Movies to See Right Now

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Max Von Sydow as THE EXORCIST

This would have been the ending weekend of CINEQUEST which will resume in mid-August when, hopefully the COVID-19 pandemic will have peaked. Until then, we’ll all be watching our movies at home.

REMEMBRANCE

Max Von Sydow in THE SEVENTH SEAL

Sixty-three years after the chess game with Death himself in The Seventh Seal, actor Max Von Sydow has finally succumbed.  Von Sydow is justifiably most well known among cinephiles for his many roles in a cascade of Ingmar Bergman’s grimness, including The Seventh Seal, The Magician, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Shame and The Passion of Anna.  And in The Magician, he had to don the most off-putting of facial hair. His biggest hit, of course was as the title character in The Exorcist. Contrary to his image, he had the capacity for hilarity, which he demonstrated in Hannah and Her Sisters as a ridiculously pretentious and selfish artist.  Along with that role, my favorite Von Sydow performances were in Jan Troell’s The Emigrants and The New Land, as a Swedish settler in frontier America.

OUT NOW

  • What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is the remarkably thorough and insightful biodoc of the iconic film critic Pauline Kael and her drive for relevance.
  • Of the new films I haven’t yet seen, Seberg, with Kristin Stewart, looks the most promising.

And here’s what I’ve written about the best Oscar-nominated movies. They’re all available to stream:

ON VIDEO

This week’s video pick is the superb 2013 drama Short Term 12, with a cast of then-emerging actors – Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, LaKeith Stanfield, Rami Malek and John Gallagher Jr. – all before they became stars. You can find it on most streaming platforms.

ON TV

On both March 14 and 15, Turner Classic Movies is presenting one of the earliest films noir, I Wake Up Screaming. I Wake Up Screaming has proto-noir style, the matter-of-fact sexiness of Carole Landis, the easy-to-root-for pair of Betty Grable and Victor Mature, and the amazing performance of Laird Cregar as the most menacing and creepy of stalkers.  Plus there’s the most incongruous use of the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It’s one of my Overlooked Noir, and Czar of Noir Eddie Muller will add some tidbits before and after.

Betty Grable and Laird Cregar in I WAKE UP SCREAMING

Stream of the week: SHORT TERM 12 – what a cast!

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John Gallagher Jr.,, Brie Larson and Rami Malek in SHORT TERM 12

My video pick this week is Short Term 12 because of its cast of then-emerging actors – Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, LaKeith Stanfield, Rami Malek and John Gallagher Jr. – all before they became stars.

Here’s my original review of Short Term 12, which was high on my Best Movies of 2013.

Brie Larson

The Sacramento-born Brie Larson had a substantial career as a child actor – 19 screen credits before she turned 18, including 22 episodes of TV’s Raising Dad. As a young adult, she led up to Short Term 12 with superb supporting performances in The United States of Tara, Rampart and The Spectacular Now. Short Term 12 was the showcase for her capacity to carry a movie as an adult.

Still only 31, Larson has a Best Actress Oscar for Room and is printing herself money as Captain America. Larson has also made The Glass Castle and Just Mercy for Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton.

John Gallagher, Jr.

John Gallagher Jr., had delivered an achingly vulnerable performance in Margaret in 2005, but had the misfortune the film not being released until 2011 (and then barely at all) becuse of turmoil between writer-director Kenneth Lonergan and the studio. Gallagher is best know for the relatable Jim Harper in The Newsroom.

Kaitlyn Dever

Kaitlyn Dever just starred in Booksmart and was Golden Globe-nominated for Unbelievable. We got to see her grow up from age 15 to 19 as Loretta McCready in Justified. She had a great run of indies in 2013/2014 (The Spectacular Now, Short Term 12, Laggies), She’s still only 23.

LaKeith Stanfield

Short Term 12 was LaKeith Stanfield’s first feature. That got him in Selma. Stanfield was in two of the best recent films, Sorry to Bother You and Uncut Gems.

Rami Malek

Rami Malek, of course, won last year’s Best Actor Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody.

Short Term 12 is available to be streamed from all the usual platforms.

COVID-19 and the movies in 2020

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BEFORE THE FIRE: a flu pandemic movie premiering at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

In the current health environment, it is not a good idea to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with an auditorium full of strangers for two hours. (And it’s not a good idea to stand in line with folks before the movie, either.) The Movie Gourmet sees about 250 movies each year, including about 100 in theaters, and I recommend that you help suppress the community transmission of COVID-19 by staying away from movie theaters for a while.

Cinequest has been suspended, with its second week to resume in mid-August. (Ironically, the best American film in this year’s fCinequest is Before the Fire, in which the plot is triggered by a flu pandemic).

This month’s SXSW has already been cancelled, and I expect April’s San Francisco International Film Festival to cancel or postpone.

On Thursday night I did see a film at Cinequest, but I knew that it was going to draw a crowd of no more than 300 in an 1100 seat theater. Instead of waiting in line, I waited until everyone else was seated and then slipped into a section of unoccupied seats so no other patron was within 15 feet of me. There are a couple of promising films coming out soon that I’ve been waiting months to see (The Whistlers and The Wild Goose Lake). I’m probably going to use the same strategy and see them at a sparsely-attended weekday matinee.

But I’m generally going to be STAYING AWAY from movie theaters for a couple months – but not staying way from movies themselves. Fortunately, there are plenty of good movies to watch on video at home. I think that The Movie Gourmet will be emphasizing video choices until this pandemic peaks. Safety first.

THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY: old dogs Jagger and Sutherland light up a talky neo-noir

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Klaes Bang and Elizabeth Debicki in THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

In the neo-noir The Burnt Orange Heresy, a shady art critic (Klaes Bang) picks up an adventuresome hottie (Elizabeth Debicki) and is enlisted by a menacing zillionaire (Mick Jagger) to scheme out a painting from a reclusive painter (Donald Sutherland). This being a neo-noir, things don’t go as the critic has planned and it takes him too long to realize that he is the sap in the story.

Klaes Bang (The Square) is just made to play that handsome charmer who is just Up To No Good, the kind of role that would have gone to Zachary Scott in the 1940s. But in The Burnt Orange Heresy, Debicki, Sutherland and Jagger are each so compelling, and their characters are so rich, that they completely overshadow Bang’s critic.

This is also a very talky movie, too much so. All the yakking and Bang’s unrelatability drag down The Burnt Orange Heresy and keep it from engaging the audience. relatibility

Sutherland has such a sparkle as the mischievous painter, and it may be easier to spot it now in the aged actor than forty years ago in MASH or Animal House.

Mick Jagger in THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY

The real surprise here is Mick Jagger. This character, a rich and utterly masterful string-puller, is well within Jagger’s acting range and he nails it. After all, as an actor in fictional narratives, he is best known for two of the very worst movies of 1970: Ned Kelly and Performance. But here, Jagger employs his unmatched worldliness to inform this performance (and he makes great use of his trademark sneer and predatory smile, too). Jagger and Sutherland are probably the two best reasons to see this movie.

I saw The Burnt Orange Heresy at Cinequest. I expect it to be released theatrically in the Bay Area in the next few weeks.

THUNDERBIRD: unoriginal and, finally, insipid

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This is a two-second shot in THUNDERBIRD which has nothing much to do with the plot. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

In the unremarkable Canadian mystery Thunderbird, a city detective visits a backwoods hamlet to unspool a mystery involving damaged young adults from a local tragic family. Thunderbird has the feel of a typical TV whodunit procedural with a trippy supernatural angle slapped on.

If you’ve ever watched a TV or movie drama, you will have already heard every line of dialogue in Thunderbird.  

There’s also an insufferable dose of noble indigenous spiritualism.

I thought I was watching an especially insipid ending, but then was surprised with the real ending, even more insipid.

Cinequest hosted the US premiere of Thunderbird.

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS: party, party, party, angst

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TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

In the comedy Twelve Days of Christmas, high school friends reunite when they’re home for their first college Christmas break. They all get down to some serious partying, but two of them must deal with a serious issue.

These characters act like they are refugees from some mythical colleges that are devoid of booze and drugs. The partying is so purposeful, it brought to my mind the Joe Ely song Everybody Got Hammered. The one blow-out party is very impressive, especially compared to my own first-college-break experience: Round Table pizza, cans of beers and a bottle of rum.

The core of the story is the angst of unrequited love; one character has obviously been in love with his best friend, who hasn’t noticed his yearning for her. And that’s the weakness of Twelve Days of Christmas. Although this guy is fun, witty, loyal and dependable, she knows that he is kinda weak-willed, so it’s evident that she could never see him has a partner.

Most of the cast is very good, although I never got away from being distracted by all the actors seeming at least 4-5 years older than the 19-year-old characters.

Director Michael Boyle and editor Carter Feuerhelm have enough faith in their audience and skill to drop in some split-second gags, all the more effective without lingering on them.

Cinequest hosted the world premiere of Twelve Days of Christmas.

THE MIMIC: surreal battle of wits

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Jake Robinson and Thomas Sadoski in THE MIMIC. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

In the offbeat and cerebral comedy The Mimic, a widowed screenwriter (Thomas Sadoski) becomes obsessed with his own sociopathic character – and the a person JUST LIKE the character (Jake Robinson) materializes in his life. The two embark on a surreal battle of wits.

Is the new acquaintance a real person, or is he the character in the screenplay? Is the sociopathic character miming the writer? Or is the writer exploring his own sociopathy?

The Mimic is an intellectual exercise, with more knowing chuckles than knee-slappers. Ultimately, it is more clever than it is engaging or entertaining.

The Mimic is basically a two-hander, but it’s rich in cameos. There’s a priceless turn by Gina Gershon as a cougar bar fly. M. Emmet Walsh, Marilu Henner and Jessica Walter show up, too, along with the always-welcome Austin Pendleton (whom I’ve enjoyed since his Francis Larabee in What’s Up, Doc?).

Cinequest hosted the world premiere of The Mimic.

Movies to See Right Now

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THE LONGEST WAVE, tonight at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

Of course, I’m deep into Cinequest as usual: The best of Cinequest 2020. If you’re going, look for these three world premieres: Before the Fire (Saturday at the Hammer), 3 Day Weekend (tonight in Redwood City, Monday at the Hammer) and Small Time (Saturday in Redwood City, Sunday at 3Below). I’ve linked ten feature stories and 21 movie recommendations on my CINEQUEST page.

OUT NOW

  • What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael is the remarkably thorough and insightful biodoc of the iconic film critic Pauline Kael and her drive for relevance.
  • Of the new films I haven’t yet seen, Seberg, with Kristin Stewart, looks the most promising.

And here’s what I’ve written about the best Oscar-nominated movies. They’re all available to stream:

ON VIDEO

This week’s video pick, the Norwegian suspense thriller Revenge, comes from the 2017 Cinequest. Revenge can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

On March 10, Turner Classic Movies will air Monterey Pop (1968). This is one of the few DVDs that I still own, for the performances by Mamas and the Papas, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Canned Heat, Simon and Garfunkle, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Country Joe and the Fish and The Who.  

It’s okay with me if you fast forward over Ravi Shankar.  Don’t miss the reaction of Mama Cass Elliot, sitting in the audience, to Janis Joplin. Pete Townsend and Jimi Hendrix had a guitar-destroying competition, which Hendrix, aided by lighter fluid, undeniably won.  The Otis Redding set is epic.

Otis Redding in MONTEREY POP

Cinequest’s first 30 years and the future of cinema

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Cinequest CEO and Co-Founder Halfdan Hussey

To look at Cinequest’s 30-year legacy and to glimpse into its future, I sat down with CEO and Co-Founder Halfdan Hussey and Director of Programming and Associate Director Mike Rabehl.

The Movie Gourmet: It’s been 30 years. How is Cinequest facing a new world of streaming platforms, new Internet-based movie studios and the rest?

Halfdan Hussey: Maybe it’s Cinequest that has changed the world. How have we been able to be an influence? We’ve sought to democratize access for artists to create what they wanted to create. Technologies have been a tool for that.

HH: We were doing digital filmmaking when it was still scorned by the old club. QuickTime debuted at Cinequest, we had files delivered over the Internet, pioneered IP-delivered art. The technology empowers more people, people in more countries, people with less money, the “Maverick People”.

HH: Was it better in the 70s? You had to wait for someone in Hollywood to invite you in or you couldn’t make a movie.

Mike Rabehl: People are drawn to indie cinema right now. Look at the popularity of Jojo Rabbit and Booksmart. The opportunities are much richer.

TMG: So, 30 years ago, the first screeners probably arrived on VHS tapes?

HH: Yes, they did. Digital gives more people an opportunity – because that’s what matters. More access is better. Watching a movie on a phone doesn’t replace the experience of watching it on a big screen, but more people have access to the art. Why are people upset with Netflix winning awards? More access to the art is better.

MR: How many books are sold on Amazon? Print media is not dead. You may read it on a Kindle or a tablet and not on paper, but you’re still engaging in the content, just in another format.

HH: It was a confluence of artists and engineers that started this company. The love of the artist has always been in the organic fiber of the organization. We want an experience that is highly inclusive and innovative.

TMG: So, the social interaction is a Cinequest core value?

HH: We seek to help people create and to connect with people who will appreciate their work. Netflix and Amazon do both those things. Every time you can get someone to access your work – that is important. What Cinequest adds is, first, democratization of access and, next, the forging of community. We bring people together to share the experience.

TMG: And now television is part of Cinequest. Because you want Cinequest to taste the good artistic content that’s on TV?

HH: That started when HBO pushed quality.

Mike Rabehl: TV used to NOT be adventurous.

HH: Mike likes stories.

TMG: And what do you like?

HH: And I like art that can lift hearts and inspire, art with a Maverick or original aspect, art that exposes you to a world other than your own.

TMG: What is Cinequest’s next Maverick challenge?

HH: The next challenge is marketing – how do we get people to engage with the new ways artists can deliver their work? How do we build community?

MR: We have built community. I still hear from filmmakers who have met here and gone off and made films together.

HH – We’re just focused on connecting! VR, AR, IR – we don’t know what is going to happen. Let’s look at one of the traditional and most compelling art forms – imagine live theater and AR coming together!

MR: That’s why we are taking the Redwood City Cinequest events to a new level and adding soirees so artists and audiences can connect with each other.

HH: My favorite events involve a person – like what we’re doing with ruth weiss. [Note: Hussey is referring to Cinequest presenting famed beat poet ruth weiss with its Maverick Spirit Award AND screening the documentary ruth weiss, the beat goddess AND hosting readings by local poets, all in the same event.] That will be a very cool event.

The best of CINEQUEST 2020

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cq logo

I’ve already seen over twenty offerings from Cinequest 2020, and here are my initial recommendations. As usual, I focus on the world and US premieres. Follow the links for full reviews, images and trailers. I’ve also included some tips for making the most of the Cinequest experience under “Hacking Cinequest”.

[NOTE: This was a preview post written just before the festival opened. The best film in the 2020 Cinequest program was Driveways (which I actually saw after the festival because of COVID-19).]

Jenna Lyng Adams in BEFORE THE FIRE. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

MUST SEE

  • Before the Fire: In this year’s Must See at Cinequest, the only escape from an apocalyptic flu pandemic is a woman’s long-estranged rural hometown – but the scary family who traumatized her childhood is there, too. Written by its female star Jenna Lyng Adams, and the first feature by its female director Charlie Buhler, this indie thriller rocks. World premiere.

3 DAY WEEKEND. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

THRILLERS

  • Before the Fire, of course and
  • 3 Day Weekend: In this inventively constructed thriller, the point of view keeps shifting, and so does the genre. The screenplay is a triumph of storytelling. World premiere.
  • Fox Hunt Drive: One gobsmacking plot twist. World premiere.
INEZ & DOUG & KIRA. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

INDIES

  • Inez & Doug & Kira: A tangle of love, friendship and bipolar disorder – and obsession. Bay Area premiere.
  • Small Time: Rural America’s opioid crisis explored through its impact on one little girl; what is the shelf life of innocence? Shot over three years with insight and verisimilitude. World premiere.
OWNERS. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

WORLD CINEMA

  • Owners: This dark Czech comedy takes a jaundiced view of human foibles – as if penned by a modern Czech Mark Twain. Recognized as the year’s best film from the Czech Republic. North American premiere.
  • Willow: This triptych by Oscar-nominated master Macedonian filmmaker Milcho Manchevski plumbs the heartaches and joys of having children; there’s a scene in the final vignette with a mother and son in a car that is one of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever seen. North American premiere.
  • I Am Frank: This excellent Slovenian drama is about the return of a charismatic misfit who just can’t leave well enough alone. US premiere.
BREAKING FAST. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

FEEL GOOD

  •  Breaking Fast: Just another gay Muslim romantic comedy…I predict that Breaking Fast will become the Feel Good hit of the 2020 Cinequest. World premiere.
THE QUICKSILVER CHRONICLES. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

DOCUMENTARY

  • The Quicksilver Chronicles: Two bohemians live in a ghost town close (yet far) from Silicon Valley, and life happens. World premiere.

AND TWO I HAVEN’T SEEN YET

  • The Burnt Orange Heresy: See it here before its wide release. This neo-noir features Elizabeth Debicki, Claes Bang, Donald Sutherland and…Mick Jagger.
  • The Longest Wave: I am a sucker for a surfing documentary, and this one comes from filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster).

CLASSIC MOVIE EXPERIENCE

  • The silent 1920 The Mark of Zorro with Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckling across the screen will be projected in a period movie palace, the California Theatre, accompanied by world-renowned Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ. I hear that last year’s Buster Keaton triumph has encouraged Cinequest to open this year’s silent screening with a Keaton short.

BEFORE IT’S IN THEATERS – SEE IT HERE FIRST

  • Several Cinequest films already are planned for theatrical release later this year. I haven’t seen them yet, but you can see them first at Cinequest.  Resistance, The Burnt Orange Heresy, Hope Gap, Roads Not Taken, The Longest Wave and Driveways are among the movies slated for theatrical release later this year.

HACKING CINEQUEST

Cinequest retains its Downtown San Jose vibe, with concurrent screenings at the 1122-seat California, the 550-seat Hammer and the 257-seat 3Below, all within 1600 feet of the VIP lounge at The Continental Bar. There will still be satellite viewing in Redwood City; if you’re going to and from Redwood City between 3 and 7 PM on a weekday – take Caltrain instead of driving.

At Cinequest, you can get a festival pass for as little as $165, and you can get individual tickets as well. The express pass for an additional tax-deductible $100 is a fantastic deal – you get to skip to the front of the lines!

Take a look at the entire program, the schedule and the passes and tickets.

As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty films from around the world. Bookmark my CINEQUEST page, with links to all my coverage.  Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

Klaes Bang and Elizabeth Debicki in THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.