This week – four new 2021 movie recommendations and two more from the 1950s. Plus, Cinequest’s online festival CINEJOY is running through November 17, and here are my Cinejoy recommendations.
IN THEATERS
Only the Animals: The ever-surprising Only the Animals is no ordinary mystery. The intricately constructed story reveals elements of the mystery, from each character’s perspective in sequence – and each may have the key to the puzzle. Obsessive infatuation, misdirected passion and psychotic delusion collect into a pool of perversion. Opening at the Landmark Shattuck.
The Velvet Underground: It’s rare for a documentary film to immerse the audience as deeply into a time and place as does Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground. Richly sourced, it’s the LOOK and FEEL and SOUND of the film which is so singular. Also streaming on AppleTV.
Last Night in Soho: It’s a clever, entertaining and sometimes artsy horror movie, but in the end. it’s just a horror movie. Sure is fun to watch Ana Taylor Joy, though.
Also in theaters:
- Lamb: dark fable of karma.
- No Time to Die: I went to a James Bond movie, and a romance broke out.
- Becoming Cousteau: amazing guy, pedestrian biodoc.
- Titane: Demented, icky and excessive.
ON VIDEO
De Gaulle: This fine docudrama takes us to a pivotal two-week period in June 1940 when Hitler had all but conquered France and Charles de Gaulle was the only French leader who could imagine an Allied military victory. Laemmle.
Ashes and Diamonds: A masterful director and his charismatic star ignite this Overlooked Noir, a thriller set amidst war-end treachery. I wrote about its broadcast on TCM, but it can also be streamed from Amazon and AppleTV.
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Old Henry: too late for redemption. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- Wildland: giving family ties a bad name. Laemmle.
- The Many Saints of Newark: Tony Soprano’s origin story. HBO Max.
- The Unknown Saint: a shrine to really bad luck. Netflix.
- CODA: a thought-provoking audience-pleaser. AppleTV.
- Sibyl: masking its trashiness with expert filmmaking. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed: Improbability squared. Netflix.
- Searching for Mr. Rugoff: the best movie taste of any barbarian. Laemmle.
- Curiosa: erotic, but do we care? Laemmle.
- The Green Knight: More of a test than a quest. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Redbox.
- Riders of Justice: Thriller, comedy and much, much more. It’s the year’s best movie so far. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube. #1 on my Best Movies of 2021 – So Far
- Dirt Music: a gorgeous bodice-ripper with a WTF ending. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Kansas City Bomber: self-discovery at the roller derby track. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
ON TV
On Veterans Day, November 11, Turner Classic Movies airs an overlooked Korean War film, The Rack (1956). A returning US army captain (Paul Newman) is court-martialed for collaborating with the enemy while a POW. He was tortured, and The Rack explores what can be realistically expected of a prisoner under duress. It’s a pretty good movie, and Wendell Corey, Edmond O’Brien, Walter Pidgeon, Lee Marvin and Cloris Leachman co-star.
And on November 6, TCM plays the fine 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, tracing the history of LGBTQ filmmakers overdecades of don’t ask, don’t tell Hollywood.