The Magnificent Seven – The Movie Gourmet

Movies to See Right Now

October 7, 2016 by movie gourmet

The Mill Valley Film Festival is underway – don’t miss Oscar hopeful Toni Erdmann this week; after the MVFF, Toni Erdmann won’t be screened again in the Bay Area until it opens theatrically on January 20, 2017.

You might be able to 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. Must See.

Here are other movie choices:

Opening today, 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 based on the Jane Austen novel Lady Susan, the sharply witty Love & Friendship with Kate Beckinsale. It’s now available on DVD from Netflix (and coming soon to Redbox) and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and DirecTV.

On October 10, Turner Classic Movies has The Haunting, which show us what happens when a paranormal investigator invites you to join him at a haunted house. Julie Harris and Claire Bloom wish they hadn’t said “Yes”. It’s one of the very scariest black-and-white films.

On October 13, TCM plays one of my Overlooked Noir, Raw Deal with its ménage à noir, some of the best dialogue in all of film noir and the superb cinematography of John Alton.

Movies to See Right Now

September 30, 2016 by movie gourmet

Richard Jenkins and margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS

Don’t miss The Hollars, an unabashed crowd pleaser with a great cast, especially the irreplaceable Margot Martindale.

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. Must See.

Here are other attractive movie choices:

Really liked the New Zealand teen-geezer adventure dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople (now also available to stream on Vudu).
Another odd tale from Down Under is the uneven but entertaining period tale of revenge, The Dressmaker.

DVD/Stream of the Week: Seeing the great character actor Richard Jenkins again in The Hollars reminded me that everyone should see his starring turn in the indie drama The Visitor. Touching on the themes of immigration to the US and the “otherness” of people from the Middle East, it’s especially topical today. The Visitor is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play ad Xbox Video.

Some promising fare from Turner Classic Movies this week:

Today: Bat 21: In a sadly overlooked Vietnam War action story, Gene Hackman plays an officer trapped behind enemy lines. In this ticking clock thriller, only helicopter pilot (Danny Glover) can rescue him in time.
October 2: Leave Her to Heaven: Poor Cornell Wilde falls for the exquisitely gorgeous Gene Tierney, but she is MESSED UP. When I see Leave Her to Heaven, I think of my best friend Steve’s advice – “Never [date] anyone crazier than you are”. MUCH, MUCH more cautionary than Fatal Attraction.
October 3: Fat City with Stacy Keach’s and Susan Tyrell’s courageous exploration of alcoholism. Fat City’s Stockton, California, locale is a 1970s time capsule, plus there’s a young Jeff Bridges.
Gene Tierney in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN

Eli Wallach: a character actor who amplified his roles

June 25, 2014 by movie gourmet

Eli Wallach in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

The actor Eli Wallach has died at age 98. He was a star of the New York stage and of NYC-based TV series and live television dramas of the 1950s. Wallach was a great movie character actor who had the gift of packing maximum entertainment value into any role. Movie fans will probably best remember him for two bandito bad guys – Cavela in The Magnificent Seven and Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Wallach had 167 screen credits – he was in Polanski’s The Ghost Writer just four years ago. I hope we don’t overlook his feature film debut in 1956, Elia Kazan’s
comedy of seduction Baby Doll. Wallach plays a cotton gin owner who knows – and is trying to prove – that his gin has been burnt down by his rival (Karl Malden). Getting even involves the seduction of Malden’s dim, oversexed and luscious young wife (Carroll Baker). In this scene, watch Wallach pour on the charm while his eyes reveal predatory horniness. I love it when Baker exclaims, “Mr. Vacaro – this conversation is certainly taking a personal turn!”.