The Downstream: January 2022
10 great movies to watch before they leave streaming this month.
Believe it or not, we’re already turning the corner from January into February! The days are getting longer, yet the temperatures (at least in NYC) remain stubbornly low. If weather, Omicron, or some other variable leads you to cancel plans for a night in, check out any of these 10 movies before they depart streaming this month.
Ace in the Hole, Criterion Channel
If you don’t trust my recommendation on Billy Wilder’s pitch-black media satire, take it from superfan Spike Lee! Ace in the Hole pulls no punches on how sensationalism overtakes storytelling. Kirk Douglas’ reporter oozes smarm and desperation as he turns a man trapped inside a cave into a veritable carnival for anxious onlookers. Seven decades later, the phenomenon has only gotten worse.
Crossing Delancey, HBO Max
This was the first movie I watched in 2022, and what a delight it was! Joan Micklin Silver’s Crossing Delancey fits the bill for a classic rom-com watch, but it’s made all the more fascinating by not leaving cultural and religious considerations unspoken. Amy Irving’s Isabel is by all accounts a quintessentially ‘80s New York independent woman, yet that’s of no use to her bubbe who insists on playing matchmaker through more traditional Jewish channels. Making explicit what underlies Isabel’s choice gives the film an additional layer of intrigue that elevates it above standard genre-fare.
Desperately Seeking Susan, HBO Max
More ‘80s New York! Desperately Seeking Susan is such a fun comedic romp through the city’s seedy-yet-sanitized nightlife as a bored New Jersey housewife gets involved in a case of mistaken identity with a drifter played by none other than Madonna. It’s a film for anyone who’s ever looked to the lives of a beautiful stranger to enliven their humdrum happenings … and perhaps bitten off more than they could chew when they get what they wanted.
Humpday, HBO Max
I still can’t believe Lynn Shelton is no longer with us, though she remains vibrant in my mind from the day I interviewed her at length in 2019. It’s particularly devastating because it still felt like she had so much left to explore in her improvisatory, humanistic style. Her breakthrough feature, 2009’s Humpday, remains such a treasure trove of insight into the male psyche as two straight best friends contemplate filming a porn video as a festival submission. The only thing graphic is the conversations, which penetrate deeply into the boundaries of intimacy inside relationships of all kinds.
Jennifer’s Body, Amazon Prime Video
OK, admittedly this is one I haven’t seen in a while … and didn’t really love when it came out in 2009. But Jennifer’s Body seems to be enjoying a pandemic-fueled resurgence as a cult hit, with special appreciation for its commentary on gender, violence, and horror. Heck, it even appeared on the prestigious Criterion Channel last year! This is all to say, maybe it’s time that we all — myself included — give the film a second chance.
Josie and the Pussycats, Peacock (free with ads)
Now here’s a movement for reclaiming and canonization that I can fully support: the Josie and the Pussycats movie. I did a full-throated endorsement in my newsletter The Distancer back in 2020 and stand by every word. This savagely spot-on critique of the prevailing early-aughts consumerist ethos along with the banality of commercialized pop music is the kind of thing future generations will gaze upon with wonder. Mostly, of course, puzzled by how we got this movie so wrong when it came out.
The Little Rascals, Peacock (free with ads)
Not just for kids! The Little Rascals is genuinely such a treat for viewers of all ages. Rather than do the Shrek thing where kids watch the movie on one track and adults another, director Penelope Spheeris understands that clever dialogue and irresistible situations can cut across the age divide. Between VHS and cable, I’ve probably seen this movie a hundred times — and it never disappoints.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Hulu
They don’t make ‘em like this anymore … and if they do, they’re probably an HBO miniseries. Around this time last year, there was a brief “Film Twitter” rally around the flag effect when some troll called Master and Commander boring — and star Russell Crowe leaped to the film’s defense. It’s a textbook example of a bad take being so odiously wrong that it can’t help but inspire people to discover the truth. This high-seas adventure is a masterful work of art and entertainment.
Shadow of a Doubt, Criterion Channel
There’s wide agreement among the films that belong at the top of Hitchcock’s formidable body of work — Vertigo, Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest. But one lesser-known title that absolutely deserves to be mentioned in the same breath is Shadow of a Doubt, a taut thriller from the ‘40s with as much suspense as any of the aforementioned titles. A year before “gaslighting” even became a term, Hitchcock explored the terror of a young girl made to downplay the nefarious activities of her treacherous uncle. She can tell he’s up to something, and the film wrings almost unbearable tension from whether or not she can convince others of the same before it’s too late.
Shutter Island, Netflix
I’m on the record as saying the screaming Leonardo DiCaprio performance started to yield significant diminishing returns after Revolutionary Road in 2008, and that stance hasn’t changed. But he still picked some truly excellent work afterward, even if his acting in them got a little overwrought. Shutter Island, another collaboration with Martin Scorsese, frequently gets written off as a minor work for both actor and director. It’s anything but. Whether DiCaprio’s U.S. marshal arrived off his rocker at an island penitentiary for the criminally insane or the locale itself triggered his psychosis remains a fascinating open-ended question. When watching or rewatching the film, I think you can find evidence for either case.
WHAT I WATCHED
This week in viewing! I finally caught up with Spider-Man: No Way Home, and good for Andrew Garfield. Oh, and I allowed myself the joy of rewatching Role Models on Hulu just because — great choice! I found myself laughing inappropriately loudly at new points.
WHAT I HEARD
I saw an off-Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins over the weekend and have not been able to shake it since. I’m in particular struck by the prescient “Another National Anthem,” which feels as if it incisively weaves together the strands of our national malady into a comprehensive diagnosis for a case of the unfulfilled American Dream. (To get sociological, it’s a dramatically and lyrically compelling version of a “deep story,” that overriding narrative framework people use to interpret and classify the events in their life.)
New Yorkers, the show is sold out for the remainder of its run — but there may be some same-day tickets!
WHAT I READ
Did you know Encanto has become a massive cultural sensation since hitting Disney+ last month? To my eye, it’s a bit of an underreported phenomenon that the streamer seems to have revived a property that did lackluster theatrical numbers. But NBC News reports on why the movie seems to be striking a chord (and the role social media has played in this phenomenon), while The New York Times gets into the creation of the viral hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
I still haven’t watched the new Matrix movie (and it’s looking unlikely I will before it leaves HBO Max … whoops). Nonetheless, I thought Bilge Ebiri’s essay in Vulture about why the tech-bro villain isn’t going away was a particularly great read.
A bit on the longer end, but well worth your time is Alissa Wilkinson’s syllabus for a new world on Vox. If you’re having trouble visualizing a future you feel increasing difficulty planning or predicting, this piece points you toward some art that might help shine a light into the darkness.
WHAT I WROTE
Last week, I had the exciting opportunity to interview Emmy and Oscar nominee Vanessa Kirby for her new film Italian Studies (along with its director, scrappy NYC filmmaker Adam Leon) on Slant. I can’t say I wholeheartedly recommend the movie, which is now available on VOD and in select theaters.
But if you’re a fan of Kirby from The Crown, Pieces of a Woman, or even Hobbs and Shaw, I think you might find something of value from the film — and the interview — as Kirby works out how to hold court on screen as a true lead. I really enjoyed her free-form answers and think you can find a lot of value even without having seen the film.
That’s it for this edition!
Subscribers will be getting a little something special in their inboxes tomorrow to kick off an unusual year of Sundance Film Festival coverage.
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall