This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of two absorbing biodocs, Art for Everybody and Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.
Cinequest movies can be watched at home through midnight on March 31 for less than ten bucks per movie. Here are my recommendations. I highly recommend the Kenyan thriller The Dog and the Mexican drama The Move In. Find them on Cinequest’s on-line festival, Cinejoy.
CURRENT MOVIES
- Mickey 17: lovable loser in space. In theaters.
- Chaos: The Manson Murders: the facts still are incredible. Netflix.
- Art for Everybody: a contradiction revealed. Rolling out in theaters.
- Janis Ian: Breaking Silence: she stepped onto the roller coaster at 16. In arthouse theaters.
- Bob Trevino Likes It: without dad’s encouragement, she’s stuck. In theaters.
- Anora: human spirit vs the oligarchs. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- A Complete Unknown: a genius and his time. Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango.
- The Brutalist: buffeted by fate, can his soul survive? Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Fandango..
- Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius): rise, fall and legacy of a groundbreaking prodigy. Hulu.
- Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: another smart and charming romp. Netflix.
ON TV
On March 29, Turner Classic Movies airs the overlooked film noir, The Bribe. A federal agent (Robert Taylor) goes undercover to investigate a war surplus scam. His one clue is that an American ex-pat couple in a Mexican seaside resort may be involved. The husband (John Hodiak), frustrated that a medical diagnosis has ended his career as a pilot, has taken to the bottle. That means that his nightclub singer wife (Ava Gardner) is often unaccompanied. Posing as a tourist, the agent befriends them and tries to figure out which of the local shady characters (including the oily Vincent Price) is Mr. Big. Of course, he falls for the wife, and she reciprocates – but is it because she’s made him as a cop? As the double crosses mount, everybody is bathed in tropical sweat.
Gardner, who broke through at age 24 in The Killers just three years before, is still at her most ravishing. Her off-the-shoulder tops and two-piece swim suit get our attention, but she especially rocks the bare-midriff outfit in the photo above.
But the best reason to watch The Bribe is Charles Laughton, an acting legend never better than here as a professional briber. His character often acts like a coward, but he is flush with confidence when it’s time to make a deal. A master of manipulation and persuasion, this guy is a great negotiator. In turn ingratiating and menacing, Laughton’s performance lights up the last half of The Bribe.
