Headhunters: from smoothly confident scoundrel to human piñata. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
Grizzly Man: a fool’s misadventure. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Take Me to the River: fresh, unpredictable and gripping. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Lost Solace: a psychopath afflicted by empathy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Audrey Totter and Richard Basehart in TENSION.
On November 12 and13, Turner Classic Movies will present a film on Eddie Muller’s Noir Alley that I haven’t yet written about. It’s the deliciously sordid Tension, where Quimby (Richard Basehart), the wimpy night manager of a drugstore, has one of the worst wives in film noir. Claire (Audrey Totter) spends her daytime hours belittling Quimby and her nighttime hours cuckholding him. When she moves into Barney’s beach house and lets the hairy-chested Barney (Lloyd Gough) beat up her nerdy hubbie, the humiliated Quimby has had enough. There’s a murder and a frame. Wikll the cops find the real murderer? Rising star Cyd Charisse plays the good girl, and Barry Sullivan plays the cop who outsmarts them all.
Photo caption: Charlbi Dean and Harris Dickinson in in TRIANGLE OF SADNESS. Courtesy of NEON.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of three big movies – Tar, Triangle of Sadness and Amsterdam – each a disappointment in some way. This week, I’m bringing you an all new The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE. Plus an obscure but personally meaningful remembrance.
REMEMBRANCE
John Jay Osborn Jr. wrote the autobiographical novel which became the movie The Paper Chase, which has been very meaningful to me. That film, about a first-year law student, was released just before I started law school and many of the protagonist’s experiences mirrored those of my own first year.
Headhunters: from smoothly confident scoundrel to human piñata. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
Her Smell: powerhouse Elisabeth Moss. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Grizzly Man: a fool’s misadventure. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Take Me to the River: fresh, unpredictable and gripping. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Lost Solace: a psychopath afflicted by empathy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Robert Ryan in THE SET-UP
On November 8, Turner Classic Movies will present The Set-Up (1949), one of the great film noirs and one of the very best boxing movies. Robert Ryan plays a washed-up boxer that nobody believes can win again, not even his long-suffering wife (Audrey Totter). His manager doesn’t even bother to tell him that he is committed to taking a dive in his next fight. But what if he wins?
Director Robert Wise makes use of real-time narrative, then highly innovative. Watch for the verisimilitude of the bar where the deal goes down.
Photo caption: Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – a remembrance of the late Angela Lansbury and an overdue review of the unusually intelligent summer popcorn movie Nope, which is now streamable (but watch it on your biggest home screen). Soon I’ll be posting my reviews of three current theatrical releases: Amsterdam, Triangle of Sadness and Tar.
REMEMBRANCE
Angela Lansbury’s first screen role was as the saucy, self-interested maid in Gaslight, which kicked off a notable Hollywood career. Her best movie performance was as the evil mother in The Manchurian Candidate, molding her own son into a robotic assassin. Her memorable work in cinema was outstripped by her careers on Broadway (multiple Tonys for Mame, Sweeney Todd, etc.) and TV (264 episodes and several TV movies of Murder, She Wrote).
CURRENT MOVIES
Don’t Worry, Darling: a misfire (but with Huell Howser’s cool house). In theaters.
Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The East: how do we punish corporate crime? HBO, Amazon, AppleTV, redbox.
The Visitor: self-isolation no longer. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Project Nim: a chimp learns the foibles of humans. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story: the world’s most beautiful woman and her secrets. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KINO Now.
The Gatekeepers: winning tactics make for a losing strategy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Auggie: Who do you see when you put on the glasses? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Nathán Pinzón in THE BLACK VAMPIRE
On October 29 and 30, Turner Classic Movies is airing one of my Overlooked Noirs, the Argentine suspense classic El Vampiro Negro. The city is consumed by a child murderer on the prowl, and the police are turning the city upside down. With the cops disrupting business, the criminals launch their own man hunt. If this plot sounds familiar, it’s because The Black Vampire is a remake of Fritz Lang’s 1931 M. As the lead, Nathán Pinzón is AT LEAST AS GOOD as was Peter Lorre in the original M, tight roping the line between scary and pathetic. This film is as trippy as any 1953 movie could be. El Vampiro Negro (The Black Vampire) was restored by Eddie Muller’s Film Noir Foundation, and I attended the premiere of the restoration at Noir City; Eddie will provide intro and outro on this weekend’s Noir Alley.
One of the highly stylized nightclub scenes in THE BLACK VAMPIRE
Photo caption: Laura Galán in PIGGY. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – the fresh and darkly hilarious Spanish horror movie Piggy and the TV premiere of a highly entertaining classic film noir (scroll down). Plus, an overdue review of the summer espionage thriller The Gray Man.
CURRENT MOVIES
Piggy: surprising and darkly funny. Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.
Don’t Worry, Darling: a misfire (but with Huell Howser’s cool house). In theaters.
Spin Me Round: an unpretentious and delightful comedy. AppleTV.
Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Visitor: self-isolation no longer. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Bra: Just your average silent Azerbaijani comedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Project Nim: a chimp learns the foibles of humans. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story: the world’s most beautiful woman and her secrets. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KINO Now.
The Gatekeepers: winning tactics make for a losing strategy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Auggie: Who do you see when you put on the glasses? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Jane Wyatt amd Lee J. Cobb in THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF
On October 14, Turner Classic Movies airs 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 is Ed (Lee J. Cobb), a seasoned and cynical pro who knows better. The dame is the much wealthier – and married – socialite Lois (Jane Wyatt), a puddle of capriciousness and carnality. There’s plenty of snappy, sarcastic dialogue amid glorious mid-century San Francisco locations.
The Film Noir Foundation has restored The Man Who Cheated Himself so it could be seen again for the first time in decades. Set your DVR.
Photo caption: Louise Fletcher in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Don’t Worry, Darlingand a note on the Gaslight (below) that you probably have NOT seen. Plus, a remembrance and my top picks at the Nashville Film Festival.
REMEMBRANCE
Actress Louise Fletcher was unforgettable in her Oscar-winning performance as Nurse Rached in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. With her cold assured eyes embodying impervious authority, she could maintain a soft voice and still deflate the charisma of Jack Nicholson’s McMurphy. Nurse Rached has been voted the second best female villain in all cinema (after The Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz).
CURRENT MOVIES
Don’t Worry, Darling: a misfire (but with Huell Howser’s cool house). In theaters.
Spin Me Round: an unpretentious and delightful comedy. AppleTV.
Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The East: how do we punish corporate crime? HBO, Amazon, AppleTV, redbox.
The Bra: Just your average silent Azerbaijani comedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Visitor: self-isolation no longer. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story: the world’s most beautiful woman and her secrets. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KINO Now.
The Gatekeepers: winning tactics make for a losing strategy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Auggie: Who do you see when you put on the glasses? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Anton Walbrook and Dyana Wyngard in GASLIGHT.
On October 6, 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.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – two remembrances, current recommendations and a discussion of actor Warren William. Coming up – a preview of the Nashville Film Festival.
REMEMBRANCES
Writer-director Jean-Luc Godard, with his jump cuts, non-linear structure and other innovations, helped revolutionize cinema as a leader of the French New Wave. He made three masterpieces in early 1960s: Breathless, Contempt and Band of Outsiders. This is the Godard of “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.”
But by 1968, Godard’s thinking has become so devoid of humor, nuance, texture and ambiguity, that his work became one-dimensional and boring. Indeed, I have found all of the Godard films since 1967’s Weekend to range from disappointing to completely unwatchable. Godard was still making movies in 2018 – and they all sucked.
Band of Outsiders is not streamable, but Breathless is included with HBO Max and Criterion subscriptions and rentable from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube; Contempt is included with Criterion and rentable from Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube. Or, you can watch the biting send-up of Godard in the recent Godard, Mon Amour on AppleTV, YouTube or KinoNow.
Henry Silva
Actor Henry Silva is recognizable from his 140 screen credits (and, outside of the Oceans 11 movies, those roles may have all been villains). He leveraged his acting talent and unusual facial features to project menace as few actors have done, most memorably in the original The Manchurian Candidate.
CURRENT MOVIES
Nope: an unusually intelligent popcorn movie. I’m not a big horror/sci fi guy, and I loved it. One of the best movies of 2022. In theaters.
Spin Me Round: an unpretentious and delightful comedy. AppleTV.
Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The East: how do we punish corporate crime? HBO, Amazon, AppleTV, redbox.
The Bra: Just your average silent Azerbaijani comedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Project Nim: a chimp learns the foibles of humans. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story: the world’s most beautiful woman and her secrets. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KINO Now.
The Gatekeepers: winning tactics make for a losing strategy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Auggie: Who do you see when you put on the glasses? Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Warren William with Loretta Young in EMPLOYEES ENTRANCE
On September 28, Turner Classic Movies airs Employees Entrance, starring Warren William, whose movies from the early 30s remain fresh today. Although he is not well-known today, William was “King of the Pre-Code”, starring in 25 movies between 1931 and 1934, many with the sexual frankness and moral ambiguity that was to be erased by the Production Code. If you want to understand Pre-Code cinema, watch Employees Entrance, and imagine the future movie censor, the supercilious Joe Breen, with his head exploding.
In the 1933 Employees Entrance, William plays a department store manager who is viciously ruthless with his competitors and suppliers. He abuses his own employees and is indifferent to the resultant suicide attempts. He uses his position to have sex with a young employee (Loretta Young), even after she marries someone else. And he keeps a floozy on the payroll to distract another executive (his putative supervisor) from meddling in the business. And for all 75 minutes of Employees Entrance, William’s joyously despicable character is richly enjoying himself. If you’re looking for the triumph of Good over Evil, this isn’t your movie.
With his striking features (including a prominent and noble nose) and his deep and cultured voice, William was a natural for the newfangled talkies. William excelled in the Pre-Code movies because he could play deliciously shameless scoundrels who would use their wit and position to exploit everyone else, especially for sex, power and money. His characters are fun to watch because they take such delight in their own depravity. His leading ladies included the likes of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Ann Dvorak and Claudette Colbert. But in 1934, the new Production Code meant that movies could no longer allow his characters to have sex and otherwise behave badly and get away with it.
One of my favorite movies is 1932’s hilarious political comedy The Dark Horse, in which William plays an equally ruthless and amoral campaign manager. He is such a scoundrel that he must first get sprung from jail to teach his dimwitted candidate to answer every question with “Yes…and, then again, no.” He describes his own candidate (the gleefully dim Guy Kibbee) thus: “He’s the dumbest human being I ever saw. Every time he opens his mouth he subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge.”
Ever the sexually predatory cad on the screen, the real-life William led a quiet life and was married to the same woman for twenty-five years until his death.
Brandon Perea, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer in NOPE. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
This week on The Movie Gourmet – a review of the newly available Loving Highsmith, a revealing biodoc of the novelist whose novels were turned into twisted movie thrillers that include Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train and all the Tom Ripley movies, as well as the queer memoir Carol. Plus, Wrapping up Cinequest.
CURRENT MOVIES
Nope: an unusually intelligent popcorn movie. I’m not a big horror/sci fi guy, and I loved it. One of the best movies of 2022. In theaters.
Spin Me Round: an unpretentious and delightful comedy. AppleTV.
A Love Song: bittersweet, heartfelt and funny. In theaters.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris: nothing wrong with a dose of sentimentality once in a while. In theaters.
Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Visitor: self-isolation no longer. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
The Bra: Just your average silent Azerbaijani comedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
Project Nim: a chimp learns the foibles of humans. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
The East: how do we punish corporate crime? HBO, Amazon, AppleTV, redbox.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story: the world’s most beautiful woman and her secrets. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KINO Now.
The Gatekeepers: winning tactics make for a losing strategy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in THE BIG STEAL.
On September 23, Turner Classic Movies airs one of the most fun films noir, The Big Steal, which rematched Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer after their iconic noir Out of the Past. This time, Mitchum and Greer careen around Mexico, being chased by William Bendix. The Big Steal was only the third of the 36 feature films directed by the grievously underrated Don Siegel. Siegel became a master of crime movies (and was the primary filmmaking mentor to Clint Eastwood). I particularly love Siegel’s 1973neo-noir Charley Varrick, the guilty pleasure Two Mules for Sister Sara and John Wayne’s goodbye: The Shootist. Anyway, The Big Steal is delightful.
Photo caption: Heston Horwin and Jennifer Levinson (center) in TRUST. World premiere tonight at Cinequest. Courtesy of Menemsha Films.
This week, The Movie Gourmet focuses on Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival – back in person and now underway.
There’s also a new review of The Outfit, a satisfying crime thriller from earlier this year and a reminder about the charming documentary The Automat, which is now available to stream.
REMEMBRANCES
Director Wolfgang Peterson made a harrowing submarine masterpiece, Das Boot, one of the great war (and anti-war) movies. Then got to make lots of big Hollywood action epics, none of which were as good as Das Boot.
Actor Roger E. Mosley is best known for his 158 episodes as the helicopter pilot on Magnum, P.I. and over 50 guest appearances in tv series. As the title character in Leadbelly and in many TV shows, he paved the way for more positive and empathetic depictions of African-American characters. He also worked in one of best-ever TV movies, The Jericho Mile, in one of the best sports movies, Semi-Tough, and as Sonny Liston (with Muhammad Ali himself) in The Greatest.
Although her body of work was overshadowed by her off-screen personal life, actor Anne Heche was superb in Wag the Dog. That was one of a remarkable string of Big Movies in 1997 and 1998: Donnie Brasco, Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Six Days Seven Nights, Return to Paradise and Brian De Palma’s Psycho.
CURRENT MOVIES
Wes Studi and Dale Dickey in A LOVE SONG. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.
Nope: an unusually intelligent popcorn movie. I’m not a big horror/sci fi guy, and I loved it. One of the best movies of 2022. In theaters.
Spin Me Round: an unpretentious and delightful comedy. In theaters.
A Love Song: bittersweet, heartfelt and funny. In theaters.
Photo caption: THE AUTOMAT: Actress Audrey Hepburn photographed by Howard Fried in New York City as part of a multi-day photo shoot for Esquire magazine, 1951. Courtesy of A Slice of Pie Productions.
The charming documentary The Automat traces the fascinating seven-decade run of the marble-floored food palaces where one could put nickels in a slot and be rewarded with a meal. The story of the automat is essentially a business history of Holt & Hardart, which pioneered the automat concept in Philadelphia and New York, and dominated the market for years, at one point the nation’s largest restaurant chain. Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Colin Powell speak to how the automat touched their lives, and Starbucks founder Howard Schulz credits the automat as his inspiration; (Mel Brooks even wrote and performed a song for the film).
The Automat is the first film for director Lisa Hurvitz, who spent eight years on the project. Along with the celebrities, Hurvitz has sourced her film with longtime Holt & Hardart employees, members of the founding families and even the guy who titled his Ph.D. dissertation, Trapped Behind the Automat: Technological Systems and the American Restaurant, 1902-1991.
The Automat is filled with unexpected nuggets, including:
The New Orleans origin of Holt & Hardart’s signature coffee.
The astounding percentage of the NYC and Philly populations once fed by Holt & Hardart.
The devastating impact of a nickel price increase.
Above all, The Automat features the automat as a democratic institution – a place and an activity enjoyed by a diverse collection of customers from all classes, genders and races.
The Automat gives voice to those nostalgic about the automat, but it is clear-eyed about why it didn’t survive – a business model based on volume when the volume of customers moved to the suburbs, along with social changes in post-war America.
The Automat had a blink-and-you-missed-it theatrical run in March, but now you can stream it from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and KinoNow.
