Weekly Movie Recommendations

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Fanny: The Right to Rock (hard to find in theaters, but a hoot-and-a-half) and A Hero (streamable, but a lesser film from a great filmmaker).

I’m currently screening films that will playing at the Frameline film fest June 16-26.

CURRENT FILMS

• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. In theaters.
• The Duke: he finally gets his audience. In theaters.
• Downton Abbey: A New Era: harmless enough. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• Hit the Road: a funny family masks their tough choice. Streaming at Laemmle.
• Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres: tell me more. Netflix.
• Fanny: The Right to Rock: triple-threat trailblazers. In theaters (but hard to find).
• Jane by Charlotte: as mildly interesting as the subject. AppleTV.
• Mau: fact-based optimism and thinking big. Streaming at Laemmle.

ON VIDEO

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

• The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
• Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Dick Johnson Is Dead: funny, heartfelt and frequently bizarre. Netflix.
• The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On June 11, Turner Classic Movies presents Humphrey Bogart as Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled LA detective Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep. Bogart’s performance is iconic, and The Big Sleep is famous for its impenetrably tangled plot. It’s also one of the most overtly sexual noirs, and Lauren Bacall at her sultriest is only the beginning. The achingly beautiful Martha Vickers plays a druggie who throws herself at anything in pants. And Dorothy Malone invites Bogie to share a back-of-the-bookstore quickie.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres and Downton Abbey: A New Era, two remembrances and a comic swashbuckler on TV. Plus, here’s my preview of the world’s largest LGBTQ film fest: Get ready for Frameline.

And this past week, I’ve completely refreshed most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE.

REMEMBRANCES

Actor Ray Liotta became a star with his leading role in 1990’s iconic Goodfelllas and was still at the absolute top of his game this past year in The Many Saints of Newark and No Sudden Move.

Musician Ronnie Hawkins is best known as the irrepressible, earthy rockabilly mentor of The Band. In the movies, he was unforgettable in stage in The Band’s concert film The Last Waltz; (who is THAT guy on stage with Dylan, Clapton, Neil Young and Van Morrison?) He also had an acting role in Heaven’s Gate.

CURRENT FILMS

• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. In theaters.
• The Duke: he finally gets his audience. In theaters.
• Downton Abbey: A New Era: harmless enough. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• Hit the Road: a funny family masks their tough choice. In theaters.
• Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres: tell me more. Netflix.
• 18 1/2: the paranoid thriller meets the darkly silly. In theaters, including Laemmle’s Monica Film Center and soon the Glendale and the NoHo 7.
• Jane by Charlotte: as mildly interesting as the subject. AppleTV.
• Mau: fact-based optimism and thinking big. In theaters.

ON VIDEO

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

• The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
• Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Dick Johnson Is Dead: funny, heartfelt and frequently bizarre. Netflix.
• The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On June 4, Turner Classic Movies is airing Richard Lester’s boisterous The Three Musketeers from 1973. Watch Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Michael York and Frank Finlay swashbuckle away against Bad Guys Christopher Lee, Faye Dunaway and Charlton Heston. Geraldine Chaplin and Raquel Welch adorn the action. [If you like it, you can stream the second volume, The Four Musketeers, from Criterion Collection, Amazon and YouTube; it was filmed in the same shoot and released the next year.]

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Hit the Road, 18 1/2 and Jane by Charlotte, plus a completely refreshed the most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE. The best new movie is still Montana Story.

CURRENT FILMS

• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. In theaters.
• The Duke: he finally gets his audience. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• Hit the Road: a funny family masks their tough choice. In theaters.
• 18 1/2: the paranoid thriller meets the darkly silly. In theaters, including Laemmle’s Monica Film Center and soon the Glendale and the NoHo 7.
• Jane by Charlotte: as mildly interesting as the subject. AppleTV.
• Mau: fact-based optimism and thinking big. In theaters.

ON VIDEO

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

• Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
• Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
• Dick Johnson Is Dead: funny, heartfelt and frequently bizarre. Netflix.
• The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On June 1, Turner Classic Movies will air the sci-fi classic Solaris (1972), the masterpiece of Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky. A psychologist, with that common Russian name of Kris Kelvin, is sent to check out a space mission orbiting the oceanic planet Solaris. He finds things ominously awry, with a suicide and suspiciously furtive behavior by the surviving crew. Then he is face-to-face with his own dead wife from Earth; and after he dispatches her into space, she reappears on the spacecraft. Things are seriously messed up.

Much of Solaris’ two hours and 47 minutes – watching this movie is  a commitment – consists of trippy shots of the ocean planet, with waves breaking across its colored surface. Solaris is not so much an enjoyable art movie as it is a fascinating one. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes and is firmly placed in the sci-fi canon. Solaris is a must see for sci-fi fans [Note: This is NOT the inferior 2002 Steven Soderbergh remake.]

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of The Duke, a surefire crowdpleaser, and Montana Story, one of the best films of 2022 so far.

CURRENT FILMS

• Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. In theaters.
• The Duke: he finally gets his audience. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• Mau: fact-based optimism and thinking big. In theaters.

ON VIDEO

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

• Strawberry Mansion very trippy and ultimately sweet fable. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Oscar Micheaux: Superhero of Black Filmmaking: a pioneer worth knowing about. HBO Max.
• Erotic Fire of the Unattainable: captivating docufiction. Amazon (included with Prime), YouTube.
• Buy Me a Gun: children in the narcolypse. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.

ON TV

On May 25th, Turner Classic Movies airs In the Mood for Love, Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai’s steamy masterpiece. Tony Leong and Maggie Cheung play apartment neighbors in 1962 Hong Kong. They suspect, investigate and confirm that their respective spouses are having an affair -and become very personally close themselves during the process. They decide to keep the moral high ground and resist falling in bed with each other – and what’s sexier than NOT having sex? This becomes a haunting love story, complete with tantalizing near misses.

Wong Kar Wai’s regular cinematogapher Christopher Doyle combined with Mark Lee Ping-bing to shoot one of the most beautiful and atmospheric films you’ll ever see. You can feel the humidity as the men sweat in their Mad Men Era suits , and the rich color palette magnifies the passion.

Incidentally, the leading man is a different Tony Leong than the star of another art house hit, 1992’s The Lover.

This week on The Movie Gourmet:, new reviews of The Tale of King Crab and Mau.

CURRENT FILMS

• Compartment No. 6 is the best new film in theaters now, but hard to find. It’s an insightful and unpredictable dual character study set on a train ride to Murmansk. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• The Automat: nickels in, memories out. In theaters.
• Mau: fact-based optimism and thinking big. In theaters.

ON VIDEO

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

• Strawberry Mansion very trippy and ultimately sweet fable. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Oscar Micheaux: Superhero of Black Filmmaking: a pioneer worth knowing about. HBO Max.
• Erotic Fire of the Unattainable: captivating docufiction. Amazon (included with Prime), YouTube.
• Buy Me a Gun: children in the narcolypse. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the bittersweet A Love Song with Dale Dickey and Wes Studi and the wildly exuberant Everything Everywhere All at Once with Michele Yeoh. Here’s my personal remembrance of Norm Mineta, the most distinguished of my own mentors, and a note on the documentary An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy .

CURRENT FILMS

• Compartment No. 6 is the best new film in theaters now, but hard to find. It’s an insightful and unpredictable dual character study set on a train ride to Murmansk. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once In theaters.
• The Automat: nickels in, memories out. In theaters.

Here’s a final reminder from me that Oscar winners CODA, Drive My Car and Belfast are all now available to stream.

ON VIDEO

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

• Strawberry Mansion very trippy and ultimately sweet fable. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Oscar Micheaux: Superhero of Black Filmmaking: a pioneer worth knowing about. HBO Max.
• Erotic Fire of the Unattainable: captivating docufiction. Amazon (included with Prime), YouTube.
• Buy Me a Gun: children in the narcolypse. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – Cinequest’s online festival Cinejoy continues through this weekend. See my Best of Cinequest and all my Cinequest coverage. I’ve also honored Cinequest by highlighting two gems from recent festivals: the innovative docufiction Erotic Fire of the Unattainable and the surreal Mexican masterpiece Buy Me a Gun.

CURRENT FILMS

Note: Oscar winners CODA, Drive My Car and Belfast are all now available to stream.

• CODA: what’s not to like about this delightful Oscar-winning audience-pleaser? CODA’s success results from the textured supporting characters and complicated family dynamics in writer-director Sian Heder’s screenplay. AppleTV
• Drive My Car: director and co-writer Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s engrossing masterpiece about dealing with loss – and it’s the best movie of 2021. Layered with character-driven stories that could each justify their own movie, this is a mesmerizing film that builds into an exhilarating catharsis. HBO Max, AppleTV, Amazon, and Vudu.
• Nightmare Alley: enough burning ambition for a thousand carnies. IHBO Max, Hulu, Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and redbox.
• Belfast: a child’s point of view is universal. If you have heartstrings, they are gonna get pulled. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and redbox.
• The Power of the Dog: One man’s meanness, another man’s growth. Netflix.
• Don’t Look Up: Wickedly funny. Filmmaker Adam McKay (The Big Short) and a host of movie stars hit the bullseye as they target a corrupt political establishment, a soulless media and a gullible, lazy-minded public. Netflix.
• The Tragedy of Macbeth: No surprise here: Joel Coen, Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand deliver a crisp and imaginative version of the Bard’s Scottish Play. AppleTV.
• Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn: completely different than any movie you’ve seen. AppleTV, Drafthouse On Demand.

ON TV

On April 16 and 17, Turner Classic Movies is airing the under appreciated film noir classic Night in the City on Noir Alley with intro and outro by Eddie Muller. Richard Widmark is superb as Harry Fabian, a loser who tries to corner the pro wrestling business in post-war London. The one thing that Harry Fabian is good at is finding suckers, but he doesn’t realize that the biggest sucker is…Harry Fabian. It’s highly recommended on my list of Overlooked Noir.