Pick of the week: “Don’t Think Twice” — My full review is here. Comedian Mike Birbiglia’s second film as a writer-director is a painfully funny look at an improv comedy troupe, which for some members is a potentially jumping-off point to fame, and for others is as far as they’re going to go chasing their dreams. The tension between success and failure within the group makes for an engaging, Altman-esque comedy-drama.
There’s been a lot of talk among film critics lately about how, while Netflix TV shows get a lot of attention, the original movies released every week seem to fall through the cracks. And that’s a shame given that Netflix has been busy buying up a lot of good indie movies at film festivals like Sundance and Toronto.
That means good paydays for indie filmmakers, which is great. And most of the films probably wouldn’t have played theatrically outside the major markets anyway. But the downside is that Netflix doesn’t seem to put much promotion behind these films the way they do “Iron Fist” or “Girlboss,” meaning they can be impossible for most viewers to find. When a fan of “Happy Christmas” and “Drinking Buddies” doesn’t even realize that Joe Swanberg’s latest film “Win It All” premiered on Netflix a couple of weeks ago, there’s a problem.
“Woman of the Year” is a bit of a strange film for Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy to fall in love on. The 1942 romantic comedy-drama was the first of nine collaborations between one of cinema’s greatest duos, who would be life partners until Tracy’s death a quarter of a century later.
That chemistry is all over the screen in the first half of George Stevens’ “Woman,” now out in a new Blu-ray edition from the Criterion Collection. Tracy is Sam, a rumpled man-of-the-people sportswriter, who likes meeting and writing about “unimportant” people. Hepburn is Tess, a jet-setting celebrity journalist who seemingly only hobnobs with important people – both Churchill and FDR seek her counsel.
Pick of the Week — “The BFG” (Netflix) — My full review is here. I liked Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel fine when I saw it in theaters, and expect it will wear even better over time. In addition to its undeniable visual wonders, the late screenwriter Melissa Mathison (“E.T.”) lets the movie find some strange nooks and crannies, and Mark Rylance’s performance as the titular giant is a delight.
An ignoramus who spends all his time living in a mansion watching television somehow finds himself in Washington, D.C. among the powerful elite, who interpret his know-nothing pronouncements as straight-talk wisdom.
I don’t know. Somehow it seemed cuter when Peter Sellers did it in “Being There.”
If Hal Ashby’s 1980 film, now out in a new Blu-ray edition from the Criterion Collection, were just a political satire, it would already be a great film. But satire requires targets, and Ashby (“Harold and Maude,” “The Last Detail”) could never just paint a target, finding humanity and depth in every character. The result is a film that’s subtly funny and generous; we laugh at those taken in by Chance the gardener, and then we get taken in too.
For “Mystery Science Theater 3000” fans, it’s kind of incredible to contemplate — new episodes are coming next week. A new 14-episode season will debut on Netflix on Friday, April 14.
While there are the inevitable jitters about whether the new version can live up to the old episodes, mostly what I’m hearing and seeing from fans is excitement. And one thing i’m definitely not hearing is any trepidation over how new host Jonah Ray is going to do.
Pick of the Week: “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou“ (Netflix) — And to think that back in 2004 this was thought of as something of a misfire after Wes Anderson’s first three masterpieces. It’s still one of my favorites of his, gently sending up those old “adventure” TV shows like “Wild Kingdom” while telling a quirky and funny story for the 11-year-old in all of us. Because it’s the perfect age.
Look, up on your streaming service. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s all the “Superman” movies leaving Netflix on March 31.
Just as Superman is missing from the new “Justice League” trailer, he’ll be gone from Netflix in April. The original “Superman: The Movie” and the even-better “Superman II” will go, along with the lesser-regarded sequels, including the painfully bad “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.” Even “Superman Returns,” the 2005 reboot with Brandon Routh, will go back to Krypton (or some rival streaming service that bought the rights, more likely.)
Here’s a few other good movies you might want to catch before they skedaddle on April 1:
Pick of the week: “Pete’s Dragon” (Netflix) — I’m not sure who saw David Lowery’s ’50s crime drama “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” and thought “That guy should totally reboot a ’70s Disney movie featuring an animated dragon.” But I’m glad they did, because Lowery’s take is refreshingly old-fashioned storytelling that they don’t do much in family films anymore, relying on heart and emotion as much as effects. Although that is a pretty good-looking dragon.
I used to think it was pretty special that I got to age along with the Richard Linklater’s “Before” series. When “Before Sunrise” came out I was 26, when “Before Sunset” came out I was 35, and when “Before Midnight” came out I was 44. Tracking, more or less, with the aging of the characters, getting a surprise visit from them every 9 years.
It was special for watching the movies, but also for those nine-year gaps in between. Linklater’s preoccupation, from “Boyhood” to “Dazed and Confused” to “Slacker” has always been about time, how it shapes us and how we shape it in memory. These nearly-decade long intermissions gave me the chance to age, too, and track my own trek into middle age along with Celine and Jesse.
But the occasion of the release of all three films in a boxed set from the Criterion Collection has me rethinking that specialness a little. Because, as valid as it is to see the films over an 18-year span, seeing them all together reveals new things to the viewer, reveals them not just as an ongoing project but a single, unified work of art.
Madison Movie 