Hello, and welcome to the inaugural edition of Thelma and Alice at the Movies! Thank you for signing up and giving it a try sight unseen. If you enjoy these recommendations and find them useful, please pass this newsletter along to friends. If you want even more recommendations, you can check out my favorite movies of 2020, over at Thelma and Alice, where I practice the ancient art of blogging.
Okay. . . here are this month’s picks, movies for every mooooooood. . .
A Weeknight With A Young Jeff Goldblum
Between the Lines (1977)
Streaming on Amazon – free for Prime members
Director Joan Micklin Silver passed away at the end of 2020. I think she’s best known for Crossing Delancey but I was recently charmed by this ensemble comedy about the scrappy staff of a Boston alternative weekly. Do you like early Jeff Goldblum? Is Jess your favorite character in When Harry Met Sally? Do you have a soft spot for Aaron Sorkin’s “Sports Night”? If so, you will love this movie. A solid weeknight watch. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Babylon Berlin Meets Spotlight
Mr. Jones (2020)
Available for rent on Amazon, iTunes, and other VOD platforms
This gripping political thriller came out last summer when we were all too distracted to pay it any mind. It’s based on the true story of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who was the first person to report on the Soviet famine of 1932-1933, also known as the Holodomor. There are some disturbing sequences but the pacing is quick and the film’s nearly two-and-a half hours fly by. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Netflix Hidden Treasure
Wildlife (2018)
Streaming on Netflix
Working with director (and life partner) Paul Dano, actor Zoe Kazan co-wrote the screenplay, giving her friend Carey Mulligan one of her best roles. Based on a Richard Ford novel, it’s about a marriage that isn’t working and the son who observes its unraveling. Simmer with Mulligan as she refuses to succumb to Jake Gyllenhaal’s puppy dog eyes. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
A Depressingly Relevant Criminal Justice Drama
Clemency (2019)
Streaming on Hulu
Clemency looks closely at the bureaucratic processes and day-to-day workplace dynamics behind the administration of the death penalty. Alfre Woodard gives a stunning performance as a prison warden who is burned out by the psychological trauma of her job. It’s not an easy movie to sit with, but the inhumanity of the death penalty has been at the top of my mind as the Trump Administration has been executing as many people as they can in their final weeks in power. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Mystical Vibes
Beyond The Visible: Hilma af Klint (2020)
Available for rent on Amazon, iTunes, and other VOD platforms
Hilma af Klint’s trippy abstract works predate Kandinsky and Mondrian but she never got her due. Why? Watch this documentary and find out -- and bask in her glorious call to higher states of consciousness. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
*****WILD CARD*****
This movie bored me except for the scenes
that are burned into my brain forever.
A must-see for Robert Pattinson superfans.