Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Oscar Isaac in FRANKENSTEIN. Courtesy of Netflix.

This week on The Movie Gourmet, new reviews of the psychodrama Nuremberg, Guillermo de Toro’s Frankenstein, and the clear-eyed biodoc Kissinger. Frankenstein, on Netflix today, and A House of Dynamite, still in theaters, are two of the Best Movies of 2025 – So Far.

I also highlighted this week’s TCM broadcast of Powwow Highway. If you missed it, you can find it on the Criterion Channel. Or, for another early indie with an Indigenous lens, you can watch Smoke Signals from 1998 on Amazon, Apple, YouTube and Fandango.

I also want to warn you off of The Summer Book, which you may see algorithm-recommended on your streaming platform and which I discussed in October.

REMEMBRANCE

Three-time Oscar nominee Diane Ladd is known for Chinatown, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Ghosts of Mississippi (she was a Mississippi native) and Primary Colors. She worked with her real life daughter Laura Dern in five movies, and in Rambling Rose, they became the first mom and daughter to be nominated for Oscars for the same movie. Early in her career, she appeared in Roger Corman’s biker exploitation film, The Wild Angels. 

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Harold Russell, Dana Andrews and Frederic March in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

We all need to feel better about America, even if we have to go back to 1946 to justify it with Turner Classic Movies’ November 11 broadcast of The Best Years of Our Lives. One of the greatest movies of all time, The Best Years of Our Lives, is an exceptionally well-crafted, contemporary snapshot of post WW II American society adapting to the challenges of peacetime. It won seven Oscars. And it’s still a great and moving film. When Frederic March, immediately back from overseas, sneaks back into his apartment where Myrna Loy is washing the dishes, I dare you not to shed tears at her reaction.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Idris Elba in A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE. Courtesy of Netflix.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – two marvelously entertaining movies about depressives and am edge-of-your-seat movie about real people risking their lives for there families. To wit, I have new reviews of Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon with Ethan Hawke, the docudrama about Bruce Springsteen, Deliver Me from Nowhere, and the immigration thriller Roads of Fire.

I also want to warn you off of The Summer Book, which you may see algorithm-recommended on your streaming platform. An elementary school-age girl and her father, struggling with the death of her mother, spend the summer at her grandmother’s home on a tiny Finnish island. The grandmother (Glenn Close) always knows the right thing to do or say as the girl heals and comes of age. This is an adaptation of the 1972 novel by Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson, which is reputedly a great read.  Unfortunately, its literary merit isn’t translated to the screen. Close’s fine performance can’t save this slog. I checked the time after nothing had happened in the first 31 minutes, and decided to keep watching in case it turned out to be the most boring film I had ever seen. That most boring film ever remains Le Quattro Volte, but The Summer Book is a contender.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Robert Redford in DOWNHILL RACER

On November 2, Turner Classic Movies pay tribute to the late Robert Redford’s acting career by airing eight of his films: Downhill Racer, Barefoot in the Park, The Candidate, Jeremiah Johnson, All the President’s Men, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Way We Were. With the exception of Barefoot in the Park, which I find dated, these are all excellent movies that stand up well today. The Candidate, Jeremiah Johnson and All the President’s Men are three of my personal favorite films.

Of course, Redford was important for being more than a fine actor. His very first effort at directing, Ordinary People, won the Best Picture Oscar. Redford’s biggest contribution was his developing the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival as incubators for other people’s independent filmmaking; that leveraged his own stardom to accelerate the careers of Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, James Wan, Darren Aronofsky, Nicole Holofcener, David O. Russell, Ryan Coogler, Robert Rodriguez, Chloé Zhao and Ava DuVernay.

To celebrate his acting, I am recommending one of Redford’s earliest and less well-known roles, Downhill Racer. Redford plays Chappellet, a talented, competitive skier with a chip on his shoulder. He becomes a rookie on the US national ski team, where he remains a social outsider. To unleash his promise, his sensitive but no nonsense coach Claire (Gene Hackman) must penetrate the issues that make Chappellet a hitherto uncoachable diva. Redford and Hackman deliver fine performances This was the first feature film for then-television director Michael Ritchie, who followed Downhill Racer with Prime Cut, The Candidate, Bad News Bears and Semi-Tough.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Rebecca Ferguson in A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE. Courtesy of Netflix.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of A House of Dynamite, one of the Best Movies of 2025 – So Far, and Urchin, which isn’t, and the droll, hard-to-find Austrian comedy Peacock. Plus a highlight of the campy horror movie The Tingler, on TV late tonight.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • A House of Dynamite: a master filmmaker reminds us of the terrifyingly plausible. In theaters and on Netflix.
  • Eleanor the Great: grief, an appalling lie, redemption. In theaters.
  • Anemone: resisting redemption. In theaters.
  • One Battle After Another: sometimes hilarious, sometimes thrilling, always outrageous. In theaters.
  • Peacock: a chameleon, lost. Limited release in select arthouses.
  • To a Land Unknown: no good choices. Amazon, AppleTV, Youtube.
  • To Kill a Wolf: mysteries revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango.
  • Urchin: no redemption here. In arthouse theaters.

ON TV

Evelyn Keyes (left) and Van Heflin (right) in THE PROWLER

On October 29, Turner Classic Movies brings us the 1951 film noir The Prowler stars the usually sympathetic good guy Van Heflin as the twisted bad guy.  Heflin is a beat cop responding to a call – a woman has reported a prowler outside her house. By the time Heflin and his partner arrive, the prowler is long gone, but Heflin is lusting after the comely woman (Evelyn Keyes), who is home alone every night because her husband works as an all-night DJ. Under the ruse of making sure that the prowler has vamoosed, Heflin returns and overcoming her reticence, seduces her. As befits a film noir, once he finds out about the husband’s insurance policy, sleeping with the guy’s wife just isn’t enough anymore.

It’s a strong screenplay, penned by the blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (who also provides the voice of the DJ).  The Prowler is one of my Overlooked Noir.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman and Chiwetel Ejiofor in ELEANOR THE GREAT. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the astonishingly over-the-top One Battle After Another and a remembrance of an iconic actress. Don’t miss this week’s TV pick (below).

REMEMBRANCE

Diane Keaton in ANNIE HALL

The beloved Diane Keaton earned her status as a cinema icon with unforgettable performances in three of the 50 Greatest Movies of All Time. She won her Oscar her completely idiosyncratic portrayal of the title character in Annie Hall, my choice as the best romantic comedy ever. In The Godfather, her Kay Adams book ended the story of Michael Corleone, first accepting his “That’s my family, Kay, It’s not me.” and then ending the movie with the door to Michael literally closing in her face. The most searing moment in The Godfather Part II was Kay’s ferocity in telling Michael about a miscarriage that wasn’t. 72 more movies and three more Oscar nominations filled out Keaton’s 54-year screen career, but those three performances were indelible. A further note – my best pal in LA occasionally ran into Keaton around town, and she liked to dress like Annie Hall in real life.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari in THE SPIRITUALIST.

Here’s a rarity – on October 18, Turner Classic Movies brings us The Spiritualist (also The Amazing Mr. X), a 1948 B-picture that I hadn’t heard of until I saw it at last year’s Noir City in Oakland. It’s only 78 minutes long, and it’s a lot of fun. A cunning phony psychic (Turhan Bey) has convinced a wealthy widow that he can communicate with the dead, and she’s moved him into her mansion. Her world-wise daughter (Cathy O’Donnell) isn’t buying his act. But, while he is a con artist, he’s a really, really skilled one, and he pulls off illusion after illusion to keep the gullible widow believing – it’s like watching a magic show. The Spiritualist was shot by John Alton, one of the two greatest film noir cinematographers, and he makes the mansion extra spooky and the tricks extra sinister.

This was a rare leading role for Turhan Bey, and he makes a very charismatic charlatan, oozing suave charm and faux authority. Bey, an Austrian with a Turkish father and a Jewish Czechoslovakian mother, knocked around Hollywood playing exotic characters and never getting the lead in an A-picture. He has a very interesting Wikipedia page.

Cathy O’Donnell, Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari in THE SPIRITUALIST.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: June Squibb in ELEANOR THE GREAT. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Eleanor the Great and Anemone, plus To a Land Unknown, newly available on VOD. I also highlighted the top-rate thrillers now streaming for free on Amazon Prime.

Last week, I had fun with The Last Movie Title series:

REMEMBRANCES

Claudia Cardinale (right) in THE LEOPARD

Claudia Cardinale was first noticed in the Italian comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street and had a key role in Fellini’s 8 1/2, one of the greatest movies ever. Popularly seen as a voluptuous bombshell in the 1960s, she worked in 128 films through 2022. The scene in which she is re-introduced to the local nobleman (Burt Lancaster) as a nubile adult in The Leopard is one of the most stunning entrances in cinema.

Indie writer-director Henry Jaglom was known internationally among cinephiles for his artsy, individualistic, women-centered films like Eating and Venice/Venice. I attended an in-person Jaglom presentation of his film Hollywood Dreams.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

John Payne, Lee Van Cleef, Nevile Brand and Preston Foster in KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL

On October 11, TCM is presenting a triple-header of important film noir:

  • Kansas City Confidential: A criminal mastermind hides his identity from his own squad of indelible goons (Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, Jack Elam) as they pull off a heist and frame a poor flower delivery driver (John Payne). To solve the crime and clear himself, the driver has to head to Mexico, where more plot twists await.
  • The Manchurian Candidate: For a ticking bomb thriller, you really can’t top John Frankenhimer’s 1962 original. Laurence Harvey plays a victim of Commie brainwashing who has become a robotic, remote-controlled assassin. Can he be stopped in time?The Manchurian Candidate tops off a set of brilliant Frank Sinatra performances (before his directors couldn’t restrain him from mugging): From Here to Eternity, Suddenly!, The Man with a Golden Arm. Harvey, Sinatra and Janet Leigh are all good, but this is really Angela Lansbury’s movie. Not only is her character promoting the political career of her bombastic Joe McCarthy-like husband, but she is a Communist agent intent on the Communist takeover of the US government. And she is pulling the strings to direct the assassin – her own son! Lansbury’s character makes my list of Worst Movie Mothers.
  • Sweet Smell of Success: This film proves that you don’t need a murder to qualify as a film noir as long as there’s enough blackmail, police corruption and brutality, sexual harassment, criminal frames and red-baiting. In his best-ever performance, Tony Curtis plays a press agent who must suck up to a powerful, cruel and capricious columnist (Burt Lancaster).
Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Linda Fiorentino in THE LAST SEDUCTION.

This week, The Movie Gourmet has launched The Last Movie Title series, with posts on The Last Seduction, Last Days in Vietnam and The Last Valley. Next week, The Last Movie, itself.

Don’t overlook the beginning the Best Movies of 2025 – So Far, the running list that I update throughout the year. The big Oscar movies, with their November and December release dates, await. I am most eagerly anticipating Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, Lynne Ramsey’s Die My Love, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, Shih-Ching Tsou’s Left-handed Girl, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, Christian Petzold’s Mirrors No. 3 and the Palm d’Or winner at Cannes, It Was Just an Accident.

CURRENT MOVIES

Ivan Martin in TO KILL A WOLF. Courtesy of To Kill a Wolf.

ON TV

Roy Scheider in ALL THAT JAZZ

On October 4, Turner Classic Movies will air a big Oscar movie from 1979 that we don’t hear that much about anymore – All That Jazz. The director and co-writer Bob Fosse unsparingly tells his own story of artistic obsession peppered with compulsive womanizing and drug use. Fosse was a great and groundbreaking dancer and choreographer, and won five Tonys for Broadway choreography. He is the only person to win a directing Oscar (Cabaret), Tony and Emmy in the same year (1973). Roy Scheider garnered one of All That Jazz’s eight Oscar nominations for his searing performance as Fosse’s on-screen surrogate. The supporting performances are outstanding, especially Ann Reinking’s, essentially playing herself and Leland Palmer’s, playing a character much like Fosse’s wife and longtime collaborator Gwen Verdon. Try not to tear up at the birthday number performed by Reinking and the director’s tween daughter (Erzebet Foldi). All That Jazz is on my list of the 50 Greatest Movies of All Time.

Ann Reinking in ALL THAT JAZZ

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Pavel Talankan in MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN. Courtesy of the SLO Film Fest.

This Week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the character-driven indie drama To Kill a Wolf. If you missed today’s TCM broadcast of my TV pick, the rare serial killer movie El Vampiro Negro, you can still stream it on kanopy. And you can stream Caught by the Tides, the top film on my Best Movies of 2025 – So Far, on Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango and Criterion.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Tamara de Lempicka (right) in Julie Rubio’s THE TRUE STORY OF TAMARA  DE LEMPICKA & THE ART OF SURVIVAL. Courtesy of Mill Valley Film Festival.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: James Sweeney (facing) and Dylan O’Brien in TWINLESS. Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m focused on NashFilm, The Nashville Film Festival, which opened last night. Here’s my Must See at NashFilm. Plus, new reviews of the fine documentaries Mr. Nobody Against Putin and The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival.

Don’t overlook my first cut at the Best Movies of 2025 – So Far, the running list that I update throughout the year.

Here’s my remembrance of Robert Redford, one of the very most significant filmmakers of his generation.

CURRENT MOVIES

Photo caption: Porshia Zimiga (left) in EAST OF WALL. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

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Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney in TWINLESS. Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

This week on the Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Twinless, one of the best movies of 2025, and Caught Stealing, which is not. Plus, the historical drama Shoshana is finally accessible to most of you via streaming. And I previewed the upcoming Nashville Film Festival.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Joan Crawford in SUDDEN FEAR.

On September 13, the classic noir suspenser Sudden Fear plays on Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley with intro and outro by Eddie Muller. Sudden Fear showcases Joan Crawfor as a highly successful woman who marries a guy (Jack Palance) who really just wants her money; he plots with his longtime girlfriend (Gloria Grahame) to do in his wife for the inheritance. The wife discovers their scheme, and plans to get them before they can get her.

The riveting final twelve minutes is movie perfection. Now, it’s a pretty good movie for the first hour and thirty-eight minutes, but its ending takes Sudden Fear up a couple of notches.

Jack Palance and Joan Crawford in SUDDEN FEAR.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Graham Greene in WIND RIVER.

Coming up next week on The Movie Gourmet – reviews of some movies just opening in theaters this week and a preview of the Nashville Film Festival.

REMEMBRANCE

Graham Greene in DANCES WITH WOLVES

Dignified yet down-to-earth Canadian actor Graham Greene, a member of the Oneida First Nation, garnered almost 200 screen credits, including Dances with Wolves, Powwow Highway, The Green Mile, Longmire and Wind River.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Paul Newman and Edmond O’Brien in THE RACK

On September 10, Turner Classic Movies offers the overlooked Korean War film The Rack. A returning US Army captain (Paul Newman) is court-martialed for collaborating with the enemy while a POW. He was tortured, and The Rack explores what can be realistically expected of a prisoner under duress. It’s a pretty good movie, and Wendell Corey, Edmond O’Brien, Walter Pidgeon, Lee Marvin and Cloris Leachman co-star.