This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of Didi and Between the Temples, a remembrance of a European film icon, and an underappreciated 1964 drama that showcased a future movie star.
REMEMBRANCE
Impossibly handsome and dashing, no one ever removed their sunglasses with more of a flourish than iconic French leading man Alain Delon. Delon had eyes that could switch off any glimmer of empathy – perfect for playing sociopaths. Accordingly, he broke through internationally playing Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley in Purple Noon (1960). Delon is best known for being a favorite of top European directors, starring in Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard, Antonioni’s L’Eclisse, and Melville’s Le Samouri and Le Cercle Rouge. I also like Delon in the less famous caper movies Any Number Can Win and The Sicilian Clan. Mr. Klein, in which Delon played a sleazy French art dealer who took advantage of Nazi persecution of Jews, was a Lost Film, only becoming available again in the past five years.
Sheila O’Malley has written most insightful essays on Delon and has posted the most playful photo of him.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Thelma: too proud to be taken. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Perfect Days: intentional contentment. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Hulu (included).
- How to Come Alive: addicted to his own turmoil. In theaters.
- Didi: learning to get out of his own way. In theaters.
- Between the Temples: prodded out of his funk. In theaters.
- Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
- I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Back in some theaters and Amazon, AppleTV; Fandango.
- The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango, Peacock (included).
- Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
- Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Daddio: intimacy between strangers. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Sorry/Not Sorry: revelatory, and posing the smartest questions. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- The Grab: important, engrossing and sobering. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Relative: a loving, but insistent investigation. Amazon (included with prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube.
- Wicked Little Letters: a sparkling Jessie Buckley and an interesting take on repression. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Netflix.
- How to Have Sex: searing and authentic. MUBI.
- Civil War: a most cautionary tale. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
WATCH AT HOME
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- Midnight Family: an all-night race for pesos. YouTube.
- Headhunters: from smoothly confident scoundrel to human piñata. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, redbox.
- Very Semi-Serious: glorious The New Yorker cartoons. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- John Adams: the most overlooked giant of our Founding Fathers. MAX included), Amazon, AppleTV.
- Black Bear: ever surprising. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Ruby Sparks: be careful what you ask for. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary: ordinary humans enabling monstrous acts. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- Much Ado About Nothing (2013): it’s not homework, it’s a screwball comedy. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube.
- I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore: a schlub goes postal. Netflix.
ON TV
In the underappreciated 1966 drama, A Man Called Adam, Sammy Davis Jr. plays Adam, a self-destructive jazz star. Adam draws people in with his talent and charisma, and, racked by guilt, pushes away those closest to him with selfish and cruel behavior. You can catch A Man Called Adam on Turner Classic Movies on August 27.
Claudia (Cicely Tyson) is drawn to Adam and tries to save him, anchoring herself in the roller coaster of his life. Remember that, after all the ups and downs, a roller coaster always ends up at the bottom.
Cicely Tyson, in her first credited movie role, is radiant. Two great speeches, in which she absolutely commands the screen, showcase her talent; you can tell that this is going to be a movie star. While no Cicely Tyson, Sammy Davis, Jr., is excellent as the protagonist.
