Every week, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage, and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This biweekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.
There’s not much to speak of in terms of new releases this week, aside from a new (and enjoyable) Werner Herzog documentary, but no worries; we’ve got an embarrassment of riches from the catalog, including three great New York movies from Criterion, three engaging Clint Eastwood movies from KL Studio Classics, a pair of ‘80s comedies, and an Allison Anders gem that’s ripe for rediscovery. But let’s start with something a little more recent:
ON HULU:
“Gone Girl”: David Fincher’s latest, “Mank,” is rolling into theaters and Netflix in the coming weeks, and it’s sadly not that great – which is particularly unfortunate as it’s been six long years since this, his last feature. Perhaps sensing a collective itch that needed scratching, Hulu has added this 2014 hit to their library, and it still sings, a pitch-black comedy of sexual politics and marital discord, cleverly disguised as a ‘90s erotic thriller-style potboiler. The director cleverly uses our existing baggage about Ben Affleck to extract one of his best (and most self-aware) performances, and Rosamund Pike’s work remains staggering; how, exactly, is she not one of our biggest movie stars?
ON BLU-RAY / VOD:
“Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin”: The great Werner Herzog seems, as of late, to have fully embraced his status as an elder statesman of documentary cinema, banging out nonfiction features with steady frequency and in his distinctive style – combining thoughtful narration, spiritual musings, and entertaining eccentrics. His latest is a tribute to the adventurer and writer Bruce Chatwin, whom Herzog considered both a friend and inspiration, but (as usual) nothing is simple or expected in a Herzog picture, and here he crafts less of a bio-doc than a stream-of-consciousness exploration of the “wild characters, strange creatures, and big ideas” that bonded them. It culminates in a rare and wonderful moment, in which Herzog is genuinely overcome with emotion while talking about his subject – and that emotion courses through this heartfelt tribute. (Includes conversation featurette.)
ON BLU-RAY:
“Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai”: The Criterion Collection’s recent output gives us a welcome burst of idiosyncratic and enthralling New York movies, two of them making their Blu-ray debut. First is Jim Jarmusch’s wild 1999 mash-up of Gotham gangster, French New Wave, and Japanese Yakuza flick, featuring a never-better Forest Whitaker as an enigmatic hired killer who lives by the samurai code. Jarmusch assembles an ace cast of character actors (including Henry Silva, Victor Argo, and Cliff Gorman) as the Italian mobsters who make the mistake of crossing him, while Isaach de Bankolé charms endlessly as our hero’s “best friend.” Both moodily cool (aided in no small part by The RZA’s musical score) and daringly experimental, “Ghost Dog” may prove the most successful synthesis of the filmmaker’s mid-period style. (Includes new and archival interviews and conversations, featurettes, deleted scenes and outtakes, and essays by Jonathan Rosenbaum and Greg Tate.)
“Girlfriends”: Also new on Blu from Criterion is Claudia Weill’s low-budget 1978 marvel, a keenly observed character comedy/drama whose influence maps to forty-plus years of New York movies and television (most clearly, “Frances Ha” and “Girls”). Melanie Mayron is a struggling photographer whose precarious emotional balance is upset by the departure of her roommate and best friend, so she has to learn to love herself (or at least like herself) enough to live alone. Mayron, who would go on to co-star on “thirtytsomething,” is a wonderful leading lady, warm and empathetic, Eli Wallach is a treat as her unlikely beau, and Bob Balaban and Christopher Guest, both impossibly young, make memorable male foils. (Includes new interviews, early Weill short films, trailer, and essays by Molly Haskell and Carol Gilligan.)
“Moonstruck”: Norman Jewison’s 1987 romantic comedy – which netted Oscars for both Cher and Olympia Dukakis – has been on Blu-ray for years, but its Criterion spit-shine is welcome; it’s a movie that somehow doesn’t get its due, even though it boasts huge laughs, a big heart, and career-best work by not only Cher and Dukakis but Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, and Nicolas Cage (who, for perhaps the only time, makes his distinctive eccentricity work within the confines of a romantic leading man). A gorgeously rendered snapshot of Brooklyn in the ‘80s – with a memorable interlude at Lincoln Center – this remains one of the most enduring popular entertainments of the era. (Includes audio commentary, new and archival interviews, featurette, trailer, and essay by Emily VanDerWerff.)
“Bustin’ Loose”: This 1981 Richard Pryor comedy was a bit of a Frankenstein monster, shot partially before and partially after the freebasing accident that nearly ended his life, and feels patched together both logistically and tonally – with both the nervous energy of his best ‘70s pictures, and the neutered, family-friendly approach of the decade to come. But there’s enough of the former to forgive the latter, as Pryor’s ex-con drives a bus of kids on a cross-country journey where calls are close, lessons are learned, and relationships are tendered. (Features audio commentary, radio spots, and trailer.)
“Amazon Women on the Moon”: In 1987, John Landis assembled a crew of director pals (including Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, and Robert K. Weiss) to create something of a spiritual sequel to his sketch-comedy classic “Kentucky Fried Movie,” again sending up old movies, television commercials, and other ripe targets. The outcome, new on Blu from KL Studio Classics, is wildly uneven (but then again, so is “KFM”), but when it lands, it really lands; standouts include a “Siskel & Ebert” send-up, a niche (but accurate) spoof of Playboy Playmate videos, a teary wake that turns into a Dean Martin-style celebrity roast (complete with hacky-comic guest stars), and a Universal horror satire that’s not only funny but technically convincing. Oddly, its funniest sketch is placed during the end credits, a bang-on parody of the ‘30s “social disease” exploitation pictures – much like those in Kino’s current “Forbidden Fruit” series – featuring Carrie Fisher, from the vaults of Miracle Pictures (the setting of Dante’s “Hollywood Boulevard”). Often funny, always sleazy, and worth a look. (Includes audio commentary, featurette, outtakes, deleted scenes, dailies, and trailer.)
“Grace of My Heart”: Illeana Douglas, forever a supporting MVP, shines in a rare leading role as a would-be singer who stumbles into a lucrative living as a songwriter – and spends the rest of her career trying to transition back. Through her story, writer/director Allison Anders weaves the history of pop music in the ‘60s, with her protagonist a Carole King avatar, and side characters inspired by Neil Diamond, Brian Wilson, and more. But it never feels like pure nostalgia; Anders examines the complexities and politics of the music industry and popular culture with a critical eye, all while delivering a heartrending story of personal disappointment and triumph. (Includes audio commentary, featurette, deleted scenes, and trailer.)
“Play Misty for Me”: As with last month’s trio of Clint Eastwood Westerns, KL Studio Classics is re-releasing three Eastwood thrillers from the ‘70s, all with new 2K masters and “Special Edition” bells and whistles. First up is his 1971 directorial debut, a no-nonsense stalker thriller in which Eastwood’s late-night disc jockey hooks up with a frequent listener (Jessica Walter, later of “Arrested Development”) for a “no-strings attached” situation that turns out to be anything but. It’s a taut, brutal thriller, indicating an admirable command of mood and form from Jump Street. (Includes audio commentary, new interviews, video essay and featurettes, trailers, TV spots, and galleries.)
“The Beguiled”: That same year, Eastwood and frequent director Don Siegel (who appears as a bartender in “Play Misty”) teamed up for one of their most peculiar collaborations, a Civil War melodrama in which Eastwood’s wounded soldier stumbles onto the rambling grounds of a girls’ school and turns it into a hotbed of passion, jealousy, and bloodshed. It’s a tough picture to describe, much less replicate (though Sofia Coppola gave it the ol’ college try), combining overheated sexuality, nightmare imagery, and knowing misogyny into a boiling gumbo of Southern Gothic. (Includes audio commentary, featurette, and trailers.)
“The Eiger Sanction”: The least successful of the bunch is this oddity, Eastwood’s 1975 stab at a James Bond movie, which is about as uneasy a fit as you’d imagine (while considerably amplifying the, shall we say, more timely elements of its inspiration). But a lot of it works, and splendidly; Eastwood also directs, staging the big action set pieces with brio and panache, while cheerfully allowing George Kennedy to bust in and take over the movie entirely. (Includes audio commentary, new and archival interviews, archival featurette, trailers, and radio and TV spots.)