Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no one should be going to movie theaters right now. The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) made the right decision and cancelled, as did the famed Cannes Festival. So, there will be no “OUT NOW” recommendations from me for a while, but I’ll try to double up on movies to WATCH AT HOME.
ON VIDEO
My video pick this week – for St. Paddy’s Week – is the warmly funny The Commitments (1991), the affectionate tale of an unlikely aspiration and an unnecessary fiasco. The Commitments can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, YouTube and Google Play, usually for less than the cost of a pint of Guinness.
Here are my comments on the Best Movies of 2019, all of which are now available to stream.
ON TV
On March 21 and 22, Turner Classic Movies will present one of my Overlooked Noir, Elevator to the Gallows– such a groundbreaking film that you can argue that it’s the first of the neo-noir. It’s the debut of director Louis Malle, shot when he was only 24 years old. It’s more difficult now to appreciate the originality of Elevator the Gallows; but in 1958, no one had seen a film with a Miles Davis soundtrack or one where the two romantic leads were never on-screen together. The Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, will provide his famous intro and outro,
This would have been the ending weekend of CINEQUEST which will resume in mid-August when, hopefully the COVID-19 pandemic will have peaked. Until then, we’ll all be watching our movies at home.
REMEMBRANCE
Max Von Sydow in THE SEVENTH SEAL
Sixty-three years after the chess game with Death himself in The Seventh Seal, actor Max Von Sydow has finally succumbed. Von Sydow is justifiably most well known among cinephiles for his many roles in a cascade of Ingmar Bergman’s grimness, including The Seventh Seal, The Magician, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Shame and The Passion of Anna. And in The Magician, he had to don the most off-putting of facial hair. His biggest hit, of course was as the title character in The Exorcist. Contrary to his image, he had the capacity for hilarity, which he demonstrated in Hannah and Her Sisters as a ridiculously pretentious and selfish artist. Along with that role, my favorite Von Sydow performances were in Jan Troell’s The Emigrants and The New Land, as a Swedish settler in frontier America.
OUT NOW
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is the remarkably thorough and insightful biodoc of the iconic film critic Pauline Kael and her drive for relevance.
Of the new films I haven’t yet seen, Seberg, with Kristin Stewart, looks the most promising.
And here’s what I’ve written about the best Oscar-nominated movies. They’re all available to stream:
This week’s video pick is the superb 2013 drama Short Term 12, with a cast of then-emerging actors – Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, LaKeith Stanfield, Rami Malek and John Gallagher Jr. – all before they became stars. You can find it on most streaming platforms.
ON TV
On both March 14 and 15, Turner Classic Movies is presenting one of the earliest films noir, I Wake Up Screaming. I Wake Up Screaming has proto-noir style, the matter-of-fact sexiness of Carole Landis, the easy-to-root-for pair of Betty Grable and Victor Mature, and the amazing performance of Laird Cregar as the most menacing and creepy of stalkers. Plus there’s the most incongruous use of the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It’s one of my Overlooked Noir, and Czar of Noir Eddie Muller will add some tidbits before and after.
Betty Grable and Laird Cregar in I WAKE UP SCREAMING
THE LONGEST WAVE, tonight at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
Of course, I’m deep into Cinequest as usual: The best of Cinequest 2020. If you’re going, look for these three world premieres: Before the Fire (Saturday at the Hammer), 3 Day Weekend (tonight in Redwood City, Monday at the Hammer) and Small Time (Saturday in Redwood City, Sunday at 3Below). I’ve linked ten feature stories and 21 movie recommendations on my CINEQUEST page.
OUT NOW
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is the remarkably thorough and insightful biodoc of the iconic film critic Pauline Kael and her drive for relevance.
Of the new films I haven’t yet seen, Seberg, with Kristin Stewart, looks the most promising.
And here’s what I’ve written about the best Oscar-nominated movies. They’re all available to stream:
This week’s video pick, the Norwegian suspense thriller Revenge, comes from the 2017 Cinequest. Revenge can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
On March 10, Turner Classic Movies will air Monterey Pop (1968). This is one of the few DVDs that I still own, for the performances by Mamas and the Papas, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Canned Heat, Simon and Garfunkle, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Country Joe and the Fish and The Who.
It’s okay with me if you fast forward over Ravi Shankar. Don’t miss the reaction of Mama Cass Elliot, sitting in the audience, to Janis Joplin. Pete Townsend and Jimi Hendrix had a guitar-destroying competition, which Hendrix, aided by lighter fluid, undeniably won. The Otis Redding set is epic.
Cinequest opens tonight, so this week’s video pick comes from the 2017 fest. In the Norwegian suspense thriller Revenge, the slightly creepy Rebekka (Siren Jørgensen) appears at a hotel on a remote fjord under the false pretense that she is a travel writer. The hotel is otherwise empty because it is off-season (think The Shining). She ingratiates herself with the hotel’s owner Morten, the most economically and socially significant person in town, and his wife (Maria Bock). It turns out that twenty years before, Morten date-raped Rebekka’s little sister, leading to her suicide. Now Rebekka wants to exact vengeance.
Revenge becomes a tick-tock suspenser as Rebekka deliberately lays her trap. We’re able to see some, but not all, of the web that she spins, which will put in jeopardy Morten’s reputation, marriage, business and his very health and survival. Can she pull it off? And how lethal will her revenge be?
It’s the first feature for Kjersti Steinsbø, who adapted the screenplay and directed. She has created a real page-turner here. In one very effective touch, it turns out that one of the characters knows FAR more than we initially suspect.
Anders Baasmo Christian in REVENGE
Revenge is uniformly well-acted, but Anders Baasmo Christian, as Bimbo the bartender, is exceptionally good. Just keep your focus on Bimbo. There’s more there than initially meets the eye. And Bimbo’s relationships with both Rebekka and Morten are very conflicted and complicated.
The ending is satisfying, and Morten’s ultimate fate is unexpected. Revenge was one of the world cinema high points of the 2017 Cinequest. Revenge can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
BEFORE THE FIRE: world premiere at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
I’m gearing up for my unparalleled coverage of Cinequest, which opens on Tuesday. Here’s my First Look at Cinequest from last month. I’ve already seen about twenty Cinequest films, and on Sunday I’ll be posting my festival preview with specific recommendations.
OUT NOW
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is the remarkably thorough and insightful biodoc of the iconic film critic Pauline Kael and her drive for relevance.
Of the new films I haven’t yet seen, Seberg, with Kristin Stewart, looks the most promising.
And here’s what I’ve written about the best Oscar-nominated movies. They’re all available to stream:
My video pick is We Believe in Dinosaurs, a thought-provoking documentary on scientists being totally outmatched by a monumental creationist theme park and its hordes of believers, massive private investment, capacity for technical wizardry and even state support. We Believe in Dinosaurs can be streamed from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
Need 100 minutes of uplift? On March 3, Turner Classic Movies brings us the gospel music documentary Say Amen, Somebody. This 1982 art house hit is very hard to find and is almost never on television. The film traces the genre from gospel pioneers Willie Mae Ford Smith and Thomas A. Dorsey to contemporary artists.
In the thought-provoking documentary We Believe in Dinosaurs, filmmakers Clayton Brown and Monica Long Ross introduce us to Ark Encounter, a Kentucky attraction with a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark. Explicitly pro-creationism and anti-evolution, Ark Encounter is filled with interpretive exhibits that illustrate the Biblical story of Noah as historical fact, kind of a fundamentalist, evangelical Smithsonian. Ark Encounter is 45 miles from its sister attraction, the Creation Museum.
There’s a lot to think about – and even marvel about – here. First of all, the Ark Encounter is an impressive spectacle. In Genesis, God directed Noah to build the ark to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. That means that this thing is a football field-and-a-half long and over four stories high. We get to meet and observe the technicians and artists as they build the animatronic Noah family and the reproduced animals.
The bigger story here, though, is the massive investment in anti-science propaganda. To justify their literal acceptance of Biblical content that is inconsistent with scientific fact, these folks behind the Ark Encounter believe that they need to discredit science itself. And they’re not just defending the literal occurrence of every Bible story, but also the chronology of Bishop Ussher who, in the mid 1600s, calculated that the earth was created in 4004 B.C. That means that the Ark Encounter aggressively explains that the Earth and the human race, despite fossil evidence, are each 6,000 years old – and that dinosaurs lived alongside humans (and voyaged on the Ark). It also means that they seek to discredit the Theory of Evolution and the scientific method itself (while enjoying its byproducts – vaccines, for example).
When you distill their beliefs, these neo-creationists are essentially turbanless Taliban. Just for perspective, after suppressing Galileo’s 1615 discovery of the earth-centered solar system, the Catholic Church started backpedaling in 1718. That means that 300 years ago, even the reactionary Church decided not to double down on denying scientific discoveries.
And what about the scientists? And people of faith who accept science? We Believe in Dinosaurs
brings us the perspectives of Ark Encounter opponents, most notably a
geologist, and a former neo-creationist, both native Kentuckians.
There’s also a local Baptist minister, who thinks that people of faith
can also accept science.
One of the stunning aspects of We Believe in Dinosaurs is the unexpected David-and-Goliath story. We might expect the science-deniers to be outmatched. But the folks with most primitive beliefs are the creative masters. Anti creationists are the Goliath, supported by hordes of believers, massive private investment, capacity for technical wizardry and even state support. On the other hand, scientists are not often skilled in or equipped with tools for political persuasion and mass communications. The pro-science folks are, like John the Baptist, a lone voice in the wilderness, losing the optics battle.
Brown and Long Ross have a point of view (that science is good), but they don’t make the Ark Encounter people ridiculous. We directly hear the Ark Encounter leadership’s public pronouncements, and we meet the earnest and often sympathetic folks who are using their considerable talents to build and fill the attraction. Brown and Long Ross let us hear from both sides and let us connect our own dots. Watch the closing credits to the very end to get the subjects’ unfiltered view of the filmmakers. And wait for the film’s super-creepy money shot – that of an animatronic figure reflecting on the fate of others.
I saw We Believe in Dinosaurs at its world premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM). We Believe in Dinosaurs can be streamed from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Jenna Lyng Adams in BEFORE THE FIRE, an indie thriller premiering at Cinequest
This time of year, there are good movie-viewing choices – they’re just not the ones being newly released into theaters. Now it’s the time to catch up on unseen Oscar-winners and to binge good episodic TV.
For example, this week’s new Will Ferrell/Julia Louis-Dreyfus release Downfall (which I haven’t seen) is by all reports a very dumbed-down remake of the sharp Swedish Force Majeure. Stream the original instead.
I’m currently buried in screening films from the upcoming Cinequest (March 3-15). The best of this year’s festival is pretty good, and here’s a teaser – I’ll be recommending at least three premieres:
the world premiere of a gripping thriller, written by its female star and the first feature by its female director. Hang on to your seats.
the world premiere of a gay Muslim romantic comedy.
the North American premiere of the year’s best Czech film.
Stay tuned.
OUT NOW
The masterpiece Parasite explores social inequity, first with hilarious comedy, then evolving into suspense and finally a shocking statement of the real societal stakes. This is one of the decade’s best films.
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson are brilliant in Noah Baumbach’s career-topping Marriage Story. A superb screenplay, superbly acted, Marriage Story balances tragedy and comedy with uncommon success. Marriage Story is streaming on Netflix.
Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman is tremendous, and features performances by Al Pacino and Joe Pesci that are epic, too. It’s streaming on Netflix.
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out turns a drawing room murder mystery into a wickedly funny send-up of totally unjustified entitlement. Knives Out is streaming.
Refusing to play it safe, director Francisco Meirelles elevates The Two Popes from would have been a satisfying acting showcase into a thought-provoker. It’s streaming on Netflix.
1917 is technically groundbreaking, but the screenplay neither thrilled me nor moved me.
ON VIDEO
My Stream of the Week is Jirga, from my list of 10 Overlooked Movies of 2019. A man goes on a quest in this parable of atonement. The film was shot guerilla-style, under cover in wartorn, terrorist-infested Afghanistan. Stream from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Redbox.
ON TV
Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar continues on February 27 with the classic film noir Kiss of Death. Victor Mature plays an ex-con with horrific luck – he gets caught on a heist and takes the rap for his cohorts; this leads to a long sentence and a double-cross with impacts to his wife and kids. Seeking to see his kids again, he is released back on the streets to set up the double-crossers for the DA. Mature, too often dismissed for his campy sword-and-sandal movies, did his finest work in film noir – especially I Wake Up Screaming, Kiss of Death and The Long Haul. Kiss of Death includes Richard Widmark’s breakthrough performance as psychopath Tommy Udo.
In Jirga, the Australian soldier Mike (Sam
Smith) returns alone to Afghanistan three years after his tour of duty.
Mike begins a quest that takes him into the stark desolation of the
hinterlands, where he must survive both the unforgiving elements and the
Taliban. We don’t know his objective until it is revealed 44 minutes
into the film. What we do immediately understand is that the stakes are
very high.
The tension builds as we wonder if Mike will survive, but Jirga
is a contemplation. How do you redress a wrong that you’ve committed?
By paying compensation? By asking for forgiveness? By an act of
atonement? Or of self-sacrifice?
The Afghanistan in Jirga is as dramatic a desolate landscape
as I’ve ever seen, often starkly beautiful. At one point, Gilmour
relieves the severity of the desert by dropping in a totally incongruous
and unexpected paddle boat in the form of a pastel swan.
Sam Smith is in almost every frame of Jirga, and his performance is impeccable.
Jirga is a notable achievement in filmmaking. Gilmour had
received permission to film among the Pashtun in Pakistan’s tribal
areas, but was frustrated (and finally harassed) by the ISI, Pakistan’s
notorious intelligence force. Gilmour bought a small Sony camera in
Islamabad and flew himself and Smith to Kabul. There, under the
constant protection of bodyguards, Gilmour was able to shoot the film on
the fly; conditions were safe enough to shoot during 20 days of a
two-month sojourn. Only two of the Afghan cast had ever been in a
movie. Gilmour’s previous film Son of a Lion was also set among the Pashtun and is available on Amazon Prime.
JIRGA
I saw Jirga at Cinema Club Silicon Valley,
with a Q&A with writer-director-camera operator Benjamin Gilmour.
Gilmour got the idea for the film in his other work as a paramedic,
encountering the PTSD of Australian veterans of the Middle East wars.
Gilmour observed that “male bravery is taught as how well you can fight”, and focused Jirga
on Mike’s non-violent courage in risking – and even offering -his life.
Gilmour developed Mike’s story so the “moral injury he suffered doesn’t
take the tragic path” of alcoholic self-medication or suicide that
Gilmour has observed firsthand in combat vets.
Jirga was Australia’s submission to the Academy Awards. It made my list of 10 Overlooked Movies of 2019. You can stream Jirga from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Redbox.
Well, the Oscars were, for once, a happy surprise. As I wrote last week, I knew Parasite would win the Best International Oscar and I was rooting for Bong Joon Ho to win either for screenplay or directing, but I never dreamed that Parasite would sweep four major awards. As a bonus, the lovable Bong made the most classy and generous acceptance speech. Parasite is now streaming widely (and only $3.99 on Amazon Prime right now).
I do have two friends with good movie taste who, surprisingly, did not like Parasite. The film’s ending is shattering and not for everyone, I very much admired and enjoyed it. As I’ve been saying since I saw it on October 24, it’s a masterpiece.
Chaos caused by a family medical emergency kept The Wife and I from our traditional Oscar Dinner. But if we had, we would have taken advantage of our friend Keifer’s wicked suggestion of featuring shaved peach fuzz from Parasite. Since it’s February and I’m in North America, the challenge would have been to source a fresh fuzzy peach.
OUT NOW
The masterpiece Parasite explores social inequity, first with hilarious comedy, then evolving into suspense and finally a shocking statement of the real societal stakes. This is one of the decade’s best films.
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson are brilliant in Noah Baumbach’s career-topping Marriage Story. A superb screenplay, superbly acted, Marriage Story balances tragedy and comedy with uncommon success. Marriage Story is streaming on Netflix.
Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman is tremendous, and features performances by Al Pacino and Joe Pesci that are epic, too. It’s streaming on Netflix.
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out turns a drawing room murder mystery into a wickedly funny send-up of totally unjustified entitlement. Knives Out is streaming.
Refusing to play it safe, director Francisco Meirelles elevates The Two Popes from would have been a satisfying acting showcase into a thought-provoker. It’s streaming on Netflix.
1917 is technically groundbreaking, but the screenplay neither thrilled me nor moved me.
ON VIDEO
My video pick, John Sayles’ City of Hope, is almost thirty years old, still searingly relevant on race in America and still one of the most incisive films on American politics. Life is complicated, so is America and so are politics. Most political films are NOT complicated, but Sayles respects the audience enough to give us a realistic story in a realistic community setting. City of Hope may be streamed from iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar continues on February 15 with the John Sturges masterpiece Bad Day at Black Rock. Spencer Tracy investigates a disappearance in an especially hostile, racist and sinister town. Besides having Tracy at his best and being a great looking movie, Bad Day at Black Rock is notable for its menacing crew of Bad Guys – Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin.
Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan in BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
It’s time for the Oscars, and The Movie Gourmet will be rooting for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Parasite, which lead my Best Movies of 2019. I’ll be rooting for Adam Driver (actor), Brad Pitt (supporting actor), Laura Dern (supporting actress), Bong Joon Ho or Quentin Tarantino (director and original screenplay) and Taika Waititi (adapted screenplay for Jojo Rabbit).
Roger Deakins should win the cinematography Oscar for 1917; overall, I wasn’t impressed with 1917, except for the technical achievements, so I would be OK with 1917 winning some technical Oscars. I haven’t yet seen the favorite for best documentary, American Factory, which is streamable.
If Honeyland or The Joker win anything, I will become nauseous. If 1917 takes Best Picture, it will be projectile vomit.
OUT NOW
The masterpiece Parasite explores social inequity, first with hilarious comedy, then evolving into suspense and finally a shocking statement of the real societal stakes. This is one of the decade’s best films.
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson are brilliant in Noah Baumbach’s career-topping Marriage Story. A superb screenplay, superbly acted, Marriage Story balances tragedy and comedy with uncommon success. Marriage Story is streaming on Netflix.
Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman is tremendous, and features performances by Al Pacino and Joe Pesci that are epic, too. It’s streaming on Netflix.
Uncut Gems is a neo-noir in a pressure cooker. Adam Sandler channels a guy racing through a gambling addiction and the resultant financial desperation. It’s the most wire-to-wire movie tension in years.
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out turns a drawing room murder mystery into a wickedly funny send-up of totally unjustified entitlement.
Refusing to play it safe, director Francisco Meirelles elevates The Two Popes from would have been a satisfying acting showcase into a thought-provoker. It’s streaming on Netflix.
1917 is technically groundbreaking, but the screenplay neither thrilled me nor moved me.
The earnest documentary Honeyland failed to keep me interested.
ON VIDEO
The character-driven suspenser The Gift is more than a satisfying thriller – it’s a well-made and surprisingly thoughtful film that I keep mulling over. The Gift is available to rent on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and to stream from Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon in ATLANTIC CITY
Turner Classic Movies continues its 31 Days of Oscar on February 8 with Atlantic City, one of only 43 movies that have been nominated for all of the Big Five Oscars (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay). Susan Sarandon plays Sally, a hard luck waitress in Atlantic City at its shabbiest. She’s never met anyone like her neighbor Lou (Burt Lancaster), an elderly small-time hood, who behaves as if he’s mob royalty, despite the fact that he lives across the alley from Sally. Despite his station, Lou has the confidence that comes from having seen every situation before. Sally’s nogoodnik ex entangles the two in a life or death drug buy. Top rate.
Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster in ATLANTIC CITY
