This week on The Movie Gourmet, new reviews of two historical dramas Steve McQueen’s WW II thriller Blitz and the grimly beautiful Chilean drama The Settlers. I’m not going to be writing about the two new Big Movies – Wicked (even though I always like Cynthia Erivo) and Gladiator II (the CGI rhino in he trailer looked too cheesy).
During the holidays, my WATCH AT HOME feature suspends its usual The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE and subs in films on my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far list; there are plenty of great movies from earlier this year that you can now stream at home.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters.
- Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters.
- Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
- A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters.
- The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandngo.
- The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
- The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
- Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
- Chasing Chasing Amy: the origins of love, fictional and otherwise. In theaters.
- Kneecap: sláinte! Amazon, AppleTV.
- Will & Harper: old friends adjust. Netflix.
WATCH AT HOME
From my Best Movies of 2024 – So Far:
- The Bikeriders: they ride, drink and fight, and yet we care. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Hit Man: who knew self-invention could be so fun? Netflix.
- Challengers: three people and their desire. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- La Chimera: six genres for the price of one. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- In the Summers: they mature, he evolves. Amazon.
- Ghostlight: a family saves itself, in iambic pentameter. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango (included).
- The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed: is she going to be a loser? Amazon, AppleTV, Hulu.
- Sweetheart Deal: a triumph of cinéma vérité. In arthouse theaters.
- Love Lies Bleeding: obsessions and impulses collide. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- I Saw the TV Glow: brimming with originality. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
ON TV
On November 29, Turner Classic Movies is airing one of the wittiest satires of all time, The Life of Brian. The guys from Monty Python send up the Greatest Story Ever Told, while skewering human nature, religion, sword-and-sandal epics, and, in its funniest scene, political correctness.
I just wrote about Peeping Tom, the best-ever psycho serial killer movie, and there goes TCM playing it again on November 30. If you have yet to see it, don’t miss it this time.