Harry Dean Stanton in LUCKY. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
This weekend, I’m going to try to catch The Florida Project and Mark Felt – The Man Who Brought Down the White House. Of the movies that I HAVE seen, I like the often funny and stealthily profound Lucky, starring the late Harry Dean Stanton.
My DVD/Stream choices of the week are Woody Harrelson’s overlooked gems. The best, Rampart, is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Netflix Instant, Amazon, YouTube and Google Play. But check out The Messenger, Zombieland and True Detective, Season 1, too.
As they say, life begins with fifty Gs. On October 22, Turner Classic Movies presents Raw Deal(1948), with some of the best dialogue in all of film noir, a love triangle and the superb cinematography of John Alton.
Woody Harrelson has come a long way from his cheerfully amiable dunderhead bartender in Cheers. As an actor, Woody swings for the fences and is attracted to larger than life roles. He’s also famous/notorious as an off-screen provocateur.
And Woody works a lot. This year, he’s featured in War for the Planet of the Apes, Wilson, The Glass Castle and LBJ.
Here are some of Woody’s overlooked gems:
Rampart: In a sizzling performance, Woody plays a corrupt and brutal LA cop trying to stay alive and out of jail. If you’re looking for Woody Harrelson’s best performance, you should try this movie. Available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Netflix Instant, Amazon, YouTube and Google Play.
The Messenger: Woody plays a veteran soldier helping a younger one (Ben Foster) through his new assignment: visiting military next of kin to inform them face-to-face of their loved one’s death in combat; Despite the challenging material, most people will appreciate Woody’s brilliant performance. Available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, YouTube and Google Play.
Zombieland: Woody plays a master zombie killer is this riotously funny satire of zombie movies. Zombieland also features performances by Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Amber Heard and Abigail Breslin very early in their careers, and a priceless cameo from Bill Murray). Available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
True Detective, Season 1: It’s a dark tale of two mismatched detectives – each tormented by his own demons – obsessed by a whodunit in contemporary back bayou Louisiana. Woody is very good – but Matthew McConaughey’s performance may have been the best on TV that year. Available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from HBO GO, Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Rachel McAdams in the second season of TRUE DETECTIVE
So my friend Steve emailed me: “If you include the second season of True Detective in your top ten films of the year you should be required to walk around with a paper bag over your head for at least six months.” He was right – True Detective’s second season was disappointingly lame.
I had high hopes because I loved the first season, and creator Nic Pizolatto returned to write this year’s version. The cast seemed promising, too: the story revolved around three cops (Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch) from different agencies investigating a corrupt Southern California city. Vince Vaughn played a shady – and once criminal – businessman, with Kelly Reilly as his wife.
But I never really cared about Kitch’s or Vaughn’s characters. The plot was disjointed and, at time, risible. Pizzolato tried to echo Chinatown’s water scandal with a wholly improbable High Speed Rail scheme. The Wife and I were constantly asking each other “Where are they now?” and “Who is that guy?”. There are many ridiculously impossible coincidence and the like, but I just don’t care enough about True Detective to list them.
Rachel McAdams, forced to wear perhaps this year’s worst hairdo, is very good. So is Farrell, who, as he ages, is more and more compelling in dissolute roles. I always appreciate the chance to see Kelly Reilly – she elevates (almost) everything she’s in.
But the 2015 True Detective is a stinker. Don’t waste your time.
I loved last year’s True Detective on HBO with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson – so much that it made my list of the Best Movies of 2014. McConaughey’s performance was the best on TV last year.
The teaser trailer for 2015 season of True Detective is out (see below). There’s a whole new cast and story line – but it’s still written by the show’s creator Nic Pizzolatto. Once again, it’s a great cast: Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Tyler Stritch (The Grand Seduction and Friday Night Lights), veteran character actor W. Earl Brown and the wonderful Kelly Reilly (Flight, Calvary). (Vince Vaughn is one of the leads, and hopefully it will be the Clay Pigeons Vince Vaughn instead of the Delivery Man Vince Vaughn.)
HBO will premiere the 2015 season of True Detective on June 21, The 2014 season is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from HBO GO.
Ranging from wry to hilarious, the German dark comedy A Coffee in Berlin hits every note perfectly. I love this little movie, and it may only be in theaters for another week, so see it while you can.
It’s not up to Clint Eastwood’s usual standard, but Jersey Boys, is mostly fun – and features another jaunty performance by Christopher Walken.
If you look for it in theaters, you can still find my top movie of the year so far, the transcendent Polish drama Ida.
I found the political documentary Citizen Koch to be righteous but lame.
I wasn’t a big fan of the bleak and hyperviolent The Rover, either; watch writer-director David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom instead.
My DVD/Stream of the week – perfect for binge-viewing on the holiday weekend – is the eight one-hour episodes of HBO’s True Detective. It’s a dark tale of two mismatched detectives – each tormented by his own demons – obsessed by a whodunit in contemporary back bayou Lousiana. Wood Harrelson is very good, and Matthew McConaughey’s performance may have been the best on TV this year. True Detectiveis available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from HBO GO.
Turner Classic Movies also offers a pretty appetizing movie smorgasbord this week, starting with The Big Steal (1949) on July 8 – Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer are chased all over Mexico by William Bendix. Then on July 10, we have three great documentaries:
The 1968 Salesman – as good of a depiction of the sales life as Glengarry Glen Ross);
Harlan County, U.S.A, the 1979 Oscar-winner Filmmaker Barbara Kopple embedded herself among the striking coal miners and got amazing footage – including of herself threatened and shot at. Also one of my 5 Great Hillbilly Movies.
The Times of Harvey Milk – the Oscar winner from 1984. The real story behind Milk with the original witnesses. One of the best political movies ever.
My DVD/Stream of the week – perfect for binge-viewing on the holiday weekend – is the eight one-hour episodes of HBO’s True Detective. It’s a dark tale of two mismatched detectives – each tormented by his own demons – obsessed by a whodunit in contemporary back bayou Lousiana. Woody Harrelson is very good – but Matthew McConaughey’s performance may have been the best on TV this year.
The two detectives are shown pursuing a case together in 1995 and then being interviewed separately about it in 2012. In the 2012 scenes, McConaughey sits at a table, his eyes dead but occasionally flashing, behind a coffee mug and an increasing lineup of empty beer cans. He chain smokes and stares down his interrogators – doing very little with frightening intensity. McConaughey has recently delivered brilliant performances in excellent movies (Mud, Bernie, The Paperboy, Killer Joe, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club) – and this may be his best. McConaughey is reason enough to watch True Detective.
True Detective is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from HBO GO.
