The Upstream: March 2022
10 great movies new to streaming this month.
Remember me? Even in spite of my best efforts to get ahead, I fell behind … and I’m sorry.
What’s been going on since I last wrote you after Presidents’ Day? Well, I got promoted! War broke out in Ukraine and, low among the list of the many problems ignited by this conflict, I resumed March 2020 levels of doomscrolling! I got accepted to become a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards! I covered a film festival! I had a ton of writing pile up all at once! I got some unexpected interviews! I got an unexpected new client at work! I took four flights to three cities in ten days! I was at the scene of the stabbing at MoMA yesterday and walked past the assailant roughly 10 minutes before he committed the violent deed! EXCLAMATION POINTS ALL AROUND!
It’s been … a lot. And I appreciate your patience. Or, if you were impatiently waiting for this, please accept my apologies. My hope is that I can get back into the swing of things and maybe have this whole thing down by the time the next festival rolls into my life. (Likely not until the fall.)
But now, what you came for: 10 movies new to streaming this month that are well worth your time and attention!
Benedetta, Hulu
I usually try to watch everything on my year-end top 10 list at least twice before publication to prevent myself from overhyping something based on first reactions. But time doesn’t always permit such a thing, forcing me to trust my gut on a few movies. This is all a long-winded wind-up to say I didn’t get to watch the bonkers, blasphemous, and brilliant Benedetta again in 2021 before I ranked it #4 on my year-end list. But I did get to revisit in 2022, and I can confirm it still slaps.
Cameraperson, HBO Max
This is a really special documentary for anyone who’s ever thought deeply about the nature of authorship in the collaborative art form of cinema. Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson pieces together something of a memoir in Cameraperson from the images she’s shot, both for herself and in the service of other directors on their documentarians. Who owns these images? Who’s their author? Johnson brings to light her invisible presence to powerful effect.
Christine, Netflix
Rebecca Hall is really carving out a niche as one of our best performers of women unraveling before our eyes. While The Night House and her recent Sundance selection Resurrection have their merits, I’m still not sure she’s topped the high-water mark of 2016’s Christine. Hall inhabits the persona of Christine Chubbuck, a real-life Florida newswoman who’s become best known for her on-air suicide in the 1970s. But in Christine, she’s more than just the defining moment that ended her life — she’s a richly realized woman trying her best to disguise the turmoil churning inside.
Drive My Car, HBO Max
I know a three-hour subtitled movie is probably not high on many people’s watchlist, even if it is nominated for several major Oscars including Best Picture. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car is an intimate epic about what we reveal and conceal to each other through art and life. It’s an exhaustive look at the human condition that, sure, gets a bit exhausting. The film might wipe you out, but it’s one of those movies you’ll almost certainly be glad you took the time to watch and sit with.
Dune, HBO Max
This is mostly just a PSA that my favorite Best Picture nominee is now readily streaming again. Since it’s not on the big screen, I’ll avoid shaming you for watching at home — and leave you with a tweet from star Timothée Chalamet that will likely capture your train of thought watching the film.
Near Dark, MUBI
Kathryn Bigelow’s line in film history will likely be reduced to just her historic Best Director win for The Hurt Locker. But look past the prestige and accolades to find a career rich with exciting genre cinema, especially in the ‘80s and ‘90s. It’s not always the most accessible to stream, so take this window of time to watch her stylish vampire flick Near Dark while you can. There are no swoon-worthy Cullens here, just some disheveled and dirty trailer trash creatures. Bigelow finds some very interesting ways to mingle the monster movie with the western genre, the setting where most of the film unfurls.
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Hulu
If you’re in need of a movie to brighten your day, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion has them in spades. It’s the perfect combination of ditzy fun and trenchant insight as the two titular characters attempt to lie about their success to their former peers. We can both laugh at and with the characters along their journey to realize how no one leaves high school without scars and bruises.
A Separation, Criterion Channel
If you’ve been dragging your heels to see this frequently un-streamable (via subscription services — you can always pay to rent) masterpiece, now’s the time for Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation. I’m forever in awe of how innately he understands humanity’s capacity for deception, both of each other as well as of ourselves, and just how difficult that makes it to connect. This is a capital-M “Masterpiece,” the kind of thing that students will study decades from now. Actually, now that I think about it, my college intro to film class did study this within a year of its release…
Still Processing, Criterion Channel
If you’re really strapped for time, here’s a recommendation for a splendid short film I caught at virtual TIFF back in 2020. If you were a fan of the convergence of narrative and memory in Sarah Polley’s documentary Stories We Tell, then Sophy Romvari’s Still Processing is going to be very much your cup of tea. This open-hearted family story moved me deeply with its emotional vulnerability and aesthetic daring. I’m excited to dig into the treasure trove of Romvari’s shorts available through the Criterion Channel this month, especially ones involving a lot of doggos!
West Side Story (2021), Disney+ and HBO Max
I don’t have anything better to say about Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story that couldn’t be more eloquently expressed by Guillermo del Toro in his long thread about the film last month.
Spielberg is an absolute master of moving the camera, and I’m so excited to revisit his take on West Side Story to spot when and where he made efficient yet inspired choices. Unlike many directors of his caliber, he’s not drawing attention to how good he is — instead just serving the story. That’s what makes him the only person to land Best Director nominations across a staggering six decades.
WHAT I WATCHED
Apart from a lot of concentrated documentary watching at True/False (more on that below), it’s been fairly sparse watching!
Highlights: I clocked second and third watches, respectively, of tick…tick…BOOM! and Spencer at New York’s 92Y to see talks with Andrew Garfield and Kristen Stewart.
Lowlights: powering my way through Inventing Anna, a bloated true-crime miniseries that proves we need more of these stories to realize they can just be two-hour movies. Credit to Julia Garner, though, for being the only person to land on the appropriately campy wavelength this material requires.
WHAT I HEARD
I found this episode of Fresh Air was a really fascinating and occasionally frightening conversation about how the economics of the Chinese market plays a role in determining what content we get to see.
Two very different music cues are bouncing around in my head from some recent 2022 releases I’ve seen. The first is the undeniably bland — but unfortunately catchy — J.Lo title track from the movie Marry Me. The simplicity and slight silliness make it an unavoidable earworm.
Then, there’s the musical motif from Michael Giacchino’s operatic score for The Batman, which was the best and most effective tool in director Matt Reeves’ stylistic arsenal.
WHAT I READ
I have not been good at reading things much longer than a single social media post, but I loved reading this take on Putin and Zelensky from — yep — the television critic at The New York Times.
WHAT I WROTE
I had a wonderful time talking to Franz Rogowski, a German actor on the rise, about his new film Great Freedom for Slant Magazine. He was quite insightful and articulate about his craft — look out for the movie soon on MUBI (or, if you’re lucky, perhaps in a theater near you). Both he and the film are a knockout.
As mentioned at the top, I spent last weekend at the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, MO. It was an absolutely wonderful time soaking up great documentary cinema and engaging with a welcoming community. You can read about this unconventional haven for non-fiction film in my diary for Crooked Marquee or read reviews for three films I saw at The Playlist: Ramin Bahrani’s 2nd Chance, Sergei Loznitsa’s Mr. Landsbergis, and Jon-Sesrie Goff’s After Sherman.
One last thing …I have exciting news to share: You can now read Marshall and the Movies in the new Substack app for iPhone.
With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.
The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall