Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Gemma Arterton and Lucas Bond in SUMMERLAND

This week: three new documentaries, a wonderful essay and the most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE. Plus, a rarely seen film noir is coming up on TCM.

First, I am reminding you about a MUST READ. That most literary of critics, the Bay Area’s own Richard von Busack, writes on the Golden Age and the COVID Era resurgence of drive-in movie theaters in SF Weekly: At the Drive-In: A Remembrance.

ON VIDEO

Summerland: Gemma Arterton and two child actors shine in the contrived melodrama Summerland, which finally arrives at its heartwarming conclusion. Available from most streaming services.

The Go-Go’s: The Go-Go’s have been the only all-female band to write their own music and play their own instruments ever to have a number one Billboard record. This is a modest film about a singular moment in popular music. Streaming on Showtime.

The Booksellers: This amiable documentary slips us into the obscure world of antiquarian book collectors and dealers. It’s a passion that few of us share, but, for the few, a passion it is indeed. Streaming from Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube and Google Play.

A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story: This doc traces the history of TV’s longest-running music performance show. There’s a very heavy dose of the main producer, Terry Lickona, and the doc dives short shrift to the show’s greatest contribution – introducing mainstream American audiences to artists like Joe Ely, Marcia Ball, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. There are behind-the-stage anecdotes about Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard. It streams on Amazon (included with Prime).

Campbell Scott in THE 11TH GREEN

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

ON TV

Diana Dors and Victor Mature in THE LONG HAUL

On August 21, Turner Classic Movies airs The Long Haul, one of my Overlooked Noir. In a vehicle for the curvy Diana Dors, a world weary Victor Mature personalizes weariness, disgust, desperation and adherence to a code. The Long Haul isn’t available to stream, so DVR it on TCM this week.

Movies to See Right Now

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Alan Parker’s THE COMMITMENTS

This week: The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE, two remembrances and a wonderful essay on drive-ins.

That most literary of critics, the Bay Area’s own Richard von Busack, writes on the Golden Age and the COVID Era resurgence of drive-in movie theaters in SF Weekly: At the Drive-In: A Remembrance. This is a MUST READ.

REMEMBRANCES

Alan Parker had a gift for directing modern musicals (Bugsy Malone, Fame, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Evita) but he was Oscar-nominated for two harrowing dramas, Midnight Express and Mississippi Burning. He also directed the deliciously trashy Angel Heart. My favorite Alan Parker film is the ever-delightful The Commitments.

Wilford Brimley in THE CHINA SYNDROME

Actor Wilford Brimley started out in life as a real cowboy. At age 45, he broke through as an actor playing Jack Lemmon’s loyal assistant engineer in The China Syndrome. More good curmudgeon performances followed on TV and in movies (Cocoon, Absence of Malice). Ironically, this fine actor is most well-known for a Quaker Oatmeal commercial.

ON VIDEO

Natalia Dyer in YES, GOD, YES

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

ON TV

Ben Gazzara and Timothy Carey in CONVICTS 4

On August 11, Turner Classic Movies is airing the very idiosyncratic Convicts 4, the true-life tail of one convict, played by Ben Gazzara, who develops into a fine artist while in prison. There’s a particularly unforgettable supporting turn by one of my favorite movie psychos, Timothy Carey, here in one of his most eccentrically self-conscious performances. The rich cast includes Stuart Whitman, Vincent Price, Rod Steiger, Jack Albertson, Ray Walton, Brodrick Crawford and Sammy Davis Jr.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Natalia Dyer in YES, GOD, YES

This week: a sweet coming of age comedy and a pointed religious satire – all in the same movie. Plus art house cinema comes to your home and remembrances of two wonderful screen actors – one a mega-star and one not so much.

REMEMBRANCES

Olivia de Haveilland in GONE WITH THE WIND

Silicon Valley native and icon of classic Hollywood, Olivia de Havilland (her real name) was raised in Saratoga and went to Los Gatos High. Her performance in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in the Saratoga Community Theater led directly to her appearing in the Hollywood film version of the play at age 19. She starred as the leading lady in her next film, Captain Blood, the first of a series of Warner Brothers costume romances that matched her with Erroll Flynn, with whom she had undeniable chemistry: The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Santa Fe Trail, Dodge City, They Died with Their Boots On and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. In this period, she was loaned to David O. Selznick for her most remembered role, that of the profoundly sweet and decent Melanie in Gone with the Wind.

De Havilland won her contractual freedom from Warner Brothers through landmark litigation in 1943. She went on to more serious fare and earned three Oscar nods in the next six years, winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress.

And here’s my remembrance of versatile and prolific actor John Saxon.

ON VIDEO

Yes, God, Yes: A sweet coming of age story and pointed jab at religious hypocrisy; based on writer-director Karen Maine’s own youthful experiences. Yes, God, Yes has been available to stream on Virtual Cinema and is available from the usual VOD platforms.

The Women’s Balcony:. A community of women in a traditional culture revolt in the delightfully smart and funny Israeli comedy. You can stream it on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

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

ON TV

Burt Lancaster in BRUTE FORCE

On August 6, Turner Classic Movies will present Brute Force (1947), the Jules Dassin noir that is by far the best of the Hollywood prison dramas of the 30s and 40s. A convict (Burt Lancaster) is taunted by a sadistic guard (Hume Cronyn) and plans an escape. It’s a pretty violent film for the 1940s, and was inspired by the 1946 Battle of Alcatraz, in which three cons and two guards were killed. Charles Bickford, Whit Bissell and Sam Levene are excellent as fellow cons. On my list of Best Prison Movies.

Burt Lancaster (right) in BRUTE FORCE

THE WOMEN’S BALCONY: a righteous man must keep his woman happy

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THE WOMEN’S BALCONY

A community of women in a traditional culture revolt in the delightfully smart and funny Israeli comedy The Women’s Balcony.   The balcony in a small Jerusalem synagogue  collapses, and the building is condemned.  The old rabbi’s wife is seriously injured, and he suffers a trauma-induced psychotic breakdown.  Just when it looks like the leaderless congregation will die, a young and charismatic rabbi (Avraham Aviv Alush) appears, enlivens the congregation and repairs the building.  But he rebuilds the synagogue WITHOUT the women’s section.  Profoundly disrespected, the synagogue’s women strike in protest.

The women live in a culture where males have all the power and religious authority trumps all.  The women all have their individually distinct gifts, personalities and rivalries. But they all appreciate the injustice of the situation, and they are really pissed off.  They are very creative in finding way to leverage the power that they do have, and the result is very, very funny.

This could have been a very broad comedy (and a Lysistrata knock-off).  Instead, it’s richly textured, with an examination of ethical behavior and loving relationships.  It’s also dotted with comments on the relations between Israeli Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox and on the importance of food in this culture.  It’s the first – and very promising – feature for both director Emil Ben-Shimon and writer Shlomit Nehana.

THE WOMEN’S BALCONY

There are plenty LOL moments, including a scene where one of the congregants masquerades as the demented old rabbi to secure the needed psychotropic meds.

We soon understand that the young rabbi has a very unattractive side – grossly sexist and power-hungry. But he has seduced the men and then cows them by manipulating his religious authority. He’s tearing apart a closely bound community braided together by decades of deep friendship and inter-reliance. The movie turns on whether the men can recognize when his supposed righteousness veers into what is really unethical and, in one pivotal scene with the old rabbi, indecent.

Two of the male characters, deeply in love with their women, step up and do the right thing. This overt comedy has a very a romantic core.

Most of all, The Women’s Balcony is about mature relationships. Most of these couples have been married for decades, especially the couple at the core of the story, Ettie (Evein Hagoel) and Zion (Igal Naor). Ben-Shimon and Nehana prove themselves to be keen and insightful observers of long-lasting relationships.

A righteous man must keep his woman happy. This may not be written in the Holy Scriptures, but it’s damn useful advice. (It also helps, we learn, if he can make a mean fruit salad.) The longer you’ve been married, the funnier you’ll find The Women’s Balcony. You can stream it on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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John Lewis in JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE

This COVID Era is taking a toll on all of us. I’ve found that my movie taste hasn’t changed, but my appetite has. I’m having a tougher time selecting movies that are pessimistic or which have unsympathetic protagonists. And I’m watching many more Feel Good movies than usual. It brings to mind the popularity of escapist movies during the Great Depression.

I’m also relating more intensely to real life stories of heroism (John Lewis), redemption (Danny Trejo) and gentleness (Walter Mercado).

ON VIDEO

Dateline-Saigon: documents the efforts of five journalists to cover the Vietnam War in the face of a US government which did not want the facts to be told. Streaming on iTunes.

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado: the biodoc of the mesmerizing Spanish language TV phenomenon, with his singular combination of flamboyance and gentleness. Streaming now on Netflix.

Our Kind of Traitor: a robust globe-trotting thriller, enlivened by a lusty Stellan Skarsgård and played out in a series of stunning set pieces. If you’re looking for an intelligent summer thriller for adults, this is your movie. You can stream it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Redbox.

When Jews Were Funny: Documentarian Alan Zweig interviews an impressive collection of Jewish comedians from an earlier generation (Shelly Berman, Jack Carter, Norm Crosby, Shecky Greene) and more recent stars (David Brenner, Super Dave Osborne, Howie Mandel, Judy Gold, Gilbert Gottfried, Marc Maron, David Steinberg). Unfortunately, Zweig himself sucks out the energy with his own midlife naval gazing, which engages, confuses, bemuses and annoys his interviewees. Some great Jewish humor does seep through, including the jokes with the famous punchlines He had a hat. and Is anything alright? When Jews Were Funny can be streamed from Amazon (included with Prime) and a couple more obscure services.

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

ON TV

Lizabeth Scott, Dick Powell and Raymond Burr in PITFALL

On July 28, Turner Classic Movies features one of my Overlooked Noir, Pitfall (1948), a noir thriller without either a conventional sap or a conventional femme fatale. Dick Powell plays a WW II vet who is bored with the post-war suburban humdrum, and Lizabeth Scott plays a gal with terrible taste in boyfriends. Neither deserves to be gragged into a thriller, but they are. Raymond Burr, again, makes for a menacing sicko stalker.

Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott in PITFALL

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR: Skarsgård steals this robust thriller

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Naomie Harris and Ewan McGregor in OUR KIND OF TRAITOR. Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.

Our Kind of Traitor is a robust globe-trotting thriller, enlivened by a lusty Stellan Skarsgård and played out in a series of stunning set pieces.  A meek Everyman (Ewan McGregor) is a tag-along on his high-powered wife’s trip to Cairo.   Nursing a drink after a tiff with said wife (the sleek Naomie Harris from 28 Days Later… and a couple of Bond films), he is inveigled into joining a crew of partying Russians and becomes entangled in an intrigue that puts entire families at stake – including his own.

It turns out that our protagonist has been randomly plucked from the humdrum by Dima (Skarsgård), the top money launderer for the Russian Mafia, who is trying to get British intelligence to help his family escape from his murderous colleagues.  The story having been adapted from a John le Carré novel, the dour British spy (Damian Lewis from Homeland) on the case is being hindered at every turn by a thoroughly corrupt British law enforcement and intelligence bureaucracy, with the rot reaching up to Cabinet level.

Ewen McGregor and Stellan Skarsgaard in OUR KIND OF TRAITOR

The very best thing about Our Kind of Traitor is Stellan Skarsgård’s performance.   Dima is loud, flamboyant and profoundly course. Skarsgård has filled his career with brooding roles, but here he gets to play the life of the party, and he is hilarious – and steals the movie.

Our Kind of Traitor also looks great as it takes us from Russia (shot in Finland) to Cairo (Morocco) to Switzerland to London to Paris.  Director Susanna White is a veteran (21 directing credits on IMDb), but Our Kind of Traitor is her first big budget action movie.    The success of the film revolves around a series of spectacular set pieces, and White pulls it off masterfully.

Our Kind of Traitor isn’t as good as the best of le Carré’s work (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, for instance), but it’s damn entertaining.  I saw the final four plot twists coming, but by then I was hooked, so I still enjoyed the film.  And, adapting to the post-Cold War world, le Carré may have become even more cynical. 

I saw Our Kind of Traitor (with The Wife) at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) at a screening with director Susanna White.  If you’re looking for an intelligent summer thriller for adults, this is your movie. You can stream it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Redbox.

Movies to See Right Now (still at home)

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Danny Trejo in INMATE #1: THE RISE OF DANNY TREJO

This week – the year’s most original film, plus a Feel Good about the lovable Danny Trejo and two great surfing documentaries.

ON VIDEO

Campbell Scott in THE 11TH GREEN

The 11th Green: You won’t find a more original movie this year than Christopher Munch’s absorbing exploration of extraterrestrial visits to Earth. There are no Little Green Men, but wait until Ike and Obama talk to each other in another dimension! You can buy a virtual ticket for The 11th Green – and support the Roxie Theater – at Theatrical-At-Home.

Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo: a satisfying documentary on Danny Trejo’s extraordinarily redemptive life: from junkie/vicious thug/inmate to lovable/drug counselor/movie star. We can’t get too much redemption these days, so stream Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo from Amazon, Vudu, TouTube and Google Play.

Step into Liquid and Riding Giants: Get stoked with the two most bitchin’ surfing documentaries. Both can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play

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

ON TV

Kirk Douglas and Woody Strode in SPARTACUS

Tune in to Turner Classic Movies on July 20, for one of cinema’s great spectacles, Spartacus. If you haven’t watched Spartacus in a while, you probably remember it for Kirk Douglas’ macho tour de force, the ever stunning Jean Simmons and the sexual cat-and-mouse between Laurence Olivier and the Bronx-accented slaveboy Tony Curtis. But you might have forgotten the strength of the supporting performances by Peter Ustinov, Charles Laughton and – my favorite – Woody Strode. And watching the recent Trumbo, I was reminded that indie producer Kirk Douglas awarded the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo the screenwriting credit that others had denied him; his decision helped to end the Hollywood blacklist (and also it really helped that Spartacus was a massive financial success).

Kirk Douglas in SPARTACUS

Hang ten this summer

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RIDING GIANTS

Let’s go surfin’ now

Everybody’s learning how

Come on and safari with me

It’s a great time to get stoked with the two most bitchin’ surfing movies, the documentaries Step Into Liquid and Riding Giants.

In Step Into Liquid (2003), we see the world’s best pro surfers in the most extreme locations.  We also see devoted amateurs in the tiny ripples of Lake Michigan and surfing evangelists teaching Irish school children.  The cinematography is remarkable – critic Elvis Mitchell called the film “insanely gorgeous”.  The filmmaker is Dana Brown, son of Bruce Brown, who invented the surf doc genre with The Endless Summer (1966) and The Endless Summer II (1994).

Riding Giants (2004) focuses on the obsessive search for the best wave by some of the greatest surfers in history. We see “the biggest wave ever ridden” and then a monster that could be bigger.  The movie traces the discovery of the Half Moon Bay surf spot Mavericks.  And more and more, all wonderfully shot.

The filmmaker is Stacy Peralta, a surfer and one the pioneers of modern skateboading, (and a founder of the Powell Peralta skateboard product company).  Peralta also made Dogtown and Z-boys (2001), the great documentary about the roots of skateboarding, and wrote the 2005 Lords of Dogtown.

Both Step into Liquid and Riding Giants can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in THE TRUTH. Photo courtesy if IFC Films.

This week: an insightful, wry showcase for two of France’s most iconic actresses and a tribute to movie composer Ennio Morricone.

From earlier this week, here’s my remembrance of Ennio Morricone.

ON VIDEO

The Truth: Writer-director Hirozaki Koreeda’s latest wry and authentic exploration of human behavior is a showcase for Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche.

John Lewis: Good Trouble: A revealing documentary on the Civil Rights icon.

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

ON TV

Jack “Dragnet” Webb and Peggy Lee in PETE KELLY’S BLUES

On July 14, TCM brings us something COMPLETELY different, the 1955 Pete Kelly’s Blues, directed by and starring Jack Webb, who we all know from TV’s Dragnet.   Made at the downturn of the Big Band Era, Pete Kelly’s Blues is set at during Prohibition in the infancy of Big Bands.

It’s a fairly routine drama about a small time bandleader on the outs with a dangerous crime boss, but Jack Webb loved jazz and worked hard to get the music in the movie right, resulting in quite the period document.  Peggy Lee received a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for portraying an alcoholic vocalist.  There’s an unforgettable cameo performance by Ella Fitzgerald at the top of her game.  The house band includes many real-life musicians who played with Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby and the like, including  Matty Matlock, Eddie Miller and Jud De Naut.

Webb never had much range as an actor, but the rest of the cast is excellent: Janet Leigh, Edmond O’Brien,  Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Jayne Mansfield and Harry Morgan.  Not a great flick, but worth a look for the music.

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Laverne Cox in DISCLOSURE. Photo courtesy of NETFLIX.

This week: four new 2020 films – The Traitor, Shooting the Mafia, Mae West: Dirty Blonde, The Ghost of Peter Sellers. Last week: five new 2020 films – Da 5 Bloods, Disclosure, Yourself and Yours, Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things and You Don’t Nomi. As a tribute to Carl Reiner, it’s time to revisit The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! Plus a great classic Western on TV.

ON VIDEO

The Traitor: A true life epic spanning four decades and three continents, The Traitor introduces us to the first and most important Sicilian Cosa Nostra informer. The Traitor can be rented from all the major streaming services.

Shooting the Mafia: Another movie about the Sicilian Mafia, this is the biodoc of Letizia Battaglia, whose photojournalistic specialty became photographing murder victims and also documented the grief, trauma and outrage of the Sicilian population. Shooting the Mafia can be streamed on iTunes, YouTube and Google Play.

Disclosure: This insightful (and even revelatory) documentary about the depiction of trans people on screen is moving and thought-provoking. Disclosure is streaming on Netflix.

Mae West: Dirty Blonde: I learned a lot from this excellent biopic: Mae West was more than a drop-in risque caricature – starting a movie career after age 40, she was an uncredited writer and producer of her films. And she did it in a prudish era when women’s aspirations were not encouraged (intentional understatement). Available on demand from PBS stations. Trailer.

The Ghost of Peter Sellers: This documentary tells the story of an uncompleted early 1970s pirate movie parody, Ghost in the Noonday Sun, sabotaged by its star, Peter Sellers. The doc is from the fraught perspective of the director, Peter Medak, whose career was harmed by the fiasco. The 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha (Amazon, iTunes) which chronicles Terry Gilliam’s disastrous attempt to film Don Quixote, is a much better and more entertaining movie than this one.

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!: Appreciate Carl Reiner, the best Straight Man in American comedy, in this goodhearted and very, very funny Cold War parody.

Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint and Carl Reiner in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

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

ON TV

Millard Mitchell and James Stewart in WINCHESTER ’73

On July 6, Turner Classic Movies presents what is perhaps the best of director Anthony Mann’s “psychological Westerns”, Winchester ’73 (1950) with James Stewart. Winchester ’73 taps the quest and revenge genres, and it has the Western’s requisite Indian battle and climactic shootout.  Westerns were oft about Good versus Bad, but Mann makes Jimmy Stewart’s character in Winchester ’73 much more complex and morally ambiguous – and he has what we now call “unresolved issues”.  The bad guys are Dan Duryea at his oiliest and Stephen McNally at his most brutish.  The 29-year-old Shelly Winters finds herself as the object of several characters’ desires.  Millard Mitchell is perfect as Jimmy’s sidekick. One of my favorite character actors, Jay C. Flippen, shows up as a cavalry sergeant.

Stephen McNally, Shelly Winters and Dan Duryea in WINCHESTER ’73
WINCHESTER ’73

REMEMBRANCES

Carl Reiner, from earlier this week.

Director Joel Schumacher had been a department store window dresser when he broke into movies as a set designer. Then he wrote the screenplay for the wonderful guilty pleasure Car Wash, which led to directing the similar DC Cab. His career took off when he launched the Brat Pack with St Elmo’s Fire, and followed that with Batman and Robin. My favorite Schumacher film is the 2002 thriller Phone Booth, in which an Everyman – or is he? – (Colin Farrell) is trapped in a phone booth by a sniper villain (Kiefer Sutherland); Phone Booth can be streamed from all the usual sources.