This week on The Movie Gourmet – a spate of new reviews and an all-updated Current Movies. The five new reviews are Will & Harper, Wolfs, In the Summers, Made in England: The films of Powell and Pressberger and Megalopolis. The best of this week’s crop is the one with the fewest movie stars, In the Summers, which marks the debut of an impressive female director.
REMEMBERANCES
Maggie Smith’s career began in the 1950s, and she was accomplished enough by the mid-1960s to play Desdemona to Laurence Olivier’s Othello. She won Oscars in the 70s for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite. Her popularity soared in the 2000s with Gosford Park, the Harry Potter franchise and her unforgettably withering Lady Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey.
After establishing himself as a great American songwriter, Kris Kristofferson turned to acting and amassed 121 screen credits. Originally cast for his fame as a music star and for his hunky magnetism, Kristofferson proved himself a fine actor who chose to work with talented directors: Sam Peckinpah in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Martin Scorsese in Alice Doesn’t Live Anymore, Michael Ritchie in Semi-Tough, and John Sayles in Lone Star,. Limbo, and Silver City. He also chose little indies with really good scripts, like Deadfall and The Motel Life. My favorite Kristofferson performance was as the villainous sheriff in Lone Star.
Recognizable character actor John Amos earned 112 screen credits, with recurring roles on TV series from Good Times to West Wing and scads of guest appearances. He also worked in films including Sweet Sweetback’s Badassss Song, Coming to America and Die Hard 2.
CURRENT MOVIES
- In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. In arthouse theaters.
- Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.
- Made in England: The films of Powell and Pressberger: Scorsese’s film class. In theaters, but increasingly hard to find.
- Wolfs: two charming stars and a chase. AppleTV.
- Megalopolis: pretentious, cartoonish, incoherent. In theaters.
- Tokyo Cowboy: he came, he saw, he changed. In arthouse theaters, but hard to find.
ON TV
Tomorrow, Turner Classic Movies present the recent documentary Ennio, about Ennio Morricone, one of the greatest composers of movie music and certainly the most original (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). Ennio takes two hours and 36 minutes to comprehensively survey Morricone’s entire career, and I would have preferred a shorter film more focused on the highlights, but the highlights are pretty great. Just skip the last 20 minutes of redundant accolades.