It’s time for a change of seasons…
…and it’s about time for the changing of content on your favorite streaming services as well.
Away We Go, Peacock (free with ads)
There are a lot of dark movies on this list, so I felt it might be wise to counterbalance a bit with something a little more on the wholesome side of the spectrum. Away We Go is a radiant beam of cinematic sunshine, that kind of movie that makes you feel things might not always be perfect … but usually end up just fine. After an unexpected pregnancy Verona and Burt (Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski) into existential crisis, they hit the road to find the perfect place to raise their family. What they encounter along their zany journey is that the people matter more than the land.
Cabaret, HBO Max
I bet if you had to guess David Fincher’s favorite movies, you wouldn’t think the master of the murder movie would be such a fan of … Bob Fosse. And yet there he is with two movies on Fincher’s all-timers list! I have to think Fincher studied films like Cabaret for their impeccable sense of editing, a fine orchestration of sensorial detail in service of masterful scene- and world-building. This movie musical about the unsustainable decadence of Weimar Germany ceding to the dark impulses of Nazism is so much more than just Liza Minelli’s luminous performance, although that’s certainly a big highlight.
The Hangover, Netflix
Returned to The Hangover recently? You’ll definitely find many jokes that wouldn’t fly today (remarkable given that this movie came out in just 2009). But you’ll also find that a surprising number still land as well as they did back then! This is just a remarkable tour-de-farce comedy, building absurd situations on top of each other without collapsing under the weight of its own imagination or imbecility. I hope, if Licorice Pizza was any indication, that we might finally be getting Bradley Cooper to embrace what a great sardonic comic actor he is once again.
In the Cut, Netflix
If you want to sample the sensuous offerings of Jane Campion before she almost certainly wins Best Director, you’re running out of time. Netflix, which also hosts her latest film The Power of the Dog, will soon remove her prior two features In the Cut and Bright Star. The latter is the more acclaimed and perhaps the more buttoned-up affair. But if you only have time for one, I say go with mess and stream In the Cut. Meg Ryan, playing wildly against type as an erotic and erratic leading lady, is really just going for it in this twisted post-9/11 thriller. I can’t say the film totally works for me (though it certainly has many a passionate online defender/apologist), though something about the grit and grime of it all kept me totally reeled in.
The King of Comedy, Hulu
Scorsese has had a masterpiece in every decade since the ‘70s, and my hot take is that his ‘80s one is actually The King of Comedy. Though misunderstood upon release, this film is crawling with immaculately crafted discomfort. And this tale of an increasingly unhinged clout-chaser resonates even more today in a world better equipped to understand the perils and pitfalls of instant fame. Try to watch with at least one other person to at least get the smallest sense of how this cringe comedy ripples through an audience. I’ve never been so happy to feel so unsettled.
Matador, Criterion Channel
Don’t be like Tom Holland — know who Pedro Almodóvar is.
The premier Spanish director’s early work is not always the easiest to stream, so take advantage of the chance to see his 1986 thriller Matador. Brace yourself for a very young and very villainous Antonio Banderas, playing very much against his usual type as a disturbed man confessing to crimes he didn’t commit. Though vestiges pop up here and there in his contemporary work, this film showcases the kinky blend of transgressive sex and violence that put Almódovar on the map.
Napoleon Dynamite, Amazon Prime Video
Like The Hangover, far easier to rewatch than you’d imagine (and way less problematic). It genuinely fascinates me that something this unabashedly weird about mundane middle-class Westerners became an omnipresent cultural force in the mid-’00s. You might have tired of friends doing their worst Uncle Rico impression when talking about reliving their glory days, but let the offbeat comic timing of Napoleon Dynamite win you back over. It’s really vibing on a different wavelength!
Red Eye, Hulu
I love a movie that knows its runtime, and Red Eye stands out in my mind as a thriller that does just that. Clocking in at 85 minutes, director Wes Craven knows exactly how long he can milk the tension between an unsuspecting young woman (Rachel McAdams) and the charming psychopath (Cillian Murphy) sitting next to her on a cross-country flight. It captures some timely terrors of flying post-9/11 while also tapping into a timeless sense of claustrophobia onboard a plane with no exit.
The Silence of the Lambs, Amazon Prime Video
As far as cannibal thrillers go, Hulu’s new Sebastian Stan-starring Fresh is at the bottom of the heap (slight spoilers but it’s been in some of the marketing now) — and The Silence of the Lambs remains at the top. There was a period of time where I thought this movie might be somewhat overrated, or perhaps just not worthy of being in the elite trio of movies to win Oscar’s “Big Five.” Nope, I was wrong! Jonathan Demme pitches this cat-and-mouse story between Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling at the perfectly tense level throughout. It’s got many a dazzling sequence, but the economy of the film also really struck me on repeat viewing. Lecter himself must have got a hold of the picture because there’s not an ounce of fat on it.
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Hulu
Many friends noted I was taking some, ahem, sartorial inspiration from The Talented Mr. Ripley during my Venice Film Festival trip last year. Let me assure that the stealing stops there, as I am not trying to craft any kind of elaborate scheme like Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley does here. This twisty thriller is perhaps the best Patricia Highsmith adaptation (Hulu’s Deep Water doesn’t even come CLOSE) because it roots all the thrills and intrigue in the mystery of its titular character. We’re never entirely sure what’s making this young striver tick — nor can we tell how far he’ll go to keep living like the upper crust he’s tasked to infiltrate.
WHAT I WATCHED
An erotic thrillers and Sandra Bullock kinda week!
I was also glad to have a chance to revisit one of my favorite movies from last year’s Venice Film Festival, Reflection, yesterday at the Museum of the Moving Image. We got quite the surprise visitor…
I hope to have the chance to write more about this extraordinary movie soon. It floored me once again.
WHAT I HEARD
I’m really digging the new podcast The Town, a joint venture between The Ringer and Puck. It’s just in week one, but the series is already off to a great start with host Matt Belloni breaking down entertainment news from an insider’s perspective. The episodes are bite-sized delights, a much-appreciated reprieve from hour-long ramble fests.
WHAT I READ
At the recommendation of a friend and newsletter recipient, I read Annie Proulx’s short story Brokeback Mountain. The perfect slender read for doing some laundry! It’s not really much of a spoiler (though the movie came out 16 years ago, so what are you waiting on?) but these final words have really stuck with me:
“There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it.”
WHAT I WROTE
Nothing new published this week, although I haven’t had the chance this month to point out that my streaming guides over at Decider got their monthly makeovers! Always good to bookmark these if you want fast access to my recommendations:
A special treat is coming later this week for subscribers around the matter of a small awards ceremony happening on Sunday night!
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall