Post-Oscars got you feeling like this?
Shake out of the 2022 slump with any one of these ten great movies, each of which is about to depart its current streaming home at the end of the month.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, HBO Max
Not your father’s Western. Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a brooding, incisive look at masculinity and celebrity in the American West. While it’s a film easier to ogle (thanks to Roger Deakins’ mesmerizing cinematography) than immediately appreciate, this slow and controlled burn has stayed with me. The quiet interiority of the performances from both Brad Pitt’s skeptical Jesse James and Casey Affleck’s jealous disciple Robert Ford make for compelling counterweights to the mythic scale of the film’s imagery.
Before Sunrise, HBO Max
105 minutes of pure magic. Before Sunrise could very well be the most romantic movie I’ve ever seen. This walking, talking whirlwind connection between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) is the platonic ideal of the meet-cute. Two like-minded strangers strike up a casual conversation on a train across Europe, and they give themselves the freedom to see how long they can keep it going. Three decades and two sequels later, I’m still holding out hope they have more to say — but this will always more than suffice.
Erin Brockovich, Amazon Prime Video
Genuinely startling to me that I somehow hadn’t included this as a Marshall and the Movies recommendation?! I adore Erin Brockovich, the platonic ideal of a powerhouse performance contained in an issue-driven biopic. Julia Roberts, as always, doing what the other girls can’t do!
A Girl Missing, Criterion Channel
“I don’t think film should force any certain emotion onto the audience. I think that art should be a mirror of yourself,” director Kōji Fukada told me about his puzzle box thriller A Girl Missing. “Through that, through watching the film, more about yourself is revealed. So, that’s how I want you to confront my films.” What you think about the fall from grace — and potential break from reality — by Mariko Tsutsui’s Ichiko is a fascinating Rorschach blot. Through sneaky sound and visuals, Fukada renders what might initially seem like a familiar story entirely unforgettable.
The Last Detail, HBO Max
This is one of the more underrated performances in that all-time heater Jack Nicholson stretch from 1969-1975. The Last Detail brings out the star’s rambunctiousness as a Marine assigned to escort a withdrawn young recruit to prison. But the journey and all its implications bring out something more sensitive and tender, too, as he and his mission companion begin to realize the implications of what they are doing. With direction by the great Hal Ashby of Harold & Maude and a script by Robert Towne of Chinatown, the film manages to harmonize any of this discordance into a beautiful symphony. (This is a title that’s not available on subscription services all that frequently, so who’s to say it will be so readily accessible again soon?!)
My Cousin Vinny, HBO Max
This is one of those cable classics easy enough to jump in during a random scene … but is certainly better if you just watch from start to finish. My Cousin Vinny does the fish-out-of-water comedy right by placing Joe Pesci in the South trying to win a court case as a two-bit attorney. If nothing else, watch it so you can fully appreciate the scene in Fire Island where the characters use the phrase “Your honor, the defense is WRONG” to try and identify Marisa Tomei in a game of Heads Up.
Paths of Glory, Amazon Prime Video
Is it weird that Paths of Glory might be my favorite Kubrick movie? I know it doesn’t lend itself to merch like A Clockwork Orange or stanning like The Shining, but I admire the more understated nature of this searing anti-war film. It’s still got Kubrick’s clarity of imagery and narrative, plus it’s coupled with a searing moral message.
The Prestige, Hulu
Time to get those Christopher Nolan rewatches started — Oppenheimer will be here before we know it! If nothing else, watch it through the lens of my preferred lens of his filmography: “the Christopher Nolan lie.” As I wrote in 2018:
“Nolan’s films are replete with moments just like this – pivotal turning points in which a central character is fed a well-meaning lie in order to avoid immediate turbulence. Often times, the lie comes courtesy of an ally who consciously tries to avoid upsetting someone, reasoning that the ensuing emotional ringer would veer them off their quest altogether.”
3 Women, Criterion Channel
I’ve determined that 3 Women is the Robert Altman movie for people who don’t really like Robert Altman movies. I’ve struggled to get into many of his talky supposed classics like Nashville, in large part because I think his adherents have improved upon what he started with overlapping dialogue. But 3 Women is nothing like those movies — it’s a cryptic psychodrama about the nature of identity and psyches. It’s abstract and provocative in all the right ways. I was beguiled and entranced as I would be by an Ingmar Bergman film.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Amazon Prime Video
Every once in a while, I just get a random urge to watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona out of nowhere. Maybe it’s just due to being 16 when it came out and finding its overall message and vibe appealing — plus it was among the first movies I remember seeing where characters could go through a lot and end up right where they started. Anyways, maybe this is my sign … or that stars Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson seem to be reteaming on this new Nancy Meyers movie, funding pending …
You can always keep up with my film-watching in real-time on the app Letterboxd. I’ve also compiled every movie I’ve ever recommended through this newsletter via a list on the platform as well.
Since A24 announced they’ll be re-releasing Stop Making Sense this year…
…the soundtrack has been back in heavy rotation for me:
Since yeah, I’m kinda thinking John Wick is back, sharing this wild and detailed investigation by Slate: “Why Are All Action Heroes Named Jack, James, or John?”
Also fun: this Variety explainer on how movie titles get chosen.
A.O. Scott signs off at The New York Times — the end of an era.
Also at the Grey Lady, Kyle Buchanan makes the important case that Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win should be the beginning of a new stage in her career — and not just a one-and-done deal.
For The Playlist, I reviewed the Hulu original (produced by 20th Century Studios!) Boston Strangler. If you like movies about investigative journalism and true crime, you will like this.
For Decider, I said stream it to Still Time, Noise, and Dragged Across Concrete but skip it to In His Shadow (all on Netflix).
You can keep track of all the freelance writing I’ve done this year through this list on Letterboxd.
Later this week for subscribers … hit me baby, one more time.
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall