This week on The Movie Gourmet:
- A new review of American Fiction.
- The Slamdance film festival is now accessible to stream on the Slamdance Channel. Here’s my Slamdance preview, with my recommendations of The Complex Forms, The Accident, Demon Mineral and Slide.
I’m actually at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, covering the last weekend of the Noir City festival of film noir in person. Here’s my Noir City preview with recommended movies.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Anatomy of a Fall: family history, with life or death stakes. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- American Fiction: this can’t be happening. In theaters.
- Killers of the Flower Moon: an epic tale of epic betrayal. AppleTV (subscription), Amazon.
- The Holdovers: three souls must evolve beyond their losses. In theaters, Amazon.
- Poor Things: brazen, dazzling, feminist and very funny. In theaters.
- Dream Scenario: but it can’t be my fault, can it? In theaters.
- Ferrari: his racecars are easy, his women are not. In theaters.
- The Boys in the Boat: underdogs soar. In theaters.
- Driving Madeleine: still spirited at 92. In arthouse theaters.
- Rustin: greatness, overlooked. Netflix.
- Maestro: not what she bargained for. Netflix.
- The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial: just what, not who, is on trial here? Showtime/Paramount+.
- The Crime Is Mine: better after Huppert shows up. In arthouse theaters.
- Cypher: the year’s most original movie? Hulu.
- Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy: a movie and its time. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
WATCH AT HOME
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Inez & Doug & Kira: the tangle of love, friendship and bipolar disorder. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- The Gift: three people revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- The Handmaiden: gorgeous, erotic and a helluva plot. Amazon, Vudu.
- Run & Jump: a romance, a family drama and a promising first feature. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Victoria: a thrill ride filmed in one shot. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, KinoNow.
- Youth: a glorious cinematic meditation on life. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: a Must See, perched on the knife edge between comedy and tragedy. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
ON TV
On January 31, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1974 neo-noir The Yakuza, starring Robert Mitchum. The world-weary Mitchum was the greatest male star of classic film noir, and 25 years later was still jaded and just as cool. Here, Mitchum plays a former GI who returns to Japan to help rescue the kidnapped daughter of an army buddy (Brian Keith) who still lives in Japan. Mitchum’s character has a unique relationship with a former Yazuka (Ken Takakura), who can help him navigate the Japanese underworld. Of course, the Japanese had been making Yakuza movies for over a decade, but The Yakuza introduced American audiences to the code of behavior of the Yakuza (severed fingers and all) and other aspects of Japanese culture. There’s a big reveal about two of the characters, and the finale is heavy duty. The Yazuka was directed by Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie, Jeremiah Johnson) from a screenplay adapted by Paul Shrader (Taxi Driver) and Robert Towne (Chinatown). James Shigeta, who I discuss in my post about The Crimson Kimono, also appears.
