The Enemy Below – The Movie Gourmet

Movies to See Right Now

May 28, 2021May 28, 2021 by movie gourmet

Photo caption: Eric Bana in Robert Connolly;s film THE DRY, which played at SFFILM. Photo courtesy of SFFILM.

Beginning this week, I will no longer title this weekly post as “Movies to See Right Now (at home)“, because I believe that we can return to seeing movies safely in theaters in the Bay Area. I’ll continue to recommend plenty of movies to watch at home. But I, with my family and approaching 80% of my community fully vaccinated, have chosen to go back to the theaters.

The last movie that I saw in a theater was The Burnt Orange Heresy on March 5, 2020 in the California Theatre at the 2020 Cinequest. In the 14 1/2 months since the initial COVID Shelter in Place order, I have still managed to watch 307 movies and episodic series. The first movie that I had intended to see in a theater was The Dry, but I streamed it, so my next theater visit is TBD.

I published my list of Best Shakespeare Movies before my review of Hamlet/Horatio, which opens on June 1.

IN THEATERS

The Dry: Eric Bana soars in this atmospheric, slow-burn tale of murder and long-festering secrets from the Australian outback. Also streaming on AppleTV, YouTube and Google Play

ON VIDEO

Brewmance: This appealing documentary traces the evolution of the home brewing movement into the American craft beer explosion, along with two engaging underdog stories. AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play and coming to Amazon (included with Prime) on June 1.

Hamlet/Horatio: A fresh-eyed take on Hamlet that focuses more on the external tragedy than the internal angst. Streaming on June 1.

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

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

As usual, Turner Classic Movies will be airing a ton of fine war movies over the Memorial Day weekend (including The Best Years of Our Lives, Merrill’s Marauders, Kelly’s Heroes, The Dirty Dozen, The Steel Helmet and Battleground). I am particularly recommending The Enemy Below (1957), a cleverly plotted and well-acted WW II submarine story, ably directed by Dick Powell. Robert Mitchum is the new captain of a sub-chaser, and Curd Jürgens commands a German sub. The Jürgens character has no sympathy for the Nazi regime, which makes him relatable for the audience; in real life, the Bavarian-born Jürgens was imprisoned by the Nazis for his political views and became an Austrian citizen after being liberated. The Enemy Below is a brilliant game of lethal cat-and-mouse between the two skippers.

The Germans are trapped by their mission, which requires them to keep on a certain bearing. The US commander recognizes this and is able to keep catching up to them on this route. Mitchum explains his tactics to his crew, gets the crews trust and helps us follow the chess game. As nerves crack on the sub below, Jürgens takes unusual tactics to maintain morale. Mutual respect is manifested at end, with stirring loyalty demonstrated by the men to their captains.

There’s a lot here that you don’t see in other submarine warfare movies, including a rare ramming collision and aerial views of the depth charge pattern. There’s also a great special effect shot showing sailors on the destroyer’s deck dropping their fishing line down to the U-boat resting on the sea bottom directly below. The author of the source novel was himself a veteran of anti-sub warfare. The Enemy Below airs on TCM on Monday night, May 21.

Movies to See Right Now

May 26, 2017 by movie gourmet

It’s Memorial Day weekend. Scroll down for my recommendations of current and classic movies on video and television that honor military service.

Recommended movies to see in theaters this week:

Opening this weekend, The Commune, looks like comedy of errors, but it’s a family drama with a searing performance by Trine Dyrholm.
The Lost City of Z, a thoughtful and beautifully cinematic revival of the adventure epic genre.
In Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, writer-director Joseph Cedar and his star Richard Gere combine to create the unforgettable character of Norman Oppenheimer, a Jewish Willy Loman who finally gets his chance to sit with the Movers and Shakers. This may be Gere’s best movie performance ever.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is last year’s Oscar-winning Hacksaw Ridge, about American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who single-handedly rescued 75 fellow soldiers at the Battle of Okinawa and became the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can rent Hacksaw Ridge on DVD from Netflix and Redbox or stream it from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play and DirecTV. If you’re going to see one war movie this year, make it this one.

Yesterday I wrote about Turner Classic Movies’ uncommon slate of thoughtful Korean War movies airing Saturday, including Men in War, The Steel Helmet, The Rack and The Hook.

On Sunday May 28, TCM will present the definitive Pearl Harbor movie, Tora! Tora! Tora! from 1970. Featuring great American and Japanese casts, Tora! Tora! Tora! tells the story from both American and Japanese perspectives. It’s a suspenseful minute-by-minute countdown. Tora! Tora! Tora! is one of the very best movies ever made about a well-known historical event. And on Monday, May 29, TCM will broadcast the fine WW II submarine warfare movie The Enemy Below, which I wrote about last month (scroll down.

Movies to See Right Now

May 10, 2021April 21, 2017 by movie gourmet

Robert Pattinson and Charlie Hunnam in THE LOST CITY OF Z photo courtesy of SFFILM — Robert Pattinson and Charlie Hunnam in THE LOST CITY OF Z
photo courtesy of SFFILM

My top recommendation is The Lost City of Z, which opens in the Bay Area today.

Also in theaters this week:

Their Finest is an appealing, middling period drama set during the London Blitz.
I liked the gloriously pulpy revenge thriller The Assignment with Michelle Rodriguez, the toughest of the Tough Chicks, playing both the Before and After roles in a hostile gender re-assignment surgery. The Assignment is out, but in few theaters. It’s available now to stream from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Kristen Stewart is excellent in Personal Shopper, a murky mess of a movie; don’t bother.
I found the predictable Armenian Genocide drama The Promise to be a colossal waste of Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale.
Song to Song is yet another visually brilliant storytelling failure from auteur Terence Malick.
Also avoid the horror film The Blackcoat’s Daughter, which is out on video and, UNBELIEVABLY, getting some favorable buzz.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the absorbing French drama Augustine, about obsession, passion and the birth of a science. I just saw The Stopover at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the feral fierceness and simmering intensity of its star Soko reminded me of her earlier work in Augustine. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

On April 22, Turner Classic Movies airs The Enemy Below (1957), a cleverly plotted and well-acted WW II submarine story, ably directed by Dick Powell. Robert Mitchum is the new captain of a sub-chaser, and Curd Jürgens commands a German sub. The Jürgens character has no sympathy for the Nazi regime, which makes him relatable for the audience; in real life, the Bavarian-born Jürgens was imprisoned by the Nazis for his political views and became an Austrian citizen after being liberated. The Enemy Below is a brilliant game of lethal cat-and-mouse between the two skippers.

The Germans are trapped by their mission, which requires them to keep on a certain bearing. The US commander recognizes this and is able to keep catching up to them on this route. Mitchum explains his tactics to his crew, gets the crews trust and helps us follow the chess game. As nerves crack on the sub below, Jurgens takes unusual tactics to maintain morale. Mutual respect is manifested at end, with stirring loyalty demonstrated by the men to their captains.

There’s a lot here that you don’t see in other submarine warfare movies, including a rare ramming collision and aerial views of the depth charge pattern. There’s also a great special effect shot showing sailors on the deck dropping their fishing line down to the U-boat resting on the sea bottom directly below. The author of the source novel was himself a veteran of anti-sub warfare.