Freaks

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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BORGMAN

This week: celebrate Halloween with two unconventionally scary movies, Borgman and Freaks. Plus more 2020 films to stream at home.

ON VIDEO

Borgman: This Dutch thriller is a horror film for adults, without the gore and with lots of wit. You can stream it from all the major services.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (link will go live this week, I promise): Aaron Sorkin’s fresh look at an indelible moment in American history. Sacha Baron Cohen, John Carroll Lynch and Frank Langella are great. Streaming on Netflix.

My Octopus Teacher: A diver encounters an octopus and films her every day for a year. He’s not that interesting but the resourceful octopus and the underwater cinematography are worthwhile. Streaming on Netflix.

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

ON TV

FREAKS

Here’s a genuinely scary movie for Halloween – and it’s 88 years old. Tomorrow morning October 31, Turner Classics airs Tod Browning’s Freaks. Bad things happen at the circus. And bad things happen in Freaks. This is one of the most unsettling horror films (and the least politically correct), because it was filmed in 1932 with real circus freaks. If you have teenagers jaded by today’s empty horror flicks, this will knock them for a loop. Only 64 minutes.

Director Tod Browning and his cast of FREAKS

Just for Halloween…

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PEEPING TOM, coming up on Turner Classic Movies and better than PSYCHO
PEEPING TOM – even better than PSYCHO

If you’re in the mood for a seasonal scare, I suggest you revisit last year’s Scare Week from The Movie Gourmet.  I programmed six horror films from different decades and from different countries.  Even folks who normally avoid the horror genre will find someone to enjoy here. I don’t like Gore Horror, so there’s relatively little blood and guts.  All six movies are available on home video.

And for more current horror, check out 2015 at the Movies: low-budget, high quality horror.

BORGMAN
BORGMAN

Scare Week: FREAKS

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Director Tod Browning and his cast of FREAKS

Bad things happen at the circus. And bad things happen in Freaks. This is one of the most unsettling horror films (and the least politically correct), because it was filmed in 1932 with real circus freaks. If you have teenagers jaded by today’s empty horror flicks, this will knock them for a loop. Only 64 minutes.

Freaks is often televised around Halloween.  It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Flixster.

It’s Scare Week at The Movie Gourmet

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PEEPING TOM, coming up on Turner Classic Movies and better than PSYCHO
PEEPING TOM – even better than PSYCHO

Just for Halloween, The Movie Gourmet is presenting a special SCARE WEEK. It’s all horror, all of the time.  But even folks who normally avoid the horror genre will find someone to enjoy here.  I don’t like Gore Horror, so there’s relatively little blood and guts in this international program.  Here’s the lineup.

Monday: Borgman (2014 – Netherlands).  This is horror for adults, without the gore and with lots of wit.  Borgman is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Tuesday: The Conjuring (2013 – US).  Based on true events, The Conjuring scares without ANY gore.  There are a few scary images, but The Conjuring relies on good, old-fashioned surprises and our discomfort with the occult to supply the fright.  Women, in particular, who avoid this genre will relate to the performances of Vera Farmiga and Lili Taylor. The Conjuring is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Flixster.

Wednesday:  Witching and Bitching (2014 – Spain).  Witching and Bitching is a witty comment on misogyny inside a rockin’ horror spoof.  Witching and Bitching is now streaming on Amazon Instant, iTunes and Xbox Video.

Thursday:  Peeping Tom (1960 – UK).  This is the best-ever psycho serial killer movie, better than its contemporary Psycho.  It’s  so scary and unsettling that it ruined the career of its storied director Michael Powell.  It’s undoubtedly the best movie in The Movie Gourmet’s Scare Week program.  You can also find it on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Friday:  It Follows (2015 – US).  The  key to It Follows is its originality – without expensive f/x or disgusting gore – it’s likely the best horror movie of this year.  It Follows is available on DVD from both Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Also Friday:  My Movies to See Right Now will include the ultra-campy The Tingler with Vincent Price.

Saturday:  Freaks (1932 – UK) with real circus freaks. If you have teenagers jaded by today’s empty horror flicks, this will knock them for a loop. Only 64 minutes.  Freaks is often televised around Halloween.  It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Flixster.

So enjoy – and don’t go alone into the darkened basement to investigate that strange sound!

Vincent Price and his co-star in THE TINGLER
Vincent Price and his co-star in THE TINGLER

Movies to See Right Now

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Mark Rylance in BRIDGE OF SPIES
Mark Rylance in BRIDGE OF SPIES

My recommendations this week:

    • The Martian – an entertaining Must See space adventure – even for folks who usually don’t enjoy science fiction;
    • Bridge of Spies – Steven Spielberg’s Cold War espionage thriller with Tom Hanks, featuring a fantastic performance by Mark Rylance.
    • Sicario – a dark and paranoid crime thriller about the drug wars.
    • Prophet’s Prey – a Showtime documentary about child sexual abuse in a polygamous religious cult.

My Stream of the Week is the extraordinary Russian drama Leviathan, a searing indictment of society in post-Soviet Russia – and it’s one of my Best Movies of 2015 – So Far.  Leviathan is available streaming on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Flixster.

October 29 is a pretty cool day for Turner Classic Movies, with three completely disparate films that I recommend.  First, if you have teenagers jaded by today’s empty horror flicks, Freaks will knock them for a loop.   Bad things happen at the circus. And bad things happen in Freaks, one of the most unsettling horror films (and the least politically correct), because it was filmed in 1932 with real circus freaks.

If you are ready for some vintage camp, there’s the 1960 low-budget and self-mocking horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors.   The story was remade into a Broadway musical which, in turn, was adapted into the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors starring Rick Moranis; the 1986 version is a much, MUCH better move, but the 1960 version has its own sublime silliness.  The young Jack Nicholson first made a name for himself with a hilarious turn as a masochistic dental patient.

Finally, as funny as a heart attack, is the riveting 2005 Oscar winner The Hurt Locker.  Kathryn Bigelow directed this hypertense story of an adrenaline-fueled GI bomb defuser (Jeremy Renner) in the Iraq War.  The Hurt Locker won the first Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for a film directed by a woman.

a 79-year-old scary treat for Halloween weekend

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Director Tod Browning and his cast of FREAKS

Bad things happen at the circus.  And bad things happen in Freaks.  This is one of the most unsettling horror films, because it was filmed in 1932 with real circus freaks.  If you have teenagers jaded by today’s empty horror flicks, this will knock them for a loop.  Only 64 minutes. Available on DVD and often televised around Halloween.

New Movies to See Right Now

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Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes in Winter's Bone

Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary Inside Job may be the most important movie of the year.  It is a harsh but fair explanation of the misdeeds that led to the recent near-collapse of the global financial system.  Unexpectedly, the film begins in Iceland, setting the stage for the collapse and kicking off the easily understandable explanations of the various  tricks and bamboozles that have hidden behind their own complexity.

Hereafter: For the first time, Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United) venture into the supernatural with the story of three people and their individual experiences with death.   The most skeptical, nonspiritual viewer (me) finds this to be a compelling film.

The question of What Comes Next is unanswered, and less interesting than the film’s observations of what happens on this Earth to living humans.  Eastwood’s genius is in delivering moments of complete truthfulness, one after the other, across a wide range of settings, from intimate human encounters to the big CGI-enhanced action sequence at the beginning of the film.  Eastwood is an actor’s director, and star Matt Damon leads a set of excellent performances, especially by Bryce Dallas Howard, Frankie McLaren, Cecile de France and Richard Kind.

The Social Network:   The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires.  It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War).  It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.

Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

I have not yet seen The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, which opens this week. You can see the trailer at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the Week is Winter’s Bone, the best American indie film of the year.  For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include  Freaks and Downhill Racer on TCM.

Robert Redford in Downhill Racer

Movies To See Right Now

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The “must see” films in theaters remain Winter’s Bone and Toy Story 3.  Winter’s Bone has been out for a while, so, if you haven’t seen it in a theater,  you’d better see it soon.  For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

It’s summer vacation, so I am letting people catch up with my most recent DVD recommendations:  Eight Men Out, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl on the Train, John Adams and The Deep End.   For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.

 

 

The Crying Game

 

 

Movies on TV include The Crying Game and Before Sunrise on IFC this month.  Freaks, Soylent Green and 12 Angry Men are coming up on TCM.

Tod Browning and his cast for Freaks