I’ve seen three of the best movies of the year in the past week: Drive My Car, Don’t Look Up and Nightmare Alley. I’ve written up Don’t Look Up and will get to the other two soon. Drive My Car is the very best movie that I’ve seen in 2021. Another of the year’s best, The Power of the Dog, is now streaming on Netflix.
I’m dismayed that Drive My Car is so difficult to find. It is currently playing in only three Bay Area theaters, in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, plus a couple For Your Consideration screenings in San Rafael. It is currently the number one movie on many top ten lists, including mine and Barack Obama’s.
Note that the fabulous Noir City film festival returns in-person in January – this time to the 600-seat Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. 100 passes were sold in the first day, so check it out.
IN THEATERS
Don’t Look Up: Wickedly funny. Filmmaker Adam McKay (The Big Short) and a host of movie stars hit the bullseye as they target a corrupt political establishment, a soulless media and a gullible, lazy-minded public. I saw Don’t Look Up in a theater, but it will be streaming on Netflix beginning December 24.
Also in theaters:
- Belfast: a child’s point if view is universal. If you have heartstrings, they are gonna get pulled.
- C’mon C’mon: In Mike Mills’ charming and authentic film, Joaquin Phoenix plays a well-intentioned, emotionally intelligent guy who gets an immersion course in parenting.
- House of Gucci: Lady Gaga and Adam Driver shine in this modern tale of Shakespearean family treachery.
- Benedetta: Paul Verhoeven’s entertaining parable of belief and class, wrapped in scandal and sacrilege.
ON VIDEO
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time: This uncommonly rich biodoc of the social critic/humorist/philosopher benefits from having been paused and restarted several times, resulting in hours of filmed interviews with Vonnegut in different decades. Very entertaining because Vonnegut was so damn funny. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
Listening to Kenny G: Penny Lane’s surprisingly revelatory is a good watch even if you never ever think of Kenny G. HBO Max.
Some of my choices for Best Movies of 2021 are already on video:
- Riders of Justice: Thriller, comedy and much, much more. It’s the year’s best movie so far. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- The Power of the Dog: One man’s meanness, another man’s growth. Netflix.
- Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain: Bad ass romantic. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and redbox.
More 2021 movies on video:
- Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road: An unusual documentary about an unusual man.
- The Lost Leonardo: iI it a hustle? Does it matter?
- The Harder They Fall: a forgettable shoot ’em up, but with soul. Netflix.
- The Velvet Underground: Immersing us in a cultural moment. AppleTV.
- Passing: navigating a racist society and the value of one’s identity. Netflix.
- Keep Sweet: A community traumatized, a decade after. discovery+.
- Respect: Struggling to take command of her own artistry
- The Eyes of Tammy Faye: Some dignity for the clown.
- Best Sellers: Orneriness goes viral.
- Son of Monarchs: resolving his identity. HBO Max.
- De Gaulle: a man and his moment. Laemmle.
- 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.
- The Green Knight: More of a test than a quest. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Redbox.
ON TV
Any film noir aficionado will want to take advantage of Turner Classic Movies’ rare broadcast of Blast of Silence on December 18 and 19. Arguably the first neo-noir (and among my my Overlooked Neo-noir), Blast of Silence features a solitary professional hit man who is NOT emotionally detached. Instead, he has to work himself into a cauldron of seething hatred before he performs each murder-for-hire. Perversely, this most nihilistic story is juxtapositioned against a New York City Christmastime.
Blast of Silence is not available to stream, so the only ways you can see it are to purchase the Criterion DVD or to tune in this weekend to TCM’s Noir Alley, with intro and outro by Eddie Muller.
