Five (maybe lesser known gems) On Hulu Right Now!

Since April 1st, Hulu seems to have added a lot of good film content.  That or I haven't been keeping up, but many recent films, and some older ones, some classics and really a host I hadn't seen streaming yet, are here.  Hulu also currently has all the James Bond films save those of Daniel Craig. They also have a Jerry Lewis retrospective, which seems to be the first that I've seen online anywhere. What follows are five films you may have missed, forgotten about or otherwise would skip over in your cue that are worth a view. Today's selection includes 3 rather recent films, along with one from 2009 that will surely seem different given our current circumstances versus when it was released, and then a 1960 comedy classic that I think may be making it's streaming debut. Some of these are available on other services, like Amazon Prime, as well, for a small fee. As always, all opinions are guaranteed or your money back.

Vice (2018)

https://www.hulu.com/movie/vice-9e2359f5-c334-43e2-b9cc-c4beeea666a2

When Rami Malek won the 2019 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of legendary Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody there were several cracks on social media about false teeth winning Best Actor (Mercury had famously very British teeth, and Rami’s performance did prominently feature impressive fake choppers).  While I would say Rami did do a pretty good job as Freddie, I firmly believe that Christian Bale was more deserving the oscar for his portrayal of Bush era uberVP Dick Cheney.

While Bale famously gained a lot of weight for the role, he also had Cheney’s mannerisms and speaking cadence down cold.  What’s more is he managed to make Cheney, a man with perhaps the most misanthropic image of any VP in US History, seem human, even a little bit relatable as a human being.  Vice is a much better, and much more clever movie than Bohemian Rhapsody (which is actually feels like  a 90s made for TV movie).  And while there was already resemblance between Malek and Mercury, I don’t think there are many folks who thought Bale at all resembled Cheney before this movie.  Am I selling you on this yet?  Vice is a good, not great, movie.  But Bale’s performance is incredible and he doesn’t even chew any scenery.  He (and the film) makes a man many think of as a demon seem human, or humanish, and without making him too sympathetic or rewriting history.

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

https://www.hulu.com/movie/three-identical-strangers-438d26ae-629e-495e-ad09-a4d41f36889d

Imagine finding out you had a brother or a sister you never knew existed. Imagine finding out you had a twin who you never knew existed.  Now imagine you had two twins you never knew existed. Wait, that would mean, my goodness, you must be a T R I P L E T.  Whoa!

Well that’s the conceit at the heart of this 2018 documentary. Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran were triplets born in 1961 to a single mother and then, under the direction of some controversial social scientists, they were given to three different families for adoption.  The scientists were conducting what they thought would be the definitive study on Nature vs Nurture. They even visited the children from time to time as they grew up with their adoptive families and took notes.
The film traces the story of how each of these men discovered they had 2 other brothers, how they fast became inseparable, and became a national sensation in the 80s, appearing on multiple talk shows.  The film also traces how many other twins were seperated for adoption by the same scientists and adoption agency. Neither the children nor their adopted families were ever told they had siblings or about the study. And so the film covers questions of ethics of sthe researchers and the adoption agency (now defunct) about separating siblings shortly after birth for scientific purposes. There are several instances of the filmmakers introducing those involved with the study to the families and siblings involved. Some of these interactions are startling.

What starts out as an interesting human interest story shortly turns into a cautious tale of science run amok.  A very engrossing story that may leave you with many questions about human nature and human ethics.

Up In The Air (2009)

https://www.hulu.com/movie/up-in-the-air-9a329b50-80f2-4ca6-b85e-8e2315322b48

A slightly unconventional rom-com, Up In The Air is yet another film (see Her and Killing Them Softly on previous posts) whose plot perhaps feels a bit different today than when it was released 11 years ago.  George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, a man after a holy grail of sorts - collecting 10 million frequent flyer miles with American Airlines. It’s a lofty goal a rare few have reached. It’s an achievable goal for Ryan because his job takes him constantly all over the country and because Ryan, also a motivational speaker, lives by the philosophy of not being held down by material possessions or long term relationships.It’s almost as if he’s on the run… from himself!  But I digress.

His actual job?  When companies decide to downsize, they hire Ryan’s firm wh then sends folks to do the individual firing of all the employees.  This way the downsizing company executives don’t have to feel so badly themselves by having to face the employees whose livelihoods they are taking away. Like I said, this film takes on new context in today’s world where 10 million people have just filed for unemployment in the last 2 weeks (at the time of writing).  But Ryan is very good at his job. Ryan is also very good at compartmentalizing, which is why he can deliver bad news to many people and even seem - maybe even really feel - compassionate and sympathetic (we're talking George Clooney after all).

But there’s a problem. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) is the hot shot ivy league grad who will save Clooney’s company a boat load of money by moving to delivering the bad news of the firings to employees via internet video conferencing. This would save Ryan's firm the expense and time of having to fly staff all over the country. Of course this would also preent Ryan from making his 10 million miles and essentially ground his nomadic lifestyle. This would in turn probably wreck the years and years Ryan has spent compartmentalizing his life and make him face his family and himself.

But, after a disastrous test run of Natalie’s fire by facetime plan, the CEO decides she needs to experience the firing process in person, so she is sent up in the air to learn with Ryan.  No, this does not turn into the creepy love story of a late 40s something man with a mid 20s gal (ala Funny Face or something) as Natalie is engaged and Ryan, as I mentioned doesn’t want to be tied down.  What's more is Ryan has found a flame closer to his age in Alex (Vera Farmiga), and in a similar “ain’t got no strings to hold me down” philosophy. Alex also seems to live her life up in the air What follows is the journey of the wizened middle aged man and the young ambitious and idealistic upstart learning lessons from each other. Both Ryan and Natalie realize maybe they’ve not figured out life nearly as well as they thought.  There are some interesting twists along the way, and the characters are engaging to hang out with, especially when Ryan invites Alex to attend his sister's wedding with him. But as it's been a few years since I've seen this, I wonder if Ryan will be as sympathetic a character given our current realities.

Sorry To Bother You (2018)

https://www.hulu.com/movie/sorry-to-bother-you-c66b772e-75e9-43b1-bcb7-e09ce9e8582d

Boots Riley leads The Coup, a San Francisco based hip-hop group with communist leanings. They are the sort of group that wants to bring the revolution, but they want to make you dance and bop your head to it too (their 2004 record, “Pick A Bigger Weapon” includes the song “Laugh/Love/F*ck” with the classic refrain “I’m here to laugh, love, f*ck and drink liquor, and help the damn revolution come quicker”).

Sorry To Bother You is his first film, a comedy that also has a pro working man/anti establishment bend that gets more surreal as it goes along.  Lakeith Stanfield is Cassius “Cash” Green.  Along with his artist girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson) he lives in his Uncle’s garage, and he’s behind on the rent.  Cash is not real successful at his telemarketer job until a co-worker clues him in on how he should use his “white” voice when on the phone with potential customers.

Using the “white voice”  (voiced by Patton Oswalt) Cash is suddenly both raking in the sales and cracking us up.  Soon he is recruited for a union, since the telemarketers are vastly underpaid.  Then Cash, expecting to be fired after being apart of some union protests, is instead  promoted to become a "Power Caller."  He leaves the dingy call center for fancier offices, more money and more benefits.  This, of course, causes a strain between Cash and Detroit and his union friends, as Cash is caught between the union and his girl and his personal success. Soon Cash is being invited to attend parties at the lavish mansion of the company’s crazy CEO (played with delightful relish by Armie Hammer) and a completely insane plot of the CEO's is revealed.

Despite it’s low budget and a few rough edges for first time filmmaker Riley, Sorry To Bother You is that rare comedy that makes its social points quite well, without preaching, while making you laugh quite hysterically.  And then, of course, in the final third of the film are some great WTF moments that will make some people tune out, but for my money they really make the film. High high recomendation for folks who like shaking it up a bit, and like to laugh with it's eat the rich style humor.

 The Bellboy (1960)

https://www.hulu.com/movie/the-bellboy-e2cad8d4-8cf5-4174-acb6-982fd6572975

“Oh my god - he’s recommending a Jerry Lewis film - this dude’s name doesn’t even sound French.”  Yes, yes I am recommending this.

The Bellboy, written, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis is the first film he made after splitting with Dean Martin.  It is a short comedy, barely 75 minutes about a bellboy (Lewis) in a hotel in Florida. Well, it follows all the bellboys, with a focus on Lewis's Stanley, through a series of vignettes around the hotel (a point made in the introduction to the film is that there is not really a linear narrative with a beginning, middle and end - it's more a series of gags).  A series of sight gags and slapstick, some have aged well, others less so.  But it is an interesting sightseeing tour of mainstream white America circa 1960. Though Lewis as Stanley (Lewis also has a smaller role as himself as a guest at the hotel) does a great amount of mugging for the camera, he is completely silent until the end of the film.  So that wacky, grating “HEY  LADY” Lewis voice is conspicuously absent from most of the film.

Seeing the 60s chic of the then modern hotel, and styles of the day make the film an interesting viewing, even if many of the jokes fall flat for you.  Like the Airplane or Naked Gun films, nothing is drawn out too long, and even though the jokes don’t come quite at the rate of those films, they do come and go fairly quickly.

And if you are familiar with the films of the French physical comedian/autuer Jacques Tahti (Mon Oncle, M. Hulot’s Holiday and Playtime!) you can see how earlier Tahti may have influenced Lewis and how this film probably influenced Tahti’s Playtime (and the restaurant sequence in particular). Viewed as a droll time capsule more than a laugh riot, The Bellboy is a nice bit of ratpack era enterainment, without the mafia or show biz undertones (though there is a brief goofy scene with Stanley eating lunch in the staff cafeteria with some mafiosos) and a peek at an America long gone, but revisited in recently acclaimed television series like Mad Men and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Five (maybe lesser known gems) On Netflix Right Now!

Yesterday’s installment brought films available via Amazon Prime.  Today we move on to five gems on Netflix. While I tried to incorporate a little something for everyone, today’s does focus a bit on various kinds of action movies.  All are meant to be escapist but two have become, I believe, more poignant, given our current realities, in ways I cannot believe the filmmakers could have seen when making these. As always, these are available on Netflix at time of posting. And also as always, all selections guaranteed to please or your monies back. And now, without further ado, here are today’s five selections.

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Stephen Chow’s 2004 follow up to his international hit Shaolin Soccer is a stylish martial arts period piece action-comedy epic.  Yes, as a co-production from studios in Beijing and Hong Kong, it is in Chinese, so you’re going to have to read subtitles. Stop your whining!  The combination of jaw dropping martial arts, cartoonishly awesome CGI enhanced special effects and intense combination of whimsy and crazy action makes it more than worth it.  After the first 5 - 10 minutes you hardly notice you are reading anymore.

Wuxia is a specific type of chinese action adventure film that has some things in common with the kung fu flicks popularized by Bruce Lee in the 70s, but generally involve more story, lots of breaking the rules of physics (people can jump and leap really far for example), and sometimes includes bits of chinese lore. 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was Ang Lee’s tribute to these films of his youth.  Kung Fu Hustle is a bit of a tribute (many Hong Kong wuxia action stars have prominent roles here) as well as being an modernization of the genre. The basic story is one that is familiar to action film fans - an organized crime gang - the Axe Gang - ends up in a battle with residents of a neighborhood they consider their territory. Certain neighborhood residents are revealed to be Kung Fu masters and the gang’s attempts to rule the territory are not nearly as easy as Axe Gang thought it would be.  The slapstick humor mixed in with the ultra violent action make for an interesting tone, one not common in American films. But Kung Fu Hustle is well worth it for fans of action movies and fans of the common folk beating back the criminal element trying to keep them down

The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The latest from brothers Joel and Ethan Coen is yet another return to territory they’ve been very fond of exploring the last dozen or more years - the western (see True Grit, No Country For Old Men).  Originally conceived as a limited series for Netflix, this film weaves together 6 tales in just under 2 hours and 15 minutes. All of them are dark. All of them infused with that trademark Coen dark humour and quirk.  It opens with the story of the title character, Buster Scruggs, a singing cowboy whose upbeat persona and Gene Autry-like crooning belie his cold, murderous ways. What follows are tales that include a rather unsuccessful outlaw wannabe (James Franco), an old west side show proprietor (Liam Neeson) and his side show talent, a prospector (Tom Waits) looking to finally hit that big score, a wagon train heading west with a hopeful young woman looking for a new beginning, and finally a stagecoach ride with some rather unpleasant travel companions.

This film is the first by the Coens to be released directly to Netflix in November 2018 and, though well thought of and reviewed, it seemed to disappear from consciousness so quickly that even many hard core Coen brothers fans (cough cough) missed it’s release.  Though the stories in Buster Scruggs are harsh and grim, there is still some redemption and hope running through its core, as well as that dark dark humor.

Her (2013)

This Spike Jonez near future sci fi film sees Joaquin Phoenix playing a far far different character than the one he just won an oscar for.  I would argue that he was more deserving of an oscar for his work here than for Joker. In the film Theodore (Phoenix) is a lonely man who gets a new type of smartphone - one who’s advanced operating system has an artificial intelligence designed to have a personality that will learn and become a companion for the phone’s owner.  When the film came out many joked “oh that’s the film about the guy who falls in love with his phone.” But dammit does it work.  

 Theodore himself, much like many potential audience members when this was released, finds the whole idea of having a phone as a companion - a mate really - really weird as he starts up his phone for the first time.  But very quickly he, and we along with him, become very engaged with Samantha (aka the phone A.I., played by Scarlett Johansson). Their conversations are so naturalistic and interesting that the conceit becomes less weird and more interesting the longer they continue.  Theodore has been looking for a connection to anybody, and he finds it very quickly in their conversations.

Johansson’s performance is contained completely just within her voice - we never see any representation of her, so there are no facial expressions, no body language, it’s all verbal.  And intellectual. Given those parameters, her performance is remarkable. And it’s naturalistic and believable. And for a film that is mostly conversation, it a very beautiful looking film. Jonez has created a consistent color palette with a sleek, gentle slight neon glow permeating throughout the film, which makes the world look very recognizable yet subtly futuristic.

And now that we are all experiencing the physical distancing of ourselves from one another and are looking to use social media, facetime, duo, zoom and any ways we can to keep social connectivity  going, I suspect this film is far more relevant today than any of its creators ever imagined it being. The future, it seems, can still appear rather quickly.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

While Netflix has a startling amount of good and fairly recent movies on it right now (there is an amazing amount of things I’ve been wanting to check out that, in researching current Netflix availabilities, I’ve just discovered are now there), one criticism that has been leveled at them for years - and one that remains true - is their lack of films from before the 1990s.  This 1968 musical based on the novel by Ian Flemming (most famous for inventing James Bond in a series of novels) with a screenplay by Roald Dahl (legendary children’s novelist responsible not only for stories like James & the Giant Peach and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, but also for screenplays for several James Bond films) is a notable exception. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stars Dick Van Dyke as crackpot inventor, er, Caracatus Potts. A scatterbrained dreamer, Potts lives as a single father with his two children and his own father. He can never quite seem to make ends meet or get his inventions to work as planned. But then he fixes up an old race car (an early prototype for those gadget laden Aston Martins and Ferraris James Bond was always driving?) and along the way meets the beautiful daughter of the local candy magnate he’s trying to sell sweets to, named Truly Scrumptious (that’s very Bond femme fatale name, innit?).

Along the way a very nefarious vaguely German/Eastern European King gets word of the car and sends his spies to steal it, and then the adventure truly begins.  Off they go with this flying, surfing car, to this Eastern European land that seems to resemble pre-WWI period Austro-Hungary, with a King who is a grown man who acts like a petulant child (hmmm, sounds vaguely familiar, don’t you think?).  

I’m generally not a musicals person, but I am a fan of some of the classics, like Singin’ In The Rain and Mary Poppins.  And while Chitty isn’t quite up to that level, it’s still pretty fun and in it’s own way, similar to that Disney classic, if a little long. It’s a good one for the family. And if you haven’t seen it in a long time, it’s worth another view.

I do remember as a child being completely freaked out by the child catcher (did I mention the European nation has a strict no children law?) but then am always delighted to see Benny Hill as the toy maker.  A toy maker in a kingdom with no children? Ahh, remember my comment about the King who acts like a petulant child? Well, I suppose at least he doesn’t brag about his facebook ratings.

Killing Them Softly (2012)

New Zealander Andrew Dominik made a splash in Australia with his debut, Chopper, about a crazed career criminal there (not dissimilar to Nicolas Winding-Refn’s Bronson w Tom Hardy). The film made both Eric Bana, in the lead role and Dominik hot commodities in Hollywood for a bit. Bana got plumb roles in Spielberg’s Munich and Ang Lee’s much maligned and moody Hulk.  Dominik’s first Hollywood film was 2007’s The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.” It is a slow moving, menacing western that is one of the most beautiful films made in the 21st century and perhaps one of the more understood westerns ever made, as few people saw it. That film, built on tension and menace, not action, starred Brad Pitt as Jesse James.

In 2012 Pitt rejoined Dominik in Killing Them Soflty as a slick hitman called in to track down and eliminate two low level criminals who ill advisedly robbed a mob sponsored poker game. The stellar cast includes Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins and James Gandolfini (in one of his final roles). Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn (most recently scene in HBO’s The Outsiders) star as the poker game bandits.  While not nearly as slow as Jesse James, this is a mob movie that often zigs when one expects it to zag. And while not quite as beautiful a Jesse James, it is still a very gorgeous film to look at. It seems to take a cue from Michael Mann’s 1980 debut, Thief, with lots of night time shots of wet streets, streaky lights and beautiful lens flares. Even as the brutally efficient hit man does his work, the scenes of violence are eerily poetic in their compositions and use of slow motion as much as they are brutal.

Based on the novel “Cogan’s Trade” by George V. Higgins, the story here is updated to take place in the fall of 2008, as America was in the midst of the banking crisis bailout and the Obama Presidential campaign was in its final lap on its way to victory.  This setting, portrayed by numerous speeches and newscasts in the background on the TVs of the various bars and restaurants the characters visit, gives the film a spooky relevance underlining our current situation in ways neither the films makers or viewers could have imagined before 2020. Higgins, who had a previous novel turned into the famous 70s Boston crime film The Friends Of Eddie Coyle, passed away in 1999. In fact Pitt’s final scene and final lines eerily sum up the times we are currently living in, or at least how many of our leaders are handling these times. This is rare escapist fare transformed into vital viewing for the current day.

Five Lesser Known Gems On Amazon Prime Right Now!

All right, so here's the plan.  I will post as often as I can lists of movie recommendations that you can find on streaming. I am working on some themes  - like movies of this actor or director, or movies that take place in deserts or movies with dogs, etc - but there will also be hodgepodges.  Like this one.  The only real connecting tissue here is that these are all available, as of this writing, on Amazon Prime, in the US. Click the film titles to go directly to the films. I will post some Hulu and Netflix recommendations as well.  

One final note - I am generally not going to recommend "obvious" films here.  Not because I don't like Star Wars or Marvel or oscar bait like 1917, but because you've more than likely already heard of them, probably seen them and at least have surely passed them a million times already in your streaming cues.  I'm trying to help out cut down cue scanning time by posting about some of the lesser known gems. I've watched a lot of movies - a lot of good stuff and a lot of crap - so you don't have to! All recommendations fully guaranteed or your monies back!

Romeo Is Bleeding

A dark film noir-esque thriller from the early 90s where our hero is a corrupt cop and the ingenue is a psychotic Russian hit woman, Romeo Is Bleeding is one of those tales of crime not paying for the characters in the film, but oh how it pays for the viewer. Provided of course the viewer enjoys the sort of crime movies where pretty much everybody loses. Gary Oldman plays the cop, Annabella Sciorra plays his wife (the only innocent person in the whole tale), Juliette Lewis plays the cop’s mistress, Lena Olin plays the hit woman, and Roy Scheider plays the mob boss who probably could have used a bigger mansion, or at least better security.  There are many other recognizable faces here too. Olin’s unhinged hit woman is one of the scariest villains, male or female, I’ve ever seen.  And yet, when she kicks her way out of the car she’d just caused to crash, while handcuffed no less (grabbing driver Oldman by the head with her legs from the backseat), I’d never wanted to be a shattered windshield so much in my life.

Search For One Eye Jimmy

Since the golden age of Independent American Cinema in the 60s and 70s it almost seems there’s a certain type of quirky independent movie for each decade - you know, ones with offbeat stories, quirky characters, lots of strange but inconsequential things happening in the story lines (though these often surround a central very important theme or plot point) often in suburban or blue collar life. For example, in the 2000s you can contrast Juno (obvious big overarching plot point, Juno’s teenage pregnancy) to Little Miss Sunshine (major plot seems to be Olive’s impending beauty pageant appearance, the whole point of their journey, but other more important plot points slowly emerge) to Napoleon Dynamite (still not really sure what the major plot point in this was - maybe it can just be summed up as Homer Simpson once summed up an episode of his show, “it was just a bunch of stuff that happened”) - and yet all 3 films feel like they could take place in the same slightly off kilter universe. 

The 90s feels like the apex of the quirky indie film, comedic or otherwise. Anyhow this sure was a lotta words about other films just to talk about the film The Search For One Eyed Jimmy. But then, those films all take one on the sort of journey where you have no idea where you are heading any particular moment, and it often doesn't make a lot of sense (especially if you're hanging out with Napoleon and Pedro). But parts of the journey will look both familiar and more than a little weird ((in the way going outside now looks to most of us in places self quaranting). Well, that's the journey of Search For One Eye Jimmy. The setup is Les, recently graduated from film school, is making a documentary about his old neighborhood. In the middle of maaking this documentary he scraps the old neighborhood angle to focus on the search for one of its many colorful characters, who is missing. And yes, you guessed it - One Eye Jimmy.  There are many recognizable folks in this, from Coen Brother regular and That Guy! Michael Badalucco, Steve Buscemi, Anne Meara, Sam Jackson, John and Nicholas Turturro and more. A goofy, low budget production from the 90s, you will enjoy it more or less based on how you generally feel about quirky low budget indie 90s movies.

Big Night

This 1996 film about two Italian immigrant brothers trying to keep their failing restaurant afloat in 1950s New Jersey is one of those low-key dramas they just don’t make anymore. Brothers Primo and Secundo (Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci respectively) came to America with the dream of introducing the finer cuisine of their homeland to the new world at a time when italian food in America meant spaghetti and meatballs.  Primo is the genius chef and Secundo is the business oriented brother, who runs the restaurant and acts as maitre d. But business is bad. People want spaghetti and meatballs. They have no idea what crostini and bruschetta and timpano are. They sound funny and, besides, they just want some spaghetti and meatballs. It's the 50s! it's the Jersey shore! Primo, ever the uncompromising artist pairs with refuses to "sell out" his menu as Secundo pleads with him to give the customers what they want because, you know, biz iz bad. Secundo wonders why fellow countryman Pascal’s restaurant is doing so well, despite the mediocre spaghetti and meatballs he serves. So he visits Pascal (a never better Ian Holm) who, seemingly out of pity, offers that he knows famed Italian-American trumpeter/singer Louis Prima (probably best remembered today for “Jump Jive and Wail” that was used in a Gap commercial in the late 90s/early 2000s) and that he will steer Prima, currently on tour in the area, to the failing restaurant.  Prima’s arrival will surely bring the sort of publicity the brother’s need to jumpstart the business. What follows is hurried preparations for a banquet- an exquisite 9 course italian meal, with press and “important” figures and friends in the town all invited and all awaiting the imminent arrival of the famous musician. The cast is outstanding, including Ian Holm as Pascal, Campbell Scott and Minnie Driver at the height of their respective fame, plus others like Liev Schrieber, Allison Janney and musicians Marc Anthony early in their careers. And of course any movie with Isabella Rosselini you know is going to be interesting. An ensemble piece that is just a fantastic bit of “quiet” movie making, despite how rawkus the dinner gets. Big Night is a beautiful elegy to success and failure and hope and despair and especially family. But I warn you - do *not* see this film while hungry, as it is food porn of the highest order. Every course more mouth watering than the next. To this day I have never seen timpano on a menu but I am dying to try it. And that final wordless scene between the two brothers is pure visual poetry. And a master class in making an omlette to boot.

The African Queen 

The African Queen lesser known you say?!? Well, if you're a film nerd or a reader over the age of 50 this may be your reaction. But for those not real familiar with films before the 1990s, this may indeed be a lesser known gem. To those latter folks here is a brief description of the film: Hard drinking riverboat captain is hired by a snobby missionary woman to drive riverboat in northern Africa to aid the British War effort in WWI. The original mismatched “buddy” film? John Huston’s 1951 film won oscars for both it’s leads - Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn - who, at the time the movie was made, were in the early 50s and late 40s respectively and far past their matinee idol heydays. It’s definitely the sort of film we could all use today - it realizes people of all ages can be charismatic and heroic each in their own ways, it shows people coming together for the common good, and it shows folks trying to learn from each other and settle differences in a high stress, global situation (though in this case it is a World War and not a global pandemic).  But it's not at all a preachy movie - the tension and drama are taut. The tet-a-tet between Bogart and Hepburn is top notch. Both get pretty sassy. The African Queen is one of those movies that, for all the aspects of it that date it - technology, moral attitudes, a period before civil rights in this country, etc - it shows the universality of the human experience - of how we can be very different, come from very different worlds and yet still connect and learn to work together in the face of a horrible foe and not great odds. And beyond these virtues we are all sorely needing experience of right now, it’s a damn good movie to boot.

First Reformed

Writer/Director Paul Schrader has had a long and storied career, from writing classics like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to directing films like American Gigolo, Cat People, Auto Focus and Mishima. While all those films have a wide range of style, subject matter and, for some anyhow,  quality, they are all “loud” films in their own way. (Well I assume Gigolo is, but it’s the one in this list I’ve not seen). First Reformed differs from those films in that one crucial manner - it is not a loud film. In fact it is a quiet film, a very quiet film, about crises of faith. Of course crises of faith is a major theme that is found in all or most of Schrader's work.

Ethan Hawke plays Ernst Toller, a Reverend in his mid 40s, whose church, First Reformed, is about to celebrate it’s 250th Anniversary.  Pregnant parishioner Mary (Amanda Seyfried) asks Rev. Toller to speak to her husband Michael(Philip Ettinger), as she is concerned about him. Michael, an environmental warrior, was recently released from prison in Canada, where he had been locked up for some eco-terrorism. Esther (Victoria Hill), who is the music director of Abundant Life, the megachurch up the road, in Buffalo, that funds and directs First Reformed, is concerned about Toller himself. Reverend Jeffers (Cedric the Entertainer), the pastor of Abundant Life, is also concerned about Toller and also about the impending anniversary.

The dreariness of the western New York winter adds to the grey and forboding atmosphere. First Reformed has more than a little in common with films by legendary European directors Ingmar Bergman and Robert Bresson.  This one is not for everyone, but for those interested in conflicted folks in crisis and wrestling with existence, this probably has what you’re looking for and more. And while it is not a loud film, as I’ve already mentioned, there are a few scenes that, provide you are open to the film, will take you to some poignant and unexpected places. For those patient for it, it is a very rewarding film and may very well be Schrader’s masterpiece.

Some Streaming Levity To Help Get Us Through

So after making two posts about quarantine movies that were all small casts and scant locations to try to make us feel sympatico in being trapped in our physical isolation with what we see on screen, I think it’s time to post some escapist fare.

What follows is a list, in no particular order, of films of many genres, but all with some sort of humorous component to help you get you through your day or night

The Nice Guys (2016) -  IMDB.COM lists the synopsis of this as “in 1970s Los Angeles, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigate a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star.”   The keyword there is “mismatched” - as in the old mismatched partner trope.  But then the director and co-writer of this film, Shane Black, is the writer of perhaps the Citizen Kane of mismatched cop-buddy films, Lethal Weapon.  And unlike other writer/directors who return to familiar territory, Black manages to upend expectations and find new angles to play with here. Ryan Gosling as the sleazy PI dragging his adolescent daughter around and Russell Crowe as the PI who isn’t above nefarious work for hire (the cast Gosling sports for much of the film is the result of an injury received during his first encounter with Crowe) but still has his own code of honor that he lives hard and fast by.  Oh and the other keyword(s) in that description is “1970s Los Angeles” as in addition to getting the details of that period correct,  this film is also a bit of a throwback to the kind of hardboiled crime drama from the 1970s and 1980s that we don’t see much of anymore. Gosling and Crowe even uncover one of those vast conspiracies we used to find in those movies. The quips come fast and furious, but they work well. ( Hulu, $3.99 Amazon/Google/Youtube/Vudu, $14.99 iTunes)

Fandango (1985)  - The story behind director Kevin Reynolds first film is that Steven Spielberg saw his senior film at film school and liked it so much he helped Reynolds raise the money to make Fandango.  A bunch of freshly graduated Texas college students abruptly leave their graduation party to go on one last road trip to Mexico before the realities of real life, marriage and the Vietnam war turn their lives upside down. Kevin Costner, in his first starring role, plays the groups leader, Gardner Barnes who, incidentally, is the one who didn’t actually graduate (he failed out). What follows is a series of vignettes, drunken antics, comedic scenes and spiritual reckonings with what adulthood will immediately bring to our heroes.  Incidentally, there is a scene in the middle, where co-star Judd Nelson (in a very different role than he had the same years’ Breakfast Club) takes a skydiving lesson from a hippy pilot that is a shot for shot remake of Reynold’s student film that attracted Steven Spielberg’s involvement in the first place.  Costner would never be this good in a role again (though he’s come close in films like Bull Durham).  And he and Reynolds would team up a few more times, in Robin Hood and Waterworld.  But Fandango is far superior to either of those. ($2.99 YouTube/iTunes/google/Vudu, $9.99 Amazon )

Death At A Funeral (2007) - In one of the most beautifully ironic titles ever, Death At A Funeral is one of the funniest, laugh out loud farces of the new century.  Check out the setup - a middle to upper middle class british family tries to hold the funeral for the patriarch in their home, wacky chaos ensues.  Clearly it’s a delicate line to walk with such a morbid setting, but Frank Oz handles it all with the skill of a centuries old master.  Somehow the tone of solemn reflection and insane goings on of the funeral (previously unknown friends coming out of the woodwork, daughter’s boyfriend greatly unliked by the father, crabby ol Uncle Alfie) give us a good example of how humor helps us get through the worst. Sharp eyed HBO fans will notice Matthew McFadden playing a much different role than the one of Tom he plays on Succession. The Amercian remake, from 2010, starring Chris Rock, Danny Glover, Keith David, Tracy Morgan and others (Peter Dinklage is the sole actor in both versions), I’ve never seen, but I hear it is the rare Amercian remake that is the equal of the original. Death At A Funeral (tubi/vudu, $2.99 amazon/youtube/google/iTunes)

Clue (1985) -  Why does it seem like so many of the best, most, enduring comedies are considered disappointments when first released?  Caddyshack and The Big Lebowski are sort of the gold standards of this type of flick.  But this whodunnit Agatha Christie parody based on a boardgame, boasting a ridiculous all-star comedy cast (Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren and Tim Curry among others) is a member of this club. Considered a disappointment upon release (“With that cast, it should have been funnier”) people have picked up on its ridiculous rhythms and the tropes it lovingly parodies. Another thing to watch for is Go-Gos guitarist Jane Wielden as a singing telegram girl. They shot three different endings to the film and the gimmick was, when originally shown in theaters you never knew what ending you were going to get.  By the time it came out on VHS, the tapes contained all three endings.  I’m assuming the streaming version has all 3 endings too. (Amazon/Crackle, $2.99 on youtube/google/vudu , $3.99 iTunes)

Bull Durham (1988) - What is it about baseball?  It seems to be the only big American professional sport that has produced multiple good movies.  Was recently arguing with some friends about which was the best.  This one has always been my favorite. Famously based on first time director Ron Shelton’s career in baseball’s minor leagues, Bull Durham is laugh out loud funny while dealing with various stages of adulthood, from Tim Robbins’ hot shot young pitcher trying to figure out how to put it all together and, well, be an adult, to Kevin Costner’s (him again!?) veteran catcher navigating the tricky point of when is it time to finally give up on a dream and move on? This is one of those movies that really can be summed up with “it’s funny because it’s true!” Neato fact - this is the movie Susan Sarandon met Tim Robbins and began their 20+ year unmarried relationship.  (Tubi/Vudu, $2.99 amazon/youtube/google, $3.99 iTunes)

Amelie (2001) - First foreign film on this list, this also may be the most uplifting.  Jean-Pierret Jeunet’s previous films were about nightmarish slightly futuristic dystopias.  Amelie is about the title character, who lives alone in Paris.  A quiet cafe waitress with melancholy eyes, Amelie decides to do little good deeds to help folks around her.  Jeunet’s films always have a very interesting visual style.  And his dark sensibilities help keep this one from floating away with too much lightness.  And Amelie’s sweetness does not prevent her from extracting revenge upon the fresh produce stand owner who is cruel to one of employees.  It’s a pretty clever revenge. It’s a pretty clever film.  (hulu, $3.99 iTunes)

Charade (1963) -  We’ll stay in Paris, but relieve you of having to read subtitles. Cary Grant’s last film is often mistaken as a Hitchcock film (in fact, I do believe some have called it the only Hitchcock film not directed by Hitch). Part thriller and part Parisian romance, Audrey Hepburn plays a single mother who has men, claiming to be former associates of her recently late husband, approaching her for the money they claim he owes them. James Coburn and George Kennedy play two of these men.  Walter Matthau rounds out the cast as the CIA contact helping Hepburn out. Director Stanley Donen, who just passed away in early 2019, was known for a wide range of films from musicals like Singin’ In The Rain to the romantic breakup classic Two For The Road.  tubi/vudu  $1.99 amazon, $3.99 youtube/google/iTunes

Out Of Sight (1998) -  It’s hard to remember now, but when George Clooney left ER to become a movie star, there was much doubt that he could succeed. By the time OOS came out, Clooney had starred in 4 films, including Batman & Robin and From Dusk Til Dawn and after those films, the jury was still out on whether or not he’d actually become a star.  Up to that point in time very few actors had made the jump from TV to Films.  At the time TV was still considered a major step down from film. Stephen Soderbergh’s film adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name is both the best adaptation to date of crime fiction writer Leonard’s work and the film that showed us Clooney was, in fact, a movie star. An ex-con who breaks out of prison, Clooney is magnetic throughout the entire film as the smart, frustrated everyman who turned to crime simply because he knew there was no other way to get ahead.  And his chemistry with Jennifer Lopez as the FBI agent who nearly foils his prison break and then falls in love with him while pursuing him is one of those legendary screen couples.  With an amazing cast that features Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, Dennis Farina, Nancy Allen and Albert Brooks, Out Of Sight remains an underrated masterpiece of American Cinema.  (hulu, $3.99 youtube/iTunes/google/vudu, $6.99 amazon)

Naked Gun (1988) - When my buddy grabbed me after my last final of the semester and said “C’mon, we’re going to see Naked Gun” I had no idea what I was going to see.  What followed was one of the funniest 90 minutes of my life.  That Zucker Abrams Zucker formula, mastered with 1980’s Airplane! may have reached its zenith here.  A gag a second and infinitely quotable, I should prepare you now that when OJ first appears on screen at the beginning of the film and then, from time to time throughout, it’s a bit startling.  And for those of us old enough to remember when this came out, it reminds us OJ was a popular guy once.  It’s a weird thing to see him in this now.  But the rest of the film remains hilarious.  And that final set piece, at the baseball game (see?  What is it about baseball?) is one of the funniest in film history. (netflix, $2.99 amazon/youtube/google/vidi, $3.99 iTunes)

Sing Street (2016) - John Carney’s film follows Conor who, entering high school in the 1980s discovers music and girls. He forms a band to use the former to woo the latter.  Or one in particular.  I’ve noticed Irish films seem to get the what a band sounds like rehearsing and playing small time gigs actually sounds like.  The humor here is light hearted, teenage humor.  The music, parodying different 80s genres as the band goes through different phases is pretty spot on.  “Drive It Like You Stole It’ was bound to be a huge huge hit had it been actually released in the 80s. The teenage romance works, the peculiarities (to Americans) of growing up Irish society are on display here (the catholic-ness of everything, the obsession of music in the culture, and the political realities all contribute).  Like some of the others on this list, the movie manages the balance of being light heartedly uplifting without getting too corny or annoying.At a point when I think we could all use a good time and some good escapism, Sing Street can fit the bill.   (vudu/tubi, $3.99 amazon, $5.99 iTunes)

Stuck In Quarantine Viewing #2

All right, so here we go again.If you missed the previous post, the theme here is films that have small casts and relatively few locations so as to be able to get lost in a whole ton of stories and situations that have at least some bearing on our own current ridiculous global situation.  So I give you 10 more films to watch and maybe feel a little bit better about our own quarantined situation. Note that listings about “free to watch” usually involves already having a subscription to netflix or hulu or whatever service is mentioned below.

Reservoir Dogs/ The H8teful Eight (1992/2015) - When Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs came out it was a revelation in American Indie cinema - at the time there were few to no hard boiled crime films with tight yet colorful dialogue that fleshed out the criminals as multi dimensional people, avoided most of the action, chopped up the timeline the way it did and still was fraught with tension and blood.  Over 20 years later The Hateful Eight takes many of those same themes - double crossing, funny & creative dialogue featuring much foul language, the pressure cooker situation that just keeps getting more and more and more intense and transfers it to the snowy old west.  Personally I prefer the Hateful Eight to Django Unchained.  Fun note here, the guitar Kurt Russell smashes was an old, vintage one of a kind acoustic loaned from Gibson that was definitely not supposed to be smashed up, so the surprise on the other cast members faces is genuine omg wtf surprise. (Dogs available on Hulu,  $3.99 to rent on Youtube/Google/iTunes/Vudu, $7.99 on Amazon;  8 available on netflix,  $3.99 to rent on Youtube/Google/iTunes/Vudu, $4.99 on amazon)

Interview (2007) - Not to be confused with the Seth Rogen comedy from a few years ago, 2007’s Interview is a chamber piece with essentially a two person cast, Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller.  Buscemi (who also directed) plays a jaded journalist who is a assigned to interview a big soap star (Miller) who is, of course, beneath him to interview.  Or so he thinks. While not an amazing movie, Buscemi and Miller pull us in with their empathetic performances that show us two characters who are a lot deeper than they may seem to us at first. Buscemi is of course one of our greatest character actors of the last 30 years who rarely gets the chance to step out as a leading man. Miller should have been as big in the 2000s as Margot Robbie became in 2010s - though Miller is British and not an Aussie, she combines Robbie’s striking dyed blonde bombshell looks with much more intelligence and skill than we might have expected and is every bit Buscemi’s equal in this movie that disappeared almost as soon as it came out.  ($2.99 to rent on Amazon/Vudu/Youtube/iTunes/GooglePlay)

Misery (1990) - James Caan sure has had an interesting career, no?  Often thought of for his tough guy roles in films such as Thief, The Killer Elite, Roller Ball and of course The Godfather, he’s always made interesting choices - comedies such as Mel Brooks’s Silent Movie from 1976 and  Kiss Me Goodbye, where he plays the jealous ghost of Sally Field’s late husband trying to spoil her plans to marry Jeff Bridges.  In light of that his choice to play an author held captive and powerless by a female superfan (Kathy Bates) who is upset that he killed off her favorite literary character (the Misery in the title of the film) is maybe not as surprising as it may have first seemed when Misery came out (one could see more a Dustin Hoffman or Richard Dreyfuss in this role when hearing the synopsis of the film).  But certainly Caan’s reputation as one of Hollywood’s tough guys surely helped subvert the expectations in seeing this film play out.  It didn’t hurt that both he and Kathy Bates play off one another extremely well in this Stephen King authored story.  And after years of acclaimed broadway stage work where she would lose out to more attractive actresses when those plays went to films, Kathy Bates finally began to receive her due with her role in this film - she was in her early 40s at the time.  A classic thriller that, though I’ve not seen it in years, still makes my ankles ache just thinking about it. (unfortunately not an easy one to find if you don’t own physical media:  free on Vudu, but $14.99+ to rent on Amazon/Youtube/iTunes/Google)

Down By Law (1986) - Really you could practically put any of Jim Jarmusch’s films on this list, but  Down By Law remains one of my favorite Jarmusch films. After a slow set up that lands our 3 main characters (musician, painter and early Jarmusch favorite John Lurie, italian comedic actor Robert Benigni, and famous gravel & blowtorched voice actor/musician Tom Waits) together in jail, this slow movie finally picks up to be the brilliant oddball character study comedy it is. From chants of ice cream somehow reminiscent of Pacini chanting “Attica!” in Dog Day Afternoon to their various encounters once they escape jail, if you can get in tune with its slow rhythms and slightly off charms, you are in for a treat. Unfortunately many Jarmusch films  are hard to find to stream right now for some reason. (free on Kanopy,  $3.99 on Amazon/iTunes)

Cube (1997) - This Canadian indie film from director Vincenzo Natali is a good indicator of what one can do with little budget, a no name cast, but a great concept and creative excution.  6 widely different people wake up in a very industrial looking cube room and they have to find their way out of a maze of identical rooms (with each cube having potential exits on all 6 sides).  Of course, this being a horror movie, they will need to navigate through all sorts of deadly traps as well as their incompatible personalities - it’s almost as if these personalities were the prototypes for so many “reality shows” that followed in the next decade.  While the acting varies wildly from decent to not very good, it’s the puzzles and unexpected twists that keep up interest and entertainment in this one. (free on youtube/tubi/vudu/IMDbTV, $3.99 on Amazon/Google)

Closer (2004) - Mike Nichol’s debut, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? appeared on part one of this list.  Closer, his second to last film, is almost a spiritual successor to it.  Also involving 2 couples, the cast of 2 American women (Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman) and 2 British men (Clive Owen and Jude Law) has as much acting chops and presence as that earlier film’s cast but a script/story, while entertaining, is not as good or quotable.  Although I always enjoyed Owen’s line about the heart being a “fist wrapped in blood.”  That should also give you the gist of this movie - couples falling in and out of love with each other but not at the same time.  While this one has the cast appearing in many public places, we only ever hear from, or focus on, these four. Definitely a brutal character study of the same nature as Woolf, this one may actually be more true to life in how these love games play out than its predecessor. (free on HBO, $2.99 on Amazon/Vudu/Youtube/Google/iTunes)

Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2 (1981, 1986) - Sam Raimi’s epic series of films and TV show about Ash (Bruce Campbell) and the Deadites (a bunch of undead nasties) began with these two low budget horror films.  Evil Dead II is mostly a redo of Evil Dead, which was made by Raimi and his buddies for no money at all.  Played fairly straight, Evil Dead is a better than expected low budget early 80s horror movie about a group of 20 somethings who rent a cabin, sight unseen, in the middle of nowhere, in the woods, who are then plagued by an unknown evil unwittingly unleased by a previous occupant. Somewhat marred by a notorious scene in which one of the female victims is raped by a tree, the original Evil Dead brought so much creativity and innovation to horror films that today it seems obvious that eventually Raimi would be handed the keys to big money franchises like the original Spider Man series that stared Toby Maguire.  Evil Dead II both trims the fat of the original (including excising that notorious scene) while turning up the dark humor component, and making Ash more of the overly confident, smug boob he became in Army Of Darkness and the Ash vs The Evil Dead series which originated on Starz. I’ve never seen the 2013 remake of Evil Dead, so I say nothing about it, except maybe “why?”  ( Evil Dead is free on Netflix and Shudder, $3.99 on Amazon/iTunes/Vudu; Evil Dead II is free on Shudder, $3.99 on Amazon/Youtube/iTunes/Google/Vudu; Ash Vs Evil Dead the series is free on Netflix/Hulu/YoutubeTV/Starz and $1.99 per episode on Amazon)

Ex Machina (2014) - We keep coming back to sci fi and horror movies with these small cast, few locations films, and Alex Garland’s film fits into the former category.  Domnhall Gleason plays the programmer employ of a google like company who wins an employee contest to go spend the weekend with the reclusive founder/owner of said company, played by Oscar Isaac. Taken by helicopter to Isaac’s remote compound, we soon find out that the tech mogul has ulterior motives for inviting his employee - it seems he’s been tinkering with giving human-like robots a realistic AI and personality and he wants Gleason to test it out.  What follows is a cat and mouse game in which who is the cat and who is the mouse keeps changing.  And of course the questions of  “what is human? and “what does it mean to be alive?” and “what is love exactly?” are constantly in thought here.  Alicia Vikander plays the artificial woman who may be in love with Gleason, or maybe she’s just using him.  The production design is beautiful, and the compound in which Isaac lives is both luxurious and claustrophobic. This one is a sci fi gem. (free on netfllix, $2.99 on YouTube/Google/Vudu, $3.99 on Amazon, $4.99 on iTunes)

Persona (1966) - A famous actress suddenly and inexplicably goes mute in the middle of a performance.  She is sent to a remote house to recover and has a young nurse accompany her to help in her recovery.  That is basically the plot to Bergman’s film, which exploded on the international film scene with a bang when it hit.  The Swedish Bergman was already a titan in the international film scene at this point, having released both Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal in 1959 and already having 26 films and numerous TV & stage productions under his belt. But this surreal film played with images in ways narrative film largely had not outside of purely experimental circles.  At one point we even see the film stock break and burn on the “projector.”  The two woman,  Liv Ulmann (the actress) and Bib Andersson (the nurse) interact, at first with only the nurse speaking, and eventually begin to take on each other’s, well, Persona’s.  An interesting and, yes, artsy film (and one with subtitles as, like almost all Bergman films it’s in his native Swedish) the movie is not inpenetrable. If you are able to open yourself up to its charms, it is worth it, even if you never really quite understand all that is going on. ($3.99 on Amazon/iTunes)

Solaris (1972) - The late Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky made slow films. I’ve even seen film critics describe viewing Tarkovsky’s work as “eating your vegetables.”  While I understand what they mean by this, I would disagree simply because I enjoy viewing Tarkovsky’s work.  That said it’s not for everyone, and even for those it is for, one has to be in the mood.  Sometimes described as the Russian answer to 2001: A Space Odyessy, Solaris is the story of a scientist asked to go to a space station where the mission has fallen apart because the crew have mentally fallen apart.  The Space Station is orbiting a mysterious planet that seems to have some sort of consciousness. This consciousness involves getting into the psyche of the astronauts and making real some form of their past that they have been grappling with.  Solaris is long on existential philosophies about the nature of existence of long beautiful shots and short on special effects and action.  There is even a long shot of simply the lights of traffic on a highway (we spend a lot of time on earth before heading out into the cosmos) that, if I remember correctly, is about 4 minutes long.  Of just the glare of lights of automobile traffic around the magic hour.  It truly is a beautiful film, if you can be patient. Beautiful both in the questions it asks but also it just looks very beautiful.  Don't let the lack of special effects make you think this movie doesn't have great design or spectacular cinematography, because it does.  Why else would you leave 4 minutes of evening traffic flow in your film if it wasn't beautiful? Tarkovsky called filmmaking “sculpting in time" and you can see what he means in this film. I’ve yet to see the Steven Soderbergh remake with George Clooney from 1999, but from what I understand it is a very different film, but one that’s worthwhile watching as well. ($2.99 on YouTube/Google/Vudu, $3.99 on iTunes, $12.99 on Amazon)


Other movies with small casts/few locations (including duplicates from post #1): A Field In England, Free-Fire, Tape, Death & the Maiden, Woman In The Dunes, Hour Of The Wolf, Secret Honor, Blue Lagoon, Sleuth, 127 Hours, Hard Candy, Cloverfield Lane, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Enemy Mine, Hell In The Pacific, Antichrist, Gerry, Time Crimes, Buried, All Is Lost,, The Shining, Gravity, Castaway, Coffee & Cigarettes, Pi, Rear Window, Locke, Room, Green Room