Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption. Jodie Comer and Austin Butler in THE BIKERIDERS. Courtesy of Focus Features.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of last year’s overlooked neo-noir The Little Things, which is worth streaming for Denzel Washington’s performance. Note that Thelma, Ghostlight, Daddio and Sorry/Not Sorryare already streaming. The Bikeriders, which has been streaming for couple weeks, is included in a Peacock subscription. Plus, scroll down for a rarity, my recommendation of a sexy silent film.

REMEMBRANCE

Gena Rowlands, Oscar-nominated as best actress for Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, had a gift for authentic and wrenching performances. I also liked her in lighter fare like Minnie and Moskowitz and Night on Earth. She was the director John Cassavetes’ wife, muse and leading lady.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • How to Come Alive: addicted to his own turmoil. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Peacock (included).
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Daddio: intimacy between strangers. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Sorry/Not Sorry: revelatory, and posing the smartest questions. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Netflix.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.

WATCH AT HOME

Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

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

ON TV

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in FLESH AND THE DEVIL

I rarely, rarely recommend silent dramas, because today’s general audiences find them too stilted to enjoy, and I don’t push “eat your broccoli” movies on folks. But, on August 19, Turner Classic Movies will present the 1926 Flesh and the Devil, and it’s a good chance to see what the stardom of Greta Garbo was all about, as well as pre-Code Hollywood sexuality.

Flesh and the Devil was made in Garbo’s first year in Hollywood and was her breakthrough star-making role in the US. She plays Felicitas, a woman who enjoy making men loooong for her. In her seduction of the righteous young limitary officer Leo (John Gilbert), she shoots him a come hither look even while kneeling for communion in church. She accepts his offer of a dance and immediately flops into his arms with predatory intent, quickly leading him outside into the dark where they can be alone; things move rapidly to a post-coital smoke. Reportedly, this is cinema’s first horizontal love scene and its first closeup of an open-mouth kiss.

At filming, Garbo was 21 and Gilbert 26 (but he looks over 30). Gilbert had dreamy looks, expressive eyes and perfect comic timing; he was a naturalistic actor – unusually so for the silent era – and he would have probably been a top talent in today’s cinema. The couple’s steamy chemistry in Flesh and the Devil was real; they moved in together before the shooting wrapped. Their enthusiasm during the filming of the bear rug scene so embarrassed director Clarence Brown that he did not call “cut”; the crew just crept out of the studio.

Flesh and the Devil also includes an excellent character performance by George Fawcett as Pastor Voss, a character who oddly smokes a cigar in his pipe. Fawcett was 65 but had already made 107 silents films.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption: Justice Smith and Bridgette Lundy-Payne in I SAW THE TV GLOW. Courtesy of A24.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the Norman Mailer biodoc How to Come Alive.

Note: The wonderful family drama Ghostlight can now be streamed from Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango (included). The Bikeriders, Jeff Nichol’s engrossing exploration of the culture of a 1960s Midwestern motorcycle gang and its (unfortunate) evolution, can also be streamed. In fact, all SEVEN of my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far can now be watched at home.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • How to Come Alive: addicted to his own turmoil. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Netflix.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.

WATCH AT HOME

BLIND SPOT: HITLER’S SECRETARY

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

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption: Norman Mailer in HOW TO COME ALIVE. Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I haven’t yet written on the new Norman Mailer biodoc How to Come Alive, but I want you to know that it’s very good. I did post on Wim Wender’s 1977 neo-noir The American Friend, an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel Ripley’s Game; if you missed it on TCM, you can still stream it from Criterion, Amazon, AppleTV and Fandango.

BTW Wicked Little Letters is now on Netflix.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • How to Come Alive: addicted to his own turmoil. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Netflix.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.

WATCH AT HOME

Paul Dano and Chloe Kazan in RUBY SPARKS

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

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption: June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in THELMA. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures | photo by David Bolen.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – reviews of two overlooked films now available to watch at home: the breathtakingly original psychological drama Discreet and the lyrical biodoc Without Getting Killed or Caught.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Netflix.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.

WATCH AT HOME

Aubrey Plaza in BLACK BEAR

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

ON TV

Noir City 18: South Korea: The Housemaid & Black HairNOIR CITY: INTERNATIONAL II #NoirCity18 www.NoirCity.com Sunday, January 26, 2020 SOUTH KOREA 2:00, 7:00 PM THE HOUSEMAID (HANYO) A middle-class Korean family spirals into a delirious nightmare...
THE HOUSEMAID

On July 27, Turner Classic Movies airs a WOWZER – the 1960 Korean horror/noir The Housemaid. A couple hires a maid, who turns out to be the domestic from hell. Seduction, deception, threats follow…and who will poison whom? I screened this film for a recent Noir City, and although I can’t say that it’s one of my favorites, it does keeping stunning the audience with ever darker twists. Often considered one of the top Korean films of all time. TCM will present The Housemaid on Noir Alley with intro and outro by Eddie Muller.

Movies to See Right Now

by

Photo caption: Dakota Johnson in DADDIO. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – I’m covering the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, which opened Thursday. Here’s my SJFJFF preview and my festival recommendations. Also, a new review of the evocative and highly evocative psychodrama I Saw the TV Glow.

REMEMBRANCE

Shelley Duvall in THE SHINING

Shelley Duvall will be best remembered for playing the wife of Jack Nicholson’s decompensating writer in The Shining. It’s hard to discuss American cinema of the 1970s without mentioning Duvall because six of her first seven movies were Robert Altman films (Brewster McCloud, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, Buffalo Bill etc., and 3 Women; the seventh was Annie Hall, in a hilarious turn as an Alvy Singer sex partner. She also played the waitress who prods Steve Martin’s Cyrano character into wooing Daryl Hannah’s Roxanne in Roxanne.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. In theaters.
  • Daddio: intimacy between strangers. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • Sorry/Not Sorry: revelatory, and posing the smartest questions. In theaters.
  • Confessions of a Good Samaritan: of course, wouldn’t you?…WHAT? In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
  • Mother Couch: obstreperous mom, surreal situation. In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.
  • Kinds of Kindness: disgustingly indulgent. In theaters, primarily arthouses.

WATCH AT HOME

Paul Giamatti in JOHN ADAMS

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

ON TV

SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY

Need 100 minutes of emotional uplift? On July 20, Turner Classic Movies brings us the gospel music documentary Say Amen, Somebody. This 1982 art house hit is almost never on television, and has been hard to find, although you can now stream in on Criterion, AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango. The film traces the genre from gospel pioneers Willie Mae Ford Smith and Thomas A. Dorsey to contemporary artists. The music is stirring and infectious.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption: Jodie Comer in THE BIKERIDERS. Courtesy of Focus Features.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of two fine documentaries and an acting showcase – Penny Lane’s exploration of shocking altruism, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, a thoughtful dive into #MeToo accountability, Sorry/Not Sorry, the sweet, but not overly sentimental Perfect Days, and the Dakota Johnson-Sean Penn two-hander Daddio.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. In theaters.
  • Daddio: intimacy between strangers. In theaters.
  • Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
  • Sorry/Not Sorry: revelatory, and posing the smartest questions. In theaters.
  • Confessions of a Good Samaritan: of course, wouldn’t you?…WHAT? In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Mother Couch: obstreperous mom, surreal situation. In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.
  • Kinds of Kindness: disgustingly indulgent. In theaters, primarily arthouses.

WATCH AT HOME

VERY SEMI-SERIOUS

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

ON TV

On Saturday, July 13, Turner Classic Movies airs John Sayles’ 1988 Eight Men Out, which tells the true story of the Black Sox Scandal – the Chicago White Sox players who fixed the 1919 World Series.  Sayles used actors, not baseball players, but the baseball scenes are totally authentic.  The characters of star players Eddie Cicotte (David Straithern), Buck Weaver (John Cusack) and Shoeless Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney) and owner Charles Comiskey (Clifton James) vividly come alive. Watch for Sayles himself and Studs Terkel playing sportswriters Ring Lardner and Hugh Fullerton.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption. Jodie Comer and Austin Butler in THE BIKERIDERS. Courtesy of Focus Features.

You know it’s a good week when you can see Ghostlight, The Bikeriders and Thelma in theaters, and you can stream Challengers, La Chimera and Hit Man at home. This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Jeff Nichol’s superbly character driven The Bikeriders and the unabashedly surreal comedy Mother Couch, and the disgustingly self-indulgent Kinds of Kindness.

REMEMBRANCE

Robert Towne is best known, justifiably, for his Oscar-winning screenplay for Chinatown, one of my Greatest Movies of All Time; but director Roman Polanski perfected the script by changing the ending over Towne’s objections.  However, Chinatown was only one of a string of brilliant screenplays penned by Towne between 1973 and 1982 – The Last Detail, The Yakuza, Shampoo and Personal Best. Starting in 1967, Towne was also the uncredited script doctor who polished Bonnie and Clyde, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Godfather and Heaven Can Wait.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Mother Couch: obstreperous mom, surreal situation. In theaters, primarily arthouses.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.
  • Kinds of Kindness: disgustingly indulgent. In theaters, primarily arthouses.

WATCH AT HOME

Aksel Hennie in HEADHUNTERS

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

ON TV

Anton Walbrook and Dyana Wyngard in GASLIGHT.

On July 8, Turner Classic Movies will play the less well-known 1940 version of Gaslight. In GASLIGHT, GASLIGHT and gaslighting in domestic violence, I wrote about this film, the more familiar 1944 version and gaslighting itself. This original 1940 version is also especially well-acted. Anton Walbrook is suave and evil as the hubbie and Dyana Wyngard is unforgettably haunting as the wife. Only 19 minutes in, we see his duplicity, manipulation and control. Frank Pettingell is very good as the detective, and the cast includes Robert Newton (Long John Silver in the 1950 Treasure Island). Cathleen Cordell plays the oversexed maid Nancy in a less nuanced performance than Angela Lansbury’s in 1944. This 1940 film version is reportedly the most faithful to the stage play source material.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption: June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in THELMA. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures | photo by David Bolen.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new reviews of the important documentary The Grab, the family drama Ghostlight and the clichéd western The Dead Don’t Hurt, which is not always plausible or understandable. Ghostlight joins Hit Man and Thelma as the Must See movies.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. In theaters.
  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Banel and Adama: we want to be together and left alone. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life: creativity with self-indulgence. In NYC and LA theaters now and digital on July 3.
  • Waiting for Dali: here’s the cuisine; where’s the surrealist? AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Origin of Evil: the angry, the unhinged and the evil. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: origins of love, fictional and otherwise. Waiting for release.
  • The Woman Who Ran: is the payoff worth the slow burn? AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Dead Don’t Hurt: such a bad movie. In theaters.

WATCH AT HOME

Charlie Hunnam in THE LOST CITY OF Z photo courtesy of SFFILM

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

ON TV

Just for fun – on July 3, Turner Classic Movies will air A Bucket of Blood, a campy minor horror movie much more interesting as a window in beatnik culture. By 1959, beatnik consciousness was ripe for exploitation by low-budget movie wizard Roger Corman, who produced and directed A Bucket of Blood.  The story is about a loser who covers a dead cat with plaster of Paris and is acclaimed as a talented sculptor.  He embraces the hoax and starts hunting victims to cast into human “sculptures”; hence the horror and the bucket of blood.

“Beatnik” conjures up 20-somethings adorned in black turtleneck sweaters (and black leotards for women), berets, goatees and dark glasses; they’re in coffee houses snapping their fingers to applaud poetry and jazz.  And they’re conversing in hip cat patter.  Watch A Bucket of Blood and you’ll get a dose.

A Bucket of Blood stars Corman favorite Dick Miller, the subject of That Guy Dick Miller; ubiquitous game show host Burt Convy, as a young actor, played Lou. Can you dig it?

Movies to See Right Now

by
Richard Roundtree and June Squibb in THELMA. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures | photo by David Bolen..

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the audience-pleasing comedy Thelma, the good-hearted Catalan farce Waiting for Dali, the thoughtful artist biodoc Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life, the unpretentious 1976 ground-breaker Car Wash and 1964’s The Strangler, which is pretty perverse even for a serial killer movie. Plus a preview of Frameline, the oldest and longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world, now underway in the Bay Area.

Wow – in just two weeks, the Movie Gourmet has produced reviews of six new 2024 movies and three revivals, along with previews of two film festivals. Whew.

REMEMBRANCES

Donald Sutherland became a famous character actor playing quirky misfits in The Dirty Dozen and Kelly’s Heroes, and became a star as an iconic subversive in M*A*S*H*. His performances in Klute and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are indelible. Sutherland finished with 199 IMDb credits, including the Hunger Games franchise, and had three films released in 2023.

Anouk Aimée starred in some of the most iconic European art films of the 1960s: Fellini’s 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita and Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman.

Tony Lo Bianco first made his name in a perverse movie that became a cult film, The Honeymoon Killers. He went on to act in the 1970s classics The French Connection, The Seven Ups, Jesus of Nazareth, and lots and lots of TV work. I especially admire his performance in John Sayles’ City of Hope.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Thelma: too proud to be taken. In theaters.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Banel and Adama: we want to be together and left alone. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life: creativity with self-indulgence. In NYC and LA theaters now and digital on July 3.
  • Waiting for Dali: here’s the cuisine; where’s the surrealist? AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Origin of Evil: the angry, the unhinged and the evil. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: origins of love, fictional and otherwise. Waiting for release.
  • The Woman Who Ran: is the payoff worth the slow burn? AppleTV, YouTube.

WATCH AT HOME

Brady Jandreau in THE RIDER

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

ON TV

Richard Widmark in THE KISS OF DEATH

On June 25, Turner Classic Movies airs the classic film noir Kiss of Death. Victor Mature plays an ex-con with horrific luck – he gets caught on a heist and takes the rap for his cohorts; this leads to a long sentence and a double-cross with impacts to his wife and kids. Seeking to see his kids again, he is released back on the streets to set up the double-crossers for the DA. Mature, too often dismissed for his campy sword-and-sandal movies, did his finest work in film noir – especially I Wake Up Screaming, Kiss of Death and The Long Haul. But the flashiest performance in Kiss of Death is Richard Widmark’s film debut as psychopath Tommy Udo, who chortles maniacally as he pushes an old lady in a wheelchair down the stairs to her demise; Widmark went on to play indelible neurotics and sleazes in noir for the next three years (Roadhouse, Panic in the Streets, Night and the City, No Way Out, Pickup on South Street) before becoming an A-lister.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Photo caption: Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in HIT MAN. Courtesy of Netflix.

This very busy week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the enormously fun Hit Man, the Senegalese fable Banel and Adama, the searing coming-of-age drama How to Have Sex, and the re-release of the most kinetic movie you’ll ever see, Run Lola Run.

La Chimera, one of the year’s best films, may now be watched at home on Amazon, AppleTV or YouTube. So is the Jessie Buckley/Olivia Colman comedy Wicked Little Letters.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
  • Challengers: three people and their desire. In theaters.
  • La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • Run Lola Run: still sprinting after 25 years. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV and YouTube.
  • Banel and Adama: we want to be together and left alone. In arthouse theaters.
  • Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube. 
  • The Origin of Evil: the angry, the unhinged and the evil. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
  • Wildcat: often admirable, rarely fun. In theaters.
  • Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, but still expensive.
  • Ennio: the good the bad and the transcendent. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
  • The Taste of Things: two passions – culinary and romantic. Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Golden Years: when dreams diverge. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: origins of love, fictional and otherwise. Waiting for release.
  • The Woman Who Ran: is the payoff worth the slow burn? AppleTV, YouTube.

WATCH AT HOME

Barbara Stanwyck in WITNESS TO MURDER

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

ON TV

Otis Day, Antonio Fargas and Darrow Igus in CAR WASH. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.

On June 19, Turner Classic Movies will air a 1970s time capsule, the unpretentious ground-breaker  Car Wash. Car Wash portrays the raucous hijinks and foibles of the crew at a downtown LA car wash and samples a range of African-American perspectives, from an angry African nationalist to a corrupt preacher. Car Wash was the first film by an African-American director shown in competition at Cannes (and possibly the most unabashedly low brow Cannes entry). Three cast members – Bill Duke, Ivan Dixon and Melanie Mayron – became prolific directors themselves. Comedians George Carlin, Richard Pryor and “Professor” Irwin Corey have cameos. And the title song became a major disco hit. This is a very fun movie. I’ll be posting a complete review on Sunday, but go ahead and DVR it. now