariots of Fire. He never approached that level of achievement with feature films again, although he had a successful career directing commercials. He was one of the very few directors to attempt to make a movie about the American Revolution, Revolution

CURRENT MOVIES

• Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Living: what is it to live? In theaters.
• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. back in theaters plus on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Love & Mercy: a tale of three monsters and salvation. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Mustang: repression challenged by the human spirit. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Truman: how to say goodbye. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, AppleTV.
• The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser: Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu.
• Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Little Dieter Needs to Fly: an unimaginable escape and a quirky guy Project Nim: .Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• We Believe in Science: denying science on a monumental scale. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On March 1, Turner Classic Movies presents a great Rudyard Kipling adventure yarn,  gloriously brought to the screen by director John Huston – The Man Who Would Be King. Michael Caine and Sean Connery star as Peachy Carnahan and Daniel Dravot, two reprobates mustered out of the Queen’s army in colonial India. Rather than return to menial prospects in England, these cheeky and lovable scoundrels seek to make their fortune as mercenaries on the outskirts of the Raj.  Fortune smiles, and they reach unforeseeable success – and then one of them overreaches…

John Huston had been trying to make this 1975 movie since the 1950s. His first choices for the roles of Carnahan and Dravot were Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable, but Bogart became ill. Then the casting of Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster fell through. When he was mulling over a pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Newman advised him to use British actors for these British roles. Thank you, Paul Newman – Caine and Connery are magnificent.

Huston told Caine that the movie was about friendship, and that Carnahan and Dravot are successful as long as they are united in single purpose.

Christopher Plummer plays Kipling. Saeed Jaffrey is excellent as the local fixer.

I am between film festivals, and here I sit in the winter of my discontent. I still haven’t found a way to see Women Talking, Turn Every Page or No Bears, the last three 2022 films that I am eager to see. And I am waiting to see Return to Seoul and Full Time, the first really promising 2023 films. Sigh.

Anyway, I’ve got two very cool TCM recommendations below. And check out my Best Movies of 2022 as we await the Oscars.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters.
• Living: what is it to live? In theaters.
• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Truman: how to say goodbye. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Mustang: repression challenged by the human spirit. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Love & Mercy: a tale of three monsters and salvation. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, AppleTV.
• The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser: Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu.
• Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Little Dieter Needs to Fly: an unimaginable escape and a quirky guy Project Nim: .Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• We Believe in Science: denying science on a monumental scale. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On March 21, Turner Classic Movies will present the 1934 screwball comedy Twentieth Century, which holds up as well today as it did 89 years ago. A flamboyantly narcissistic Broadway producer (John Barrymore) has fallen on hard times and hops a transcontinental train to persuade his former star (Carole Lombard), now an A-list movie star, to headline his new venture. Barrymore’s shameless self-entitlement and hyper dramatic neediness makes for one of the funniest performances in the movies.

And, on March 23, 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.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – (finally!) new reviews of Broker and Living. Check out my ever-updated Best Movies of 2022. Plus two filmmaker remembrances.

REMEMBRANCES

Melinda Dillon was Oscar-nominated for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. But my favorite Dillon performance will also be that of another mom, who is worried her son will shoot his eye out in A Christmas Story. She also shared an intimate scene with Paul Newman in Slapshot, and said, “I spent 10 and a half hours naked in bed with Paul and absolutely loved it.”

Cindy Williams, before her TV success in Laverne and Shirley, made two of the 50 Greatest Movies of All Time. George Lucas’ American Graffiti is about that moment in 1962 when the innocence of the 1950s was months away from being replaced by the turbulence of the 1960s, for which nobody in America was prepared; she played the girlfriend of Ron Howard’s Steve, whose willfulness got her in a situation that was more than she could handle. Williams’ apparent sweet innocence was also perfect for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, where it is revealed that her character was not so threatened after all.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters.
• Living: what is it to live? In theaters.
• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

After pausing through the Holidays to highlight the best movies of 2022, I’m returning with The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE.

• Mustang: repression challenged by the human spirit. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Truman: how to say goodbye. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Love & Mercy: a tale of three monsters and salvation. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Searching: A ticking clock thriller that captures the Silicon Valley vibe. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, AppleTV.
• The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser: Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu.
• Wind River: “This isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of you’re on your own.” Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Radio Dreams: stranger in a strange and funny land. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Little Dieter Needs to Fly: an unimaginable escape and a quirky guy Project Nim: .Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• We Believe in Science: denying science on a monumental scale. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On February 15, Turner Classic Movies airs the underseen The Man Who Cheated Himself, in which a cop falls for a dame who makes him go bad. But it’s not just any cop and not just any dame.

The cop (Lee J. Cobb) isa seasoned and cynical pro who knows better.  The woman (Jane Wyatt) is a puddle of capriciousness and carnality.  Jane Wyatt is best known as the mid-century suburban mom/wife in Father Knows Best, rock steady and super square. But in The Man Who Cheated Himself, Wyatt got to uncork more hysterical unreliability, sexual predation and neediness than in all of her other roles combined.  

And, odd for a San Francisco-set noir, it is definitely not fog-shrouded.  The day I saw The Man Who Cheated Himself at the 2018 Noir City film festival was one of those gorgeous sunny days that San Francisco gets in the winter – and that’s what the movie looks like.

The Film Noir Foundation has restored The Man Who Cheated Himself, but it’s not yet available to stream. See it this week on TCM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – (finally!) new reviews of Broker and Empire of Light, both among the Best Movies of 2022.

Important note: many of the year’s most prestigious films have become available to stream (see below in CURRENT MOVIES): Aftersun, The Eternal Daughter, The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin, Decision to Leave, Armageddon Time and Triangle of Sadness. Check out my ever-updated Best Movies of 2022.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Broker: in the margins, finding a profound humanity. In theaters.
• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters and on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox..
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV, Mubi.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox and included with HBO Max.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

At year-end, I suspend my usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE so I can highlight the very best movies from 2022. These are on my list of Best Movies of 2022 and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Now you can watch them all at home.

• Nope: an exceptionally intelligent popcorn movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Poser: personal plagiarism. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• 12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Amazon.

ON TV

On February 5, Turner Classic Movies will present The Leopard (Il gattopardo), an Italian period epic starring Burt Lancaster as a 19th century Sicilian prince who is trying to remain master of his changing time. Director Luchino Visconti came from Italian nobility himself. As befits an epic of this scope, it’s a sweeping 187 minutes long. One highlight is the stunning entrance by the 24-year-old Claudia Cardinale as the local mayor’s daughter, suddenly all grown up. Check out my remembrance of The Leopard’s great cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno,

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I have fallen behind because my reviews of Broker and Empire of Light are still not live. Broker is an exceptional film, which will take the #2 slot on my top ten movie list, and Empire of Light is going on the list, too. In my defense, I have been busy covering Noir City in person, while covering Slamdance virtually, and I’ll catch up soon.

Important note: many of the year’s most prestigious films have become available to stream (see below in CURRENT MOVIES): Aftersun, The Eternal Daughter, The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin, Decision to Leave, Armageddon Time and Triangle of Sadness. Check out my ever-updated Best Movies of 2022.

RUMINATION ON THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS

I was very pleased to see nominations for some achievements that I feared would be overlooked:

• Paul Mescal, Best Actor for Aftersun;
• Hong Chau, Best Supporting Actress for The Whale;
• Kerry Condon, Best Supporting ACtress for The Banshees of Inisherin;
• Barry Keoghan, Best Supporting Actor for The Banshees of Inisherin;
• Brian Tyree Henry, Best Supporting Actor for Causeway.

OTOH I was aghast that Broker, especially, and Decision to Leave were snubbed in the international category.

And I can’t believe that the movie Elvis and Austin Butler were nominated, although the film editing is deserving.

CURRENT MOVIES

• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babyon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. In theaters.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? In theaters.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters.
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. In theaters.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. In theaters.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. In theaters.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. In theaters.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. In theaters.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. In theaters.

WATCH AT HOME

At year-end, I suspend my usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE so I can highlight the very best movies from 2022. These are on my list of Best Movies of 2022 and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Now you can watch them all at home.

• Nope: an exceptionally intelligent popcorn movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Poser: personal plagiarism. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• 12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Amazon.

ON TV

On January 31, Turner Classic Movies plays Angel Face, the 1953 film noir from director Otto Preminger, This movie has it all, the droopy-eyed magnetism of Robert Mitchum, the fragile beauty of Jean Simmons, and (along with They Won’t Believe Me) the most SHOCKING ENDING in film noir.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – two film festivals at once, I’m heading to Oakland for Noir City, while covering Park City, Utah’s Slamdance virtually. Also, I have new reviews of Empire of Light and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, a rant and a remembrance.

I just saw Broker, which I’ll be writing about soon. It’s an exceptional film, which will take the #2 slot on my top ten movie list. See it when you can.

Important note: many of the year’s most prestigious films have become available to stream (see below in CURRENT MOVIES): Aftersun, The Eternal Daughter, The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin, Decision to Leave, Armageddon Time and Triangle of Sadness.

A RANT ABOUT THE ELVIS MOVIE

I generally detest the filmmaking of Baz Luhrman, so I had skipped his 2022 Elvis until this week; The lead actor, Austin Butler, won the dramatic acting Golden Globe, so, even though the Golden Globes have little credibility with me, I gave it a whirl. Actually, I gave the first hour-and-ten-minutes a whirl. It’s rare that I can’t finish a big, popular movie, but I had to bail on Elvis.

Elvis turns out like much of Luhrman’s other work, with perhaps even more unrestrained garishness, which, in writing about his The Great Gatsby, I labeled “flashy, hollow and lame”. There is an unremitting assault of frenetic eye candy, none of which serves to reveal anything about Elvis.

And, having done a lot of reading about Elvis, I was distracted by Luhrman’s misleading narrative, most outrageously inventing a fantasy about Elvis’ relations with African-Americans, and even outsizing the career role of Elvis’ mother. For historical accuracy, Luhrman makes Oliver Stone look like David McCullough or Stephen Ambrose.

Austin Butler isn’t bad as Elvis, but I just never accepted him as Elvis, just as an actor playing Elvis. Luhrman and Butler captured Elvis’ simplicity, devotion to mother and ambition, but missed big on his playfulness and capriciousness. Now, I wouldn’t damn Butler with such faint praise for having to match the magnetism of one of the very most charismatic figures in world history if Kurt Russell hadn’t been so much better.

REMEMBRANCE

Gina Lollibrigida has died at 95. Her very solid mainly, European body of film work was overshadowed by her image in the US as a sex symbol (Solomon and Sheba). Check her out in John Huston’s sly Beat the Devil. Lollibrigida was the first five-syllable Italian word that I learned to pronounce.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Empire of Light: a woman, revealed. In theaters, but hard to find.
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed: justice by erasure. In theaters.
• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babylon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. HBO, Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. HBO, Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

At year-end, I suspend my usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE so I can highlight the very best movies from 2022. These are on my list of Best Movies of 2022 and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Now you can watch them all at home.

• Nope: an exceptionally intelligent popcorn movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Poser: personal plagiarism. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• 12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Amazon.

ON TV

On January 22, Turner Classic Movies airs an iconic movie that I can’t believe I haven’t written about it before – 12 Angry Men. You’ve probably seen it before, but you may wish to appreciate it again.

Twelve men (and, befitting the 1957 time frame, they are all white men) have found themselves where no one wants to be – on a jury. It’s a hot and humid summer, and the jury room is stifling. It’s a murder case, and the prosecution has put on a credible case. The impetus is to convict the defendant and go home, but one juror (Henry Fonda) holds out. As the jurors probe the evidence more carefully, the debate becomes heated, especially between the hold-out and two of the others (Lee J. Cobb and Ed Begley). The room becomes more and more uncomfortable as opinions swing back and forth, with a man’s life in the balance.

Fonda, Cobb and Begley are just the most brilliant in a remarkable cast: Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, E.G. Marshall, John Fiedler, Edwards Binns, Jack Klugman, Joseph Sweeney,, John Voscovec and Robert Webber. In their careers, Fonda, Warden, Balsam and Begley each won an Oscar, and the cast as a whole collected 11 Oscar nominations between them. I recently watched a Dick Cavett interview in which he asked Henry Fonda to name five of his films that would endure; Fonda blurted out “12 Angry Men‘ and then paused to consider the other choices.

The cast spends essentially all of 12 Angry Men’s 96 minutes in one room, yet director Sidney Lumet makes the excitement match any action movie or thriller. Lumet started out filming the characters from above, then moved to eye-level as the tension increased, and finally filmed from below to rachet up the claustrophobia in the room. The camera closes in tightly on the men’s faces as they sweat and yell. This is text-book filmmaking.

12 Angry Men probes themes of class bias, fairmindedness and citizen responsibility. It’s also about divisions of opinion, which is even more topical in today’s American society.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of The Whale, Madoff: Monster of Wall Street and The Pale Blue Eye. I’m busy preparing to cover two film festivals that are both running over the same ten days, January 20-29 – Noir City in person and Slamdance virtually. Wish me luck.

Don’t overlook my year-end features:

• Best Movies of 2022.
• 2022 Farewells: on the screen (Sidney Poitier, William Hurt, Jean-Louis Trintignant,, Angela Lansbury, James Caan, Louise Fletcher, Ray Liotta, Bo Hopkins, Clu Gulager, Henry Silva,  L.Q. Jones, Roger E. Mosley, Anne Heche, Meat Loaf, Tony Sirico and Ronnie Hawkins).
• 2022 Farewells: behind the camera (Peter Bogdanovich, Alan Ladd Jr., Jean-Luc Godard, Bob Rafaelson, Wolfgang Peterson and Monty Norman).

CURRENT MOVIES

• The Whale: regret to redemption. In theaters.
• Madoff: Monster of Wall Street: adding some jawdroppers to a familiar story. Netflix.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babyon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. In theaters.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Stars at Noon: needs less sweat and more sizzle. Amazon.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? In theaters.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters.
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. In theaters.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. In theaters.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. In theaters.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. In theaters.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. In theaters.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. In theaters.
• The Pale Blue Eye: Gothic and so-so, except for a great Harry Melling. Netflix.
• The Wonder: a visually beautiful slog. Netflix.
• The Greatest Beer Run Ever: a blowhard plans a stunt, gets an education. AppleTV.
• Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues: what Armstrong was really thinking. AppleTV.

WATCH AT HOME

At year-end, I suspend my usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE so I can highlight the very best movies from 2022. These are on my list of Best Movies of 2022 and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Now you can watch them all at home.

• Nope: an exceptionally intelligent popcorn movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Poser: personal plagiarism. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• 12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Amazon.

ON TV

On January 17, Turner Classic Movies will present an overlooked masterwork. Set in England just before the D-Day invasion, The Americanization of Emily (1964) is a biting satire and one of the great anti-war movies. James Garner plays an admiral’s staff officer charged with locating luxury goods and willing Englishwomen for the brass. Julie Andrews plays an English driver who has lost her husband and other male family members in the War. She resists emotional entanglements with other servicemen whose lives may be put at risk, but falls for Garner’s “practicing coward”, a man who is under no illusions about the glory of war and is determined to stay as far from combat as possible.

Unfortunately, Garner’s boss (Melvyn Douglas) has fits of derangement and becomes obsessed with the hope that the first American killed on the beach at D-Day be from the Navy. Accordingly, he orders Garner to lead a suicide mission to land ahead of the D-Day landing, ostensibly to film it. Fellow officer James Coburn must guarantee Garner’s martyrdom.

It’s a brilliant screenplay from Paddy Chayefsky, who won screenwriting Oscars for Marty, The Hospital and Network. Today, Americanization holds up as least as well as its contemporary Dr. Strangelove and much better than Failsafe. Reportedly, both Andrews and Garner have tagged this as their favorite film.

One of the “Three Nameless Broads” bedded by the Coburn character is played by Judy Carne, later of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.

Happy New Year from The Movie Gourmet. This week – new reviews of Babyon and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Don’t overlook my year-end features:

• Best Movies of 2022.
• 2022 Farewells: on the screen (Sidney Poitier, William Hurt, Jean-Louis Trintignant,, Angela Lansbury, James Caan, Louise Fletcher, Ray Liotta, Bo Hopkins, Clu Gulager, Henry Silva,  L.Q. Jones, Roger E. Mosley, Anne Heche, Meat Loaf, Tony Sirico and Ronnie Hawkins).
• 2022 Farewells: behind the camera (Peter Bogdanovich, Alan Ladd Jr., Jean-Luc Godard, Bob Rafaelson, Wolfgang Peterson and Monty Norman).

CURRENT MOVIES

• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
• Babyon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
• The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. In theaters.
• Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
• Stars at Noon: needs less sweat and more sizzle. Amazon.
• Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? In theaters.
• The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters.
• Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. In theaters.
• Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
• The Menu: immune from pretension. In theaters.
• All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
• Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. In theaters.
• The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. In theaters.
• Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. In theaters.
• Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. In theaters.
• The Wonder: a visually beautiful slog. Netflix.
• The Greatest Beer Run Ever: a blowhard plans a stunt, gets an education. AppleTV.
• Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues: what Armstrong was really thinking. AppleTV.

WATCH AT HOME

During the Holidays, I suspend my usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE so I can highlight the very best movies from earlier in 2022. These are on my list of Best Movies of 2022 and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Now you can watch them all at home.

• Nope: an exceptionally intelligent popcorn movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Poser: personal plagiarism. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• 12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Amazon.

ON TV

On January 9, Turner Classic Movies will air I Want to Live! Susan Hayward’s performance as a good-hearted, but very unlucky, floozy won her an Oscar. It’s about a party girl who takes up with a couple of lowlifes. The lowlifes commit a murder and pin it on her. There is a great jazz soundtrack and a dramatic walk to The Chair.