Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Tao Zhao in CAUGHT BY THE TIDES: Photo courtesy of Janus Films.

This Week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the superb documentary Pee-Wee Herman as Himself, the disappointing comedy Friendship and a rant about West Anderson, the director of The Phoenician Scheme.

The best movie of 2025 so far is Jia Zhangke’s sweeping Chinese drama Caught by the Tides, with its stunning performance by Tao Zhao. Seek it out while it’s still in theaters.

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Roger Livesey in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP

On June 11, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1943 masterpiece The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a remarkably textured portrait of a man over four decades and his struggles to evolve into new eras. Written and directed by the great British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, this is a movie with a sharp message to 1940s audiences about modernity, as well as a subtle exploration of privilege that will resonate today.

Movies to See Right Now

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Tao Zhao in CAUGHT BY THE TIDES: Photo courtesy of Janus Films.

This Week on The Movie Gourmet – a review of Jia Zhangke’s sweeping Chinese drama Caught by the Tides, with its stunning performance by Tao Zhao; it’s the best movie of 2025 so far. I also have a new review of The Friend. Coming soon – an updated review of the superb biodoc Pee-Wee Herman as Himself and a new review of the new comedy in theaters, Friendship. But, first, three remembrances.

REMEMBRANCES

Joe Don Baker in CHARLEY VARRICK.

Joe Don Baker, with his imposing physicality and country demeanor was the perfect Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, a little indie that became a mega hit. No one would be surprised that Baker hailed from a small town near Waco, but I didn’t know that he studied at the Actor’s Studio. His best work was in Charley Varrick, The Outfit, George Wallace and Mud.

Belgian actress Emelie Dequenne was a force of nature in her debut, as an alienated young woman in Rosetta, the 1999 film that mad the Dardennes brothers famous auteurs. For that performance, Dequenne won the Best Actress at Cannes, and she won a Cesar in 2020.

George Wendt played the beloved Norm! in 269 episodes of Cheers and appeared in well over 150 titles, mostly on television. But his carrer began with small roles in good movies: A Wedding, Bronco Billy and The Bodyguard.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Kirk Douglas in THE VIKINGS

On May 31, Turner Classic Movies brings us a testosterone injection. Here’s one of my favorite manly adventure sagas, The Vikings from 1958; a one-eyed Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis bare their chests over Janet Leigh and swill mead with full-bearded Ernest Borgnine – it’s rip-roaring and silly and just a whole lot of fun.

And, on June 4, TCM airs one of the most fun of films noir, The Big Steal, which rematched Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer after their iconic noir Out of the Past. This time, Mitchum and Greer careen around Mexico, being chased by William Bendix. The Big Steal was only the third of the 36 feature films directed by the grievously underrated Don Siegel. Siegel became a master of crime movies (and was the primary filmmaking mentor to Clint Eastwood). I particularly love Siegel’s 1973 neo-noir Charley Varrick, the guilty pleasure Two Mules for Sister Sara and John Wayne’s goodbye: The Shootist. Anyway, The Big Steal is delightful.

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in THE BIG STEAL.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Paul Reubens in PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF. Courtesy of HBP Max.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – some great Memorial Day Weekend recommendations on TCM, and be sure to watch Pee-Wee Herman as Himself on HBO Max, beginning today.

A few years ago, this platform used to be HBO and then rebranded itself as HBO Max, on its way to just Max; having undoubtedly spent millions on the branding from HBO Max to Max, they are now rebranding back to HBO Max. Go figure.

I caught the coming-of-age film The Summer of 69 on Hulu, but it’s not worth a full review. It’s a raunchy “lose your virginity before high school graduation” comedy , but from the female point of view, which is refreshing. It also gets the teenage awkwardness and embarrassment just right. “Have you kissed him yet?” “No but I’ve practiced on the back of my hand.” Unfortunately, the plot thread about saving an insolvent strip club is hackneyed. The key character of a stripper/escort/sex coach is not written well, and the performance is worse. Too bad.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Robert Keith and Aldo Ray in MEN IN WAR

On this Memorial Day Weekend, Turner Classic Movies brings us another of marathons of war movies. I’m recommending three less well-known war films that deserve your attention. TCM is screening all three on May 24.

  • Men in War: An infantry lieutenant (Robert Ryan) must lead his platoon out of a desperate situation.  He encounters a cynical and insubordinate sergeant (Aldo Ray) who is loyally driving a jeep with his PTSD-addled colonel (Robert Keith).  In conflict with each other, they must navigate through enemy units to safety. Director Anthony Mann is known for exploring the psychology of edgy characters, and that’s the case with Men in War.
  • The Steel Helmet (Friday, May 24): This is a gritty classic by the great writer-director Samuel Fuller, a WWII combat vet who brooked no sentimentality about war. Gene Evans, a favorite of the two Sams (Fuller and Peckinpah), is especially good as the sergeant. American war movies of the period tended toward to idealize the war effort, but Fuller relished making war movies with no “recruitment flavor”.  Although the Korean War had only been going on for a few months when Fuller wrote the screenplay, he was able to capture the feelings of futility that later pervaded American attitudes about the Korean War.
  • Men Must Fight is a cultural curiosity, a stridently anti-war film from 1933, reflecting the widespread revulsion against the avoidable horrors of World War I. Men Must Fight predicts many aspects of World War II with unsettling accuracy. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a trip.
Gene Evans in THE STEEL HELMET

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Jean Gabin in TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – the relentlessly entertaining French epic The Count of Monte-Cristo, the insightful documentary John Singer Sargent: Fashion and Swagger and the classic film noir Sudden Fear, with its nearly perfect final twelve minutes.

The surprisingly uplifting documentary Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s shines a light on Parkinson’s disease, and what we need to know about it. An estimated one million Americans are living with Parkinson’s, and the key to Matter of Mind’s success is in introducing us to three of them – a Brooklyn optician, a San Francisco fitness trainer and an Alaskan cartoonist – and their families. All three films in the Matter of Mind trilogy, including My ALS and My Alzheimer’s will be available to stream between May 15 to June 3, 2025.

I am looking forward to Matt Wolf’s HBO biodoc Pee Wee Herman as Himself, which begins airing on the weekend after next. The week after, theaters will offer Caught by the Tides, from the Chinese master filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke and his muse and leading lady Tao Zhao and the buzzed-about The Life of Chuck.

Note: I recommended the highly innovative The Accident after screening it for the 2024 Slamdance, and it’s now streaming on Fandor.  The Accident went on to win the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Lino Ventra, Jean Gabin and Jean Moreau in TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI.

Tomorrow night, May 17, Turner Classic Movies is airing a great and underappreciated film, the French film noir Touchez pas au grisbi on its Noir Alley with intro and outro by the czar of noir, Eddie Muller. A seasoned and very, very cool gangster (Jean Gabin) has hidden a massive haul of stolen gold bullion as his retirement fund. The gold is from a notorious heist that he has never acknowledged masterminding, and the movie’s title translates as “don’t touch the loot”. He has kept his secret with remarkable discipline and cleverness, but his longtime partner may become the weak link.

Probably the greatest male French movie star ever, Jean Gabin had dominated prewar French cinema, and, after the war, he aged into noir and, in the 1960s, into neo-noir.  Gabin oozed a seasoned cool (like Humphrey Bogart) and imparted a stately gravitas to his noir and neo-noir characters. Jean Gabin is on my very short list of the most perpetually cool humans to ever walk the planet, along with Dean Martin, Ben Gazzara, Joan Jett and Barack Obama.

Jeanne Moreau appears in an early role. So does that most watchable of French stars, Lino Ventura, whose bloodhound face had been reshaped by his earlier careers as a professional wrestler and boxer. Touchez pas au grisbi is one of my top five film noirs and one of my top fifty movies of all time.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Asahi Hirano and Sabrina Jie-A-Fa in EGGHEAD & TWINKIE. Credit: Olivia Wilson, Courtesy of CanBeDone Films and Orange Cat Films.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m trying to get you thru the movie doldrums with the delightful coming of age story Egghead & Twinkie and the genre-busting reenactment doc Starring Jerry as Himself. May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and both movies feature Asian American filmmakers and lead characters.

I am looking forward to Matt Wolf’s HBO biodoc Pee Wee Herman as Himself, which begins airing on the weekend after next. The week after, theaters will offer the buzzed-about The Life of Chuck and Caught by the Tides, from the Chinese master filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke and his muse Tao Zhao.

Note: I recommended the highly innovative The Accident after screening it for the 2024 Slamdance, and it’s now streaming on Fandor.  The Accident went on to win the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance.

REMEMBRANCES

Mariko Kaga and Ryô Ikebe in PALE FLOWER

Director Masahiro Shinoda was a groundbreaking auteur, best known for his bracing neo-noir Pale Flower.

Character actor Craig Richard Nelson’s first film role was as a snobby, fastidious preppy in The Paper Chase (1973), and he nailed a similar character in Robert Altman’s A Wedding (1978). In this period, he had small roles in Altman’s 3 Women (1977) and Tony Bill’s My Bodyguard (1980). Even though he worked in TV and film through 1998, his performances were increasingly less memorable.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Gene Hackman in the 1975 NIGHT MOVES

On May 13, Turner Classic Movies is honoring Gene Hackman by airing Night Moves, along with his better known movies, The French Connection, Hoosiers and Mississippi Burning. In the1975 character-driven neo-noir Night Moves, Hackman plays an LA private eye who follows a trail of evidence to steamy Florida. Hackman shines in the role – the detective is deeply in love with his estranged wife (Susan Clark), but unsuited for marriage. Night Moves also features Melanie Griffith’s breakthrough role as the highly sexualized teen daughter in the Florida family; Griffith was right around eighteen-years-old when this was filmed, and had already been living with Don Johnson for three years. Night Moves features an impressive ensemble of supporting actors: Harris Yulin, James Woods, Edward Binns, Max Gail (Wojo on Barney Miller) and the sui generis Kenneth Mars.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Neil Young in COASTAL. Courtesy of SLO Film Fest.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the British farce The Trouble with Jessica and extended coverage of the San Luis Obispo Film Festival – a film fest that punches above its weight:

Note that the delightful doc We Want the Funk is available for free on the PBS YouTube channel.

REMEMBRANCE

Val Kilmer in TOMBSTONE.

I’ve been on vacation, so this is my first chance to write about the late Val Kilmer. Kilmer applied his magnetism in unforgettable performances: Iceman in Top Gun, Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever. My favorite Val Kilmer turn was as an insouciant Doc Holliday in Tombstone.

CURRENT MOVIES

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Robert De Niro and Vincent Gardenia in BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY.

On April 29, Turner Classic Movies plays the Bang the Drum Slowly from 1973. A worldly MLB pitcher (Michael Moriarity) helps his slow-witted catcher (Robert De Niro), afflicted with aterminal illness, finish the season. It’s a weeper, but a very genuine one. This was the performance that got De Niro noticed. His next three movie roles were Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II and Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.

Movies to See Right Now

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CHEVALIER. Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing and SFFILM.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – The 2025 SFFILM is beginning, so here are my recommendations in Under the Radar at SFFILM. Plus, here are two great choices to watch at home: the engrossing 2002 French drama Man on the Train (Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango, YouTube) and Athina Rachel Tsangari’s sly and pointed exploration of male competitiveness, Chevalier (Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango, YouTube).

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Anthony Quinn in BARABBAS

Easter always triggers television networks to pull out their Biblical epics. If you’re going to watch just one Sword-and-Sandal classic, I recommend going full tilt with Barrabas, broadcast by Turner Classic Movies on April 20. This 1961 cornball stars Anthony Quinn as the Zelig-like title character.

The story begins with the thief Barabbas avoiding crucifixion when Pontius Pilate swaps him out for Jesus (this part is actually in the Bible). Because the Crucifixion isn’t enough action for a two-hour 17-minute movie, Barabbas is soon sent off as a slave to the salt mines, where he is rescued by a miraculously timely earthquake. He then joins the Roman gladiators, complete with a javelin-firing squad, gets lost in the catacombs and emerges to the Burning of Rome. He has encounters with the Emperor Nero and the Apostle Peter before he converts to Christianity – just in time for the mass crucifixion. Watch for an uncredited Sharon Tate as a patrician in the arena.

CHEVALIER – male competitiveness, brilliantly skewered

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CHEVALIER. Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing and SFFILM.

To celebrate this week’s opening of SFFILM, here’s a gem from the 2016 SFFILM, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier, a sly and pointed exploration of male competitiveness, with the moments of drollness and absurdity that we expect in the best of contemporary Greek cinema. Tsangari is bringing her newest film Harvest, starring Caleb Landry Jones and Harry Melling, to to the 2025 SFFILM.

In Chevalier, six guys are taking a holiday week on a yacht in the Aegean Sea. Each has his own stateroom, and the crew includes a chef. They spend their days scuba diving, jet skiing and the like. After a post-dinner game of charades, one suggests that they play Chevalier, a game about “Who is best overall?”. Of course, men tend to be competitive, and their egos are now at stake. The six guys began appraising each other, and their criteria get more and more absurd. “How many fillings do you have?”

In one especially inspired set piece, the guys race each other to construct IKEA bookcases, which results in five phallic towers on the boat’s deck (and one drooping failure). Naturally, some of the guys are obsessed with their own erections, too.

Athina Rachel Tsangari, director of CHEVALIER . Photo courtesy of SFFILM.

Director Athina Rachel Tsangari is obviously a keen observer of male behavior. Both men and women will enjoy laughing at male behavior taken to extreme. I sure did. Chevalier is perhaps the funniest movie of 2016, and it’s on my list of Best Movies of 2016.

I saw Chevalier at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM), where I pegged it as the Must See of the fest. (In 2011, Tsangari brought her hilariously offbeat Attenberg to SFFILM.)

Make sure you get the 2015 Greek Chevalier, not the 2023 Hollywood bodice-ripper.

Unfortunately, in the Bay Area, Chevalier only got a blink-and-you’ve-missed-it release in 2016. Chevalier is now available to stream from Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Catrinel Marlon and Vlad Ivanov in THE WHISTLER. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m busy preparing for the San Francisco and San Luis Obispo film festivals that dominate my Aprils. Just like last week, the best six new movies are documentaries; five are about musical, performance and visual artists and the sixth is about a psycho killer. I’ve also highlighted The Whistlers, a neo-noir thriller currently free on Max. Here are my film festival previews:

Reminder: A Complete Unknown now rents for under $6 on Amazon and is free on Hulu. You can also pay more to watch it on AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw in THE GETAWAY

Tomorrow, Turner Classic Movies presents The Getaway, a 1972 crime thriller starring the charismatic Steve McQueen and his real-life squeeze Ali MacGraw.  McQueen and MacGraw are delightful to watch as they move between violent clashes and double- and triple-crosses. As befits a Sam Peckinpah film, there’s an intense shootout at the end.  The grossly underrated character actor Al Lettieri (Sollozzo the Turk in The Godfather) gets to play perhaps his most delicious villain; when he comes across a oddly matched married couple – the nubile Sally Struthers and the nerdy Jack Dodson (county clerk Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffith Show). Lettieri layers on some glorious sexual perversity.  

Speaking of character actors, we also get to enjoy the crew of Peckinpah favorites: Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Dub Taylor, Bo Hopkins and Richard Bright. My friend Sandy lets Ali McGraw’s lack of acting range get in the way of enjoying The Getaway, but IMO Al Lettieri more than makes up for it.

Sally Struthers, Al Lettieri and Jack Dodson in THE GETAWAY

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: George Clinton in WE WANT THE FUNK. Courtesy of Firelight Films.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the insightful Andy Kaufman biodoc Thank You Very Much, the delightful music doc We Want the Funk and the indie drama Nora. The best six new movies are documentaries; five are about musical, performance and visual artists and the sixth is about a psycho killer.

A Complete Unknown now rents for under $6 on Amazon and is free on Hulu. You can also pay more to watch it on AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango.

REMEMBRANCE

Richard Chamberlain (right) in THE THREE MUSKETEERS with Michael York, Oliver Reed and Frank Findlay.

Richard Chamberlain burst into the culture as TV’s dreamy Dr. Kildare, went to the English stage to hone his acting skills and returned to dominate the genre of television miniseries with Centennial, Shogun and The Thornbirds. Chamberlain made his share of movies, and my favorite is his role as Aramis in Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers.

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Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor in THE NARROW MARGIN

On April 6, Turner Classic Movies will present The Narrow Margin, a taut 71 minutes of tension from my Overlooked Noir. Growly cop Charles McGraw plays hide-and-seek with a team of hit men on a claustrophobic train. Marie Windsor is unforgettable as the assassins’ target. McGraw and Windsor’s performances are first-rate, and their hardboiled dialogue is terrific. Director Richard Fleisher, early in his career, imaginatively stages the woman-hunt up and down the tight corridors and compartments of the moving train. I just rewatched The Narrow Margin at Noir City in January, and it’s still a masterpiece.