This week on The Movie Gourmet – it’s the last weekend of Frameline; here’s my festival preview and my recommended international films – Frameline Goes International. I also posted a new review of the documentary Coroner to the Stars. And I also reviewed the world premiere of the mesmerizing Memorizu at Tribeca; I’ll let you know when this remarkable film releases in the US.
Yesterday, I published a new review of John Early’s bracingly inventive comic melodrama Maddie’s Secret.
The best film in theaters now is the feminist Saudi Unidentified:, a whodunit with a jaw-dropping ending. The best movies recently available to watch at home are the wholly original revenge thriller Is God Is, the psychological thriller Exit 8, and the genial Italian comedy The Last One for the Road.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Exit 8: nightmare on a loop. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Unidentified: a slow burn whodunit – until the shocker ending, In theaters.
- Maddie’s Secret: a bracingly inventive comic melodrama. In theaters.
- Coroner to the Stars: too transparent? In theaters.
- Pressure: engrossing study of high-stakes decision-making. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Power Ballad: what (and who) makes a ht song? In theaters.
- 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.
- Sirat: gripping, hypnotic and devastating. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango and included with Hulu.
- The Christophers: twisty, watchable and disposable. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Omaha: in the best interest of the children. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial and That’s the Weight of the World: underwhelming. HBO Max.
- The Drama: the darkest romantic comedy that I’ve ever seen. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
ON TV
On June 27, Turner Classic Movies will be presenting a film recognized as the masterpiece of a great filmmaker, but one that has slipped from the current conversation – Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels. Sturges was the first workaday Hollywood screenwriter to transition into a major writer-director, and between the ages of 42 and 46, he churned out The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, Sullivan’s Travels, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Great McGinty, an impressive body of work. Unfortunately, his turbulent personality led to conflict in his business affairs, which exacerbated his drinking. He burned out and was dead at age 60, but he left behind some of the very, very smartest and funniest movie comedies. Sullivan’s Travels is a fast-paced and cynical comedy about a pretentious movie director who goes on the road to be inspired by The Average Man – and gets more of an adventure than he expects. There has never been a better movie about Hollywood. Sullivan’s Travels is on It’s on my own 50 Greatest Movies of All Time list.