Friday, April 7, 2017
I Stream, You Stream Vol. 26
by Patrick Bromley
One of my favorite movies of 2016 is among the visionary films to stream this week. Plus Skeet Ulrich!
The Love Witch (2016, dir. Anna Biller) One of my favorite movies of last year. The Love Witch, an incredible work of perfectionist love [writer/director Biller also edited, wrote the score, did the production design, made the sets and sewed the costumes) and one of the most beautiful movies I've seen in a long time, was hard to see when I put it on my Top 10 list. Now it's available for anyone with Amazon Prime. I can't promise you will love it, but I can insist that you see it for its commitment to its vision and for what it has to say. (Watch on Amazon Prime Video)
The Eyes of My Mother (2016, dir. Nicholas Pesce) This one ended up on a lot of "10 Best" horror lists last year, and while it didn't connect with me the way it connected with many others, I still think it's absolutely worth seeing. Beautifully shot in stark black and white, the debut feature from writer/director Nicholas Pesce follows one woman's journey to madness over a number of years, beginning with a childhood trauma that tells us right away this movie is not fucking around. This is the kind of first movie that makes me very anxious to see what's next. (Watch on Netflix)
Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's Fantastic Four (2016, dir. Marty Langford) I still maintain that the never-released 1994 adaptation of The Fantastic Four is still the best of the four cinematic outings we've seen from Marvel's most famous family. It was made as a low-budget throwaway only to retain the rights to the property; this documentary examines just what happened and how hard everyone tried to make the best movie possible, only to be betrayed by producers who had their own agenda. The film is both inspirational about the can-do spirit of low-budget filmmaking and heartbreaking about the divide between the art and the business sides of movie making. (Watch on Hulu)
Touch (1997, dir. Paul Schrader) I can do little to defend my affection for this movie, which represents the mid-to-late '90s in every way imaginable. Elmore Leonard adapted! Skeet Ulrich as a leading man! Dave Grohl doing an original score! I'm not even sure what the tone is supposed to be. I mean, it's a comedy, but there really aren't jokes. But it's bright and it's fun and it's quirky and the cast, which also includes Christopher Walken, Tom Arnold, Lolita Davidovich, Janeane Garofalo, Gina Gershon and John Doe, is pretty incredible. Paul Schrader has made a career out of movies about faith and spirituality; this one approaches the subject from a very different angle. (Watch [with ads] on Vudu)
Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972, dir. Werner Herzog) This movie came up quite a bit in the discussion following this week's final installment of Cinema Bestius, with a number of readers declaring it their favorite movie of all time. It's a choice I can get behind. I only saw it for the first time a few years ago and my immediate reaction was "That is one of the best movies I've ever seen." Having seen most of Herzog's filmography, this one remains my favorite of his -- a visionary, haunting epic of a cruel, Godless world. To be fair, that's probably also Herzog's "away" message on Skype. (Watch on Shout! Factory TV)
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Amazon Prime now has a ton of Troma movies including the Toxic Avenger series for anyone who's interested in those.
ReplyDeletedoomed is great and a little heartbreaking
ReplyDeleteaguirre is at the top
the eys of my mother is disturbing, beautiful and worth the watch
the love witch is on my list for very soon
The Love Witch was pretty incredible. While I enjoyed the variety of styles in the performances, the movie’s use of color was what struck me the most. Every other movie is in black and white compared to this. It may have blown out my rods and cones.
ReplyDeletewell, that does it, i'm getting the blu-ray
Deleteit's your fault
Second The Love Witch. Had I seen it last year it would have made my top ten. It's a perfect homage to the genre and the lead's performance is one of the best I've seen in years. She's also stunning so there's that.
DeleteEyes of My Mother almost made my top ten last year (honorable mention I think).
Tonight is a the highly anticipated The Void. Not streaming but finally on VOD.
For the Herzog/Kinski nuts, "My Best Fiend" is worth seeking out. It's one of my favorite documentaries if not for anything but it shows how nuts they both are. It's also based on alleged lies which makes it a perfect reference to the fakeness of cinema in general and shows how sick some friendships can be.
I'm getting the lucky chance to double feature The Void and The Room in a local theater tomorrow night... Should be interesting.
DeleteAwesome! Unfortunately The Void didn't come my way theatrically, though no shocker there as we get nothing here.
DeleteThe Void is cool. Personal hype machine in full effect with this one.
DeleteYeah I thought it was pretty cool. I loved the practical effects and it really didn't pull any punches. However I can totally understand Patrick was saying on the podcast about questioning whether you enjoyed it because it has all of these things we really like in other movies or because it works on its own.
DeleteEither way I had a lot of fun with it. Some
of the imagery in the movie is so cool I would love it based off that alone. I recommend catching it with an audience if you ever get the chance!
Yay!! Love Witch on Amazon Prime! Also on Prime I realized yesterday...The Dressmaker! Uh, TAILOR MADE for moi. My heart exploded in the first scene, and nearly every one after. Also found out it was directed by a woman, Jocelyn Moorhouse, and totally not surprised. It was so good, I want to eat it.
ReplyDeleteAlso saw Hell or High Water yesterday and Once. Honestly I just felt Once was okay. I liked Hell or High Water bc it painted a good picture of what rural America is going through now.
oh yes, but the girl in Once was amazing. She was so responsible, realistic, practical. She kind of struggled with it, naturally, but then she seemed at peace with the choice she felt was most responsible. Can this be me please.
DeleteFor a second, I thought you were talking about The Doll Master (2004)..."just for me!" "I want to eat it!" This gal Meredith is weirder than I thought...
DeleteCan't you let me fit in, FOR ONCE PAUL!!? No but don't you know those things that are so good it just feels...unacceptable that you can't eat them? Like, baby cheeks and Dial gold hand soap. It is a question for God.
DeleteRead the Doll Master plot. Sounds meh, right?
I was totally entranced by the Love Witch, I wanted to live in the world it created. Before going into it I was worried the visual style would get old and feel gimmicky but the movie was made with so much passion and talent that I was 100% invested in everything on screen. Anna Biller really did something amazing with that one.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am so excited to check out Aguirre now, same with Fitzcarraldo and the 2 docs that go along with them. The relationship between Herzog and Kinski sounds like a weird spot in movie history. After all of the recommendations (shout out to Paul) in the column this week it's going to be an interesting weekend...
Aguirre is an eerie, downright spooky film. From the first long shot depicting our crazed protagonists making their way down a mountain pass, it's so clear these people are doomed. Klaus Kinski may have been an utter failure as a human being, but he sure could bring the crazy. And that music! Aguirre is basically a cross between a National Geographic special and a horror movie.
ReplyDeletePhenomena is now on amazon prime.... just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteThank you! For some reason, I didn't check Amazon and was about to put in a request at my local library.
DeleteThanks for recommending "Doomed!". While I've not seen the Corman film, I enjoyed documentaries (and books) about the missteps in the film making process. Thankfully, this film wasn't as cringe-worthy as "Best Worst Movie" since everyone is aware of the whole story and no one has obvious mental problems.
ReplyDelete