Downton Abbey – The Movie Gourmet

Movies to See Right Now

October 18, 2019 by movie gourmet

Lots of new recommendations this week. My biggest takeaways from the Mill Valley Film Festival: 1) Marriage Story is an almost perfect film – right at the top of 2019 movies; 2) Jojo Rabbit is going to be immensely popular. And here’s my remembrance of the late Robert Forster.

OUT NOW

In his Pain and Glory, master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar invites us into the most personal aspects of his own life, illuminated by Antonio Banderas’ career-topping performance.
Where’s My Roy Cohn? is Matt Tyrnauer’s superb biodoc of Roy Cohn – and is there a more despicable public figure in America’s 20th Century than Cohn?
It’s tough to imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy the biodoc Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, about the first female mega rock star.

ON VIDEO

Because its sequel is coming out this weekend, my video pick is the riotously funny Zombieland, number one on my list of Zombie Movies for People Who Don’t Like Zombie Movies. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

On October 20, Turner Classic Movies is airing the timeless and fantastic comedy, My Man Godfrey (1936). An assembly of eccentric, oblivious, venal and utterly spoiled characters make up a rich Park Avenue family and their hangers-on during the Depression. The kooky daughter (Carole Lombard) brings home a homeless guy (William Powell) to serve as their butler. The contrast between the dignified butler and his wacky employers results in a brilliant screwball comedy that masks searing social criticism that is still sharply relevant today. The wonderful character actor Eugene Pallette (who looked and sounded like a bullfrog in a tuxedo) plays the family’s patriarch, who is keenly aware that his wife and kids are completely nuts.

William Powell and Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY

Movies to See Right Now

October 4, 2019 by movie gourmet

Peter Sarsgaard in Michael Tyburski’s THE SOUND OF SILENCE. Courtesy of SFFILM

This week, I’ll be at the Mill Valley Film Festival: it’s an early look at the most prestigious movies of the year. Watch for my coverage of 63 Up, Jojo Rabbit, Frankie, Where’s My Roy Cohn? and Marriage Story. If you miss the big movies at the MVFF, you can at least stream some of the Best Movies of 2019 – So Far – The Last Black Man in San Francisco, They Shall Not Grow Old, Amazing Grace and Booksmart are all available to be streamed.

OUT NOW

Downtown Abbey is a satisfying wrap-up for fans of the beloved PBS series.
The Sound of Silence is an engrossing character study starring Peter Sarsgaard as a man confident in his obsession until… It’s had a limited run at San Jose’s 3Below, and you can stream it on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

ON VIDEO

My Stream of the Week is the evocative and thought-provoking German drama Western. Western can be streamed from Amazon (included with Prime), iTunes, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

On October 5, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1950 version of M, directed by Joseph Losey. This is a remake of Fritz Lang’s great 1931 M with Peter Lorre. The Losey version is not a masterpiece like the original, and I find it pretty odd. However, Los Angeles’ storied Bradbury Building, which has been in many a movie, was never been as gloriously revealed from basement to roof as in M. The Bradbury Building and the film as a whole benefit from the cinematography of Ernest Laszlo; Laszlo also shot D.O.A., The Well, The Steel Trap, Stalag 17, The Naked Jungle, Kiss Me Deadly and While the City Sleeps, before being Oscar-nominated eight times for more respectable, but lesser films. The cast is filled with film noir faves – Raymond Burr, Norman Lloyd, Howard Da Silva, Steve Brodie and Luther Adler.

Movies to See Right Now

September 27, 2019 by movie gourmet

OUT NOW

Peter Bogdanovich with Jesse Hawthorne Ficks at the Roxie

This Sunday, I was privileged to attend one of the year’s most stirring experiences of Bay Area cinema culture. The Roxie Theater screened two of director Peter Bogdanovich‘s films – the Oscar-winning The Last Picture Show (1971) and the hard-to-find Saint Jack (1979) – with the legendary Bogdanovich in attendance for two Q&A sessions. Speaking of The Last Picture Show, it’s a remarkable thing to watch a coming of age story about 18-year-olds when you are 18 and then again forty years later when you know stuff.

Check out the impressive program of the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival: it’s an early look at the most prestigious movies of the year. If you miss the big movies at the MVFF, you can at least stream some of the Best Movies of 2019 – So Far – The Last Black Man in San Francisco, They Shall Not Grow Old, Amazing Grace and Booksmart are all available to be streamed.

OUT NOW

Downtown Abbey is a satisfying wrap-up for fans of the beloved PBS series.
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is a Must See – one of Quentin Tarantino’s very, very best.
The family dramedy The Farewell is an audience-pleaser.
The Sound of Silence is an engrossing character study starring Peter Sarsgaard as a man confident in his obsession until… It’s had a limited run at the San Francisco’s Presidio and San Jose’s 3Below, and you can stream it on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

ON VIDEO

My Stream of the Week is Werner Herzog’s mesmerizing and darkly funny documentary Grizzly Man. Grizzly Man is a superb film, which made my own list of Best Movies of the 21st Century (and Sophia Coppola’s, too) and my Best Movies of 2005. It can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play, and it’s available on DVD from Netflix.

ON TV

On September 30, Turner Classic Movies brings us The Best Years of Our Lives. It’s an exceptionally well-crafted, contemporary snapshot of post WW II American society adapting to the challenges of peacetime. Justifiably won seven Oscars. Still a great and moving film.