Weekly Movie Recommendations

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.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha in ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT. Courtesy of Janus Films.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – another busy week, with new reviews of a highly acclaimed art film from India and a Claymation romp: All We Imagine as Light and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Plus, my first coverage of next weekend’s Noir City film festival, which I’ll be covering in person: NOIR CITY returns – with the spotlight on femmes fatale.

Next week: Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl and Pedro Almodovar’s much-awaited The Room Next Door, with Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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

Ed Norris, Jean Gillie and Herbert Rudley in DECOY.

On January 19, Turner Classic Movies presents the obscure, low-budget Decoy, which stands out out from the rest of film noir (and from much of cinema) for two elements. The first is the most hysterically evil femme fatale ever. The second is that the plot pivots on a preposterous premise – resurrecting an executed criminal to find out where he hid the loot.

Little known British actress Jean Gillie revels in her performance as the femme fatale, who is not only remorselessly murderous, but she’s sadistic as well. And she can even take pleasure in humiliating a man from her deathbed.

Decoy is not a very good film, but it moves so quickly, and its two major elements are so astoundingly outrageous, that it’s fun to watch. Decoy is not currently available to stream, so be sure to DVR it this week on TCM. It’s on my list of Overlooked Film Noir.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Bob Dylan in PAT GARRETT AND BILY THE KID, coming up twice this week on Turner Classic Movies.

This has been a remarkably busy week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of a Bronze Age saga, a Spanish psychological horror movie and a darkly funny crime thriller: The Return, You Are Not Me and Lake George. You can now stream Anora at home – the film currently number one on my Best Movies of 2024, The current number two film, A Complete Unknown, is in theaters.

REMEMBRANCE

You may have read of the recent death of Jeff Baena, who wrote David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, and wrote and directed The Little Hours and Spin Me Round, all offbeat and subversive comedies.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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

Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan in PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID

The culture is pervaded with Bob Dylan right now, which is probably why Turner Classic Movies is airing a rare Bob Dylan acting performance, not once, but TWICE – on January 12 and 14.

One of my very favorite films is the Sam Peckinpah 1973 Western Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, featuring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the title roles. Dylan composed the music for the film, including Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, which perfectly underlines a heartbreaking scene with two greats of the Western genre, Slim Pickins and Katy Jurado. Dylan also holds his own in a small, mostly comedic, acting role.

Peckinpah takes us into a realistically dusty world of 1880s New Mexico and makes the story operatic in its sweep. Pat Garrett is a revisionist Western, with Billy representing the have-nots and his old pal Garrett hiring out to do the bidding of the capitalist one-percenters. It’s a near-great movie; if the unfortunate “Paco” story line were excised, it would rank among the greatest three or four Westerns of all time.

Pat Garrett also features the Peckinpah repertory company of Luke Askew, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Gene Evans, Dub Taylor, Emilio Fernandez and, in one his most memorable roles, R.G. Armstrong. The stellar cast also features Harry Dean Stanton, Jason Robards, Elisha Cook Jr., Chill Wills, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Elam, Barry Sullivan, Jack Dodson (Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffin Show), Richard Bright (Al Neri in The Godfather), and Charles Martin Smith (Terry the Toad in American Graffiti).

Dylan starred in his only other narrative feature film, Hearts of Fire, in 1987. He did appear, uncredited, in Dennis Hopper’s Catchfire (1990). Three decades after Pat Garrett, Dylan won an Oscar for composing the theme for Wonder Boys.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of A Complete Unknown, Queer and Jimmy Carter. Plus my year-end coverage:

  1. Best Movies of 2024
  2. Best (and worst) movie-going experiences of 2024
  3. 2024 Farewells: on the screen
  4. 2024 Farewells: behind the camera.

REMEMBRANCE

Olivia Hussey was only 15 when she began filming Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. Zeffirelli had decided to tell the story of impulsive, over-dramatic teenage love with actual teenage actors, and Hussey rewarded him with a rapturous and genuine performance. She worked with Zeffirelli again in the best-ever biblical epic, Jesus of Nazareth, as Mary, mother of Jesus.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters.
  • A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: the origins of love, fictional and otherwise. In theaters.
  • Kneecap: sláinte! Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:

ON TV

Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley in VIA LAS VEGAS

OK, I’m not saying that Viva Las Vegas (Turner Classic Movies on January 8) is neither a good movie nor an overlooked one, but it’s tough to beat for sheer vibrancy and sexual chemistry. Virtually all Elvis Presley, movies had silly, barely visible plots contrived as an excuse for Elvis to perform a few songs and to canoodle with a pretty female. What’s different about Viva Las Vegas is that his co-star Ann-Margret had the musical talent and charisma to match up with Elvis; her dancing here is captivating. Ann-Margret has confirmed that she and Elvis enjoyed a torrid fling during the shoot, and their lustful passion is evident (meaning that Elvis didn’t need to rely on his acting skills to appear smitten). (BTW the one good Elvis movie was Kid Creole – check it out.)

Director George Sidney (nearing the end of a career making light-hearted musicals) seems so obsessed with Ann-Margret’s derriere, that you can play a drinking game on the extended, lingering shots of her walking away from the camera; don’t blame Sidney – nobody in Kiss Me Kate or Annie, Get Your Gun! was as overtly sexual as Ann-Margret.

Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley in VIA LAS VEGAS

Movies to See Right Now – Holiday Edition

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Photo caption: Timothee Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of The Critic and a capsule recommendation (below) of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, along with two recommendations to DVR on TCM. Next week: A Complete Unknown, the ballyhooed Bob Dylan biopic.

And my year-end coverage is about to begin: Farewells, Best (and Worst) Movie-going Experiences and, of course, The Best Films of 2024. Watch this space.

CURRENT MOVIES

I’m not writing a separate post about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice because it’s neither an overlooked movie or an important one. But The Wife and I finally got around to streaming it for free from Max, and, boy, is it entertaining. We were reminded that so much of Beetlejuice’s gleeful misbehavior is Michael Keaton’s brilliant invention. Jenna Ortega adds a refreshing note. There’s an homage to the original movie’s hilarious use of Banana Boat (Day-O) and the comic possibilities of MacArthur Park are fully realized. There’s even some smart mockery of our self-help heavy culture Beetlejuice Beetlejuice can be streamed from Max (included), Amazon and AppleTV.

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
  • The Critic: who’s on top now? Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: the origins of love, fictional and otherwise. In theaters.
  • Kneecap: sláinte! Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:

ON TV

On December 27, Turner Classis Movies airs Three Strangers, with Geraldine Fitzgerald’s indelible performance, which I wrote about last week. If you missed it, you can stream it from Amazon or AppleTV.

On December 28, TCM will present The Last Detail, featuring one of 30-something Jack Nicholson’s iconic embodiments of alienation and rebelliousness (Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, The Passenger, Onne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).

Two non-commissioned Navy lifers (Nicholson and Otis Young) are ordered to escort a court-martialed 18-year-old seaman (Randy Quaid) from Norfolk to a naval prison in Maine. The kid is very dumb, very inexperienced and very, very, very unlucky. He faces a long, disproportional for a petty theft; he didn’t know he was stealing from the base commander’s wife’s pet charity. Because he hasn’t had many adult experiences, the older guys decide to show him a good, completely unauthorized, time on the trip.

Carol Kane and Michael Moriarty add superb supporting performances.

Co-written by Robert Towne (Chinatown) and directed by Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, Being There), this is a prime example of New Hollywood cinema.

Randy Quaid, Jack Nicholson and Otis Young in THE LAST DETAIL.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Daniel Craig in QUEER. Courtesy of A24.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Saturday Night, I Used to Be Funny, and It’s Not Me. I’m waiting to see the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer with Daniel Craig, Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, and Brady Corbet’s acclaimed third feature, The Brutalist with Adrian Brody – and I’m getting twitchy with impatience.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and now streaming.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters.
  • The Substance: the thinking woman’s Faust, if you can take the body horror. MUBI (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Endless Summer Syndrome: there will be hell to pay. In arthouse theaters.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • Saturday Night: chaos as entertainment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • It’s Not Me: his life as an art film. Amazon, Fandango.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • I Used to Be Funny: PTSD is no joke. Netflix, Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
  • Kneecap: sláinte! Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:

ON TV

Peter Lorre, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Sydney Greenstreet in THREE STRANGERS.

Set your DVR to record the December 27 Turner Classic Movies airing of Three Strangers, a much underrated film noir from 1946, co-written by John Huston. Geraldine Fitzgerald, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre play three people who don’t know each other ando are brought together by an odd gamble. There’s a legend that, if three strangers make the same prayer to a Chinese god, he will grant a their wish. Each of the three needs money, so they partner in the purchase of a sweepstakes ticket and give it a go.

Lorre’s character is a destitute alcoholic who would buy a bar with his windfall and never leave it. The other two need to hit the jackpot, too, but their reasons are much, much darker. The ending of the story is absurdly noir for some and tragically noir for others.

The best element of Three Strangers is Geraldine Fitzgerald’s a performance as a woman who seems eccentric, until she reveals herself as dangerously unhinged. John Huston had wanted Fitzgerald for the Bridgit O’Shaughnessy role in The Maltese Falcon, and I’m glad that Mary Astor got the part instead because Astor’s performance was perfect – and maybe the best ever liar in the history of cinema. But, when you see her in Three Strangers, it becomes clear that Fitzgerald would have been a remarkably interesting Bridgit, too.

Lorre and Greenstreet were first paired five years earlier in The Maltese Falcon (Greenstreet’s very first movie, at age 62), and Three Strangers was one of eight more films that took advantage of their chemistry.

The director was Jean Negulesco, who knew his way around the noir genre (The Mask of Dimitrios, Nobody Lives Forever, Johnny Belinda and Road House). Three Strangers is plenty entertaining, and Fitzgerald is a revelation.

Geraldine Fitzgerald in THREE STRANGERS.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A REAL PAIN. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – a new review of the simmering French drama Endless Summer Syndrome and a highlight of TCM’s broadcast of the rare German neo-noir romance Black Gravel.

Awards are starting to trickle in for movies and performances that I have that I have championed. Slamdance awarded it documentary storytelling award to Sweetheart Deal. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has recognized the film Anora, Anora‘s Yura Borisov and A Real Pain:‘s Kieran Culkin.

REMEMBRANCE

In his second act, Marshall Brickman co-wrote Woody Allen’s two masterpieces: Annie Hall and Manhattan. Brickman had success before (creating Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent and co-writing The Muppets) and after (creating the Broadway shows Jersey Boys and The Addams Family).

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and now streaming.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters.
  • The Substance: the thinking woman’s Faust, if you can take the body horror. MUBI (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Endless Summer Syndrome: there will be hell to pay. In arthouse theaters.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • Kneecap: sláinte! Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:

ON TV

Ingmar Zeisberg and Helmut Wildt in BLACK GRAVEL

TODAY, Turner Classic Movies airs the super hard-to-find German neo-noir romance Black Gravel. It’s not streaming, so this is your best chance.

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 – a new review of the brilliant but gory The Substance.

REMEMBRANCE

Lee Van Cleef and Earl Hollimon (right) in THE BIG COMBO

Earl Holliman had the confidence, in one of his first movies, to put a unique spin on the role of a mob henchman in 1955’s The Big Combo. He continued to play character roles in big movies: Giant, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and The Sons of Katie Elder. He went on to amass almost 100 credit in television, most popularly as Angie Dickinson’s boss in Policewoman/ most of his TV work was forgettable, but he did star in the first ever episode of The Twilight Zone.

CURRENT MOVIES

  • Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters.
  • Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters.
  • The Substance: the thinking woman’s Faust, if you can take the body horror. MUBI (free), Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
  • A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters.
  • The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
  • The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
  • The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
  • Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
  • Chasing Chasing Amy: the origins of love, fictional and otherwise. In theaters.
  • Kneecap: sláinte! Amazon, AppleTV.
  • Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:

ON TV

Patrick McGoohan and Paul Harris in ALL NIGHT LONG

On December 9, Turner Classic Movies airs the little seen All Night Long, one of my Overlooked Neo-noir. It’s Shakespeare’s Othello, set in the jazz world of 1962 London – and with music performed by Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck and other real jazz musicians. Patrick McGoohan is soars in the juicy Iago role – MacGoohan did devious scheming very well, and satisfyingly implodes when it all falls apart. His career was ascending, and he was only two years away from becoming a huge TV star with Secret Agent, to be followed by The Prisoner, possibly the most original show ever on television.

Movies to See Right Now – Thanksgiving Weekend Edition

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Photo caption: Mikey Madison in ANORA. Courtesy of NEON.

This week on The Movie Gourmet, new reviews of two historical dramas Steve McQueen’s WW II thriller Blitz and the grimly beautiful Chilean drama The Settlers. I’m not going to be writing about the two new Big Movies – Wicked (even though I always like Cynthia Erivo) and Gladiator II (the CGI rhino in he trailer looked too cheesy).

During the holidays, my WATCH AT HOME feature suspends its usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE and subs in films on my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far list; there are plenty of great movies from earlier this year that you can now stream at home.

CURRENT MOVIES

WATCH AT HOME

From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:

ON TV

THE LIFE OF BRIAN

On November 29, Turner Classic Movies is airing one of the wittiest satires of all time, The Life of Brian. The guys from Monty Python send up the Greatest Story Ever Told, while skewering human nature, religion, sword-and-sandal epics, and, in its funniest scene, political correctness.

I just wrote about Peeping Tom, the best-ever psycho serial killer movie, and there goes TCM playing it again on November 30. If you have yet to see it, don’t miss it this time.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A REAL PAIN. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and the indie Chasing Chasing Amy. My top recommendation in theaters this week is still Anora, and my streaming pick is The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.

REMEMBRANCE

Timothy West (right) in EDWARD THE KING

British actor Timothy West became recognized in the US for his titular performance in the imported mini-series Edward the King, as the son of Queen Victoria, who simmered for decades, waiting for his chance to become King Edward VII. I loved him one of my favorite movies, Day of the Jackal. West’s 151 screen credits included three portrayals of Winston Churchill. As prolific as he was in television and the movies, he had even more of an impact on stage. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Prospect Theater Company, served as artistic director of the Old Vic Theater, and, at age 81, played the role of King Lear for the fourth time.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Gregory Peck in THE GUNFIGHTER.

On November 23 (tomorrow), Turner Classic Movies airs the 1950 western The Gunfighter, which I recently watched and enjoyed. Gregory Peck plays the gunfighter Jimmy Ringo, notorious throughout the West, he is a target for others who want to become famous for killing him. reconcile with his estranged wife (Helen Westcott), who has been keeping her marriage to the gunfighter a secret, The town sheriff is a gunfighting pal of Ringo’s, since reformed, concerned about the inevitable violence that follows Ringo to every town Millard Mitchell, Hollywood storytelling so well – in a taut 85 minutes, one of Peck’s best performances (right upyhere with Atticus Finch), Karl Malden, Ellen Corby, Richard Jaeckal, Alan Hale,Jr., and former child star Skip Homeier, who plays one of the best punks you’ll ever despise