Volume 044.5 - What To Stream 5/3 - 5/9
THE VOICE OF ENERGY VOL. 044.5
Hey there, friends. As you might have noticed, I didn’t get any newsletters out last week. That’s going to happen from time to time. Last week was particularly busy and emotional and weird and… So I saved myself a little bit of sanity and stress and didn’t bother with the newsletters.
I hope you enjoy this new supplemental edition with suggestions of films to watch this week. Almost all of them are part of TCM’s schedule, which is particularly strong at the first part of this month.
Monday May 3
An Enemy of the People (1989, dir. Satyajit Ray)
It has been such a lovely thing for TCM to give up a full 24 hours of their regular programming to celebrate the life and directorial career of Satyajit Ray on what would have been his 100th birthday. Through his lens, people around the world were able to get a clear sense of what life was like among the middle and lower classes of India, touching on themes of poverty, misogyny, and inequality along the way. One of Ray’s final films, An Enemy of the People, is his take on an Ibsen play that finds a doctor struggling to convince a deeply religious community that the holy water that they have been imbibing is giving people jaundice. That the issue was caused by the indifference and corrupt dealings of the local political system only makes the situation worse. It’s a fascinating humanist drama that feels like required viewing during our current era of political upheaval and a stunning lack of empathy on the part of certain world leaders. (airing on TCM @ 1 pm; also available to stream on HBO Max and Criterion Channel)
Tuesday May 4
Hairspray (1988, dir. John Waters)
Filmmaker John Waters pulled himself out of the underground with this candy-coated homage to the pop music landscape of the ’50s. But in typical Waters fashion, the story allowed him to make some pointed commentary on discrimination and get in a little sicko humor for good measure. The film follows the story of Tracy Turnblad, a proudly chubby teen who becomes a sensation on an American Bandstand-type TV show and dares to challenge the dominance of the primped, skinny teens who usually take center stage. The whole film is an absolute blast with a star-making turn by Ricki Lake and one of the final performances by the legend that was Divine. (airing on TCM @ 8 pm; also available to stream on HBO Max and Tubi)
Wednesday May 5
Diabolique (1955, dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot)
Undoubtedly one of the best thrillers ever made. In this French noir, an awful man is murdered by his wife and his mistress. And as the guilt of their actions starts to weigh on them, his body—previously sunk into a swimming pool-winds up missing. The film only gets weirder and more twisted from there. This is the template for dozens of psychological horror and dark murder mysteries sicne, including the novel that Hitchcock’s Psycho is based on. I won’t say anymore. Just strap in and enjoy the ride. (airing on TCM @ 5:45 pm; also available to stream on HBO Max and Criterion Channel)
Thursday May 6
Don’t Look Back (1967, dir. D.A. Pennebaker)
TCM is spending a few hours today celebrating music on film with screenings of the ridiculous and fun ABBA: The Movie, the goofy as all get out Herman’s Hermits vehicle Hold On!, and a restoration of the Elvis concert film That’s The Way It Is. My highest recommendation goes to this brilliant documentary. Using the French New Wave as his lodestar, director D.A. Pennebaker perfectly captures the explosive fame of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and how that effected his 1965 tour of the U.K. Dylan was at a peak as a performer on and off stage, toying with journalists and hangers on and playing up his persona as the mysterious poet of folk and rock. A defining cultural document and required viewing for both rock historians and budding documentary filmmakers. (airing on TCM @ 12:15 pm; also streaming on HBO Max and Criterion Channel)
Friday May 7
SF Sketchfest Presents Plan 9 From Outer Space Table Read (2020)
With the 2021 TCM Film Festival unable to happen in person this year, much of the festivities are going down online. And some of it is sneaking into the schedules of the cable channel like this fantastic live event that brought together a dozen or so brilliant comic actors and improvisers such as Laraine Newman, Bob Odenkirk, Maria Bamford, Paul F. Tompkins, and Janet Varney to perform a live reading of the script for Ed Wood’s notoriously bad Plan 9 From Outer Space - as adapted by comedian/Simpsons writer Dana Gould. You need not have seen the original film (it does air after this event on TCM, FYI) to enjoy how joyously awful Wood’s script and staging was. (airing on TCM @ 8 pm)
Saturday May 8
Nichols and May: Take Two (1996, dir. Phillip Schopper)
Originally aired as part of PBS’ series American Masters, this documentary pays rightful homage to the successful comedy duo of Elaine May and Mike Nichols. This is a perfect overview of their creative partnership, following them from their days in Chicago’s Compass Players to their worldbeating success on Broadway and on best-selling albums. I have issues with the director ignoring the influence that May had on women in comedy but that is made up for by using extended clips of their comedy routines to fully absorb May’s unique comic voice and her electric chemistry with Nichols. (airing on TCM @ 11:45 am)
Sunday May 9
Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980, dir. Pedro Almodovar)
HBO Max kicked off the month with a glittery splash as they brought a bunch of films from director Pedro Almodovar to the streaming service, including his most recent venture, the Samuel Beckett-like short The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton. I suggest you watch them all, but if you can only sit with one, start with this gritty early work in which a young woman, after being assaulted by a policeman, decides to upend her attackers life by taking his wife under her wing and bringing her into her circle of punk friends. Devilishly fun with a nasty edge redolent of John Waters’ early work. (available to stream on HBO Max)
That’s all for now. Should be a chill enough week that I can hit you up with a new full newsletter on Friday with my interview with Catherine Chase and some film reviews. And if you’ve read this far, send me a message on Twitter (@roberthamwriter) with the answer to this question: What is your favorite cover version of an Elvis Costello tune?