Volume 045.5: What To Stream 5/10 - 5/16
THE VOICE OF ENERGY VOL. 045.5
Good day to you all. I write to you today from the lobby of my local Les Schwab as I wait to see what is causing one of my tires to slowly deflate. Annoying as that is, at least it gave me the time to sit here and breathe the fumes of many miles of rubber and listen to people yelling on ESPN and knock this week's selection of streaming suggestions together. I hope you find it helpful or it opens your eyes to films you might have otherwise overlooked.
Monday May 10
Dogfight (1991, dir. Nancy Savoca)
Choosing a favorite River Phoenix performance is a heartbreaking challenge—simultaneously celebrating what he was able to achieve in his short life and mourning what might have been. These days I lean toward this underseen gem from director Nancy Savoca. Phoenix tenderly embodies Eddie, a young man about to head off to the war in Vietnam who begrudgingly enters into the titular competition with his Marine buddies: find an ugly date in New York and bring them to bar for judgement. Eddie lands on the shy wannabe folksinger, played with quiet power by the amazing Lili Taylor. You likely know where the story goes from there but it’s the performances of Phoenix and Taylor—and Savoca’s unfussy direction—that gives this film such soul and insight. (streaming on HBO Max)
Tuesday May 11
What Happened Was... (1994, dir. Tom Noonan)
Tom Noonan is best known for his character actor work in films like Manhunter and The Man With One Red Shoe, but he has long established himself as a playwright and stage actor in New York and for deep cinephiles as film director of some talent. And after the release of his marvelous 1994 indie What Happened Was..., it’s a wonder he wasn’t able to net more work behind the camera. An adaptation of one of Noonan’s plays, we are witness to an entirely realistic first date between two co-workers in a law firm (played by Noonan and Hal Hartley regular Karen Sillas). The pair circle around each other cautiously, slowly revealing pieces of themselves... culminating in one of the most surreal and unsettling sequences that I’ve seen in a film in ages. With its appearance on the Criterion Channel, I’m hoping this foreshadows a full physical release with commentary and context added from Noonan. (streaming on Criterion Channel)
Wednesday May 12
Asylum (1972, dir. Roy Ward Baker)
Anthology films of any kind are a crapshoot with one or two segments outshining or dragging down the rest. Asylum, a 1972 work from U.K. company Amicus Productions, follows that trend, but no matter how goofy certain scenes get, it’s still a blast to watch. The framing story finds a young psychiatrist interviewing for a job at an asylum, and he might get the gig if he can figure out which one of the patients is actually the doctor he’s replacing. What follows is a series of sequences that range from genuinely creepy to purely laughable. No matter what, it’s still a kick to see various British character actors (Herbert Lom, Peter Cushing, Charlotte Rampling, and Britt Ekland, among them) taking every silly, over-the-top scenario within as seriously as Shakespeare. (streaming on Tubi, Hoopla, Shudder, and Fandor)
Thursday May 13
The Big Picture (1989, dir. Christopher Guest)
The rare Christopher Guest film that wasn’t constructed from long improvisations. And because of that, strangely, it’s probably the writer/director’s least successful effort behind the camera. It’s still a charming and fun diversion about a young filmmaker (Kevin Bacon) who wants to make an adult arthouse feature but finds his moral compass sent spinning and his original dream compromised by the lure of commercial success. Tale as old as time, but one handled with a light touch that includes quick genre parody interludes and some fantastic supporting work by Martin Short; the late, great J.T. Walsh; Michael McKean; and Jennifer Jason Leigh. (airing on TCM at 10:45 pm PT)
Friday May 14
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974, dir. Joseph Sargent)
One of the greatest crime thrillers to come out of a decade full of them, and boasts one of the best freeze-frame endings of all time. A crew of crooks, led by the mighty Robert Shaw, holds the titular subway car hostage, threatening to kill a passenger every hour unless the city hands them $1 million. It’s up to the grizzled, hangdog cop played by Walter Matthau to negotiate their way out of a bloodbath. Even beyond the two remakes made in 1998 and 2009, this film has been imitated and referenced in various crime flicks for going on 50 years. Just don’t let a game of spot the reference distract you from how fun and exciting this is. (airing on TCM at 5pm PT; also streaming on HBO Max)
Saturday May 15
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984, dir. Rob Epstein)
There’s never a bad time to check out this inspiring and wrenching documentary about the life, career, and death of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. But at a time when many LGBTQ+ politicians around the country are being embraced while various states are introducing bills to discriminate against young trans athletes, the film feels even more important and necessary. Even beyond that, this film manages to touch upon homophobia, mental health, and gun control. And the undeniable joy and perseverance that Milk exhibited throughout his life still manages to inspire in the 40+ years after his murder. (airing on TCM @ 11:15 PT; also streaming on HBO Max and Criterion Channel)
Sunday May 16
Love (1927, dir. Edmund Goulding)
Full disclosure: I’ve never seen this film. But I’m recommending solely based on the annoying recency bias that I keep seeing in social media conversations about films. Seems that even the most studious film geeks don’t seem to pay attention to any movie that was made before 1977, and are more apt to circle back to films released over the past 15 years. If that means you, I mean no offence by this, but would love to see you open yourself up to the early days of cinema—to learn how we got from silent era geniuses like Edmund Goulding, the director of this adaptation of Anna Karenina, to current greats like Rian Johnson and Chloe Zhao. It will only enrich and deepen the experience of watching modern films, and you can lord your knowledge over your friends and family... which is always great. (airing on TCM @ 9 pm PT)
That's all the recommendations I have for this week. Back again on Friday with another newsletter. And if you've read this far, drop me a line on Twitter (@roberthamwriter) and let me know what you would pick as your favorite River Phoenix performance.