Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Thomas Kinkade in ART FOR EVERYBODY. Courtesy of Tremolo Productions.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of two absorbing biodocs, Art for Everybody and Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.

Cinequest movies can be watched at home through midnight on March 31 for less than ten bucks per movie. Here are my recommendations. I highly recommend the Kenyan thriller The Dog and the Mexican drama The Move In. Find them on Cinequest’s on-line festival, Cinejoy.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor in THE BRIBE

On March 29, Turner Classic Movies airs the overlooked film noir, The Bribe. A federal agent (Robert Taylor) goes undercover to investigate a war surplus scam.  His one clue is that an American ex-pat couple in a Mexican seaside resort may be involved.  The husband (John Hodiak), frustrated that a medical diagnosis has ended his career as a pilot, has taken to the bottle.  That means that his nightclub singer wife (Ava Gardner) is often unaccompanied.  Posing as a tourist, the agent befriends them and tries to figure out which of the local shady characters (including the oily Vincent Price) is Mr. Big.  Of course, he falls for the wife, and she reciprocates – but is it because she’s made him as a cop? As the double crosses mount, everybody is bathed in tropical sweat.

Gardner, who broke through at age 24 in The Killers just three years before, is still at her most ravishing.   Her off-the-shoulder tops and two-piece swim suit get our attention, but she especially rocks the bare-midriff outfit in the photo above.

But the best reason to watch The Bribe is Charles Laughton, an acting legend never better than here as a professional briber.  His character often acts like a coward, but he is flush with confidence when it’s time to make a deal.  A master of manipulation and persuasion, this guy is a great negotiator.  In turn ingratiating and menacing, Laughton’s performance lights up the last half of The Bribe.

Charles Laughton and Robert Taylor in THE BRIBE

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Robert Pattinson in MICKEY 17. Courtesy of Warner Bros.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Mickey 17, Chaos: The Manson Murders and Bob Trevino Likes It. And my Cinequest coverage continues.

Next week: Art for Everybody, the dark biodoc of the “Painter of Light,” Thomas Kinkade.

Note: The Brutalist is now renting from the VOD platforms for under ten dollars.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari in THE SPIRITUALIST.

Here’s a rarity – on March 23, Turner Classic Movies brings us The Spiritualist (also The Amazing Mr. X), a 1948 B-picture that I hadn’t heard of until I saw it at last year’s Noir City at Oakland. It’s only 78 minutes long, and it’s a lot of fun. A cunning phony psychic (Turhan Bey) has convinced a wealthy widow that he can communicate with the dead, and she’s moved him into her mansion. Her world-wise daughter (Cathy O’Donnell) isn’t buying his act. But, while he is a con artist, he’s a really, really skilled one, and he pulls off illusion after illusion to keep the gullible widow believing – it’s like watching a magic show. The Spiritualist was shot by John Alton, one of the two greatest film noir cinematographers, and he makes the mansion extra spooky and the tricks extra sinister.

This was a rare leading role for Turhan Bey, and he makes a very charismatic charlatan, oozing suave charm and faux authority. Bey, an Austrian with a Turkish father and a Jewish Czechoslovakian mother, knocked around Hollywood playing exotic characters and never getting the lead in an A-picture. He has a very interesting Wikipedia page.

Cathy O’Donnell, Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari in THE SPIRITUALIST.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Sergio Podeley in GUNMAN, world premiere at Cinequest next week. Courtesy of Cinequest.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – it’s pretty much all about Cinequest, especially The Best of Cinequest, with all my reviews and features linked on my Cinequest 2025 page. At least six more reviews and features will be coming out soon. But NEXT week, I’ll be back with reviews of Mickey 17, Chaos: The Manson Murders and Bob Trevino Likes It.

And then I’ll be back in festival mode, covering the SLO Film Fest and SFFILM.

Reminder – all of the big 2024 movies, including the big Oscar winner, Anora, are available to watch at home. They’re all under $6, except for The Brutalist ($20) and A Complete Unknown ($25).

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Barbara Stanwyck in WITNESS TO MURDER

On March 20, Turner Classic Movies is airing the gripping and hard-to-find Witness to Murder. Richter (George Sanders) and Cheryl (Barbara Stanwyck) live in neighboring apartments. Cheryl believes she has seen Richter murder someone, but Richter’s clever and ruthless duplicity makes it appear that Cheryl is just crazy. Will Police Lt. Larry Mathews (Gary Merrill) believe her before Richter can make Cheryl his second victim?

What a wowzer first scene! Witness to Murder opens with a gripping scene that economically sets up the plot. “Operator, get me the police! Hurry!” We know immediately and certainly that Richter really committed the murder and that Cheryl really saw it. Throughout the movie, the audience knows this and Richter knows this, but no one else does, and neither does Cheryl herself during segments of the story.

Cheryl reports the murder and the police (Larry Mathews and sidekick) respond. However, Richter has concealed the crime so well that cops can’t find any evidence that a crime occurred. Could Cheryl have been mistaken? Or dreamed it? or made it up? or hallucinated? Is she neurotic and mildly hysteric or is she psychotic and delusional?

Larry develops an immediate attraction to Cheryl, and, despite her apparent emotional instability, begins a courtship.

Richter (malevolently) and Larry (paternalistically) begin gaslighting Cheryl, trying to convince her that she really only imagined what she saw – trying to convince her that what seemed so real, was not. Cheryl starts doubting herself.

Of course, Richter knows that he committed the murder, and he knows that Cheryl knows. To get her out of the way, he schemes to have her seen as crazed stalker. His scheme drives her to an outburst that serves as a pretext for locking her up in a psychiatric facility (with an interview by an oddly brusque shrink). Richter’s attempts to murder Cheryl continue right into Witness to Murder’s Perils-of-Pauline ending.

See my complete post on Witness to Murder, for more on the filmmakers and supporting cast. It’s one of my Overlooked Noir.

On this weekend’s TCM broadcast of Witness to Murder, film historian Eddie Muller – the Czar of Noir – will provide his always insightful intro and outro. Witness to Murder is not available to stream; I own the DVD. Be sure to DVR it when it airs on Turner Classic Movies.

George Sanders in WITNESS TO MURDER

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov in ANORA. Courtesy of NEON.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – it’s time to reset after the Oscars. I’m finishing up my Cinequest coverage; the festival starts on Tuesday, and I’ll be rolling out my fest preview and individual reviews, starting Sunday.

There’s no more excuse for missing big 2024 movies, including the big Oscar winner, Anora. They’re all available to watch at home for under $6, except for The Brutalist ($20) and A Complete Unknown ($25), which are now streaming but pricey. I haven’t yet seen Nickel Boys, Sing Sing and Flow, but they’re also available on inexpensive VOD.

Alternatively, you could honor Gene Hackman by watching The Conversation (Criterion, Paramount, Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango). It’s right up there with The French Connection as Hackman’s best performance and his best movie.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

SEVEN CHANCES
Buster Keaton (out in front) in SEVEN CHANCES

Don’t miss Turner Classic Movies March 11 airing of Seven Chances. I thought that I knew the work of Buster Keaton, but somehow I had never seen Seven Chances until a few years ago.  It features a phenomenal, 26-minute chase scene that rates with the very best in cinema history – What’s Up Doc?, The French Connection, Bullitt!, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Keaton’s own The General.

Keaton’s character publishes a public offer of marriage and gets way more takers than he can handle. There’s a very funny scene where he sits in a church to reflect on his situation and woman after woman seats herself next to and around him; he is oblivious to the fact that each of them is there to marry HIM.  The church fills up with prospective wives, and, 30 minutes into the movie, he flees, with a horde of veiled would-be brides in pursuit. The chase is on.

Keaton is off and running and running and running, in a ridiculously long sprint though the city’s downtown and rail yards and into the hills.  Amazingly, he did all of his own stunts, including leaping over an abyss and being swung around by a railroad crane.  His race with a cascade of falling boulders is pure genius.  You keep asking yourself, “How did they perform that stunt with 1925 technology?”

Keaton understood the comedic power of excess, and the sheer magnitude of the frustrated brides is hilarious   I think I can see the inspiration for the hundreds of crashing cars at the end of The Blues Brothers.

SEVEN CHANCES
Buster Keaton jumps the abyss in SEVEN CHANCES

When he made Seven Chances in 1925, Keaton was only 30 years old and had just directed his first feature two years before.  He had just made the classics Sherlock, Jr. and The Navigator in 1924.  He was about to make his masterpiece The General in 1926 and Steamboat Bill, Jr. in 1928.  Talking pictures changed the industry in 1929, and Keaton signed a disastrous contract with MGM in 1930.  Keaton was to direct only three more features in his career (all unaccredited).  MGM took away his artistic freedom, and no studio kingpin knew what to do with him in the talking era.  Keaton took to drink and went dark for decades.

SEVEN CHANCES

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Gene Hackman in THE CONVERSATION

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) plus my First Look at Cinequest.

I’ve finished my coverage of the Slamdance Film Festival, which continues on-line. Through March 7, you can watch Slamdance films at home on the Slamdance Channel: Here’s my wrap-up coverage of Slamdance:

REMEMBRANCE

Gene Hackman was one of the greatest screen actors of all time, justifiably best known for his searingly original Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. When we examine Hackman’s body of work, it’s striking that he delivered indelible performances in multiple movies in each of four decades: the 1960s (Bonnie and Clyde, The Gypsy Moths, Downhill Racer), the 1970s (The Conversation, Night Moves, Young Frankenstein), the 1980s (Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, BAT*21, The Package) and the 1990s (Unforgiven, Get Shorty). Who else has accomplished that – Jimmy Stewart and very few others? My favorite Gene Hackman performance bar none – will always be as the dogged, and then obsessive, Harry Caul in The Conversation.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024:

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one.  Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
  • The Substance: the thinking woman’s Faust, if you can take the body horror. MUBI (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
  • Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

ON TV

William Powell and Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY

On March 2, Turner Classic Movies is airing the timeless and fantastic comedy, My Man Godfrey (1936). An assembly of eccentric, oblivious, venal and utterly spoiled characters make up a rich Park Avenue family and their hangers-on during the Depression. The kooky daughter (Carole Lombard) brings home a homeless guy (William Powell) to serve as their butler. The contrast between the dignified butler and his wacky employers results in a brilliant screwball comedy that masks searing social criticism that is still sharply relevant today. The wonderful character actor Eugene Pallette (who looked and sounded like a bullfrog in a tuxedo) plays the family’s patriarch, and he’s keenly aware that his wife and kids are completely nuts.

I feel strongly about this 89-year-old movie, which I first saw when it was only 36-years-old. We talk about screwball comedy, but this is the gold standard. And we need to remember the comic genius of Carole Lombard, who died supporting the war against fascism when she was only 33.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Ariana Grande in WICKED. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.

This week, on The Movie Gourmet – I’ve been deep into Slamdance, including Discovering new filmmakers at SLAMDANCE. More Slamdance coverage is coming on Monday, when I start rolling out full reviews of individual films and highlighting the ones available to stream at home on the Slamdance Channel.

I finally got around to watching one of this year’s nominees for the Best Picture Oscar, Wicked. I had put this off because I’m not a fan of musicals, and, sure as shootin’, The Wife had to keep prodding me awake. I do always enjoy and admire Cynthia Erivo, and she’s excellent in Wicked. What surprised me was how brilliant Ariana Grande’s performance was, not just in singing and dancing, but in demonstrating absolutely perfect comic timing. Because I live under a pop culture rock, I wasn’t familiar with Grande, who I have since come to appreciate as a smart and hilarious mimic. Anyway, I don’t generally enjoy musicals, and that’s still true, no matter how good the stars are. (And Emilia Perez isn’t on my top ten list, either.)

Note: I have finalized my list of Best Movies of 2024.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
  • The Last Showgirl: desperation amid the rhinestones. In theaters.
  • The Brutalist: buffeted by fate, can his soul survive? In theaters.
  • Hard Truths: trapped inside her own rage. In theaters.
  • The Room Next Door: Tilda and Julianne, life and death. In theaters.
  • All We Imagine as Light: three women and a society that’s not on their side In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Return: an ancient tale told thru a 21st Century lens. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: another smart and charming romp. Netflix.
  • Oh, Canada: deathbed confession and so what? In theaters.
  • Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024:

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one.  Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
  • Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

ON TV

THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK

On February 24, Turner Classic Movies airs one of the greatest political movies of all time – The Times of Harvey Milk, the documentary Oscar winner from 1984. It’s the real story behind the 2008 Sean Penn narrative Milk – and with the original witnesses. If you pay attention, The Times of Harvey Milk can teach you everything from how to win a local campaign to how to build a societal movement. One of the best political movies ever. And watch for the dog poop scene!

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Adrien Brody in THE BRUTALIST. Courtesy of A24.

This week, The Movie Gourmet took the week off from movie theaters. After two weeks of movies about self-euthanasia (The Room Next Door), shameful deathbed confessions (Oh, Canada) , psychotic rage (Hard Truths) and a traumatized genius (The Brutalist), I just couldn’t face one about a woman who loses her husband to political evil (I’m Still Here). I like dark films, but even The Movie Gourmet has his limits. In the mean time, I’m deep into screening films for the upcoming Slamdance and Cinequest film festivals.

Note: I have finalized my list of Best Movies of 2024.

REMEMBRANCE

Tony Roberts (right) with Woody Allen in ANNIE HALL.

Tony Roberts had a gift or playing characters with relaxed confidence, perfect foils for Woody Allen’s trademark nervous anxiety. Roberts’ pairing with Allen began with Play, It Again, Sam, and carried through Annie Hall, Stardust Memories, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy and Hannah and her Sisters. Roberts worked plenty without Allen (Serpico, The Taking of Pelham One Twi Three and Dirty Dancing), mostly on the Broadway stage, where he was nominated for multiple Tony awards.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
  • The Last Showgirl: desperation amid the rhinestones. In theaters.
  • The Brutalist: buffeted by fate, can his soul survive? In theaters.
  • Hard Truths: trapped inside her own rage. In theaters.
  • The Room Next Door: Tilda and Julianne, life and death. In theaters.
  • All We Imagine as Light: three women and a society that’s not on their side In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Return: an ancient tale told thru a 21st Century lens. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: another smart and charming romp. Netflix.
  • Oh, Canada: deathbed confession and so what? In theaters.
  • Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024:

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one.  Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
  • Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

ON TV

MON ONCLE

On February 17, Turner Classic Movies is presenting Mon Oncle, Jacques Tati’s masterful fish-out-of-water satire of contemporary consumerism and modernist culture. In its deadpan way, I think it may be the most deeply funny movie of all time. If you have strong feelings (either way) for Mid-century Modern style, be patient and settle in. There’s very little dialogue and lots of sly observational physical humor. Tati’s use of ambient noise/sounds in the very spare soundtrack is pure genius. Mon Oncle is among my fifty or so Greatest Movies of All Time. 

MON ONCLE

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michelle Austin in HARD TRUTHS. Courtesy of Bleecker Street Media.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – my Noir City Wrap-up and new reviews of some of the year’s most acclaimed films: Two were created by already iconic filmmakers: Like Leigh’s Hard Truths and Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, The third is The Brutalist, the work of an emerging director, Brady Corbet, whom I guess has done emerged.

Note: I have finalized my list of Best Movies of 2024. BTW, none of them are as good as last year’s top three – Oppenheimer, Anatomy of a Fall or Past Lives.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
  • The Last Showgirl: desperation amid the rhinestones. In theaters.
  • The Brutalist: buffeted by fate, can his soul survive? In theaters.
  • Hard Truths: trapped inside her own rage. In theaters.
  • The Room Next Door: Tilda and Julianne, life and death. In theaters.
  • All We Imagine as Light: three women and a society that’s not on their side In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Return: an ancient tale told thru a 21st Century lens. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: another smart and charming romp. Netflix.
  • Oh, Canada: deathbed confession and so what? In theaters.
  • Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024:

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one.  Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
  • Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

ON TV

Patty McCormack and Nancy Kelly in THE BAD SEED.

Turner Classic Movies is into its 31 Day of Oscars, showing only Oscar winners and nominees. That means it’s harder for me to recommend overlooked films to you, because fewer Oscar winners are overlooked, although some have been unjustly forgotten. So, this week I have the February 11 TCM airing of The Bad Seed (1956). Very bad things are happening – the chill comes from the revelation that the murderous fiend is a child with blonde pigtails. It’s gotta be tough to be cute and creepy at the same time, but child star Patty McCormack pulled it off. McCormack went on to161 screen credits, including iconic TV shows from Route 66 and Death Valley Days to Murder, She Wrote and The Sopranos. Patty is the queen of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, having worked with everyone from Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury to Ron Howard, Michael Douglas, Philip Seymour Hoffman and of course, Kevin Bacon himself. McCormack was Oscar-nominated for this performance as an 11-year-old.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Monica Barbaro and Timothee Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

This Week on The Movie Gourmet – Noir City continues though tomorrow, but I’m back with a new review of the overlooked gem In the Summers, now available to stream. Here’s my Noir City coverage so far:

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
  • The Last Showgirl: desperation amid the rhinestones. In theaters.
  • The Room Next Door: Tilda and Julianne, life and death. In theaters.
  • All We Imagine as Light: three women and a society that’s not on their side In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Return: an ancient tale told thru a 21st Century lens. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: another smart and charming romp. Netflix.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
  • You Are Not Me: a nightmare at mom and dad’s. Amazon, Fandango.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • It’s Not Me: his life as an art film. Amazon, Fandango.
  • Lake George: when you know you’re not going to win. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • The Critic: who’s on top now? Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024:

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one.  Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
  • Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

ON TV

Timothy Bottoms (standing) in THE PAPER CHASE

As we enter February, Turner Classic Movies launches its 31 Day of Oscars, showing only Oscar winners and nominees. That means lots of good movies, but it’s harder for me to recommend overlooked films to you, because fewer Oscar winners are overlooked, although some have been unjustly forgotten. For example tonight kicks off with 8 1/2, Wild Strawberries and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie back-to-back – a veritable survey course in European cinema. (I also DVR very few TCM movies this month, because I’ve already seen the ones I would want to watch.)

Nonetheless, I can recommend TCM’s February 3 broadcast of one of my personal favorite movies, The Paper Chase, which traces a young man’s (Timothy Bottoms) first year at Harvard Law School and is based on the memoir of a recent grad. Although IMDb labels The Paper Chase as 1973 movie, I saw it in the summer of 1975, just as I was about to enter law school myself.   It’s such a personal favorite because just about EVERYTHING in the movie is something that I experienced myself at in my first year at Georgetown Law – everything, that is, EXCEPT dating Lindsay Wagner.  It’s a compelling story and the great producer John Houseman won an acting Oscar for his performance as the mentor/nemesis law professor; Houseman immediately cashed in with his ”They make money the old fashioned way… they EARN it” commercials for Smith Barney.

The Paper Chase is also notable as the first feature film credit for actors Craig Richard Nelson, Graham Beckel (Brokeback Mountain, L.A. Confidential)  and Edward Herrmann (known for many portrayals of FDR).  All three are stellar as members of the law school study group, and these guys have now combined for over 300 screen acting credits.  John Jay Osborn Jr.,  who wrote the autobiographical novel which was the source material movie, died in 2022.

John Houseman in THE PAPER CHASE

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Pamela Anderson in THE LAST SHOWGIRL. Courtesy of RoadsideFlix.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m at the Noir City film festival in Oakland:

Nevertheless, The Movie Gourmet has new reviews of Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door and Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl. But, first, remembering a fine actress and a transformative filmmaker.

REMEMBRANCES

Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini in David Lynch’s BLUE VEVET.

It’s hard to think of a filmmaker more influential than David Lynch. His Eraserhead became the firt arthouse cult film, and no one had ever seen anything on TV lik his Twin Peaks. He had a popular and critical success with Elephant Man, but remained defiantly artistic with his masterpieces, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. His last film work was a hoot – an acting cameo as John Ford in The Fabelmans.

Dean Stockwell in David Lynch’s BLUE VEVET.

Joan Plowright was primarily a star of the English stage, but she worked in movies, too, including Tea with Mussolini and earning an Oscar nod for Enchanted April. My favorite Plowright performance was in a gentle Irish comedy, Widows Peak.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
  • The Last Showgirl: desperation amid the rhinestones. In theaters.
  • The Room Next Door: Tilda and Julianne, life and death. In theaters.
  • All We Imagine as Light: three women and a society that’s not on their side In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Return: an ancient tale told thru a 21st Century lens. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: another smart and charming romp. Netflix.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
  • You Are Not Me: a nightmare at mom and dad’s. Amazon, Fandango.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • It’s Not Me: his life as an art film. Amazon, Fandango.
  • Lake George: when you know you’re not going to win. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • The Critic: who’s on top now? Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024:

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one.  Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
  • Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.

ON TV

Dennis O’Keefe and Ann Sheridan in WOMAN ON THE RUN

On January 26, Turner Classic Movies airs the taut 77 minutes of Woman on the Run, one of my Overlooked Noir. When the police coming looking for a terrified murder witness, they are surprised to find his wife (Ann Sheridan) both ignorant of his whereabouts and unconcerned. And the wife has a Mouth On Her, much to the dismay of the detective (Robert Keith), who keeps walking into a torrent of sass. She starts hunting hubbie, along with the cops, a reporter (Dennis O’Keefe) and the killer, and they all careen through a life-or-death manhunt. Another star of Woman on the Run is San Francisco itself, from the hilly neighborhoods to the bustling streets to the dank and foreboding waterfront. Eddie Muller will present the intro and outro in TCM’s Noir Alley.