Weekly Movie Recommendations

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a preview of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, including new reviews of Speer Goes to Hollywood and The Faithful: The King, The Pope and The Princess. Plus reviews of the year’s wittiest movie so far, Official Competition, and My Donkey, My Lover and I.

REMEMBRANCES

Actor L.Q. Jones, born with the already Texas-colorful name of Justus E. McQueen, took the name of his first movie character (in Battle Cry) and rode it through 165 roles, bringing something interesting and different in every one. His NYT obit quoted him an liking to play “a heavy that is not crazy or deranged — although we play those, of course — but rather someone who is a heavy because he enjoys being a heavy.” Jones worked in some excellent war movies (Men in War, Torpedo Run, The Naked and the Dead, Hell Is for Heroes) and revisionist westerns (The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Hang ‘Em High). He was also a delightful raconteur, which you can enjy by searching for “LQ Jones” on YouTube.

Composer Monty Norman created the James Bond Theme for Dr. No, which has been used in every Bond film flick since. Norman massaged a tune he had written earlier, and, as his NYT obit quoted him, “I thought, ‘My God, that’s it. His sexiness, his mystery, his ruthlessness — it’s all there in a few notes’.”

CURRENT MOVIES

• Official Competition: egos, power and a perfect ending. In theaters.
• Bitterbrush: two women at work. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, redbox.
• Both Sides of the Blade: not your conventional love triangle. In theaters.
• Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song: reflective artist, reflective movie. In theaters.
• 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.
• Cha Cha Real Smooth: decent people and their foibles, navigating life. AppleTV.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• My Donkey, My Lover and I: it had me at the title. In theaters.
• Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story: introducing the perfect 8 days of culture. In theaters.
• Hit the Road: a funny family masks their tough choice. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres: tell me more. Netflix.
• The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
• The Outfit: no one is just what they seem to be. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
• Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Step Into Liquid: “insanely gorgeous” surfing. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Riding Giants: obsessive search for the biggest wave to surf. 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.
• 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.
• The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
• Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.

ON TV

On July 27, Turner Classic Movies will air the gripping contemporary neo-noir One False Move. This is a fundamentally noir story – there are guys overreaching for greed and ambition, a femme fatale, and a very dark secret. America’s original sin – race – is at the core of One False Move.

The tale begins with a home invasion in Los Angeles. Two vicious professional robbers, with one’s beautiful girlfriend, steal money and cocaine, leaving a trail of corpses. The crime is solved right away – the cops know who did it and that the murderers are headed to a small town in Arkansas. The LA cops fly to Arkansas and lay in wait with the local constabulary. One False Move is a ticking time bomb as we wait for the criminals to drive across the Southwest to the inevitable confrontation.

One False Move features a great performance by the late Bill Paxton. It’s one of my Overlooked Neo-noir, and can also be streamed from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Poser, Bitterbrush and Both Sides of the Blade, plus a preview of this year’s in-person Cinequest.

REMEMBRANCES

Actor James Caan is mostly remembered for his vivid portrayal of a guy with too much testosterone -Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (Bada bing!). Caan had been working since age 21 in TV series, wih a John Wayne movie thrown in, when he appeared in the TV movie Brian’s Song – a highly popular weeper. He also appeared, with Robert Duvall, in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People. Most underappreciated performance? Probably Rollerball.

Actor Tony Sirico, best known for his Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri in The Sopranos, overcame a youth that landed him in Sing Sing to play a slew of movie and TV gangsters (and appear in four Woody Allen films, too.)

CURRENT MOVIES

• Bitterbrush: two women at work. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, redbox.
• Poser: personal plagiarism. In theaters (but very hard to find).
• Both Sides of the Blade: not your conventional love triangle. In theaters.
• Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song: reflective artist, reflective movie. In theaters.
• Cha Cha Real Smooth: decent people and their foibles, navigating life. AppleTV.
• Downton Abbey: A New Era: harmless enough. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• My Donkey, My Lover and I: it had me at the title. In theaters.
• Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story: introducing the perfect 8 days of culture. 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.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Step Into Liquid: “insanely gorgeous” surfing. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Riding Giants: obsessive search for the biggest wave to surf. 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.
• 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.
• 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.

ON TV

On July 19, Turner Classic Movies will air one of my Overlooked Noir, Fritz Lang’s While the City Sleeps (1956). A zillionaire dies and leaves his media empire to his feckless playboy son (Vincent Price). The ne’er-do-well scion cruelly dangles the CEO job in front of the company’s top talent, plunging them into a ruthless competition. Whoever solves the Lipstick Killer Murders will win the prize, and plenty of boardroom backstabbing ensues.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song and Cha Cha Real Smooth.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song: reflective artist, reflective movie. In theaters.
• Cha Cha Real Smooth: decent people and their foibles, navigating life. AppleTV.
• Downton Abbey: A New Era: harmless enough. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• My Donkey, My Lover and I: it had me at the title. In theaters.
• Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story: introducing the perfect 8 days of culture. 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.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Step Into Liquid: “insanely gorgeous” surfing. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Riding Giants: obsessive search for the biggest wave to surf. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

On July 11, Turner Classic Movies presents the recent documentary Tab Hunter Confidential. Tab Hunter was Hollywood’s dreamboat of the 1950’s – and he was a closeted gay man. That meant that he was walking a tightrope in an era when one scandal sheet revelation could erase his career. We hear Tab’s story from Tab himself; the doc is based on Hunter’s memoir, co-written by Eddie Muller. Tab is still very good-looking and seems like a helluva decent guy. Also available to stream on Amazon.

This week on The Movie Gourmet –

• my first take on the Best Movies of 2022 – So Far,
• a new review of Clifton Collins, Jr.’s great performance in Jockey, and
• my Hang ten this summer launches our summer with the great surfing movies Riding Giants and Step into Liquid.

CURRENT MOVIES

• Downton Abbey: A New Era: harmless enough. In theaters.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: often indecipherable and mostly dazzling. In theaters.
• My Donkey, My Lover and I: it had me at the title. In theaters.
• Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story: introducing the perfect 8 days of culture. 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.
• James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America: is “hero/anti-hero” too simplistic? On Turner Classic Movies tomorrow night and WATCH TCM and DIrecTV.
• Mau: fact-based optimism and thinking big. Streaming at Laemmle.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Step Into Liquid: “insanely gorgeous” surfing. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Riding Giants: obsessive search for the biggest wave to surf. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

I’m recommending tonight’s midnight (PDT) showing of Alex Cox’s 1984 cult film Repo Man on Turner Classic Movies. Emilio Estevez plays a punk (in both senses) who stumbles into a job assisting a professional auto-repossessor. That repo man is played by Harry Dean Stanton, who, at the age of 58, broke through in two wonderful lead performances. In his titular role in Repo Man, he plays the crusty, old school mentor of the heretofore aimless kid. The same year, Stanton delivered his masterpiece performance in Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas.

Repo Man is a delight, with a full dose of Harry Dean, the inside peek into a shady and dangerous job, lots of humor and even an homage to the classic film noir Kiss Me Deadly. (In Repo Man, look for singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett in a bit part as “Additional Blonde Agent”.)

This week on The Movie Gourmet – James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America, coming up tomorrow on TCM and an unusually personal review of Jazzfest: A New Orleans Story. Plus two very contrasting remembrances.

Frameline —the world’s largest LGBTQ film festival— runs through Sunday, June 26, 2022. Here are my four recommendations.

REMEMBRANCES

A few weeks ago, we lost actor Bo Hopkins, who left us with some absolutely indelible performances in his heyday, a decade starting in the late 1960s. No one has ever been better at portraying a smirking, dimwitted redneck. I liked him best as the ill-fated young robber in The Wild Bunch, the greaser hard guy in American Graffiti and Burt Reynold’s moonshining partner in White Lightning. In this period, he appeared in .
Cat Ballou, The Getaway, Monte Walsh and Midnight Express.

Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant starred in some of the most prestigious European movies of the past six decades: Roger Vadim’s …And Man Created Woman with Brigitte Bardot (1956), Claude Leloach’s A Man and a Woman (1966), Claude Chabrol’s Les Biches (1968), Costa-Gravras’ Z (1969), Éric Rohmer’s My Night at Maud’s, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970), Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Red (1994) and Michael Haneke’s Amour (2012). He even made a Sergio Corbucci spaghetti western The Great Silence in 1968. Trintignant was 91.

CURRENT MOVIES

• 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.
• My Donkey, My Lover and I: it had me at the title. In theaters.
• Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story: introducing the perfect 8 days of culture. 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.
• James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America: is “hero/anti-hero” too simplistic? On Turner Classic Movies tomorrow night and WATCH TCM and DIrecTV.
• 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.

WATCH AT HOME

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

• Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
• The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of My Donkey, My Lover and I, plus four recommendations for the Frameline film festival – opening today in San Francisco and next week online.

CURRENT MOVIES

• 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.
• My Donkey, My Lover and I: it had me at the title. 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:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 21, Turner Classic Movies will air A Bucket of Blood, a campy, minor horror film from 1959, more interesting as a window into beatnik culture.  Can you dig it?

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.]