The best movies out now are Parasite and Pain and Glory. The most enjoyable, audience-friendly movies are Jojo Rabbit and Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
OUT NOW
- Filmmaker Taika Waititi takes on hatred in his often outrageous satire Jojo Rabbit. I saw Jojo Rabbit at the Mill Valley Film Festival, where the audience ROARED with laughter.
- In his Pain and Glory, master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar invites us into the most personal aspects of his own life, illuminated by Antonio Banderas’ career-topping performance.
- I liked the Isabelle Huppert drama Frankie, but the Mill Valley Film Festival audience was very indifferent at the screening; I’m guessing that folks failed to warm to an ambiguous ending that leaves some plot threads unresolved.
- Where’s My Roy Cohn? is Matt Tyrnauer’s superb biodoc of Roy Cohn – and was there a more despicable public figure in America’s 20th Century than Cohn?
- It’s tough to imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy the biodoc Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, about the first female mega rock star.
- Two rock music documentaries, The Quiet One and Echo in the Canyon. will be of moderate interest to rock fans of a certain age.
- Skip Netflix’s The Laundromat and watch The Big Short again instead.
ON VIDEO
Elisabeth Moss soars in my Stream of the Week, Her Smell, a portrait of epic self-destruction. It’s the powerhouse performance of 2019. Her Smell is now available to stream on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
Tomorrow, November 2, TCM brings us the 1979 Oscar-winner Harlan County U.S.A. Filmmaker Barbara Kopple embedded herself among the striking coal miners and got amazing footage – including of herself threatened and shot at. Also one of my 5 Great Hillbilly Movies.
