This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark comedy The Last Viking and an essay on five other wickedly witty Jensen films. The Last Viking, along with I Want Your Sex and Maddie’s Secret, is a smart and satisfying comedy. But don’t miss the summer’s epic blockbuster epic The Odyssey.
CURRENT MOVIES
- The Odyssey: epic filmmaking at its best. In theaters.
- I Want Your Sex: good, naughty fun. In theaters.
- The Last Viking: hidden loot amidst the deluded. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Maddie’s Secret: a bracingly inventive comic melodrama. In theaters.
- Pressure: engrossing study of high-stakes decision-making. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Power Ballad: what (and who) makes a hit song? Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Exit 8: nightmare on a loop. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Mirrors No. 3: two enigmas explained. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Is God Is: an extraordinary new story-teller. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- The Last One for the Road: the party never ends. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Marty, Life Is Short: an engaging profile. Netflix.
- The Christophers: twisty, watchable and disposable. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
ON TV
On August 9, Turner Classic Movies presents the unsettling classic noir Leaver Her to Heaven – and it’s in technicolor! Poor Cornell Wilde falls for the exquisitely gorgeous Gene Tierney, but she is MESSED UP. When I see Leave Her to Heaven, I think of my best friend Steve’s advice – “Never [date] anyone crazier than you are”. MUCH, MUCH more cautionary than Fatal Attraction. Tierney said that she played the role as an insane person desperately trying to appear sane.