Weekly Movie Recommendations

LOUDER THAN BOMBS – an intricately constructed family drama

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Devin Druid in LOUDER THAN BOMBS
Devin Druid in LOUDER THAN BOMBS

Here’s an overlooked and intricately constructed family drama – Louder Than Bombs from 2015.  All of Norwegian writer-director Joachim Trier’s work (with his writing partner Eskil Vogt) focuses on the psychological, and Louder Than Bombs is plenty psychological.

Gabriel Byrne plays the father of two sons – a man whose vital wife (Isabelle Huppert) has died suddenly in middle age.  His young adult son (Jesse Eisenberg) is superficially achieving, but it turns out, has some real issues.  But the younger teen son (Devin Druid) is clearly troubled; the dad is trying, but he just can’t get ANY traction with younger son.

The unstable younger son is about to find out that his mother committed suicide, and Louder Than Bombs is a ticking clock, as we wait to see what happens when younger son finds out.   The audience has an ever-present fear that tragedy is going to erupt.

Isabelle Huppert and Gabriel Byrne in LOUDER THAN BOMBS

In flashback, Huppert’s character is strong and Sphinx-like, ever dominating the three men she left behind.  The rest of the cast is also excellent: Byrne, Eisenberg, Amy Ryan, Rachel Brosnahan, and David Strathairn.  Young Devin Druid is a revelation as the younger son.

Devin Druid and Gabriel Byrne in LOUDER THAN BOMBS
Devin Druid and Gabriel Byrne in LOUDER THAN BOMBS

In Louder Than Bombs  Trier employs flashbacks, dream sequences, and even the same scene replayed from a different point of view a la Rashomon.

Joachim Trier previously made Reprise, a wonderful film about sanity and the creative process in which two young novelists send in their manuscripts at the beginning of the film, just before one suffers a psychotic breakdown. Reprise was #4 on my list of Best Movies of 2008. Trier’s next film was the well-crafted and utterly authentic Oslo August 31, which I didn’t like as much as most critics.  .

The critical response to Louder Than Bombs was mixed – from middling to rhapsodic.  Right after seeing it, I wasn’t sure that I’d recommend it, but the film stayed with me for several days.  Eventually, I realized that this is an excellent film to see and then to mull over.

Louder Than Bombs is available to stream from Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu and YouTube.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Photo caption: the late Lynne Shelton in her film SWORD OF TRUST

This week: a brilliant comedy with a heartbreaking back story. It’s a good week for movies on TV, with perhaps the best political documentary and the most kinetic movie you’ll ever see. And the return of the most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE.

ON VIDEO

Sword of Trust: a sharply funny social satire with a bonus – a rich and moving character study. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

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

ON TV

THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK

On May 16, Turner Classic Movies airs one of the greatest political movies of all time – The Times of Harvey Milk, the documentary Oscar winner from 1984. It’s the real story behind the 2008 Sean Penn narrative Milk – and with the original witnesses. If you pay attention, The Times of Harvey Milk can teach you everything from how to win a local campaign to how to build a societal movement. One of the best political movies ever. And watch for the dog poop scene!

And, you’ll never see a more kinetic movie than Run Lola Run, which TCM is airing on May 1. Lola (Franka Potente) has only 20 minutes to raise 100,000 Deutschmarks and save her boyfriend’s life from his gangster boss. In only 81 white knuckle minutes, writer-director Tom Tykwer has Lola desperately sprinting around Berlin in three different scenarios.

Incidentally, Potente is now a director, and her new film Home with Kathy Bates played at SFFILM (although I missed it).

Run Lola Run is also available to stream on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Franka Potente in RUN LOLA RUN

SWORD OF TRUST – comedy, and so much more

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Photo caption: Marc Maron (center) in SWORD OF TRUST

In Lynn Shelton’s brilliant comedy Sword of Trust, Mel (Marc Maron) runs a Birmingham, Alabama, pawnshop with his worthless Millennial assistant Nathaniel (Jon Bass – very funny). Cynthia (Jillian Bell) has returned to Alabama, with her partner Mary (Michaela Watkins), to claim an inheritance that disappointingly turns out to be a single antique sword. But the grandfather’s incoherent letter about the sword fits the Internet ravings of a White supremacist cult called the “Provers” (like “Truthers”), who are hunting for artifacts that “prove” that the Confederacy really won the Civil War. The four resolve to cash in an a windfall by dealing the sword to the scary underground racist cult. Comic situations, naturally, ensue.

There’s plenty of grist for comedy here, and Shelton bores in on the widespread absence of critical thinking that meshes with the Internet to give platforms to crackpot conspiracy theories. From Anti-vaxxers to Truthers, folks are now somehow comfortable with denying scientific or historical fact to fit a narrative that they prefer. In Sword of Trust, that idiocy ranges from denying the Union victory in the Civil War to even the roundness of the Earth.

Sword of Trust is very successful as a comedy, but there’s another, very emotionally powerful story in here. Mel’s ex, Deirdre, drops by the shop in an attempt to extract some cash for a modest ring. It’s clear that Deidre has had a toxic and near-ruinous impact on Mel’s life, an impact that he can’t – and perhaps won’t – escape. This story takes up less than ten minutes, essentially book-ending the sword comedy, but it’s the meat of Maron’s performance and the heartfelt core of the film.

Maron’s performance as Mel is a tour de force. When Mel first sees Diedre, he silently freezes for an instant and takes the long way around the shop to gather himself before reaching the counter. He listens to Deidre’s story with a knowing weariness in his eyes. When Deidre says “I’m good for it” and Mel replies, “No, you’re not”, it is with the quiet certainty of a man scarred. Later, Maron’s Mel relates his own back story, and it’s all the more heartbreaking because of his matter-of-factness. This is one of the best performances of the year.

Lynn Shelton in SWORD OF TRUST

And, Deidre, what a mess! The fidgety desperation just underneath her sad story du jour just nails the manipulative addict. I made a note to look up the actress playing Deidre with such compelling authenticity – and it is director Lynn Shelton herself.

There’s a real life heartbreak, too. Lynne Shelton and Marc Maron were partners, in a relatively early stage of their relationship, when they made this movie in 2019. Within a year, Shelton died suddenly of acute myeloid leukemia. The two were working on another screenplay.

Back to Sword of Trust – the entire cast is good, especially Dan Bakkedahl (Life in Pieces) as the White supremacist kingpin and prolific character actor Toby Huss as his henchman.

Sword of Trust is a very smart and funny comedy with a bonus – a rich and moving character study. You can buy the stream for $12.99 from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play, and it’s well worth it.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Caption: STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET

This week, Sesame Street’s origin story and a handful of overlooked films from the past decade. And don’t forget today;s Turner Classic Movies presentation of the consensus choice for Worst Movie of All Time – Plan 9 from Outer Space.

REMEMBRANCE

Actress Olympia Dukakis died last week at 89. A stage actress of renown, she was 56 when she got a screen role in her sweet spot (Moonstruck) and knocked it for an Oscar. She was perfect as the only-in-San-Francisco Anna Madrigal in the miniseries Tales of the City in 1993, 1998 and 2019. For a completely unrestrained Olympia Dukakis performance, try the little 2011 Canadian dramedy Cloudburst (Amazon – included with Prime, AppleTV).

ON VIDEO

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street: This documentary is almost as charming as the beloved children’s television show whose origin story it chronicles. On VOD this week.

The Face of Love: Is a widow (Annette Bening) in love with her new boyfriend (Ed Harris ) – or still in love with her late husband? Amazon.

Other choices:

  • Augustine: obsession, passion and the birth of a science. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
  • The Brainwashing of My Dad: some insight into our national madness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL

On May 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. He hear Tab’s story from Tab himself – he’s still very good-looking and seems like a helluva decent guy. Also available to stream on Amazon,

THE FACE OF LOVE: who is she really in love with?

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Ed Harris and Annette Bening in THE FACE OF LOVE

Here’s an underrated 2014 romance that most of us didn’t get to see in theaters: The Face of Love.

Annette Bening plays a woman whose husband suddenly dies, and she is plunged into an immediate and harsh sense of loss.  She goes on with her life and then is surprised to meet a man who is attracted to her.  They begin to date and fast develop a serious bond.  Here’s the kicker – the new boyfriend looks EXACTLY like her late husband (both are played by Ed Harris).  You know that eventually he is going to find out, and that eventually her kids and friends are going to find out, and that people are going to think this is very weird.  Those characters – and the audience – will wonder whether she is in love with this new man – or in love with the image of her late husband.

As one would expect, Bening and Harris both give compelling performances.  The scene where the new guy asks her out on a date is especially fun.  The Face of Love is a worthwhile watch.

The Face of Love is available to stream from Amazon.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Caption: AUGUSTINE

This week, we can finally stop chasing the Oscar movies and watch some overlooked gems.

ON VIDEO

Augustine: obsession, passion and the birth of a science. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

The Brainwashing of My Dad: Filmmaker Jan Senko expores how right-wing media impacts the mood and personality of its consumers as well as their political outlook – and she uses her own dad as a case study. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

Linda Hunt and Mel Gibson in THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

On May 2, Turner Classic Movies presents Peter Weir’s 1982 political thriller The Year of Living Dangerously, starring Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. In the exotic setting of Sukarno’s Indonesia, this film has gripping intrigue, romance and a neo-noir ending.

The stars were each coming off their first major feature, Weaver’s Eyewitness with William Hurt and Gibson with the original Mad Max. The Year of Living Dangerously made them both solid A-list movie stars. Linda Hunt won an Oscar for her gender- and race-crossing performance as the local fixer.

Weir had made the fine Australian films Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli. This major MGM release brought him success in his first Hollywood picture and empowered Weir to follow with Witness, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show and Master and Commander.

Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson in THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

THE BRAINWASHING OF MY DAD: some insight into our national madness

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Filmmaker Jan Senko’s dad Frank in THE BRAINWASHING OF MY DAD

How the hell did we get here – a moment when millions of Americans believe stuff that demonstrably isn’t true – and have this misconceptions drive them into unrighteous rage? For insight, let’s look at the prescient 2016 documentary The Brainwashing of My Dad, which saw some of this nightmare coming.

In 2016, I wrote, “Ever notice how people who watch a lot of Fox News or listen to talk radio become bitter, angry and, most telling, fact-resistant?” Then I couldn’t imagine an assault on a the US Capitol by propaganda-intoxicated hillbilly barbarians. In The Brainwashing of My Dad, filmmaker Jan Senko explores how right-wing media impacts the mood and personality of its consumers as well as their political outlook. Senko uses her own father Frank as a case study.

We see Frank Senko become continually mad and, well, mean. And we hear testimony about many, many others with the identical experience. Experts explain the existence of a biological addiction to anger.

Senko traces the history of right-wing media from the mid-1960s, with the contributions of Lewis Powell, Richard Nixon, Rush Limbaugh, Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch. Senko even gets right-wing wordsmith Frank Luntz on camera to explain the power of buzz words. If you don’t know this story (Hillary was right about the “vast, right-wing conspiracy”) , Senko spins the tale very comprehensively. If you do know the material (and my day job is in politics), it is methodical.

This topic is usually explored for its impact on political opinion. Senko’s focus on mood and personality is original and The Brainwashing of My Dad contributes an important addition to the conversation. One last thing about the brainwashing of Senko’s dad – it may not be irreversible…

I first reviewed The Brainwashing of My Dad for its U.S. Premiere at Cinequest 2016. The Brainwashing of My Dad is available streaming on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

AUGUSTINE: obsession, passion and the birth of a science

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Vincent Lindon (left) and xxxxx (center) AUGUSTINE

The absorbing French drama Augustine is based on the real work of 19th century medical research pioneer Jean-Martin Charcot, known as the father of neurology. A young kitchen maid begins suffering wild seizures and is brought to Charcot’s research hospital. He ascertains the triggers for the seizures, and begins to close in on cure. Needing funding for his research, he triggers her seizures before groups of his peers; he is showing off his research, but it’s clear that his affluent male audience is titillated by the comely girl’s orgasmic thrashes.

She is drawn to this man whose kindness to her belies their class difference and whose brilliance is the key to her recovery. The good doctor intends to cure her – but not until she has performed for his potential funders. She is unexpectedly cured just before Charcot’s most important demonstration, and she gets to decide whether to continue her exploitation. In the stunning conclusion, she gets the upper hand and her simmering feelings erupt.

The fine French actor Vincent Lindon (Mademoiselle Chambon) excels at playing very contained and reserved characters, and here he nails Charcot’s clash of decency and professional ambition.

The French pop singer Soko is captivating as his patient. I noted the feral fierceness and simmering intensity of Soko in The Stopover, a film that I saw at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM).

It’s an auspicious first feature film for writer-director Alice Winocour. She has constructed a story that about two sympathetic characters whose interests converge, then diverge and then… Since Augustine, Winocur has co-written the wonderful Mustang and directed Disorder.

Augustine is available to stream from Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Caption: Choe Zhao, director of NOMADLAND

The Oscars will presented Sunday night, and I expect deserving Oscars for Nomadland (Best Picture), Chloe Zhao (Director), Chadwick Boseman (Actor), Another Round (International Feature) and Sound of Metal (Sound). I’ll generally be happy with any wins by Nomadland, Sound of Metal and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Blues.

Zhao is also nominated for Original Screenplay and Editing. I’m annoyed that IMDb and some other sources describe Chloé Zhao as a “Chinese director”. Although she was born in Beijing, I consider Zhao a Chinese-born American filmmaker. As a child, she left China for a London boarding school and finished high school in LA; she graduated from college and film school in the US, and has made all of her movies in America. Besides, what other filmmaker has set her last three movies in South Dakota, for chrissakes?

This Oscar week, I’ve also highlighted what I think is the Most Overlooked Movie of 2020: Driveways.

And here’s my remembrance of cult director Monte Hellman.

ON VIDEO

See the Oscar-nominated films (IN THIS ORDER).

ON TV

Janet Gaynor, Fredric March and Adolphe Menjou in A STAR IS BORN

Compare and contrast. On April 26, Turner Classic Movies is showing the 1937, 1954 and 1976 versions of A Star Is Born. In all three, the story is about an entertainment superstar self destructing from narcissism and addiction, with a sinking career eclipsed by that of a lover-protege. Each version features with A-list talent, but some are much better than others.

The 1937 original stars Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, with the screenplay adapted by Dorothy Parker and others from a story co-written by director William Wyler. The 1954 screenplay was adapted by Moss Hart, and the movie, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, was directed by George Cukor. The 1976 re-remake stars Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristoffersson (at his hunkiest) with a script by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne.

The 1976 film launched the producing career of Jon Peters, Streisand’s hairdresser boyfriend. Despite a terrible personal reputation, he went on to produce 52 more films before his career was extinguished by a #MeToo scandal.

My favorites are the 1937 original and the 2018 version (which TCM is not airing) with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Cooper also co-adapted the screenplay and directed; Lady Gaga shared the Oscar for Best Original Song for Shallow. The Streisand-Kristoffersson version is not good.

The real life basis of the story is said to be Barbara Stanwyck and her contemptible and obnoxious first husband Frank Fay. 16 years younger than Fay, Stanwyck married him when she was 21 and transitioning from chorus girl to movie ingenue. Within seven years, she had become a major movie star and had had enough of the fading vaudevillian Fay. By all accounts, Fay was a drunken, anti-Semitic, pro-fascist, wife-beater with a massive ego: Fred Allen said of Fay, “The last time I saw him he was walking down Lover’s Lane, holding his own hand.“

Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in A STAR IS BORN

The most overlooked movie of 2020

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Brian Dennehy, Lucas Jaye and Hong Chau

The Oscars are coming up on Sunday night, so here’s a plug for The Most Overlooked Movie of the Year. I can’t think of a more authentic movie about intergenerational relationships than the charming, character-driven Driveways. I saw this modest little indie at Cinequest, and it’s one of the Best Movies of 2020.

Kathy (Hong Chau) and her nine-year-old Cody (Lucas Jaye) arrive in a small town to clean out and flip the house of Kathy’s late sister. Kathy and her much older sister had lost touch,and Kathy is surprised and disheartened to discover that the sister had become a hoarder, making the clean-up job monumental. The octogenarian next-door neigbor Del (Brian Dennehy) watches from his porch.

All three are facing life challenges. Kathy is a single mom trying to navigate a career change; now she has an unwanted chore and some guilt from not reviving the relationship with her sister. Cody is a sensitive kid who isn’t comfortable in many situations and who has an embarrassing reaction to anxiety. Del is grieving the loss of his wife and facing the loss of his independence. Things do not go as the audience expects.

Hong Chau in DRIVEWAYS

Director Andrew Ahn, by dropping subtle clues, lets the audience connect the dots about the characters and their back stories. We learn about the mom-son relationship when she discards a cigarette on the ground and he wordlessly grinds it out with his shoe. We learn about Del’s fears about his independence when he glances at an increasingly forgetful buddy.

Driveways is a three-hander and all three actors, Hong Chau, Lucas Jaye and Brian Dennehy are superb. 91-year-old character actor Jerry Adler is brilliant in a few very brief scenes.

This was the final performance for Brian Dennehy (scroll down to bottom for my remembrance). His performance – so remarkably genuine and subtle – in Driveways is award-worthy. Dennehy’s facial expression, in one fleeting moment, conveys Del’s profound regret about a mistake that he made with his own daughter.

Brian Dennehy and Lucas Jaye in DRIVEWAYS

Driveways played at Cinequest 2020 with an in-person appearance by Hong Chau, which I skipped because I sized it up as too sappy. I was wrong.

You know how children are drawn to some kids and not to others? Driveways perfectly captures the joy of making friends when a kid discovers another kid with common interests.

That authenticity is exactly what keeps Driveways from being corny. There’s not a hint of manipulation from Ahn. That’s why Driveways is that rarity, a recommendation from The Movie Gourmet that can be described as”heartfelt”.

Cody is as much the lead character as are the mom and the old guy. The Wife thinks that the movie is too slow for kids. But I’d give it a try and challenge the kids. It’s only 83 minutes, and I think kids will be drawn to the portrayal of a kid that is so real-world and unlike the stock characters spoon fed them by the likes of the Disney Channel.

Driveways is available to stream on all the major platforms.