This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Fackham Hall. ICYMI here are my Thoughts on the Oscars.
I’m still covering the ongoing Cinequest film festival, with all my coverage linked on my Cinequest 2026 page. Watch for my festival wrap-up on Monday and, on Tuesday, my recommendations for Cinequest movies you can stream at home.
CURRENT MOVIES
- The Bride!: a funnier Bonnie and Clyde, with monsters. In theaters.
- Fackham Hall: silly, low-brow, and that’s okay. HBO Max (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
- A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
ON TV
On March 22, Turner Classic Movies presents Miloš Forman‘s 1967 Czech comedy The Firemen’s Ball. In his youth, Forman lived through the Nazis, who he described as evil, and the Communists, who he described as absurd. The Firemen’s Ball is a comedy of errors set during the annual ball of a small town fire brigade. It’s an obligatory occasion, and everyone is just going through the motions. No one is willing or able to do what they are supposed to be doing, whether it is protecting the raffle prizes or even putting out fires. The film eviscerated the moral bankruptcy of the Communist society.
The bumbling old farts on the ball committee try to put on a beauty contest; they shanghai a bunch of young women in attendance and parade them around the committee room to prep them for the pageant. The Wife was offended by the sexism of the scene, but she didn’t stick around to see the committee get their comeuppance when the contestants themselves blow up the Big Announcement and turn the committee members into objects of ridicule. Stick with it – the whole movie is only 73 minutes long.