This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of two of the Best Movies of 2023 – So Far: Christian Petzold’s ultimately redemptive Afire and Greta Gerwig’s delightfully funny Barbie. Plus, a new review of the breezy comedy treat Theater Camp.
Cinequest is coming up on August 11, and I’ll be posting my usual extensive preview and recommendations.
REMEMBRANCE
Paul Reubens was the star of and the creative force behind the goodhearted and gloriously weird Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Oppenheimer: creator of a monster controlled by others. In theaters.
- Afire: the summer of his discontent. In arthouse theaters.
- Past Lives: a profound and refreshing romance. In theaters.
- Barbie: a marriage of the intelligent and the silly. In theaters.
- Theater Camp: show people in the making. In theaters.
- The Anonymous People: bringing long term recovery out of the closet. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Asteroid City: deadpan, witty, whimsical…and who cares? In theaters.
- Egghead and Twinkie: funny, sweet and genuine. On-screen and streaming at OutFest Los Angeles.
- Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed: leading man in the closet. HBO Max.
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: just a whole lotta fun. In theaters.
- No Hard Feelings: an amusement with Jennifer Lawrence. In theaters.
- The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic: wow – laughs, thrills, love. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Sam Now: a mystery solved…and more questions. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
WATCH AT HOME
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Land Ho!: rowdy geezer roadtrip to Iceland. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Beast: finally unleashed … and untethered. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: gentleness from ferocity. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- The Imposter: a jaw dropper. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- The Secret in Their Eyes: Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- NUTS!: the rise and fall of a testicular empire. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- The Stopover: PTSD takes more than an umbrella drink…Amazon, AppleTV.
ON TV
On August 7, Turner Classic Movies will present The Set-Up (1949), one of the great film noirs and one of the very best boxing movies. Robert Ryan plays a washed-up boxer that nobody believes can win again, not even his long-suffering wife (Audrey Totter). His manager doesn’t even bother to tell him that he is committed to taking a dive in his next fight. But what if he wins?
Director Robert Wise makes use of real-time narrative, then highly innovative. Watch for the verisimilitude of the bar where the deal goes down.
