This week on The Movie Gourmet – the first MUST SEE of 2026 is the extraordinarily well-written revenge thriller Is God Is. I also posted about the unusually impressive slate of recent movies now on Hulu and a new review of the Steven Soderbergh dramedy The Christophers.
I’m looking forward to catching the WW II epic Pressure and the heist film Tuner in theaters this weekend.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Is God Is: an extraordinary new story-teller. In theaters.
- Sirat: gripping, hypnotic and devastating. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango and included with Hulu.
- The Christophers: twisty, watchable and disposable. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- The Last One for the Road: the party never ends. In art-house theaters.
- Omaha: in the best interest of the children. In theaters.
- Two Pianos: he doesn’t know what he should want, but the women do. In theaters.
- The Drama: the darkest romantic comedy that I’ve ever seen. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Is This Thing On? uncoiling the bewilderment of a break-up. Hulu (included,) Amazon, AppleTV.
- Heads or Tails?: a spaghetti western goes off the rails. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- A Private Life: a shrink and her own issues. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- A Great Awakening: good religion and bad history. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Magellan: slower than the slowest slow boat. Criterion.
ON TV
On June 4, TCM brings us something COMPLETELY different, the 1955 Pete Kelly’s Blues, directed by and starring Jack Webb, who we all know from TV’s Dragnet. Made at the downturn of the Big Band Era, Pete Kelly’s Blues is set at during Prohibition in the infancy of Big Bands.
It’s a fairly routine drama about a small time bandleader on the outs with a dangerous crime boss, but Jack Webb loved jazz and worked hard to get the music in the movie right, resulting in quite the period document. Peggy Lee received a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for portraying an alcoholic vocalist. There’s an unforgettable cameo performance by Ella Fitzgerald at the top of her game. The house band includes many real-life musicians who played with Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby and the like, including Matty Matlock, Eddie Miller and Jud De Naut.
Webb, who played characters with some goofiness in Sunset Boulevard and He Walked By Night is only okay here, but the rest of the cast is excellent: Janet Leigh, Edmond O’Brien, Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Jayne Mansfield and Harry Morgan. Not a great flick, but worth a look for the music.