This month’s recommendations for subscription service sleepers include a trio of incisive coming-of-age indie dramas, a pair of stylish yet thoughtful action flicks, documentaries for music fans and even more.
‘John of the Joneses’ (2016)
Stream it on Amazon and Hulu.
Taylour Paige – so electrifying as the title character of last year’s ‘Zola’ – shines brightly in a very different kind of role, in this wonderful comedy-drama from writer and director Stella Meghie. Paige stars as Jean, a bohemian novelist from Brooklyn whose career, love life, and family seem to implode simultaneously. Sherri Shepherd, Gloria Reuben, Michelle Hurst and Erica Ash co-star as the women of the Jones family, and their dialogue crackles with the text and subtext of these lifelong relationships, complete with running jokes, insults passive feelings and hidden resentments in abundance. It’s sparkling, funny, and executed with ease, and Paige is a formidable, charismatic, and likable presence even when she’s messing around.
This Sundance sensation is a heartbreaking story of heartbreak, pain, regret and struggle. Director and co-writer Jordana Spiro tells the story of Angel (Dominique Fishback, of ‘The Deuce’ and ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’), released from prison on the eve of her 18th birthday and torn between her life together and ending the crime that brought her there. Spiro takes a pragmatic approach, digging into the workings of the probation process and the various ways the game is already stacked against its protagonist; Fishback takes a similar approach, eschewing flashy moments for lived-in authenticity. It’s an unforgettable performance in a quietly powerful film.
“A Teenage Girl’s Diary” (2015)
Stream it on HBO Max.
Bel Powley is a revelation as Minnie Goetze, the tough protagonist in Marielle Heller’s adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner’s tricky novel. Minnie is 15, under the care of a boozy, disengaged single mom (Kristen Wiig, playing wonderfully against type) and a pack of explosive hormones – which catches the eye of mom’s sleazy boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgard). What could have been an exploitative leer party or crummy melodrama is played as neither; Heller respects his protagonist, his mistakes and all, and makes his journey both self-discovery and self-flagellation.
The title conjures up the kind of frosty, snowy days we live in, but Hossein Amini’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel offers an escape: sunny Athens holiday skies and beautiful people in crisp clothes and memorable hats. And the story isn’t bad either, a juicy tale of intrigue and betrayal that finds an affluent married couple (Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst) in touch with a fellow American (Oscar Isaac), first as than tour guide, so maybe more. The stars shine, the landscape sparkles, and the atmosphere is thick enough to slice through.
‘Eye in the Sky’ (2016)
Stream it on Netflix.
The perils and dilemmas of drone warfare have been pondered by documentary makers and op-ed writers, but this chilling, tightly constructed thriller from director Gavin Hood (“Rendition”) sifts through those questions at through the usually jingoist lens of the military thriller, with startling results. Aaron Paul stars as a drone pilot working in concert, then in conflict, with the icy Colonel who is in command; it is played, with fierce precision, by Helen Mirren. Alan Rickman co-starred, in one of his last on-screen roles, as his superior.
‘Outrage: Way of the Yakuza’ (2011)
Post it on Amazon.
Writer, director and actor Takeshi Kitano delves once again into the pulpy world of Japanese gangsters, detailing a pair of misaligned crime families and the ins and outs of their various criminal enterprises. The expected double crosses, bloody betrayals and all-out war ensue, but Kitano’s screenplay wittily identifies the conflict’s origins in grievances, slights and grudges; they may be aging men of gravity and power, but they are all petty, insecure teenagers. Kitano has been making detective films for so long that he does it with a wink – he uses our expectations to either serve his story or subvert it, both to great effect. The violence is inventive; the dialogue slyly funny. And Kitano’s direction is as elegant as ever.
Five movies to watch this winter
‘Buried’ (2010)
Stream it on HBO Max.
Before traveling the world in expensive Netflix films with The Rock and Wonder Woman, Ryan Reynolds made action films on a much smaller scale – in fact, this ingenious thriller from director Rodrigo Cortés is about as small as it gets. . It begins with Reynolds waking up to find he is buried alive in a wooden coffin, with only a cellphone and minimal supplies, and must find a way to escape before his oxygen runs out. Few actors can hold an entire movie as their only on-screen character; Reynolds makes his desperation and fear palpable and haunting.
‘Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives’ (2017)
Stream it on Netflix.
A musical executive whose unerring ear for stars and hits has rarely let him down for half a century, Clive Davis has helped lift everyone from Aretha Franklin to Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston. Chris Perkel’s celebratory documentary is a decidedly practical affair; Davis tells much of his own story, and rarely in less than glowing terms. But what the film lacks in self-reflection, it makes up for in sheer entertainment value. Davis is a wonderful storyteller, spinning his thread like he’s just happy to be there, and the music is, unsurprisingly, top notch.
“Footlight” (2011)
Post it on Amazon.
Filmmaker Billy Corben (best known for his ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ documentary series) directs this portrait of Peter Gatien, the colorful New York nightclub impresario behind iconic 80s and 90s venues such as Limelight , Palladium, and the Tunnel—places where recreation, drugs, and casual sex were as ubiquitous as blaring dance music. Corben molds his cinema to the story he tells, instinctively tuning into the furious energy and fast pace of the times.