Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, we have one of the most fun films of 2024 so far hitting shelves in The Fall Guy. In addition to that absolute riot of a movie, one of my favorite 80s flicks in Risky Business is joining the Criterion Collection. So, it’s a solid slate this week. What else is coming out? Read on to see for yourself…
Joey’s Top Pick
The Fall Guy
I had such a blast with The Fall Guy. Ryan Gosling is always a hoot when he gets to be funny, with this being no exception. He and Emily Blunt are having so much fun, which is infectious for the audience. I absolutely loved the film, so it was initially a bummer when it had a soft opening weekend, but I’ve been pleased to see it actually have solid summer box office legs. My rave review here on this site began like so:
Big, bombastic, mainstream entertainment can get a bad rap amongst film critics. After all, we see everything, and a lot of what’s aimed at general audiences can be lacking. When you try to please everyone, often you can end up pleasing none. However, sometimes, a movie can actually achieve its goal and be an utter joy for the masses. The Fall Guy is such a work. Now, is it perhaps surprising that a big screen adaptation of a somewhat forgotten about television show is what’s doing this? Sure. At the same time, consider the talent involved and suddenly it makes a lot more sense. However you slice it, this is so much fun and one of my favorite movies of the year so far.
The Fall Guy is exactly the kind of big budget film that’s actually made for everyone. It’s addicted to the idea of entertaining its audience and having you leave the theater happy. The performances are great, the action is strong, the comedy is even stronger, and the overall good time is infectious. I would have watched this flick for six hours.
Risky Business (Criterion)
From The Criterion Collection: “A sly piece of pop subversion, this irresistible satire of Reagan-era materialism features Tom Cruise in his star-is-born breakthrough as a Chicago suburban prepster whose college-bound life spirals out of control when his parents go out of town for the week and an enterprising call girl (Rebecca De Mornay) invites him to walk on the wild side. While Cruise boogying in his briefs yielded one of the most iconic pop-cultural moments of the 1980s, it is the film’s unexpected mix of tender romance (enhanced by a moody synth score by Tangerine Dream) and sharp-witted capitalist critique that remains fresh and daring.”
Back to Black
Ezra
Halo: Season Two (TV)
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three
The Strangers: Chapter 1
Anselm
From The Criterion Collection: “In Anselm, Wim Wenders creates a hypnotic portrait of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most innovative and important painters and sculptors of our time. Shot in 6K resolution, and presented theatrically and on Blu-ray in 3D, the film presents an immersive cinematic experience of the German artist’s work, which explores the overawing beauty of human existence, landscape, and myth while confronting the horrors of his country’s history and seeking to undo the postwar silence in which both artist and director came of age. Through archival footage, biographical scenes, and direct access to his subject at work amid the massive installation in France where he now lives among his creations, Wenders traces the arc of Kiefer’s career, provoking an engagement with creativity through the senses, the intellect, and the spirit.”
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Farewell My Concubine
From The Criterion Collection: “A breathtakingly intimate romance unfolds against a sweeping backdrop of social upheaval in renowned director Chen Kaige’s sumptuous saga of passion, fate, and the transcendent possibilities of art. Spanning fifty years of twentieth-century Chinese history, Farewell My Concubine follows aspiring actors Cheng Dieyi (a heartbreaking Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) as they emerge from a childhood of brutal training to become Beijing-opera stars, with life mirroring art as Dieyi’s unrequited love for Xiaolou and the country’s changing political tides engulf them in their own personal tragedies of jealousy and betrayal. The first Chinese film to win the Palme d’Or is epic filmmaking of the highest order—visually and emotionally ravishing from frame to exquisite frame.”
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*Risky Business is also joining the Criterion Collection, as seen above*
Stay tuned for more next week…
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