Category Archives: Instant Gratification

Instant Gratification: “56 Up” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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Pick of the week: “56 Up” — My report from the Wisconsin Film Festival, including comments from subject Nick Hitchon, is here. The latest installment in Michael Apted’s revolutionary documentary series, which checks in on the same group of people every seven years of their lives, finds the subjects in a ruminative mood. The deft editing between prior installments shows the people (including UW-Madison professor Nick Hitchon) growing older, living with the choices they made along the way. Watching them it’s impossible not to think of the milestones in our own lives, those passed by, and those yet to come.

Drama of the week: “Starlet” — My full review is here. It sounds like a terrible idea for a sitcom — an octogenarian bingo addict and a young porn star become friends. But this indie drama is a restrained and insightful character study of a strange but lasting relationship.

Foreign film of the week: “As Luck Would Have It” — My full review is here. In this pitch-black media satire from Spain, a down-on-his-luck man becomes a media star after his head becomes impaled on a steel rod at a construction site. As reporters, politicians, and agents swirl around him, all looking for ways to exploit the situation, the victim becomes complicit in the selling of himself.

Comedy of the week: “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” — As a director, George Clooney now makes pretty respectable entertainments like the upcoming “Monuments Men.” But his debut was this gonzo film that posits “Gong Show” host Chuck Barris was secretly a CIA assassin. The film features a great performance by Sam Rockwell in the unhinged lead role.

Thriller of the week: “Nick of TIme” — It’s Johnny Depp in the most shocking role of his life — a completely ordinary guy. In this well-plotted 1995 thriller, which unfolds in real time, Depp plays a dad blackmailed by Christopher Walken into assassinating a politician.

Instant Gratification: “The Interrupters” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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It’s the beginning of July, and at the start of the month a lot of new movies usually go up on Netflix Instant. This time around it looks like a bonanza of good films from the ’70s and ’80s just became available along with some newer ones.

Pick of the week: “The Interrupters” — This documentary from Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) was one of my favorite films of 2011, an intimate look inside crime in inner-city Chicago through the eyes of ex-gang members who now work to prevent violence before it starts. It will change the way you look at inner-city crime — how it starts, and how it might be stopped.

Thriller of the week: “The Parallax View” — One of the great conspiracy thrillers of the ’70s stars Warren Beatty as a journalist looking into an assassination, and uncovering a sinister cabal that seems to control all aspects of public life. Highly recommended.

Western of the week: “Breakheart Pass” — I’m a sucker for this 1974 film, as much mystery as Western, as Charles Bronson plays a prisoner on a train heading to a remote outpost and finds few people on the train are really what they say. Including himself.

Drama of the week: “The Boxer” — This film from director Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot”) has a great performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as a former IRA member trying to go straight and open a gym for Irish youth, but is bedeviled by his past.

Animated film of the week: “Tokyo Godfathers” — In this gorgeous anime remake of the Western “Three Godfathers,” three oddballs find an abandoned baby and try to track down its parents.

Instant Gratification: “Any Day Now” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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Every Tuesday, the Instant Gratification column gives you five recommendations for movies that have recently started streaming on Netflix Instant. Sometimes we go way off the beaten path — sometimes we stay right on it.

Pick of the week: “Any Day Now” — Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt star in this well-acted drama about a gay couple in 1970s Los Angeles who try to adopt a homeless teen with Down’s syndrome, only to encounter a wave of official prejudice. Aside from being a moving film, it’s a testament to how far gay rights have come in America in the last 30 years, and how far we still have to go.

Children’s movie of the week: “Mulan” — Netflix just added several Disney films to the lineup, and the best of them is this rousing adventure from 1997, in which a Chinese girl (Ming-Na Wen) has to save her father’s kingdom. I thought Eddie Murphy as the wisecracking dragon was funnier than Eddie Murphy as the wisecracking donkey in all the Shrek movies.

Documentary of the week: “Happy People: A Year in the Taiga” — Werner Herzog recut and narrated this Russian documentary about people living in remote, brutal Siberia, using survival techniques not much different from their ancestors a century before. We’ll take your word for it that they’re happy, Werner.

Blockbuster of the week: “The Avengers” — Joss Whedon delivered an incredibly fun superhero that was greater than the sum of its parts, mixing eye-popping action with humor and a genuine amount of emotion. The actors work as smoothly together as the heroes must, and Tom Hiddleston is a blast as the sinister Loki.

Comedy of the week: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” — Not really a kids’ movie, but they’ll probably like this 1988 spin on classic noir, in which humans and Toons live side by side, and a private eye (Bob Hoskins) gets drawn into both worlds in late ’40s Hollywood.

Instant Gratification: “Super” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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Pick of the week: “Super” — My full review is here. With “Man of Steel’ setting records in theaters, it’s a great time to revisit James Gunn’s funny and twisted demolition of the superhero mythos. When his wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a drug dealer (Kevin Bacon) Rainn Wilson’s troubled fry cook dons a costume and becomes the Crimson Bolt. Only he’s less masked avenger and more psychotic assaulter, with an even more sociopathic sidekick (Ellen Page) in tow.

Cult hit of the week: “Miami Connection” — The UW-Cinematheque recently featured this cheesy ’80s action film as part of its Marquee Monday series, so you know it’s good. When motorcycle ninjas flood Florida with drugs, it’s up to a martial arts rock band to fight back. Classic so-bad-it’s-great flick.

Comedy of the week: “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” — Back in 1982, Steve Martin and director Carl Reiner made this interesting and clever experiment, a noir parody that intercuts Martin into clips from dozens of classic movies, letting him banter with the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Veronica Lake. The more you know the source material, the funnier it is.

Documentary of the week: “How to Grow a Band” — As a big fan of Nickel Creek, I was fascinated to see this new documentary about mandolin player Chris Thile, and his evolution into his new project The Punch Brothers.

Action movie of the week: “13 Assassins” — My full review is here. — Takashi Miike’s bloody and largely reverent ode to samurai epics tells the tale of a ragtag band of samurai who plot to ambush a psychopathic lord and his 100 soldiers. The end of the film is a bravura 40-minute battle, where swords, arrows and even a stampede of flaming bulls are all employed as weapons.

Instant Gratification: “Upstream Color” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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It’s not often that your favorite film of the year suddenly shows up in your Netflix Instant recommendations. So that made the top pick this week kind of a no-brainer.

Pick of the week: “Upstream Color” — My full review is here.  Shane Carruth’s strange and ellipticial sci-fi romance mixes mind control, psychic pigs, and Thoreau’s “Walden” into a heady film about free will and self-determination. It’s gorgeous, cryptic and I wouldn’t want to impose my interpretation on another viewer. but I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

Thriller of the week: “The Score” — Hard to believe Frank “Missy Pig” Oz directed this taut 2001 heist film, in which a cocky young thief (Edward Norton) and a wary veteran (Robert De Niro) try to steal a priceless scepter out of a Montreal customs house. Meticulously plotted and well acted, it builds slowly but is a ton of fun in the last hour.

Comedy of the week: “Mystery Men” — I have a big soft spot for this 2000 action comedy, starring Ben Stiller, William H. Macy and Janeane Garofalo as low-rent superheroes who must band together to fight a supervillain when the city’s A-list hero is incapacitated.

Noir of the week: “A Shock to the System” — Michael Caine gives a deliciously fine performance as a middle -management type who, instead of meekly allowing himself to be downsized, starts using murder to get ahead at his company.

Drama of the week: “The Rainmaker” — Still the best of the John Grisham adaptations (edging out “The Firm”), this well-structured Davey-and-Goliath legal thriller stars an impossibly young Matt Damon as a wet-behind-the-ears attorney trying to take down a big corporation.

 

Instant Gratification: “Natural Selection” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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It’s the first week of the month, which means that Netflix Instant has added a whole bunch of new titles to its streaming service. It also means it took away a bunch, including “The Intouchables,” which just went up on Netflix and led this column a couple of weeks ago. C’mon, Netflix, check with me first!

Pick of the week: “Natural Selection”: My full review is here. I saw this indie comedy at the 2011 Milwaukee Film Festival, and though it never made it to Madison, is definitely worth catching up on. Rachael Harris of “The Daily Show” and the “Wimpy Kid” movies gets a rare chance to shine as the lead, a repressed Texas housewife who goes looking for the biological son of her critically-ill husband, who had been donating sperm on the side. What she finds is a skeevy, thieving man (Matt O’Leary) who she nonetheless tries to love like a son. It’s one of those comedies where nobody is above making fun of, but nobody is beyond empathy either.

Documentary of the week: “Chasing Ice”: My full review is here. Global warming can be beautiful. “Chasing Ice” features some truly majestic shots of glaciers cracking and falling into the ocean, or climbers descending into iridescent blue chasms caused by melting ice. It’s visually stunning, but chilling when we realize how irrevocable this beautiful destruction is.

Classic of the week: “Apocalypse Now Redux”: Netflix has both the original theatrical cut of Francis Ford Coppola’s epic 1979 Vietnam War film and this new director’s cut, which features additional scenes, including a controversial visit to a French plantation. It’s not definitive, but definitely worth seeing.

Comedy of the week: “Bedazzled”: As a comedy duo, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were in their prime in this swinging 1967 farce about a hapless man (Moore) who makes deals with the Devil (Cook) that somehow don’t turn out quite right. Very funny stuff.

Thriller of the week: “The Deep End”: Tilda Swinton is terrific in this well-plotted 2001 noir about an ordinary mother who tries to extricate her son out of a blackmail scheme.

Instant Gratification: “The Intouchables” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix Instant

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Sure, I’m watching the new episodes of “Arrested Development” on Netflix like everybody else is. But eventually, we’ll get through them, or at least need a break from binge-watching them. And when that happens, the Instant Gratification column is there!

Pick of the week: “The Intouchables”: My full review is here. Not the Eliot Ness gangster movie “The Untouchables,” but the highest-grossing film in France, a slick and charming comedy-drama about a paralyzed tycoon who hires a street-smart Senegalese man to look after him. It’s high-concept ripe for a Hollywood remake (which is in the works), but it’s a well-acted crowd-pleaser that ultimately earns its emotional payoffs.

Documentary of the week: “Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters” — My full review is here. Cinematheque first screened this documentary in Madison, a fascinating look at a visual artist who creates cinematic tableaux that look like key frames from movies that were never made, equally informed by David Lynch and Douglas Sirk.

Action movie of the week: “Sleepless Night” — My full review is here. This 2012 French action film was a ton of fun at the 2012 Wisconsin Film Festival, all taking place entirely in a labrynthine nightclub as a desperate man tries to rescue his daughter from a crime boss.

Drama of the week: “End of Watch” — A visceral action film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena as L.A. rookie cops who run afoul of a Mexican drug cartel, David Ayers (“Training Day”) made one of the sleepers of 2012.

Political film of the week: “The Revisionaries” — Teachers, parents and others interested by where Wisconsin’s education system is going might want to check out this 2012 documentary, which looks at the war over textbook standards in Texas between creationists and, you know, science.

Instant Gratification: “The Wrath of Khan” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix

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Every Tuesday, Instant Gratification brings you five movies currently streaming on Netflix Instant, most of which are new to the service. I made an exception for this week’s top choice, since I bet it’s of particular interest this week. If you have suggestions for movies on Netflix to recommend, let me know in comments.

Top pick of the week: “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” — Whatever you thought of “Into Darkness,” you should have left the theater hankering to see this 1982 film, unquestionably the best of all “Star Trek” movies. Action, humor, exciting cat-and-mouse combat between starships, and a truly great villain.

Drama of the week: “Leaving Las Vegas” — Nicolas Cage’s name may be synonymous with hammy acting now, but he deservedly won an Oscar in 1995 for playing an alcoholic deliberately drinking himself to death, with Elisabeth Shue playing against type as the prostitute who falls for him.

Comedy of the week: “Gregory’s Girl” — A charmer from Scottish director Bill Forsyth (“Local Hero”), about an awkward teen who wants to ask out a fellow player on his soccer team.

Foreign film of the week: “Flame and Citron” — This World War II film, co-starring Mads Mikkelsen of “Hannibal,” follows a pair of celebrated Danish Resistance fighters who showed no mercy in fighting the Nazis on their doorstep.

Foodie film of the week: “Big Night” — Green Bay’s Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci play brothers who own an Italian restaurant, preparing for a possible visit from the great Louis Prima. The last, wordless cooking scene in the film is a thing of beauty.

 

 

Instant Gratification: “Y Tu Mama Tambien” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix right now

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It’s a common complaint for Netflix Instant users — it’s just too hard to find something good to watch. So, every Tuesday, the Instant Gratification column features five good movies recently added to Netflix Instant. If you come across any winners that you’d like to share with other readers, let me know in comments below.

Pick of the week: “Y Tu Mama Tambien“ — This Mexican road movie from Alfonso Cuaron (who went on to make “Children of Men” and this year’s “Gravity”) launched the careers of Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. It’s a sexy, funny and unexpectedly poignant film about two horny young men on a road trip with a mysterious older woman. What they learn about Mexico — and themselves — on the trip is quietly unforgettable.

Drama of the week: “The Kid With a Bike” — The latest film from the Dardennes Brothers just wrecked me, as an 11-year-old boy largely abandoned by his father is taken in by a good-hearted hairdresser. Without sentimentality or melodrama, the film beautifully shows the effect of a quiet, sustained act of kindness on a troubled child.

Horror movie of the week: “Dead Snow” — Two words: Nazi zombies. On a ski trip to Norway, some teens run into the remnants of Hitler’s undead corps, with gory results. Not the greatest, but good if you’re looking for some late-night splatter. The film was directed by Tommy Wirkola, who went on to do that “Hansel & Gretel” movie.

Documentary of the week: “Brooklyn Castle” — This inspiring documentary in the tradition of “Spellbound” looks at an inner-city Brooklyn school that’s home to the best junior-high chess club in the country. In addition to dealing with triumphs and heartbreaks on the board, they have to deal with severe school budget cuts that might cripple their program.

Crazy movie of the week: “Antichrist“ — I panned Lars Von Trier’s out-there psychological horror movie when it played in theaters, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. A psychiatrist takes his grieving wife into a cabin in the woods to work on her, with disastrous, bloody, and borderline ridiculous results.

Instant Gratification: “John Dies at the End” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix

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Every Tuesday, Instant Gratification brings you five good options for movies to watch on Netflix Instant or other streaming services.

Netflix giveth, and Netflix taketh away. Last week, we were complaining that Netflix was removing hundreds of movies from its streaming library because of rights issues. Well, according to InstantWatcher.com, they just added hundreds of new ones, mostly older titles. Granted, some of them are forgettable-looking titles like “Dagmar’s Hot Pants, Inc.,” but there are some gems to be found.

Pick of the week: “John Dies at the End” — This may be Don Coscarelli’s loopiest film ever, and he’s the guy who made “Bubba Ho-Tep,” about a geriatric Elvis battling an ancient mummy. Here, two slackers have to stop a new drug nicknamed Soy Sauce which promises its users time-space hopping powers — but at a price.

Musical of the week: “Lagaan” — The best Bollywood movies mash all kinds of genres into one epic, and that’s certainly true of this four-hour 2001 epic, in which a small town rallies for a crucial cricket match against an arrogant British commander’s team. Seriously, this movie makes cricket seem exciting.

Comedy of the week: “Broadway Danny Rose” — After last week’s “Manhattan,” my black-and-white Woody Allen kick continues with this lovable 1984 film about a talent agent who can’t let go of his untalented clients.

Classic of the week: “Chinatown” — Roman Polanski’s landmark ode to L.A. noir takes the conventions of the private-eye genre and adds an extra layer of cynicism to the mix.

Drama of the week: “Diamond Men” — The great Robert Forster plays an aging diamond salesman who must train his cocky replacement (Donnie Wahlberg). The two men form an unexpected bond, and hatch an unexpected plan.