I am here to help with some suggestions - including four recent films from my current favorite French actress, plus a first-tier film streaming on Netflix and the three biggest box office hits of the year that are now available to rent at reasonable prices (finally).
The top three movies of the year with movie theater audiences were, in order, Greta Gerwig’s
Barbie – with a stunning YTD gross of $1.44 Billion;
The Super Mario Brothers Movie - surprisingly (to me, at least) not far behind with a gross of $1.35 Billion and Christopher Nolan’s
Oppenheimer – which has a grossed $951 million, a staggering sum for a serious bio-pic. While
Barbie and
Oppenheimer have been available to watch at home for more than a month now, until very recently you’d have to pay the premium fee of $19.99 for the privilege. Now however, each is renting for only $5 or $6 on many streaming services, like AppleTV, Amazon and Vudu, among others. These two movies couldn’t be more different, but both are terrific and highly recommended.
The Super Mario Brothers Movie, on the other hand, is now available on Netflix! So, free to subscribers. It is also available to rent on many other streaming platforms for around six bucks. I haven’t seen that one myself, and probably won’t, so I can’t comment on its merits.
[For those pre-disposed to disapprove or avoid
Barbie, I’ll just remind you that it was directed by the estimable Greta Gerwig - whose previous directorial efforts were
Lady Bird (2017) and
Little Women (2019), for which she also wrote the screenplays.
Barbie was co-written by Gerwig too, along with her partner Noah Baumbach – who also co-wrote
Francis Ha and
Mistress America with her, and wrote/directed several other notable movies like
The Squid and the Whale (2005) and
Marriage Story (2019). These are remarkably intelligent and creative people, and so is their movie.]
Also streaming now on Netflix is the excellent
Maestro, written, directed and starring Bradley Cooper. I recommend it highly. So as not to take up undue space here (as there are still more movies to discuss, I have just posted my review of Maestro separately, and you can access that right
HERE.
Okay, that leaves us with my current favorite French actress, Laure Calamy. Who is she?
Those of you who’ve watched the intoxicating French tv series
Call My Agent (or
Dix Pour Cent) will fondly recall her character: Noémie, the secretary with a crush on managing partner Mathias. [If you have not seen this series, I highly recommend it – and all 4 seasons are on Netflix.] That role propelled Calamy into the cinematic big time, at least in France, where she’s having quite a moment. Calamy is a great and versatile actress. Let me suggest four of her recent films as an introduction – all available for streaming.
My Donkey, My Lover and I (2019, USA release – 2022). I included this film in my list of best films in 2021 (when I first saw it at a film festival), and Larry Lee included it in his top 10 movies of 2022. Here’s what Larry said: “
This is a movie so funny, so touching, so beautiful, and so French, you will bemoan the current COVID restrictions on international travel, as you will want to go directly to the Cévennes, a large wooded region in south-central France, to hike, drink wine and take in the beautiful scenery. And maybe, just maybe, you'll run into Antoinette LaPouge, an effervescent 4th grade teacher played by Laure Calamy, and your life will never be the same. … Don't let the title put you off. This is a charming movie with loads of wonderful performances and unpredictable turns. Calamy won the César [French academy award] for best actress.”
Available free with a subscription to Kanopy and to rent on AppleTV, Amazon and other platforms.
Full Time (2021). In
Call My Agent, Calamy played a naïve, somewhat foolish office staffer, and in
My Donkey, My Lover and I she was an adorable, love-struck, if somewhat foolish school teacher. But her role in Full Time involves a significant change of character. In this drama, she plays Julie Roy, struggling to keep her head above water as a single mom raising two young kids and working a demanding full-time menial job well below her capabilities, all while coping with a Parisian transit strike that makes her commute all but impossible and an elderly child care provider who is threatening to quit on her. As Julie must deal with one seemingly insurmountable challenge after another, her story begins to feel like a nail-biting thriller. It’s a quite marvelous film, and Calamy, never offscreen, is simply amazing.
Available free for Amazon Prime subscribers and rentable for Amazon non-subscribers, and on AppleTV and other streaming platforms.
Two Tickets to Greece (2022) This is an enjoyable, mostly fluffy movie, but not a particularly great one; it’s just OK. But it does feature another personality change for Calamy and another terrific performance. The story concerns two ladies who had been good friends in middle-school before stuff happened and a move separated them. Crossing paths years later, circumstances conspire to send them off on a Greek vacation together – maybe they can rekindle that old chemistry? Problem is that they’ve got opposite personalities. Calamy plays Magalie, an exuberantly bubbly free spirit, a firecracker who lives for fun. Her old friend is Blandine, predisposed to lead a dull and lonely life. Not a particularly original plotline, but very much enlivened by Calamy. Also starring Kristin Scott Thomas in a surprising character turn.
Available to rent on Amazon, AppleTV and elsewhere.
The Origin of Evil (2022). Great title, huh? This movie is a compelling drama/psychological thriller, featuring a complex, fascinating lead performance by Laure Calame. as a very different type of character than any of the foregoing films. The one-liner summary goes like this: A woman on the verge of financial collapse attempts to reconnect with her wealthy, estranged father and his new family. It becomes a bit more complicated than that, but I don’t want to give any spoilers. I’ll just say there’s more than a bit of intrigue here. The rest of the cast is superb as well, as is the story.
Available to rent on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and elsewhere
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