The Best Years of Our Lives

Movies to Watch Right Now (at home)

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Edie Falco in OUTSIDE IN

Honor the late indie director Lynne Shelton by watching a great Edie Falco performance in Shelton’s Outside In. I also have remembrances of Fred Willard, who, as much as anyone, invented the deadpan mockumentary, and actor Michel Piccoli, a stalwart of French cinema.

Coming up this weekend – a 2020 indie gem about inter-generational friendships – one of those rare heartwarming movie recommendations from the Movie Gourmet.

ON VIDEO

Outside In is a superb indie drama by director Lynne Shelton, who died this week. It’s a story of self-discovery with an astonishing performance by Edie Falco.  Outside In can be streamed on Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

The T.A.M.I. Show is the first concert film as we understand the genre today and features eight future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. It’s very easy to find the full one hour, 52 minute, version for free on YouTube, along with clips of each of the acts.

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

SPACESHIP EARTH

ON TV

Harold Russell, Dana Andrews and Frederic Mrch in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

Turner Classic Movies is running their usual war movie marathon on Memorial Day Weekend. But my choice, on Monday, May 25, is a movie that evokes our experience today. The Best Years of Our Lives is about people yearning to Get On With It after their lives were consumed by an upheaval they all shared. In their case it was WW II. In our case, it’s COVID-19.

One of the greatest movies of all time, The Best Years of Our Lives, is an exceptionally well-crafted, contemporary snapshot of post WW II American society adapting to the challenges of peacetime. It justifiably won seven Oscars. And it’s still a great and moving film.

When Frederic March, immediately back from overseas, sneaks back into his apartment where Myrna Loy is washing the dishes, I dare you not to shed tears at her reaction.

REMEMBRANCES

Fred Willard (left) in BEST IN SHOW

Fred Willard, as much as anyone, invented the deadpan mockumentary, starting with his talk show sidekick, Jerry Hubbard character in 1977’s Fernwood 2 Night with Martin Mull. Willard’s zenith was in This Is Spinal Tap and the Christopher Guest ensemble mockumentaries that followed: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind and Mascots. He finished up by playing yet another uncontrollable character, Phil Dunphy’s dad on Modern Family.

Here are some tidbits from Willard’s unashamedly unprepared dog show commentator Buck Laughlin in Best in Show:

  • If you put them in a race, who would come in first? You know if you had a little jockey on them, going like this [imitates jockeys hitting the side of the horse]. 
  • And to think that in some countries these dogs are eaten.
  • I went to one of those obedience places once… it was all going well until they spilled hot candle wax on my private parts.
  • [sees the trophy]  I’ve taken a sponge bath in smaller bowls than that.

Lynne Shelton in SWORD OF TRUST

Director Lynne Shelton was the best of the mumblecore directors with Your Sister’s Sister, Touchy Feely, Laggies, Outside In and Sword of Trust. Between her uncompromisingly authentic and goofy indies, she was sought out to direct mainstream TV like Mad Men and GLOW. She got in front of her own camera in Sword of Trust and delivered one of last year’s best performances.

Michel Piccoli in LA BELLE NOISEUSE

When I think of actor Michel Piccoli, I think of his simmering performance in La Belle Noiseuse; Jacques Rivette’s masterpiece has a run time of three hours and 58 minutes, and it’s gripping throughout because of the tension between Piccoli and Emmanuele Beart. He also appeared in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Doulos, Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt and Luis Bunuel’s Belle du Jour, Diary of a Chambermaid and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. At age 85, he was very funny as a reluctant pope paralyzed by panic attacks in We Have a Pope.

Movies to See Right Now

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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.

Harold Russell, Dana Andrews and Frederic March in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

Movies to See Right Now

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Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce in THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE

I’ve been absorbed by the 2019 Cinequest, which runs through Sunday. Here’s my Cinequest preview; I’m recommending the closing movie on Sunday evening – Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce. Throughout the festival, I link my festival coverage to my Cinequest page, including both features and movie recommendations. Follow me on Twitter for the very latest coverage.

OUT NOW

  • In They Shall Not Grow Old, Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson has, for the first time, layered humanity over our understanding of World War I. By slowing down the speed of the jerky WWI film footage and adding sound and color, Jackson has allowed us to relate to the real people in the Great War. This is a generational achievement and a Must See.
  • Roma is an exquisite portrait of two enduring women and the masterpiece of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). It won multiple Oscars. It is streaming now Netflix.
  • Green Book: This is the Oscar winner for Best Picture. Tony Lip is a marvelous character, and Viggo Mortensen’s performance is one of the great pleasures of this year in the movies.
  • Vice: in this bitingly funny biopic of Dick Cheney by writer-director Adam McKay (The Big Short), Cheney is played by a physically transformed and unrecognizable Christian Bale. A superb performance, pretty good history, biography from a sharp point of view and a damn entertaining movie.
  • Stan & Ollie: Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy deliver remarkable portraits of a partnership facing the inevitability of showbiz decline.
  • Pawel Pawlikowski’s sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War is not as compelling as his masterpiece Ida.
  • The Favourite: Great performances by three great actresses, sex and political intrigue are not enough; this critically praised film didn’t work for me.

 

ON VIDEO

My stream of the week is the Peruvian psychological drama Magallanes from the 2016 Cinequest. Magallanes can be streamed from iTunes, YouTube and Google Play.

 

ON TV

On March 19, 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.

Harold Russell, Dana Andrews and Frederic Mrch in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

Movies to See Right Now

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THE RIDER

ICYMI here’s my remembrance of movie poster artist Bill Gold. And here’s my running list of Best Movies of 2018 – So Far. You can already stream some of them.

OUT NOW

    • The MUST SEE is The Rider. A young man’s rodeo injury threatens to keep him from his passions. Filmed in South Dakota with non-professional actors, The Rider is emotionally powerful and genuine – and not a bit corny.
    • Tully, the insightful and compelling dark comedy from the brilliant and brave team of Diablo Cody, Jason Reitman and Charlize Theron.
    • A Quiet Place is as satisfyingly scary as any movie I’ve seen in a good long time. Very little gore and splatter, but plenty of thrills. I’m not a big fan of horror movies, but I enjoyed and admired this one.
    • Godard, Mon Amour is, at the same time, a tribute to the genius of Jean-Luc Godard’s early cinema and a satire on the insufferable tedium of the political dilettantism that squandered the rest of Godard’s filmmaking career. This is a very inventive film, written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). The more Godard films that you’ve seen, the more you will enjoy the wit of Godard, Mon Amour.

ON VIDEO
The recent capture of the Golden State Killer reminded me of Zodiac, from the master of the serial killer genre, David Fincher. video pick Zodiac can be streamed from Amazon (included with Prime), iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

 

ON TV

On May 28, Turner Classic Movies brings us two particularly authentic war and post-war classics.  I always recommend watching The Best Years of Our Lives around Memorial Day.  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.

In Men in War (1957), an infantry lieutenant (Robert Ryan) must lead his platoon out of a desperate situation.  He encounters a cynical and insubordinate sergeant (Aldo Ray) loyally driving a jeep with his PTSD-addled colonel (Robert Keith).  In conflict with each other, they must navigate through enemy units to safety. Director Anthony Mann is known for exploring the psychology of edgy characters, and that’s the case with Men in War.

Robert Keith and Aldo Ray in MEN IN WAR

Movies to See Right Now

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John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks in LOVE & MERCY
John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks in LOVE & MERCY

Next weekend, a couple of great choices are coming to Bay Area theaters – 99 Homes and Meet the Patels.  I’ll be writing about those next week. For THIS weekend, I suggest that you look to video with my DVD/Stream of the Week and a couple other streaming choices.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, the story of an extraordinarily gifted person’s escape from torment.  It’s on my Best Movies of 2015 – So Far.    Love & Mercy is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes and Vudu.

Joe Swanberg’s romantic comedy Digging for Fire is available for streaming from Amazon, Vudu, You Tube and Google Play.

She’s Funny That Way is just comic fluff, but it’s well-crafted fluff from master filmmaker Peter Boganovich;  it’s now available to stream from Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Thanks again to Turner Classic Movies for playing the The Best Years of Our Lives on September 22, 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.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel in THE END OF THE TOUR
Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel in THE END OF THE TOUR

The End of the Tour is the smartest road trip movie ever, starring Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg. It opens today, but it may be hard to find for two more weeks.

Also out today, the chilling and powerful documentary The Look of Silence is not for everyone, but it’s on my Best Movies of 2015 – So Far . It’s unsettling, but it’s an unforgettable movie experience.

I really liked Amy, the emotionally affecting and thought-provoking documentary on Amy Winehouse. In Mr. Holmes, Ian McKellen is superb as the aged Sherlock Holmes, re-opening his final case.

The coming of age comedy Dope is a nice little movie that trashes stereotypes. This summer’s animated Pixar blockbuster Inside Out is very smart, but a little preachy, often very sad and underwhelming. The Melissa McCarthy spy spoof Spy is a very funny diversion.

In case you missed it, I recently wrote about the BBC’s list of 100 greatest American films and why I cancelled my Netflix DVD service.

Could a sane man devise a con this successful? That’s the question posed by my DVD/Stream of the Week, the documentary Art and Craft. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Tonight is the final evening of Turner Classic Movies wonderful Summer of Darkness series of film noir. I particularly like Beyond a Reasonable Doubt and While the City Sleeps, one of my Overlooked Noir. In Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, an anti-death penalty campaigner gets himself framed for a capital crime, but does too good a job – and then there’s a shocker of an ending. In While the City Sleeps, the noir cynicism is so deep that the GOOD GUY uses his girlfriend as bait for a serial killer.

Next, week on August 4, TCM plays the The Best Years of Our Lives, an exceptionally well-crafted, contemporary look at American society’s post WW II adaption to the challenges of peacetime. Justifiably won seven Oscars. Still a great and moving film.

Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine in BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT
Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine in BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT

Movies to See Right Now

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Domhnall Gleeson in EX MACHINA
Domhnall Gleeson in EX MACHINA

The one MUST SEE in theaters is the intensely thoughtful Ex Machina.  Far from the Madding Crowd, is a satisfying choice for those looking for a bodice ripper.  If you’re looking for a scare, try the inventive and non-gory horror gem It Follows.

Documentarian Alex Gibney now has TWO excellent films playing on HBO:

  • Going Clear: The Prison of Belief, a devastating expose of Scientology is playing on HBO; and
  • Sinatra: All or Nothing at All, an especially well-researched and revelatory biopic of Frank Sinatra.

Don’t bother with Clouds of Sils Maria – it’s a muddled mess. Insurgent, from the Divergent franchise is what it is – young adult sci-fi with some cool f/x. The romance 5 to 7 did NOT work for me, but I know smart women who enjoyed it. The biting Hollywood satire of Maps to the Stars wasn’t worth the disturbing story of a cursed family. I also didn’t like the Western Slow West, now out on video.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is a good movie with a GREAT ending, the French drama You Will Be My Son, available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, Vudu, iTunes and Xbox Video.

So Bad It’s Fun Alert – on May 11, Turner Classic Movies is playing Hells Angels on Wheels (1967), an exploitation film with Jack Nicholson joining the Hells Angels. Shot on location in the Bay Area. Has a brief, credited cameo by the real life Sonny Barger, murderous chief of the Oakland Hells Angels.

If you’re ready for satisfying and timeless classic dramas, on May 12 TCM has programmed Treasure of Sierra Madre and The Best Years of Our Lives.

May 15 is Shakespeare Night on TCM. Don’t miss Orson Welles’ Shakespearean masterpiece: Chimes at Midnight. TCM is also playing Welles’ lesser Macbeth and Othello, along with Akira Kurosawa’s samurai version of MacBeth, Throne of Blood.

Orson Welles and Jeanne Moreau in CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT
Orson Welles and Jeanne Moreau in CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT

Movies to See Right Now

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STORIES WE TELL

Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley’s brilliant documentary about discovering her family’s secrets, is an absolute Must See. It’s one of my Best Movies of 2013 – So Far .

The other best bets in theaters include:

  • Mud, the gripping and thoughtful story of two Arkansas boys embarking on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities – learning more than they expected about love and loyalty. Mud is also one of the best movies of 2013.
  • The Iceman is a solid true-life crime movie with an outstanding performance by Michael Shannon.

Also out right now:

  • Kon-Tiki is a faithful, but underwhelming account of a true life 5,000 mile raft trip across the Pacific.
  • The Great Gatsby is flashy but hollow.  Re-read the novel instead.

The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers.  Available on VOD, Greetings from Tim Buckley is a film for those who want to see an actor depict interior conflict with very little external action.

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

You’ve got to get ready for next weekend’s release of the year’s best romance, Before Midnight. Therefore my DVD/Stream of the Week are its prequels, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset – director Richard Linklater’s two uncommonly authentic and intelligent romances with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.  Both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are available on DVD from Netflix and streaming on VOD from Amazon , iTunes, Vudu and other VOD outlets.  Before Sunrise is free with Amazon Prime.

As usual for the Memorial Day weekend, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting a solid menu of war movies (almost all about WW II).  On May 25, the lineup centers around submarine movies:  Run Silent Run Deep, Torpedo Run, Thunder Afloat (which I haven’t seen) and Up Periscope. The most curious is 1933’s Hell Below, a rare WW I sub movie starring Walter Huston, in which Jimmy Durante boxes a kangeroo.  The best is Operation Pacific, with the great pairing of John Wayne and Patricia Neal.

The WW II classic that I can’t keep from watching is The Best Years of Our Lives.  A war ends, and it’s time to total up the sacrifices made by both those who fought and their loved ones, and to recognize how they have been changed by their experiences.  It’s on my list of Best Patriotic Movies.  TCM will broadcast The Best Years of Our Lives on Memorial Day, May 27.

Patriotic Movies for the 4th of July

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Contemplating the price of American freedom in The Best Years of our Lives

I haven’t found any other acceptable lists of patriotic movies.  Other lists tend to be less patriotic and more jingoistic and nationalistic, less about celebrating the essential American values and triumphs (sometimes triumphs over ourselves) than about dominating some furriners in war or sport.  That’s why Top Gun and Miracle show up on those lists, but not on mine.

Throughout our history,  American patriots have taken risks and made sacrifices for ideas and causes greater than themselves.  Here are ten movies that celebrate such authentic patriotism:  10 Patriotic Movies.

 

Movies to See Right Now

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Incendies

I’m still urging people to see the searing drama Incendies, the year’s best film so far. Upon their mother’s death, a young man and woman learn for the first time of their father and their brother and journey from Quebec to the Middle East to uncover family secrets. As they bumble around Lebanon, we see the mother’s experience in flashbacks. We learn before they do that their lives were created – literally – by the violence of the Lebanese civil war.

13 Assassins is brilliantly staged and photographed, and is one of the best recent action films; an honorable samurai must assemble and lead a team of thirteen to hack their way through a psychotically sadistic noble’s 200 bodyguards.

Don’t miss Cave of Forgotten Dreams while it can be seen in 3D; Werner Herzog explores the amazing 30,000 year old Chauvet cave paintings.

In Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig plays a woman whose insecurities keep her from seeing the good and the possible in her life; it’s funny, but not one of the year’s best. Meek’s Cutoff is a disappointing misfire.

Source Code is a gripping scifi thriller with intelligence and heart, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. Hanna is a rip roaring girl-power thriller starring Saiorse Ronan as a 16-year-old raised in the Arctic Circle to be a master assassin by her rogue secret agent father, and then released upon the CIA.

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

I haven’t yet seen Midnight in Paris or The Hangover Part II, which open this weekend.  You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Kings of Pastry.

Movies on TV this week include the timeless drama The Best Years of Our Lives on TCM.