Plenty of recommendations this week, but the Must See is Belfast – mask up, get yourself to a theater and see it.
IN THEATERS
Belfast: In Kenneth Branagh’s superb coming of age story, we see Northern Ireland’s Troubles through the eyes of eight-year-old. If you have heartstrings, they are gonna get pulled. Belfast is justifiably one of the Oscar favorites. #2 on my Best Movies of 2021 – So Far.
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road: An unusual documentary about an unusual man. Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys’ songwriting and arranging genius weighs in on his life and work.
Also in theaters:
- Passing: navigating a racist society and the value of one’s identity. Also streaming on Netflix.
- Only the Animals: surprise after surprise.
- The Velvet Underground: Immersing us in a cultural moment. Also streaming on AppleTV.
- Last Night in Soho: clever and entertaining horror.
- Lamb: dark fable of karma.
- No Time to Die: I went to a James Bond movie, and a romance broke out.
ON VIDEO
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- One False Move: inevitable confrontation with America’s original sin. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Son of Monarchs: resolving his identity. HBO Max.
- De Gaulle: a man and his moment. Laemmle.
- Ashes and Diamonds: a killer wants to stop. Amazon, AppleTV.
- The Card Counter: a loner, his code and his past. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- 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 November 21, Turner Classic Movies airs the exquisitely written The Double Life of Veronique (1991). Two women, one French and one Polish, both played by Irène Jacob, are living separate lives hundreds of miles apart yet somehow they are connected… Writer-director Krzysztof Kieślowski was on the verge of his 1993-1994 masterpiece, the Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, Red and White), which is high on my list of Greatest Movies of All Time. Kieślowski died in heart surgery just two years after the trilogy at the age of 54, robbing cinema of yet more masterworks (he was reportedly working on another trilogy).