This week, five movies in theaters – yes, in theaters. Plus a new documentary to stream.
I also wrote remembrances of actors Ned Beatty and Norman Lloyd.
IN THEATERS
In the Heights: This exuberant musical celebrates immigrant aspirations and Latino subcultures, and it touches on the raw issues of racism and economic displacement. Vibrant, spirited and earnest, it’s perfect for this moment – when we’re emerging from our COVID cocoons. Also streaming on HBO Max.
Summer of 85: Director Francois Ozon reflects on how we remember our youth in this romantic teen coming of age story.
Censor: The premise is interesting – a buttoned-up woman’s day job is watching slasher films to determine how much gore is permissible; one film triggers her investigation of a past crime. Unfortunately, it is less scary and suspenseful than it is unpleasant.
Also in theaters:
- The Dry: a mystery as psychological as it is procedural. In theaters and also streaming on AppleTV, YouTube and Google Play
- Undine: slow burn, barely flickering.
ON VIDEO
My Name Is Bulger: While incorruptible State Senate President Bill Bulger was dominating Massachusetts politics, his brother James “Whitey” Bulger was the state’s most fearsome crime lord. Yikes. Streaming on discovery+.
The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:
- About Endlessness: Damned if I know. Streaming on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- Bad Tales: perhaps too dark. Virtual Cinema, including Laemmle.
- Brewmance: barley, hops, yeast and underdogs. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play .
- Billy Graham: the need to pray with Presidents. PBS.
- We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company: what they endured. HBO Max.
- Hamlet/Horatio: More tragedy, less angst. Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play..
- Louder Than Bombs: An intricately constructed family drama. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu and YouTube.
- That Guy Dick Miller: Putting the “character” in “character actor:” Amazon (included with Prime).
- Sword of Trust: comedy and so, so much more. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- Run Lola Run: you’ll never see a more kinetic movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- The Times of Harvey Milk: my favorite political documentary. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, HBO Max and Criterion Channel..
- Tab Hunter Confidential: heartthrob in the closet. Amazon.
- Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street: the origin story of an institution. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
- The Face of Love: Who is she really in love with? Amazon.
- Augustine: obsession, passion and the birth of a science. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- The Brainwashing of My Dad: some insight into our national madness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
This Saturday and Sunday, on Turner Classic Movies: The Blue Gardenia presents a 1953 view of date rape, with lecherous Raymond Burr getting Anne Baxter likkered up into a blackout drunk with Polynesian Pearl Divers. There’s a very nice twist on the whodunit: when she wakes up, she doesn’t remember killing him, but he sure is dead. There’s even a cameo performance by Nat King Cole.
The June 19/20 broadcasts are on TCM’s Noir Alley, with intro and outro by the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller.
