Lady in the Lake

Movies to See Right Now

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THE WOMEN'S BALCONY
THE WOMEN’S BALCONY

In theaters this week:

  • The delightfully smart and character-driven Israeli comedy The Women’s Balcony with a community of traditional women in revolt.  The longer you’ve been married, the funnier you’ll find The Women’s Balcony.
  • The David and Goliath documentary Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, the riveting story of an American family business bullied into a nightmarish fight for survival.
  • Paris Can Wait, a female fantasy with glorious French cuisine to tantalize all genders.
  • You can still find Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer in theaters, perhaps Richard Gere’s best movie performance ever, and strongly recommended.
  • The bittersweet dramedy The Hero has one thing going for it – the wonderfully appealing Sam Elliott.

Here’s my contribution to the argument about the Best 25 Movies of the 21st Century.

School is out for the summer, and my DVD/Streams of the Week are the two surfing documentaries Step Into Liquid and Riding Giants.  Both are available on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Here’s an interesting nugget from Turner Classic Movies on June 17. Three different actors play Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled LA detective Philip Marlowe: Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep, James Garner in Marlowe and Robert Montgomery in Lady in the Lake.

The most famous – and my favorite – of these is The Big Sleep, with its iconic performance by Bogart and its impenetrably tangled plot. It’s also one of the most overtly sexual noirs, and Lauren Bacall at her sultriest is only the beginning. The achingly beautiful Martha Vickers plays a druggie who throws herself at anything in pants. And Dorothy Malone invites Bogie to share a back-of-the-bookstore quickie.

Lady in the Lake is more cinematically inventive.  Shot entirely from the point of view of the protagonist detective (Montgomery), we never see him except when reflected in mirrors. Even without this interesting gadget, it’s a good movie. Audrey Totter plays one of her iconic noir Bad Girls.

Marlowe is less distinguished a film, but James Garner is always watchable.

Dorothy Malone and Humphrey Bogart in THE BIG SLEEP
Dorothy Malone and Humphrey Bogart in THE BIG SLEEP

Movies to See Right Now

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Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN - the most iconic smirk in cinema
Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN – the most iconic smirk in cinema

The Mill Valley Film Festival is wrapping up this weekend. The closing night film is Oscar hopeful Loving, but it could be sold out on all five screens, so check first.

I’ll be writing about The Girl on the Train, the movie adaptation of the popular novel starring Emily Blunt.  The last 30 minutes rocks, but I found the murky first 82 minutes to be confusing and boring.  The Wife, however, enjoyed the whole thing.  Neither of us had finished the novel and knew about the Big Plot Twist.

And you can still find the best movie of the year so far – the character-driven crime drama Hell or High Water. It’s atmospheric, gripping, and packed with superb performances. Hell or High Water is a screenwriting masterpiece by Taylor Sheridan.  It’s becoming hard to find, but it’s out there and it’s a Must See.

Other movie choices:

      • Girl Asleep, is an offbeat coming-of-age story with more than a splash of Australian magical realism. From a first-time woman director.
      • Another odd tale from Down Under is the uneven but entertaining period tale of revenge, The Dressmaker.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is Free State of Jones, the compelling story of resistance to the Confederacy and to white supremacy by Southerners during and after the Civil War, starring Matthew McConaughey. It’s now available on DVD from Netflix (and coming soon to Redbox) and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

This is a fine week for film noir on Turner Classic Movies. On October 16, TCM presents The Third Man (1949). Shot amid the ruins of post-war Vienna, this film noir classic sets an American pulp novelist (Joseph Cotten) to find out what happened to his pre-war buddy, who turns out to have become a notorious black marketeer (Orson Welles) with a set of associates each shadier than the last. This has it all, a fated relationship with a European beauty (Alida Valli), stunningly effective black-and-white photography, an enchanting musical theme and one of cinema’s most sharply surprising reveals of a new character. There are two unforgettable set pieces – a nervous interview in a Ferris Wheel and a climactic chase through the sewers.

Then on October 19, TCM screens three more noir classics:

      • Lady in the Lake (1947): Shot entirely from the point of view of the protagonist detective (Robert Montgomery), we never see him except when reflected in mirrors. Even without this interesting gadget, it’s a good movie. Audrey Totter plays one of her iconic noir Bad Girls.
      • Detour (1945) Ann Savage plays the nastiest, most predatory and savage female character in film noir history. One of the few Hollywood films where the leading lady was intentionally de-glamorized with oily, stringy hair.
      • Born to Kill (1947): Lawrence Tierney (no cupcake in real life, either), plays the nastiest, most predatory and savage male character in film noir history. Set in the world of Reno quickie divorces. Features Queen of Noir Claire Trevor, along with Walter Slezak and Elisha Cook, Jr.
Ann Savage and Tom Neal in DETOUR
Ann Savage and Tom Neal in DETOUR

Movies to See Right Now

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Saoirse Ronan in BROOKLYN
Saoirse Ronan in BROOKLYN

The Irish romantic drama Brooklyn, which is widely released this weekend, is an audience-pleaser. Here are my other recommendations:

    • Spotlight – a riveting, edge-of-your-seat drama with some especially compelling performances;
    • 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.
    • 3 Left Standing – the wistful stand-up comedy documentary.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the 2010 Oscar-winner The Secret in Their Eyes. The Hollywood remake is coming out this weekend, but you should first see the original. The Secret in Their Eyes is a police procedural set in Argentina with two breathtaking plot twists, original characters, a mature romance and one forehead-slapping, “how did they do it?” shot. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Flixster.

If you haven’t seen the 1947 film noir Lady in the Lake, you must record it on November 22 when it plays on on Turner Classic Movies. Directed by actor Robert Montgomery, the story is entirely shot from the point of view of hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe (played by Montgomery), so we never see Marlowe except when his image is reflected in mirrors. That may be a gimmick, but it works here. Audrey Totter plays one her classic noir dames – an alluring and dangerous cocktail of cynicism, toughness and sex appeal.

Audrey Totter and Robert Montgomery in LADY IN THE LAKE
Audrey Totter and Robert Montgomery in LADY IN THE LAKE

Movies to See Right Now

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DEAD MAN'S BURDEN on VOD

We’re in June, which means an emphasis on “tent pole” movies – the big blockbusters aimed at attracting mobs of kids and teens.  The bottom line: there are just a few intelligent movies for adults in theaters now, but more available on Video On Demand and on broadcast TV. Here are my recommendations for this week:

  • Shadow Dancer, about a young single mom in the IRA, is showing in some theaters now, but can be hard to find. It is also available streaming from Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.
  • Much Ado About Nothing takes the homework out of Shakespeare and puts the screwball comedy back in.
  • The East is an absorbing and thought-provoking eco-terrorism thriller.
  • Before Midnight, the year’s best romance, continuing the story of Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy’s Celine from Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.
  • The documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is Alex Gibney’s inside look at an improbable scandal. It’s also available streaming from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and other VOD outlets.
  • I like the unsentimental Western Dead Man’s Burden, available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, Vudu and other VOD outlets.
  • The insightful HBO documentary Love, Marilyn uses Marilyn Monroe’s recently discovered letters and journals to give us a candid yet sympathetic inside look at Marilyn.
  • Hey Bartender, the entertaining documentary about the trend toward Craft Bartending, is hard to find in theaters, but easy to find on VOD (Amazon, Vudu, iTunes).

Also out right now:

  • Fast & Furious 6 has exciting chases, a silly story, a smoldering Michelle Rodriguez and a hard ass Gina Carano.
  • There’s cleverness in the psychological thriller Berberian Sound Studio, but just not enough thrills for a thriller.
  • Also out on VOD, Nancy, Please is a dark comedy about neurotic obsession among the over-educated.  Not that funny.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the Oscar-nominated Chilean historical drama No, with Gael Garcia Bernal.  No is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Vudu.

Turner Classic Movies wraps up its June film noir festival tonight with Czar of Noir Eddie Muller presenting films from the novels of Cornell Woolrich (The Leopard Man, Deadline at Dawn) and Raymond Chandler (Murder My Sweet, The Big Sleep, Lady in the Lake, Strangers on a Train).

 

TCM’s June feast of noir

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Humphrey Bogart in THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)

It’s more than a film fest, it’s a feast of film noir.

This June, Turner Classic Movies’ Friday Night Spotlight will focus on Noir Writers.  The guest programmer and host will be San Francisco’s Eddie Muller, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation.  The Foundation preserves movies from the traditional noir period that would otherwise be lost.  It also sponsors Noir City, an annual festival of film noir in San Francisco, which often plays newly restored films and movies not available on DVD.  (My favorite part is Noir City’s Thursday evening Bad Girl Night featuring its most memorable femmes fatale.)

Muller (the Czar of Noir) has selected films from the work of noir novelists.  Friday night, he kicks off with films from the novels of Dashiell Hammett: the 1931 and more famous 1941 versions of The Maltese Falcon, plus the 1936 version (Satan Met a Lady) and After the Thin Man and The Glass Key.  (Muller informs us that Hammett pronounced his first name da-SHEEL.)

On June 14, Muller continues with the work of David Goodis, The Burglar, The Burglars, The Unfaithful, Shoot the Piano Player and Nightfall.  (You may have seen Goodis’ Dark Passage with Bogie and Bacall.)

On June 21, we’ll see films from the novels of Jonathan Latimer (Nocturne, They Won’t Believe Me) and James M. Cain (Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice).

TCM and the Czar of Noir wrap up on June 28 with movies from the novels of Cornell Woolrich (The Leopard Man, Deadline at Dawn) and Raymond Chandler (Murder My Sweet, The Big Sleep, Lady in the Lake, Strangers on a Train).

These two movies aren’t part of the Friday night series, but on June 11, TCM features two of the nastiest noirs:  Detour and The Hitchhiker.

Set your DVR and settle in for dramatic shadows, sarcastic banter and guys in fedoras making big mistakes for love, lust and avarice.

Anne Bancroft and Aldo Ray in NIGHTFALL