Movies |
Late Summer 2023: The Best Films
By
Published: Aug 28, 2023
Category:
Drama
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Head Butler usually takes two holiday weeks a year, one in August, one at Christmas. And here it is, almost September, and I’m still at my desk in the city. Why? I’ve been troubled by the news. I threw myself into my work so I wouldn’t obsess about it, and then I obsessed about it anyway — not the happiest way to spend a summer. (The best analysis of Where We Are and What’s At Stake is the much-praised column by Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s nominally about the failings of journalism, but it quickly goes deeper and darker.) I am now forcing myself to take some days off. If you’re like me, you’re having a hard time reading, so I’m serving up some of my favorite movies, all available on Amazon Prime.
“THEIR FINEST”
“Their Finest” is about British propaganda films during World War II. This is a favorite? Yes, because it’s about the rise of women as creators in a time when most men are gone. And then it’s because of the casting. I’m head over heels for Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy (photo: above). “Have you seen our film?” the acerbic and self-adoring Nighy asks Arterton. “I’m awfully good.” The NY Times agrees: “An unalloyed charmer…. too understandably serious to be called a romp, yet it has a buoyancy that lifts you.” Watch the preview, then the film. Then tell your friends.
MY FAVORITE FILM: “AFTER THE WEDDING””
On a low budget, with no-name actors and a less sensitive script, “After the Wedding” would be right at home on Lifetime. But if you read my review and watch the preview….
“IN A BETTER WORLD”
“In a Better World” won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. All you need to know: The director — Susanne Bier — is also the director of “After the Wedding.” Start with my review.
DENZEL WASHINGTON: “THE EQUALIZER 1 and 2”
As I write in my review, “I’m not a big fan of movie violence, but like many of you I am frustrated by the persistence of evil in the world. I wouldn’t mind seeing bad actors punished. Vicariously, Denzel gets that job done for me.” “Equalizer 3” is out this fall. You’ll enjoy it more if you’ve done your homework.
“DODSWORTH”
On my top 10 list. As I write in my review, here’s a checklist of elements you’d never see in a movie financed by an American studio now: a middle-aged love story, with infidelity on the part of the wife. Oh, and she isn’t a despicable slut. Oh, and her husband keeps trying to make the marriage work. Great script, from a Sinclair Lewis novel, great direction, great acting.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: “THE CONVERSATION”
The Times, which was not blind to the greatness of “The Godfather,” called this “Coppola’s best movie, a landmark film of the seventies and a stunning piece of original American fiction.” My review will send you to a high-tech horror film.
ASQHAR FARHADI: THREE FILMS
Only a handful of directors have won the Best Foreign Film Oscar more than once: Vittorio de Sica and Federico Fellini (four times each), Ingmar Bergman (three times), and René Clément and Akira Kurosawa (twice each). Asghar Farhadi has won two Best Foreign Language Oscars — for “A Separation” (2011) and “The Salesman” (2016). In 2021, he won the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prix for “A Hero.” That he’s able to make films this complex in Iran is almost worthy of another Oscar. Start with my review.
“INTO THE WILD”
Christopher McCandless graduated from college (Emory, ’92), then left civilization to experience life without constraints. His death in Alaska a few months later made him a worthy subject for a book by Jon Krakauer. But his story is even better inspiration for a film, especially when the writer-director is Sean Penn. My review, preview, and streaming link await.
“BEATRIZ AT DINNER”
This movie couldn’t be more relevant. With Salma Hayek and John Lithgow. Start here.
