This has been a remarkably busy week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of a Bronze Age saga, a Spanish psychological horror movie and a darkly funny crime thriller: The Return, You Are Not Me and Lake George. You can now stream Anora at home – the film currently number one on my Best Movies of 2024, The current number two film, A Complete Unknown, is in theaters.
REMEMBRANCE
You may have read of the recent death of Jeff Baena, who wrote David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, and wrote and directed The Little Hours and Spin Me Round, all offbeat and subversive comedies.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. In theaters.
- Conclave: explosive secrets? in the Vatican?. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- A Real Pain: whose pain is it? In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- The Return: an ancient tale told thru a 21st Century lens. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Blitz: one brave, resourceful kid amid the horrors. AppleTV.
- The Outrun: facing herself without the bottle. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: totally unexpected. Netflix.
- Queer: forty-five minutes of fine romantic drama, and then the bizarre. In theaters.
- You Are Not Me: a nightmare at mom and dad’s. Amazon, Fandango.
- The Settlers: reckoning with the ugly past. MUBI.
- It’s Not Me: his life as an art film. Amazon, Fandango.
- Lake George: when you know you’re not going to win. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- Emilia Pérez: four women yearn amid Mexico’s drug violence. Netflix.
- The Critic: who’s on top now? Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
WATCH AT HOME
From my Best Movies of 2024:
- Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. In theaters and Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- 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.
- 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
The culture is pervaded with Bob Dylan right now, which is probably why Turner Classic Movies is airing a rare Bob Dylan acting performance, not once, but TWICE – on January 12 and 14.
One of my very favorite films is the Sam Peckinpah 1973 Western Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, featuring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the title roles. Dylan composed the music for the film, including Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, which perfectly underlines a heartbreaking scene with two greats of the Western genre, Slim Pickins and Katy Jurado. Dylan also holds his own in a small, mostly comedic, acting role.
Peckinpah takes us into a realistically dusty world of 1880s New Mexico and makes the story operatic in its sweep. Pat Garrett is a revisionist Western, with Billy representing the have-nots and his old pal Garrett hiring out to do the bidding of the capitalist one-percenters. It’s a near-great movie; if the unfortunate “Paco” story line were excised, it would rank among the greatest three or four Westerns of all time.
Pat Garrett also features the Peckinpah repertory company of Luke Askew, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Gene Evans, Dub Taylor, Emilio Fernandez and, in one his most memorable roles, R.G. Armstrong. The stellar cast also features Harry Dean Stanton, Jason Robards, Elisha Cook Jr., Chill Wills, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Elam, Barry Sullivan, Jack Dodson (Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffin Show), Richard Bright (Al Neri in The Godfather), and Charles Martin Smith (Terry the Toad in American Graffiti).
Dylan starred in his only other narrative feature film, Hearts of Fire, in 1987. He did appear, uncredited, in Dennis Hopper’s Catchfire (1990). Three decades after Pat Garrett, Dylan won an Oscar for composing the theme for Wonder Boys.