CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH: decent people and their foibles, navigating life

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Photo caption: Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson in CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH. Courtesy of AppleTV.

The engaging and satisfying Cha Cha Real Smooth, an adult-coming-of-age romantic dramedy, is surprisingly textured. The charming but feckless Andrew (Cooper Riff) has emerged from a fun college experience that has not prepared him for the grown up world. His high-achieving college girlfriend has correctly assessed that he has no plan for life after college and, hence, doesn’t have a future. Andrew’s only alternative is moving back with his mom (Leslie Mann), Stepdad Greg (Brad Garret) and his little brother (Evan Assante) and taking a humiliating job at the mall.

Andrew stumbles into a new gig that leverages his one true skill – he becomes a bar/bat mitzvah party starter, the guy who can get everyone (including 13-year-olds and their parents) on to the dance floor. On the job he meets the autistic girl Lola (Vanessa Burghard) and her young mom Domino (Dakota Johnson). (She’s not a stripper although Domino is a stripper name if there ever was one).

Andrew and Domino bond over Andrew’s compassionate treatment of Lola. The 32-year-old Domino, however, is a damaged soul, having married very young, only to have been left immediately by Lola’s dad to raise an autistic kid on her own. Domino now has a high-achieving fiance (Raul Castillo), who travels a lot.

This premise is ripe for for a conventional rom com or a sex comedy or a bawdy, low-brow teen comedy. However, Cha Cha Real Smooth departs from the predictable and heads into unexpected directions driven by its characters. Every character struggles with something – Andrew’s mom is bipolar, Stepdad Greg is wooden and tonedeaf, the little brother is awkwardly stumbling into adolescence, and Andrew, of course is immature and aimless. Even the girl who was All That at Andrew’s high school is also drifting and wondering if she “peaked in high school”.

But, with the exception of a couple middle school bullies and their enabling dad, everybody in Cha Cha Real Smooth is a decent person. In this era of Snark, here are good people, with their foibles and eccentricities just trying to navigate life.

This refreshing aspect of Cha Cha Real Smooth comes from the characters written by Cooper Raiff, who also directed and, of course, stars as Andrew. This is Raiff’s second feature as a writer-director (following Shithouse), and, at age 25, he has proved that he is a promising talent. Especially as a writer.

Dakota Johnson’s performance is one of her best. Her Domino is so invested in her daughter that the rest of her life is chaotic; she’s well-schooled in hard knocks, leaving her much wiser than Andrew, but fearful of accepting good developments in her life.

The rest of the cast is very good, too. Leslie Mann continues to be a comedic treasure.

Cha Cha Real Smooth is streaming on AppleTV.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: JOCKEY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

This week on The Movie Gourmet –

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

NUTS! Courtesy of SFFILM.

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

  • NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Jockey: he finally grapples with himself. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Step Into Liquid: “insanely gorgeous” surfing. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Riding Giants: obsessive search for the biggest wave to surf. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Dick Johnson Is Dead: funny, heartfelt and frequently bizarre. Netflix.
  • The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
  • Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
NUTS! Courtesy of SFFILM.

ON TV

Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton in REPO MAN.

I’m recommending tonight’s midnight (PDT) showing of Alex Cox’s 1984 cult film Repo Man on Turner Classic Movies. Emilio Estevez plays a punk (in both senses) who stumbles into a job assisting a professional auto-repossessor. That repo man is played by Harry Dean Stanton, who, at the age of 58, broke through in two wonderful lead performances. In his titular role in Repo Man, he plays the crusty, old school mentor of the heretofore aimless kid. The same year, Stanton delivered his masterpiece performance in Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas.

Repo Man is a delight, with a full dose of Harry Dean, the inside peek into a shady and dangerous job, lots of humor and even an homage to the classic film noir Kiss Me Deadly. (In Repo Man, look for singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett in a bit part as “Additional Blonde Agent”.)

Hang ten this summer

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RIDING GIANTS

Let’s go surfin’ now

Everybody’s learning how

Come on and safari with me

It’s a great time to get stoked with the two most bitchin’ surfing movies, the documentaries Step Into Liquid and Riding Giants.

In Step Into Liquid (2003), we see the world’s best pro surfers in the most extreme locations.  We also see devoted amateurs in the tiny ripples of Lake Michigan and surfing evangelists teaching Irish school children.  The cinematography is remarkable – critic Elvis Mitchell called the film “insanely gorgeous”.  The filmmaker is Dana Brown, son of Bruce Brown, who invented the surf doc genre with The Endless Summer (1966) and The Endless Summer II (1994).

Riding Giants (2004) focuses on the obsessive search for the best wave by some of the greatest surfers in history. We see “the biggest wave ever ridden” and then a monster that could be bigger.  The movie traces the discovery of the Half Moon Bay surf spot Mavericks.  And more and more, all wonderfully shot.

The filmmaker is Stacy Peralta, a surfer and one the pioneers of modern skateboading, (and a founder of the Powell Peralta skateboard product company).  Peralta also made Dogtown and Z-boys (2001), the great documentary about the roots of skateboarding, and wrote the 2005 Lords of Dogtown.

Both Step into Liquid and Riding Giants can be streamed from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.

JOCKEY: he finally grapples with himself

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Photo caption: Clifton Collins, Jr. in JOCKEY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

In Jockey, Clifton Collins, Jr., plays Jackson Silva, a seasoned professional jockey – perhaps now too seasoned. His skills are undiminished but his body’s capacity to employ those skills is in serious decline. Just as he’s facing professional mortality, a promising young jockey-wannabe (Moises Arias – very good) appears and says that he is Jackson’s son.

Jackson has led a life free of introspection. He has only focused on training and riding and partying afterward. Now he must ask himself who is he, if not a jockey? Is he a man who has left relationship carnage in his wake? Is he completely alone? Can he reinvent himself?

Clifton Collins, Jr. and Moises Arias in JOCKEY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The life of a jockey is grinding and dangerous, and Jockey is a behind-the-scenes horse-racing procedural. In one scene, Jackson and his peers (played by non-actor real-life jockeys) take turns recounting their injuries; the litany of wear-and-tear and outright catastrophes is grimly impressive.

Molly Parker and Clifton Collins Jr. in JOCKEY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Molly Parker plays Jackson’s longtime boss and collaborator. Since her turn as the unforgettable Alma Garret in Deadwood, she has shone in episodic TV (Shattered, The Firm, House of Cards, Lost in Space). Here she credibly plays a woman utterly comfortable in a male world, respected by her peers. She is always supportive of Jackson, and she is resisting giving him a needed reality check.

Jockey is a showcase for Clifton Collins, a brilliant character actor who rarely gets lead roles. Collins is best known for his portrayal of killer Perry Smith, the subject of In Cold Blood, in 2005’s Capote with Philip Seymour Hoffman. His performance as Jackson is deeply interior, as he faces troubling realities that can no longer be deferred and which rock his very identity.

JOCKEY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Jockey is the first feature for co-writer and director Clint Bentley. Bentley had also co-written Transpecos, directed by Jockey co-writer Greg Kwedar; Transpecos also starred Collins. In Jockey, Bentley demonstrates effective use of non-actors, a remarkable caoacity for delivering verisimilitude, and a beautiful eye for framing exterior shots.

This is an excellent film with a great performance. Jockey can be streamed from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.

Best Movies of 2022 – So Far

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Photo caption: Owen Teague in MONTANA STORY. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.

Every year, I keep a running list of the best movies I’ve seen this year.  By the end of the year, I usually end up with a Top Ten and another 5-15 mentions. Here are my Best Movies of 2021 and Best Movies of 2020 lists.

To get on my year-end list, a movie has to be one that thrills me while I’m watching it and one that I’m still thinking about a couple of days later.

Unfortunately, most of these films have come and gone in theaters and won’t be accessible again until they stream this summer.

Seidi Haarla and Yuri Borisov in COMPARTMENT No. 6. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

THE BEST OF 2022 – So Far

Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Theatrical run has finished; expect it to stream this summer.

Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Theatrical run has finished; expect it to stream this summer.

Poser: personal plagiarism. (Opens in theaters on July 8; review will go live on July 5.)

The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Had a blink-and-you-missed-it theatrical run; I’ll let you know when it streams.

12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Premiered at Cinequest’s online fest in March and may play the in-person Cinequest in August.

Sylvie Mix and Bobbi Kitten in POSER. Photo courtesy of the Nashville Film Festival.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: JAZZFEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

This week on The Movie Gourmet – James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America, coming up tomorrow on TCM and an unusually personal review of Jazzfest: A New Orleans Story. Plus two very contrasting remembrances.

Frameline —the world’s largest LGBTQ film festival— runs through Sunday, June 26, 2022. Here are my four recommendations.

REMEMBRANCES

Bo Hopkins in AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

A few weeks ago, we lost actor Bo Hopkins, who left us with some absolutely indelible performances in his heyday, a decade starting in the late 1960s. No one has ever been better at portraying a smirking, dimwitted redneck. I liked him best as the ill-fated young robber in The Wild Bunch, the greaser hard guy in American Graffiti and Burt Reynold’s moonshining partner in White Lightning. In this period, he appeared in .
Cat Ballou, The Getaway, Monte Walsh and Midnight Express.

Burt Reynolds and Bo Hopkins in WHITE LIGHTNING.
Jean-Louis Trintignant in THE CONFORMIST.

Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant starred in some of the most prestigious European movies of the past six decades: Roger Vadim’s …And Man Created Woman with Brigitte Bardot (1956), Claude Leloach’s A Man and a Woman (1966), Claude Chabrol’s Les Biches (1968), Costa-Gravras’ Z (1969), Éric Rohmer’s My Night at Maud’s, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970), Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Red (1994) and Michael Haneke’s Amour (2012). He even made a Sergio Corbucci spaghetti western The Great Silence in 1968. Trintignant was 91.

Jean-Louis Trintignant in AMOUR.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

Julia Garner in ELECTRICK CHILDREN

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

  • Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Dick Johnson Is Dead: funny, heartfelt and frequently bizarre. Netflix.
  • The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
  • Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

JAMES STEWART, ROBERT MITCHUM: THE TWO FACES OF AMERICA: is “hero/anti-hero” too simplistic?

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The 2017 documentary James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America traces the mostly parallel and mostly contrasting Hollywood careers of icons James Stewart and Robert Mitchum.

Hero and anti-hero. James Stewart became perhaps American cinema’s greatest screen actor by portraying earnest, well-meaning,, play-by-the-rules types like George Bailey and Jefferson Smith. Mitchum, so identified with film noir, is known as an insolent rebel with no pretense of following anybody else’s rules. (Of course, it’s more complicated than that – among Stewart’s greatest performances are his darkest, in Hitchcock classics like Vertigo and Rear Window and in Anthony Mann’s psychological Westerns like Winchester ’73.)

James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America is not a deep dive into this optimism/cynicism theme of American postwar psychology. Instead, it’s more of a marriage of two showbiz biodocs.

That being said, fans of the actors (and I am a big fan of both) get some insights. Both actors reflect on their own work (see trailers below). The most evocative segment is about Stewart’s grief at the loss of his son, a marine killed in the Vietnam War that Jimmy himself supported politically.

Stewart and Mitchum did not socialize, despite their daughters knowing each other in high school. They only worked together once, late in their careers, in the 1978 remake of The Big Sleep. James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America highlights a remarkable coincidence in their deaths.

I watched James Stewart, Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America on Turner Classic Movies, where it will be replayed on June 25. It is also streaming on the subscription services WATCH TCM and DIrecTV.

JAZZFEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY: introducing the perfect 8 days of culture

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Photo caption: JAZZFEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The endearing documentary Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story celebrates the 51-year-old extravaganza of music, food and good times that is the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Jazz Festival (always called Jazzfest). Documentarians Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern introduce us to founder George Wein, longtime festival producer Quint Davis and a host of musicians. They cover the history of the festival, its importance to Louisiana and the city, the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and how Jazzfest celebrates the unique cultures of New Orleans and Louisiana. And of course, they dive deep into the music and the musicians.

The killer moment in Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story is a divine Aaron Neville rendition of Amazing Grace that brings tears to Trombone Shorty, standing behind him on stage.

I had never thought of Jimmy Buffett as a New Orleans musician, but this is where he learned his chops, busking and then fronting a band on Bourbon Street. It turns out that Buffett has a substantial history with the Jazzfest. (Unrelated movie trivia: Jimmy Buffett had a bit part, “Additional Blonde Agent” in the cult movie Repo Man.)

This is Jazzfest 101 – a comprehensive intro course. We don’t dive into the behaviors of Jazzfest veterans, like pouring over The Cubes (festival’s program schedule) in January or procuring an inexpensive festival chair at the Canal Street Walgreen’s.

JAZZFEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

I love the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Jazz Festival so much – and I miss it so much – that I resisted seeing this film because the trailer made my heart ache. I’ve missed three trips to the Jazzfest in the past four years because of COVID and other misfortunes, and I really, really miss it. The Wife prevailed, however, because she loves Jazzfest so much that she just couldn’t miss this movie.

Here’s why. For the Movie Gourmet, the perfect vacation goes like this: sleep late and arise to cafe au lait and beignets, then stroll through the French Quarter to the bus on Canal Street that drops us at the Jazzfest at midday. Spend six hours listening to the world’s best blues musicians, and sample some of the world’s best gospel, cajun and zydeco, too. Sustain ourselves with cochon de lait poboys and alligator nuggets. Cap the day with a big name act (in 2022, for example, The Who, Stevie Nicks, Jason Isbell, Billy Strings, Nelly, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Avett Brothers, Lionel Ritchie, Death Cab for Cutie, Luke Combs, Elvis Costello, The Black Crowes, Norah Jones and Buddy Guy). Bus back to the room and shower. Enjoy a late dinner at one of the world’s best restaurants. Have some drinks at a local club listening to live local music. Hit Cafe du Monde for some post-midnight beignets and go to bed. Rinse. Repeat.

JAZZFEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

It turned out that, for The Movie Gourmet, Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story wasn’t painful after all, just wistful. I’m looking forward to returning in APril 2023. Trombone Shorty, Big Luther Kent and Trick Bag, Anders Osborne, Sonny Landreth, Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone and The Iguanas await me. So do the sweetbreads at Bayona, the fried green tomatoes at Jacque Imo’s and delicacies at restaurants yet to be discovered.

Jazz Jazzfest: A News Orleans Story is in theaters.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Lina Al Arabi and Esther Esther Bernet-Rollande in BESTIES, playing at Frameline. Courtesy of Frameline.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of My Donkey, My Lover and I, plus four recommendations for the Frameline film festival – opening today in San Francisco and next week online.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON VIDEO

Dick Johnson in DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD. Courtesy of Netflix.

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

  • Dick Johnson Is Dead: funny, heartfelt and frequently bizarre. Netflix.
  • The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu.
  • Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Touching the Void: the gripping true life story of a mountaineer who had to cut his climbing partner’s rope. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • The Women’s Balcony: a righteous man must keep his woman happy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Electrick Children: magical Mormon runaways in Vegas. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
  • The Imposter: you gotta see this. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.

ON TV

hep cats in BUCKET OF BLOOD

On June 21, Turner Classic Movies will air A Bucket of Blood, a campy, minor horror film from 1959, more interesting as a window into beatnik culture.  Can you dig it?

Frameline 2022: four recommendations

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Lina Al Arabi in BESTIES. Courtesy of Frameline.

San Francisco’s Frameline —the world’s largest LGBTQ film festival—opens today and runs through Sunday, June 26, 2022. Last week, I previewed the fest, and, today, here are my recommendations:

  • Besties: This stellar French coming-of-age film is a showcase for star Lina Al Arabi’s magnetism and writer-director Marion Desseigne-Ravel’s storytelling.
  • Loving Highsmith::This biodoc of the iconic novelist Patricia Highmith (Strangers on a Train, Carol) is filled with intimacies revealed.
  • The Sixth Reel: This endearing madcap comedy is set in the insular world of classic movie geeks – with a touch of drag.
  • Unidentified Objects: This Odd-Couple-On-A-Roadtrip dramedy takes us on a singular journey – from the offbeat through the surreal to the redemptive.

I love the tagline to this year’s Frameline: The Coast Is Queer. If you can’t make it to the theaters, The Sixth Reel and Unidentified Objects are streaming in Frameline’s Digital Streaming Room. Buy tickets at Frameline.

Patricia Highsmith in LOVING HIGHSMITH. Courtesy of Frameline.