Happy New Year from The Movie Gourmet. This week – new reviews of Babyon and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Don’t overlook my year-end features:
- Best Movies of 2022.
- 2022 Farewells: on the screen (Sidney Poitier, William Hurt, Jean-Louis Trintignant,, Angela Lansbury, James Caan, Louise Fletcher, Ray Liotta, Bo Hopkins, Clu Gulager, Henry Silva, L.Q. Jones, Roger E. Mosley, Anne Heche, Meat Loaf, Tony Sirico and Ronnie Hawkins).
- 2022 Farewells: behind the camera (Peter Bogdanovich, Alan Ladd Jr., Jean-Luc Godard, Bob Rafaelson, Wolfgang Peterson and Monty Norman).
CURRENT MOVIES
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: skewer the rich. Netflix.
- Babyon: “wanton excess” is inadequate to describe this movie. In theaters.
- The Eternal Daughter: consumed by mom. In theaters.
- Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. HBO Max.
- Stars at Noon: needs less sweat and more sizzle. Amazon.
- Aftersun: who’s coming of age is this? In theaters.
- The Fabelmans: a mom, a dad and their genius kid. In theaters.
- Decision to Leave: he’s obsessed, and she asks, “Am I so wicked?”. In theaters.
- Causeway: affecting and uplifting. AppleTV.
- The Menu: immune from pretension. In theaters.
- All Quiet on the Western Front: the trauma of war. Netflix.
- Armageddon Time: coming of age – right into a moral choice. In theaters.
- The Banshees of Inisherin: no limits on stubbornness. In theaters.
- Tar: a haughty spirit before a fall. In theaters.
- Triangle of Sadness: more subtlety, please. In theaters.
- The Wonder: a visually beautiful slog. Netflix.
- The Greatest Beer Run Ever: a blowhard plans a stunt, gets an education. AppleTV.
- Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues: what Armstrong was really thinking. AppleTV.
WATCH AT HOME
During the Holidays, I suspend my usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE so I can highlight the very best movies from earlier in 2022. These are on my list of Best Movies of 2022 and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Now you can watch them all at home.
- Nope: an exceptionally intelligent popcorn movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Montana Story: a family secret simmers, then explodes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Compartment No. 6: a surprising journey to connection. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Poser: personal plagiarism. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- The Tale of King Crab: storytelling at its best. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- 12 Months: an authentic relationship evolves. Amazon.
ON TV
On January 9, Turner Classic Movies will air I Want to Live! Susan Hayward’s performance as a good-hearted, but very unlucky, floozy won her an Oscar. It’s about a party girl who takes up with a couple of lowlifes. The lowlifes commit a murder and pin it on her. There is a great jazz soundtrack and a dramatic walk to The Chair.
