Second half of 2022, here we go! Beat the heat with ten movies new to streaming services to make for a great indoor adventure.
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Amazon Prime Video
If you’re a fan of a certain twee director by the name of Anderson (with one s) who loves his meticulously composed deadpan comedy, then I can’t recommend enough that you get to know the joys of the Swedish director Roy Andersson (with two s’s). His existential comedies are a masterclass in setting up a shot — usually one fixed vantage point held for an extended period of time — and then milking incredibly odd timing for hilarious, thought-provoking effect. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence consists of a series of vignettes reflecting on the very nature of our being, and it’s utterly unique and entirely riveting.
Bringing Out the Dead, HBO Max
A jaded New Yorker roams the streets of his city in the dead of night looking for redemption in a film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader … no, it’s not the legendary Taxi Driver! This is Bringing Out the Dead, starring Nicolas Cage as a burnt-out ambulance driver on the brink. Though this often gets written off a lesser Scorsese effort, I found it completely compelling when I saw it as a midnight movie a few years ago. It’s worth a watch, especially if you’re a big Taxi Driver fan and can spot how the two work as companion pieces.
The King, Peacock (free with ads)
This is not where I dump all over Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, but I will say that I think the film oscillated (to its detriment) between scrutinizing Elvis Presley as a man and a public figure. Eugene Jarecki’s documentary The King commits to just deconstructing the meaning of the icon, exploring his stardom as a metaphor for 20th century America. If it’s intellectual heft you seek when thinking about what Elvis means, this is your movie.
Leave No Trace, Netflix
Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace is one of those movies I repeatedly find myself thinking, “Ya know, that movie was actually really good, I should rewatch it sometime.” Maybe now that it’s on Netflix, I will. There’s a gentle gracefulness in this re-entry story of a PTSD-addled vet and his young daughter forced to live on the grid. Ben Foster is, of course, expectedly excellent — but young Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (who you may recognize from later roles in Jojo Rabbit and Last Night in Soho) who runs away with the movie.
Mean Girls, Netflix
The Plastics have decided they can sit with us … on a streaming platform with wide adoption. It’s always a good idea to dive back into this high-school classic and quote along! (Or, if you’re not at that level yet, watch it and realize how much of Tina Fey’s indelible dialogue is firmly lodged in the millennial vernacular.)
Mississippi Masala, Criterion Channel
If you’re a sucker for a good romance, I cannot stress enough how fantastic Mississippi Masala is. Mira Nair’s film has been almost impossible to watch for a long time, and thankfully the good folks at the Criterion Collection restored and re-released it this year. This is an early example of how to do culturally sensitive storytelling well as an Indian-American (Sarita Choudhury) and African-American (a young and wily Denzel Washington) deal with what it means for them to fall in love in rural Mississippi. It’s a sweaty, swoon-worthy affair.
Raging Bull, Criterion Channel
My friend Christina Newland curated a hell of a sidebar this month on the Criterion Channel with 16 movies about boxing, the crown jewel of which has to be Raging Bull. It’s also available on Amazon Prime Video, sure, but not with all the incredible bonus material like an audio commentary with director Martin Scorsese and his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker. It’s like a semester-long course of film school packed into two hours from all you learn about craft and technique. Especially if you’ve seen the film before, the commentary is like you’ve got a strong pair of prescription lenses that will bring the picture into even greater focus.
Thoroughbreds, HBO Max
If you like your teen movies with a bit of an acidic bite, then Thoroughbreds is absolutely the black comedy that needs to be next in your queue. The film is a glorious tête-à-tête between an attentive tutor (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her stolid pupil (Olivia Cooke) in the latter’s suburban Connecticut digs. The snappy dialogue gives way to a brisk thriller plot that ropes in the late Anton Yelchin for his final role.
Walker, Criterion Channel
I was incandescent with rage when Alex Cox’s Walker was nowhere to be found online when I put together my list of unconventional biopics this spring — not even to rent — so come through Criterion Channel! This movie explodes everything you think you know about the buttoned-up biopic as it collapses past and present. Cox layers the story of William Walker, an American military man who installed himself president of Nicaragua in the 19th century, directly on top of the Contra affair of the Reagan era. The result is something awesome in its anachronisms, constantly keeping you on your toes and on the edge of your seat.
Working Girl, Hulu
This might look like another ‘80s Wall Street yuppie flick worshipping at the altar of the free market. But there’s some sly stuff going on underneath the surface of Mike Nichols’ Working Girl that undercuts what might appear as a glossy capitalist fantasy. Pay close attention to the bookending shots of the film and see what they might add to this bubbly, bright comedy of workplace politics and individual empowerment.
So, uh, I guess I should watch a new movie sometime soon…
You can always keep up with my film-watching in real-time on the app Letterboxd.
I thought this interview with super-producer Jason Blum was a great snapshot of where the film business stands at the moment.
I’ve had this browser tab open for a month and finally read it got around at the tail end of a 6-hour flight over the weekend: Emily St. James at Vox breaks down the rise of the sadboi big man.
If you’re looking for a book to read, I read a galley copy of Jason Kander’s Invisibile Storm and highly recommend this candid look at PTSD from someone who thought he could outwork it on the biggest stage. It’s specific to his experience but resonates broadly with anyone who’s tried to overachieve as an avoidance mechanism for something gnawing them inside.
For the first time in a good while, I wrote something that wasn’t a review, interview, streaming blurb, or festival coverage! It felt pretty good, too … I miss this! For Crooked Marquee, I stood up for Nancy Meyers’ misunderstood 2015 workplace comedy The Intern and why it’s worth another look now that the era of the #GIRLBOSS is ending.
Also, keep an eye out for the fantastic documentary Fire of Love — ideally in theaters near you as it fans out across cross the nation. For Slant Magazine, I had a wonderful interview with the film’s director Sara Dosa, who helped illuminate the intelligent filmmaking behind the idiosyncratic love triangle.
Back in your inboxes soon!
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall