November's Streaming Roulette: The Harder They Fall at Block Parties and in Nightmare Alleys
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 at 1:45PM
NATHANIEL R in Brad Pitt, Dave Chappelle, In the Heights, Moneyball, Nightmare Alley, Passion Fish, Streaming Roulette, The Harder They Fall, Wait Until Dark, concerts, streaming, westerns

HELLO NOVEMBER. You know the drill. We point out ten random titles that are brand new or new (again) to streaming and just for fun, freeze frame them at a totally random place in the scroll bar (no cheating - what comes up is what comes up). If there's a link in the long list after the selected titles it goes to previous articles on that film.

Now I aint gonna kill you, Wiley. You and I were friends once.

THE HARDER THEY FALL (2021) on Netflix
Idris Elba (speaking, hovering over the fallen man) is the antagonist in this movie with Jonathan Majors as our outlaw hero (a rare hero named "Nat", yay!!!) in this all-star Black western. Love those long shadows. The cinematography here is by the super talented Romanian DP Mihai Malamaire, Jr (The Master, Jojo Rabbit, Youth Without Youth).

Hellooo?

DREAM HORSE (2021) on Hulu
We will always pick up if Toni Collette is on the line. Or, in this case, we'll call her back. Oops. We've been meaning to catch up with this and since it's streaming now we shall. Abe reviewed this at Sundance 2020 (one of hundreds of movies delayed a year due to the pandemic) and, curiously enough, I reviewed the documentary it's based on during Sundance 2015.

[Crowd cheering and "whoa!"-ing]

IN THE HEIGHTS (2021) on HBOMax
My favourite scene ("96,000") within the movie. 2021 has been a year of many wonderful movie-related things but the worst movie related thing of 2021 is how people view this vibrant funny warm and super-cinematic movie musical as a "failure". It's like the opposite of that word outside of the misfortune of opening before people who like musicals were really ready to go back to the theaters.

What?

MONEYBALL (2011) on Netflix
Brad Pitt is Awesome, Episode ∞. We gave him the Gold Medal in the annual Film Bitch Awards that year right here, writing "He uses all of his gifts here, the golden boy sheen, the physical creativity, the ease and confidence to underplay big moments. Just wonderful."  He would later win an Oscar (fraudulently in supporting - though we bronze medalled him again in lead) for doing another impeccable old school star turn in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood which used all of these exact same gifts.

I have another question here. Are you ready?

NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) on Criterion Channel
This is such a juicy jam-packed noir on multiple levels. In this scene, 48 minutes into the picture, Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) has moved up to the next level of his career, scamming rich folk in clubs with the help of his assistant Molly (Coleen Gray) with his blindfolded psychic act. Bradley Cooper and Rooney Mara take over these roles in the Guillermo Del Toro remake opening in December. We discussed the original last summer. The remake is reportedly a full 30 minutes longer so we'll see what they add... Oscar buzz is all over the place depending on who you believe from "not gonna happen at all" to "big contender".

Don't look at me like that. Going back to teaching girls track is not exactly the same as quitting.

WILDCATS (1986) on HBOMax
Remember this Goldie Hawn in a man's world comedy? That trick made for a blockbuster with Private Benjamin but it was diminishing returns when they tried it again as she becomes a football couch. Lots of stars in this one: 30s star Gloria Stuart pre Titanic comeback! Jan Hooks just before she became a Saturday Night Live regular!  90s headliners/co-stars Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in their first credited movie roles! And beloved character actors, too, like Swoosie Kurtz and M Emmet Welsh. 

Gore Vidal was a handsome kid and I was quite taken by his wit as well as his appearance. We found that we had interests in common and we spent a lot of time together. 

TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION (2020) on Criterion Channel
Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams all pictured, left-to-right, in the image above in a sequence about New York City's "game of importance" and self-hype. Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto provide the voices of Truman and Tennessee in this collage drawn from archival interviews. Glenn reviewed the doc earlier this year while it was making the festival rounds.

[no dialogue]

PASSION FISH (1992) on Criterion Channel
It's Alfre Woodard in one of her greatest performances. This superbly acted drama is part of a wonderful grouping they're calling "Between Us Girls: Bonds Between Women" so, in short, an actressexual's feast. The films are Daisies (Czechoslovakia, 1966), Celine and Julie Go Boating (France, 1974), the impeccably titled Agnes Varda film One Sings the Other Doesn't (France, 1977), forgotten Sundance hit Old Enough (US, 1984), Laura Dern breakout Smooth Talk (1985), Jane Campion's debut Two Friends (Australia, 1986), Working Girls (US, 1986), Privilege (US, 1990), Just Another Girl on the IRT (US, 1992), Sofia Coppola's debut The Virgin Suicides (US, 2000), Ghost World (US, 2001), Margot at the Wedding (US, 2007), Frances Ha (US, 2014), Butter on the Latch (US, 2013), Girlhood (France, 2014), Happy Hour (Japan, 2015), Mustang (France, 2015), Fourteen (US, 2019), and The Perfect Candidate (Saudi Arabia, 2019). We only wish they had an included the Oscar nominated Isabelle Huppert picture Entre Nous since its title and subject matter are a perfect match for this collection.

Back the beats, it dont reflect
On how many records get sold
On sex, drugs, and rock and roll
Whether your project gets put on hold ♫

DAVE CHAPPELLE'S BLOCK PARTY (2006) on Netflix
Okay so... is Netflix trying to distract us from the controversies surrounding Chappelle's new comedy special and its attacks on trans people? 2006 was a less combative and more joyful time in Chappelle's career. That was due to this Michel Gondry directed film, less a stand up special, than a concert film, which debuted at festivals in 2005 to critical acclaim before collecting respectable coin at box offices in 2006. The film documents an all-star party Chappelle threw in Brooklyn in 2004. As a concert doc it's a first rate affair with performances by Erykah Badu, The Fugees, Common, Mos Def, Jill Scott and more. The whole thing is shot by the great cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine, Summer of Sam) and edited in part by Sarah Flack who cuts all of Sofia Coppola's films. 

Mrs Roat is dead. She was murdered last night near here...and the police think Sam did it.

WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967) on Shudder
Haven't seen this since I was a kid. If you have seen it recently, does it hold up? 

 

also streaming on Netflix

November 3rd-9th

November 10th-15th

later this month... a ★  sampling

 

 

 

 

COLLECTIONS streaming on Criterion Channel

Individual films also streaming on Criterion Channel

later this month - a ★ sampling

also streaming 

later this month -a ★ sampling

 

also streaming on Prime...

 

later this month - a  ★ sampling

 

later this month - a ★ sampling

currently streaming

 

 

later this month - a ★ sampling

 

 

also streaming

 

 

later this month - a ★ sampling

 

 

also streaming

later this month - a ★ sampling

WHICH WILL YOU BE WATCHING THIS MONTH? WHICH WOULD YOU LOVE TO SEE A POST ON?

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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