The Irish romantic drama Brooklyn, which is widely released this weekend, is an audience-pleaser. Here are my other recommendations:
- Spotlight – a riveting, edge-of-your-seat drama with some especially compelling performances;
- The Martian – an entertaining Must See space adventure – even for folks who usually don’t enjoy science fiction;
- Bridge of Spies – Steven Spielberg’s Cold War espionage thriller with Tom Hanks, featuring a fantastic performance by Mark Rylance.
- Sicario – a dark and paranoid crime thriller about the drug wars.
- 3 Left Standing – the wistful stand-up comedy documentary.
My DVD/Stream of the Week is the 2010 Oscar-winner The Secret in Their Eyes. The Hollywood remake is coming out this weekend, but you should first see the original. The Secret in Their Eyes is a police procedural set in Argentina with two breathtaking plot twists, original characters, a mature romance and one forehead-slapping, “how did they do it?” shot. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Flixster.
If you haven’t seen the 1947 film noir Lady in the Lake, you must record it on November 22 when it plays on on Turner Classic Movies. Directed by actor Robert Montgomery, the story is entirely shot from the point of view of hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe (played by Montgomery), so we never see Marlowe except when his image is reflected in mirrors. That may be a gimmick, but it works here. Audrey Totter plays one her classic noir dames – an alluring and dangerous cocktail of cynicism, toughness and sex appeal.
