Streaming Roulette, Dec: Sleepy Debbie, Angry Ang, and Winning Gandhi
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 4:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Ang Lee, Bombshell, Bruce Willis, Hulk, Jesse Bradford, Tesla, The Picture of Dorian Gray, streaming

After the jump you'll find a listing of everything that's new to streaming this month (December 2020). But first we pick two handfuls of titles and randomly freeze them with the scroll bar. Whatever comes up is what we share. Do these images make you want to see (or rewatch) the movie? (If you want to keep up with what's specifically available to stream from this film year you can read these earlier posts!)

It's me against the world. You're all I got baby.

The People vs Larry Flynt (1996) on Amazon Prime
True confession: I never understand why people thought Courtney Love was great in this (though I like Courtney Love as a musician). She's certainly raw but at least for me I can hear the lines being recited and the lack of training. But this feels due for a rewatch - perhaps for its 25th anniversary next year? How close do you think it came to a Best Picture nomination, given that it received only two nominations but they were biggies (Actor & Director)?

[music]

Susan Slept Here (1954) on HBOMax
This is a holiday movie with teenage Debbie Reynolds eloping with middle-aged screenwriter Dick Powell. Have any of you seen it? HBOMax has been wonderful about including Old Hollywood pictures in their rotation... but how long will they keep it up? They only launched months ago and streaming services have a habit of starting out strong in terms of film history but eventually dumping almost everything that's older than 10 years

I'm going to ask him to marry me. Tonight perhaps.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) on Criterion Channel
This one is part of the Queer Fear series on Criterion Channel which they weirdly waited a month after Halloween to release. Fill in some Oscar gaps by screening this (Best Cinematography win, Best Supporting Actress nomination for Angela Lansbury making her a record holder still, and a Best Art Direction citation, which we previously discussed) 

The years creep slowly by Lorena
The snow is on the grass again.
The sun's low down the sky Lorena
The frost gleams where the flowers have been ♫ ♬

The Beguiled (2017) on HBOMax
Due for a rewatch? If you've never read Daniel's piece on its main set, you really should. 

[DRAMATIC MUSIC / HEAVY BREATHING]

Hulk (2003) on Hulu
I always forget how experimental and retro Ang Lee's superhero flick is from the Hitchcockian score, to the hyper saturated colors and superimposed images. The purposefully comic-panel like imagery is fun, too. It's too bad about the pacing but this one has its moments. Too bad you can probably track Ang Lee's weird dovetailing away from his strengths right to this film, the first in which he got lost in visual fx rather than storytelling (sigh) which unfortunately became the theme of his career after the incredible one two punch of Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution right after this monster which turned out not to be the one-off we expected!

And that's what makes America great

Bombshell (2019) on Hulu
I read a great tweet on this movie last week last week..

Sometimes I wonder if people who lead with "criticise the movie you see, don't suggest how it could be improved" have ever seen a movie like Bombshell, which is pathologically obsessed with suggesting better versions of itself before resolutely refusing to commit to them.

— 🦇 Bat 🦇 (@trashmatsuit) November 26, 2020

[Electric crackling.]

Tesla (2020) on Hulu
TFE has lately been loving on Ethan Hawke. I haven't personally seen this one but Daniel wrote up its Production Design.

I understand. The landlord is British?

Gandhi (1982) on Amazon Prime
Winner of 8 Academy Awards, none of which it deserved. This is not to say that Gandhi is a bad movie. Have I ever told you I was weirdly obsessed with it as a kid? It's just that in the 1980s the Oscars were all about sweeps and near-sweeps and giving everything to one movie per year which is an exceptionally boring way to process / reward art, especially within a film year as rich as 1982 was. It's absolutely horrifying to think this won Best Cinematography over E.T. (gulp), Best Costume Design over Victor/Victoria (yikes), Best Production Design over Blade Runner (gasp), Best Editing over Das Boot (ugh), and Best Screenplay over Tootsie (#$%*!!!) to cite just five of the jaw-dropping injustices. 

[Alarm ringing and screaming]

Gun Crazy (1950) on HBOMax
A much beloved B movie. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it. Love the chaos of its crime spree scenes. Too many movies make action too glossy and this one is all fumbling and spontaneous as if happening in real time. Peggy Cummins (Escape, Curse of the Demon) and John Dall (Rope, The Corn is Green) really sell the dangerous evil of the married killers.

Bruce Willis (just offscreen): Tell 'em!

Hard Kill (2020) on Netflix
Bruce Willis actioner. This is Willis' third consecutive film with a director named Matt Eskandari and we hadn't heard of any of these pictures until just this moment! Weird how that happens with action stars -- they tend to keep headlining movies way after the media and public pays attention but there's apparently enough of a cushion for the genre (i.e. a built-in audience -- see also horror films) that they can just do them until they drop. 

We might get really hungry.

Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995) on Disney Plus
TFW you forget that Jesse Bradford was once a child star. 

ALSO STREAMING  RIGHT NOW... SEVERAL 2020 FILMS. PLUS...

newly streaming

later this month (a selection) 

 

 

newly streaming

Later in the month - a selection

 

newly streaming

later in the month (a selection)

 

newly streaming for September - a selection. They usually offer (most) of the same films as Hulu listed above...  plus a slew of random stuff but sadly they're not any better about classics really than the other streamers. 

 

later in the month (a selection)

also newly streaming

later this month - a selection

 

also newly streaming

later this month - a selection 

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
See website for complete article licensing information.