This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon and of The Pigeon Tunnel, Erroll Morris’ fine biodoc of espionage novelist John le Carré.
REMEMBRANCE
Richard Roundtree’s FIRST MOVIE role was as the iconic John Shaft in Shaft. He went on to over 250 more screen credits, including four more as John Shaft. Although in my mind, the biggest star of Shaft was Isaac Hayes’ music, Richard Roundtree was, along with Pam Grier, the most significant on-screen force in Blaxploitation cinema.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Killers of the Flower Moon: an epic tale of epic betrayal. In theaters.
- The Pigeon Tunnel: a great storyteller’s story, told at last. AppleTV.
- Fremont: self-discovery and a fortune cookie. Amazon, Vudu.
- Flora and Son: a bad mom turns it around. In theaters and AppleTV.
- Reptile: a neo-noir showcase for Benicio del Toro. Netflix.
- Oppenheimer: creator of a monster controlled by others. Still in theaters.
- Past Lives: a profound and refreshing romance. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
WATCH AT HOME
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Making Montgomery Clift: exploding the myths. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Undefeated: an Oscar winner you haven’t seen. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Kimi: an adequate REAR WINDOWS ends as a thrilling WAIT UNTIL DARK. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Lune: funny, searing, and richly authentic. Amazon.
- Summertime: no longer invisible and unheard, giving voice through verse. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Phoenix: riveting psychodrama, wowzer ending. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- I’m Fine (Thank You for Asking): a desperate dash for dignity. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Our Kind of Traitor: Skarsgård steals this robust thriller. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- ’71: keeping the thrill in thriller. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
ON TV
There’s an early neo-noir on Turner Classic Movies on October 29 – 1962’s Experiment in Terror. It’s not one of the great noirs, but it’s a nailbiter with some high points and some curiosities. A criminal (Ross Martin) tries to heist a bank by threatening a bank teller’s little sister; he’s stalking her and scaring her over the phone, so the FBI leader (Glenn Ford) only has the crook’s asthmatic voice as a clue. The bank teller is played by Lee Remick, who is always worth watching, and the role of the little sister was one of the first for 20-year-old Stefanie Powers. Like Stefanie Powers (The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and Hart to Hart), Ross Martin became a well-known TV star (Artemus Gordon in The Wild, Wild West). The climax is a chase in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park – right where the departing throngs bottle-necked at the entrance to the long escalator – a point always to be remembered by Giants fans; oddly, the bad guy is trying to be inconspicuous by being the only person in the crowd to wear a hoodie – not yet ubiquitous ballpark fashion. Blake Edwards, much more well known for comedies, directed.
