Melvin and Howard (1980)

  This did not win Best Picture at the Oscars, in case you can't read that tiny print.  It won with the National Society of Film Critics.  Content Warning:  domestic violence

Melvin (Paul Le Mat) is an average guy with maybe more optimism than brains.  The kind of guy who would help an old man (Jason Robards) out in the desert get to Vegas, but also the kind that can't stop himself from spending every dime he has on a boat when his wife (Mary Steenburgen) wins on a game show.  Years later, Melvin sees that the old man he helped was actually Howard Hughes and a mysterious stranger (Charles Napier) leaves him a Last Will & Testament handwritten by Hughes bequeathing Melvin $156 million.  

This is based on a true story.  A handwritten will purportedly by Howard Hughes showed up at the Church of Latter-Day Saints temple in Salt Lake City, Utah, naming Melvin Dummar a beneficiary.  It was eventually ruled a forgery.

This was directed by Jonathan Demme and won Steenburgen a rightly deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.  It's not a bad film, although it really does highlight how ubiquitous domestic violence was in society.  Break out your VPN if you want to watch it, though, because it is not streaming anywhere.

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

  Yeesh.  Content warning:  physical abuse, emotional abuse, child endangerment

A housewife (Gena Rowlands) slowly goes mad from neglect and boredom while her idiot husband (Peter Falk) flails ineffectually.

Shocking no one, I hated this movie.  It's long, boring, and interspersed with domestic violence that has aged like milk.  Somehow, it's considered a classic.  

Rowlands is very good but it almost feels like a wasted performance because I will never watch this movie again.  As always, your mileage may vary.  It's available on the Criterion Channel.

Sinners (2025)

  I was worried this wasn't going to live up to the hype but it definitely does.  Content warning:  violence, some gore

Sammie (Miles Caton), a young blues player, gets his big break playing the opening night at his cousins' new juke joint.  Smoke (Michael B. Jordon) and Stack (Michael B. Jordon) made some money in Chicago before returning to their Mississippi hometown and are looking to build up (and profit off) the Black community.  Sammie has a gift but gifts draw attention and that attention comes in the form of Remmick (Jack O'Connell).

No one spoiled this twist for me and I encourage all of you to go in as blind as you can but I can't not talk about it.  **SPOILERS FOLLOW**  Vampires.  Irish folk-playing, step-dancing vampires.  I hath screamed the loudest screm that has ever been scrummed.  Ryan Coogler said From Dusk Til Dawn can eat his entire ass and he was correct and right to do so.  Whew.  **END SPOILERS**

Everyone in this is phenomenal.  It was a bloody, fun ride all the way through.  The soundtrack is also great.  I immediately bought both it and the movie.  This is going to be one I re-watch a bunch of times. Just solid, incredible work.

Sully (2015)

  This would have been a great Father's Day post.  Oh well.

In the days after a forced water landing on the Hudson River, airplane pilot Captain Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) must defend himself in an inquiry by the NTSB to determine what, if anything, could have been done better.  

My brother recommended this to me a long time ago.  It's a little hagiographic for my taste but this is a solid Dad-movie directed (of course) by Clint Eastwood.  Tom Hanks has the appropriate amount of gravitas, Aaron Eckhart radiates charm, and it's stuffed to the gills with character actors whom you'll recognize even if you have no idea what their names are.  If you're looking for a nice quiet movie to put on so your dad can nod off while he swears he's just resting his eyes, look no further.  It's engaging but not so much so that you'll be irritated if someone texts you while you're watching.  

Currently streaming on HBO Max.

Captain America: Brave New World (2024)

  Finally got around to seeing this.  

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is still having trouble settling into his role as the new Captain America.  He wants to be independent of the political machine of new President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) but knows he can't operate in a vacuum.  Matters come to a head when Wilson's mentor, Isiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), attempts to assassinate Ross at a White House function.  Wilson believes Bradley was somehow brainwashed and begins looking for the culprit, while Ross is under immense pressure from the Japanese who accuse him of manufacturing this attack as a false flag so America can get out of an agreement to share a newly discovered resource, adamantium.  

This was a filler movie.  No question.  It exists to set up the Fantastic Four and by extension, the X-Men for future movies.  I get it.  This brings back the 2008 Incredible Hulk characters, minus you know, the famous ones, furthers the Celestial plotline from Eternals which most people have forgotten about, and introduces the new Falcon (Danny Ramirez) and a new Widow (Shira Haas).  To use a sports metaphor, these are team-building years.  The MCU lost its major players and is trying to pull new talent and build the fanbase back up.  From what I've seen of sports enthusiasts, no one likes this.  But it is necessary.  People age out.  People get tired of playing the same role.  Hell, several major players actually died.  There is no such thing as an unchanging ever-winning team.  

So I'm willing to extend a little grace here.  Is this a good Captain America movie?  No.  But I hope it's building up to one.  (Oh no, does that mean I'm a Mets fan?)

Wrath of Man (2021)

  Man, Guy Ritchie really hates women.  Content warning:  violence

A gangster (Jason Statham) goes undercover at a private armored car company to discover the inside man who killed his innocent bystander son (Eli Brown) in a shootout.

It's not a mystery.  Get real.  It's a Guy Ritchie Jason Statham movie.  It barely has a plot.  It's one violent set-piece after another, interspersed with whatever bro-speak Ritchie thinks is cool now.  And normally, that would be enough for a good time but for whatever reason, this somehow lacks the alchemy of fun.   It takes itself way too seriously for a movie with a Post Malone cameo.

The only good thing about this movie is the tailoring.  Shout-out to the costume department.

It's streaming on Tubi for free and it's still overpriced.

Rififi (1955)

 A group of low-level criminals hatch a plan to rob a jewelry store but are betrayed by their human impulses.  This is kind of an anti-Ocean's movie.  Content warning:  violence, child endangerment

Tony (Jean Servais) has just gotten out of prison and needs quick cash.  His friend, Jo (Carl Möhner) knows a couple of guys with a score in mind.  They take a few days to recon and plan the heist but Tony is distracted by trying to find Mado (Marie Sabouret), the woman who left him while he was in prison, discovering that she's now the moll of a low-level gangster named Pierre Grutter (Marcel Lupovici).  

This is a black-and-white French crime noir and I feel like you probably already know if that's your jam or not.  Personally, I thought it was very good.  The heist is immaculate and I dearly love seeing people do something well.  It's awesome that a 70-year-old movie can still be this riveting.  The second half suffers a little in comparison but I was still on board.

Unfortunately, it's not streaming right now but keep an eye on Criterion and Kanopy.  If it does show back up, it'll probably be there.