(kanopy/Mubi/VOD) Amy Seitz’s directorial debut. A hard watch about a couple dealing poorly with a severe situation. Kate Lyn Sheil is amazing at toeing a thin line.
In the light of recent info regarding Seitz it seems rather twisted to watch, but is still worth your time, especially if you’re open to a modern take on BADLANDS.
(STARZ/VOD) If you know me, you know I’ve been a booster for JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS practically since it was released. My wife has even walked into my office and exclaimed: ‘You’re watching JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS again?!’
It’s a cutting satire of late ‘90s/early naughts consumer culture, perfectly cast, with candy-coated visuals and a soundtrack to die for. Even if it didn’t have goddamn amazing songs fron Adam Schlesinger (R.I.P., also responsible for many great songs from CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND. Also, Fountains of Wayne) and Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo), it’d still be amazing. It’s far smarter than it looks.
Also, it’s the only film to have prominently featured SEGA’s SPACE CHANNEL 5, an under-appreciated videogame classic.
(kanopy/VOD) A very quotable look at a young female punk rock group, starring Diane Lane as Corinne ‘Third Degree’ Burns, and penned by Nancy Dowd (SLAP SHOT) who ultimately changed her credited name to ‘Rob Morton’ because she was dissatisfied with the music video ending. (I can’t imagine the film without that music video.)
As you’d expect, it has a fantastic soundtrack and features a number of punk cameos. It’s also the reason why Laura Dern sued her family for legal emancipation, as her mother wouldn’t let her work on the film.
(VOD) Me, upon starting the film: Ah, finally filling in one of my noir gaps.
Five minutes later: Wait, have I seen this before?
After an IMDB check: Duh, I forgot that it’s an adaptation of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY, and was renamed MURDER, MY SWEET because test audiences thought FAREWELL, MY LOVELY sounded like a Dick Powell musical.
Regardless, this is the definitive adaptation of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY, and the model for all Chandler-inspired films. Wish I would’ve watched it years ago, but better late than never.
(VOD) The story of a young wife (Goldie Hawn) discovering herself through an airplane riveter job and a trumpet-playing Kurt Russell during WWII. Hawn feels oddly muted, but Kurt pours on the charm.
Directed by Jonathan Demme, and co-written by Nancy Dowd (co-writer of one of my favs LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS). Also briefly features a youthful Stephen Tobolowsky — with a full head of hair! — in his second-ever film role.
(hoopla/Netflix/VOD/Vudu) A ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ doc from the writer/director of GRACE about a welder, and that’s all you should know going into it. One hell of a slow burn, but I wish the film had dug deeper into his psyche.
(HBO MAX/Criterion) Scrappy, queer, surprisingly melancholy British alt-timeline art-punk film from Derek Jarman, featuring a rather disconnected Adam Ant. “As long as the music’s loud enough, we won’t hear the world falling apart!”
Please note: the following trailer is NSFW.
(tubi/VOD/Vudu) Richard Donen’s (SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS) only sci-fi film, featuring Farrah Fawcett and a very randy Kirk Douglas as an space-scientist couple whose sex lives are interrupted by a murderous Harvey Keitel and his baby-brain-infused android. Less bonkers than it sounds — more of a bizarre curio than anything else — but, as expected from a Donen film, it’s worth watching just for the use of color alone.
(tubi/YouTube)? Bonkers Canadian nightmare fuel for pre-teens that’s surreally entertaining for adults. Best if you go in blind, but if you must watch the trailer, it paints the film (well, TV film) as something simple and naive, but no, it is not that. Not that at all.
(Pluto/VOD) I saw this a few years after it was released and enjoyed it but, upon a recent rewatch, I finally fully appreciate it: a dark, whipsmart teen comedy, styled like a Barry Sonnefeld film and penned in the vein of HEATHERS, but still manages to be its own thing. On top of that, it features an astounding supporting cast — Pam Grier! Carol Kane! Judy Greer! — and an even better soundtrack. Hell, THE DONNAS even play at their prom!
1999 really was a banner year for smart teen comedies. 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU! DICK! BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER! DROP DEAD GORGEOUS! IDLE HANDS! Too bad we didn’t quite appreciate what was right in the front of our faces.
