Peacock Suggestions

There are plenty of great Hollywood movie musicals from the 1950s that are still held in high regard today. Guys and Dolls is one such musical, though perhaps it hasn’t gotten the iconic status that other MGM musicals garnered due to its uneven casting. Nevertheless, the film version of the popular stage musical adapts it well, adding incredible synchronization, excellent choreography, and a charismatic cast (as well as their behind-the-scenes drama) to a familiar, but well-made plotline of guys challenged to keep their word, whether that be in terms of gambling or of love. Guys and Dolls might not have the iconic status due to certain song performances, but it nonetheless still remains a classic for a reason– it’s just a good film.

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Romance

Actor: Al Thompson, Bernard Sell, Bess Flowers, Brick Sullivan, Charles Fogel, Charles Morton, Danny Dayton, Donald Kerr, Earle Hodgins, Frank Richards, Frank Sinatra, Franklyn Farnum, George E. Stone, Harold Miller, Harry Tyler, Harry Wilson, Jack Chefe, Jack Perry, Jean Simmons, Jeffrey Sayre, Jerry Orbach, Joe Gray, Joe Ploski, John Indrisano, John Roy, Johnny Silver, Julian Rivero, Kathryn Givney, Kay E. Kuter, Larri Thomas, Larry Duran, Lynette Bernay, Marlon Brando, Matt Mattox, Noble 'Kid' Chissell, Norman Stevans, Regis Toomey, Robert Keith, Rudy Germane, Russell Custer, Sam Harris, Sandra Warner, Sayre Dearing, Sheldon Leonard, Steve Carruthers, Stuart Hall, Stubby Kaye, Thomas Martin, Veda Ann Borg, Vivian Blaine

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Rating: NR

One’s home country should be the place where a citizen has their rights, but that’s not the case in Charlie's Country. At times, the film seems like a simple, straightforward depiction of an Aboriginal man living in a Westernized society, but David Gulpilil, who stars and who co-wrote the script, subtly infuses his community’s rage towards a system seemingly made for them to fail. While the pacing might be frustrating for some viewers, it’s quite a palpable way to recreate the community’s frustration as they bump against the arbitrary restrictions placed on them, but it also emphasizes how necessary art has become as one of the few ways to preserve their culture. It’s because of this that Charlie’s Country is unforgettable.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Bojana Novaković, Damon Gameau, Dan Wyllie, David Gulpilil, Gary Sweet, Jennifer Budukpuduk Gaykamangu, John Brumpton, Luke Ford, Peter Djigirr, Peter Minygululu, Ritchie Singer

Director: Rolf de Heer

The choice between practicality and passion is the subject of many a drama, but A Thousand Times Good Night depicts that passion stemming from a different place. Rather than pure expression, or creativity, director Erik Poppe depicts the passion of his former profession of photojournalism stemming from social importance– not just status, but in possibly changing the course of history. The semi-autobiographical story clearly has an understanding of the craft, and with her moving performance, Juliette Binoche proves to be an effective proxy, as her character takes risks her family find it hard to tolerate, and as continually choosing those risks, also entails influencing your family to make that same sacrifice. Some viewers might not agree with these choices, but nevertheless A Thousand Times Good Night is a palpable character study of someone whose career is personally interlinked with their advocacy, their identity, and their philosophy of what the world should prioritize.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Adrianna Cramer Curtis, Cathy Belton, Chloë Annett, Denise McCormack, Eve Macklin, Jonathan Byrne, Juliette Binoche, Larry Mullen Jr., Lauryn Canny, Mads Ousdal, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Coonan

Director: Erik Poppe

Rating: NR

Coming of age films are a staple in cinema, but rare is a great depiction of growing up on the internet, chatting with friends, and learning about the world through just a small screen. Dìdi is one of those rare films that remembers that pivotal era, which is why it’s often likened to Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, but Sean Wang depicts a more angsty than anxious Asian American kid with a mother and a grandmother less able to relate to the wider Western town they live in, and with nothing he wants to do but to skate, shoot skating, and try to fit in with people he thinks are cool. It’s both funny and self-critical, as if Wang was looking back to remember the times he screwed up, but it’s also just comforting to watch him own up to who he really is, even if it doesn’t garner the exact response he’s been hoping for. It’s also precisely why Dìdi found its audience.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Cameron Foxly, Chang Li Hua, Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Joziah Lagonoy, Macaela Parker, Shirley Chen, Spike Jonze, Stephanie Hsu

Director: Sean Wang

Rating: R

Danish writer-director Lars von Trier concludes his so-called Depression trilogy with the two parts of Nymphomaniac, an elaborate retelling of the life of a young woman (played by Stacy Martin and then, by Charlotte Gainsbourg) lived from one libidinous pleasure to another. The film's elaborate subplots have a life of their own and flashbacks often take center stage in Joe's auto-narration. Nymphomaniac I introduces the audience to adolescence and early adulthood, through disappointments, adultery, death drive, and extreme ambivalence. Joe's process of self-actualization seems contested and inspiring at the same time, and Gainsbourg is really given the screen time to shine; even more so than in Trier's previous psycho-social drama, Antichrist. Typically for the rich treasury of cultural references, Bach, Edgar Allan Poe, and Fibonacci play crucial parts in reconstructing the symbolic planes in Joe's story. Oh, and Part One opens with Rammstein's "Führe mich", which in itself is an perfectly valid reason to give it a go.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Ananya Berg, Anders Hove, Andreas Grötzinger, Charlie Hawkins, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christian Slater, Christoph Jöde, Christoph Schechinger, Clayton Nemrow, Connie Nielsen, Cyron Melville, David Halina, George Dawson, Hugo Speer, James Northcote, Jamie Bell, Jeff Burrell, Jens Albinus, Jesper Christensen, Jesse Inman, Johannes Kienast, Jonas Baeck, Maja Arsovic, Markus Tomczyk, Mia Goth, Michael Pas, Nicolas Bro, Peter Gilbert Cotton, Saskia Reeves, Shia LaBeouf, Simon Böer, Sofie Kasten, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Stacy Martin, Stellan Skarsgård, Tomas Spencer, Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe

Director: Lars von Trier

Rating: Not Rated, NR

Admittedly, The Man from Nowhere can feel a bit derivative. A quiet and mysterious stranger befriending a child, and ending up enacting his revenge when the child gets kidnapped… It feels like writer-director Lee Jeong-beom took two certain film plots and stitched it together into one. But where the film lacks in original story, The Man from Nowhere makes up for it with style, with high-contrast, rainy, moody scenes that linger into the mystery to make the few brutal, excellently choreographed action sequences pop. It has familiar tropes, and the backstory becomes a bit predictable because of it, but The Man from Nowhere keeps a steady pulse on the beating heart of the film– the friendship that makes these familiar tropes hold heavier emotional weight.

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

Actor: Bin Won, Hong So-hee, Hwang Min-Ho, Jang Jun-nyeong, Jeong Do-won, Jeong Min-sung, Jo Jae-yun, Jung Kyung-ho, Kim Chul-moo, Kim Do-hyeong, Kim Hee-won, Kim Hyo-seo, Kim Ji-min, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Sung-oh, Kim Tae-hun, Kim Young-ah, Kwak Do-won, Lee Do-gyeom, Lee Ha-eun, Lee Jae-won, Lee Jong-pil, Nam Kyung-eup, Ryu Ui-hyun, Seo Ji-young, Song Gyeong-cheol, Song Young-chang, Tae-hoon Kim, Thanayong Wongtrakul, Wi Ji-Woong, Won Bin, Wonjin, Yoo Yeon-mi

Director: Jeong-beom Lee, Lee Jeong-beom

Rating: R

When thinking about buying something, it’s easy to only think about price and quality, but with many investigations around the world about inhumane labor practices, it’s no wonder that more people would like to look at the companies they’re buying from, or at least buy secondhand when possible. One such investigation is depicted in Letter from Masanjia. While it starts first at the discovery of the letter in Oregon, the true story continues on the other side of the world, through the difficult experiences Sun Yi and his fellow detainees were forced to go through when the Falun Gong movement grew greater in number than the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a harrowing tale, with certain sequences being animated due to a natural lack of footage, and it’s one that needed to be made.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Fu Ning, Julie Keith, Sun Yi

Director: Leon Lee

While cable television didn’t have the same prestige as movies for decades, nevertheless the format garnered some influence, even then, with generations of viewers and filmmakers growing up in the medium. Dark Shadows is one such influential television show, and its journey from middling soap opera to groundbreaking drama is depicted in Master of Dark Shadows. Viewers totally unfamiliar with the 60s-70s program might only appreciate the film for its slice of media history, as the documentary takes a rather ordinary, interview-focused approach, but Master of Dark Shadows is clearly a tribute to Dan Curtis, the man behind the midday monsters, and the legions of fans it inadvertently garnered.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Alan Ball, Barbara Steele, Ben Cross, David Bushman, David Selby, Ian McShane, John Karlen, Joseph Caldwell, Lara Parker, Michael Brockman, Nancy Barrett, Roger Davis

Director: David Gregory

Sure, it takes a special type of crazy to try to make it in the movies, especially if you’ve been at it for ten years without any sort of premiere, but the strangely persistent four-man production of Why Don’t You Play in Hell? takes this to even crazier heights, involving a yakuza gang war and potentially their lives. Writer-director Sion Sono infuses his signature gore with much more playful comedy, slinging together chaotic action scenes through the pure power of cool, and the entire roster’s enthusiasm for cinema is just so infectious, it’s compelling to watch, even when the plotlines don’t fully mesh well. Why Don't You Play in Hell? is such a fun tribute to gritty action filmmaking.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama

Actor: Akaji Maro, Akihiro Kitamura, Akira Yamamoto, Daisuke Kuroda, Denden, Donpei Tsuchihira, Fumi Nikaido, Gen Hoshino, Hakase Suidobashi, Hideo Nakaizumi, Hiroki Hasegawa, Hiroyuki Onoue, Itsuji Itao, Jun Kunimura, Jyonmyon Pe, Kazuki Namioka, Kenjirou Ishimaru, Kyōko Enami, Megumi Kagurazaka, Mickey Curtis, Motoki Fukami, Nanoka Hara, Ōmiya Ichi, Riko Narumi, Shimako Iwai, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Tak Sakaguchi, Taro Suwa, Tasuku Nagaoka, Tetsu Watanabe, Tomochika, Tsugumi

Director: Sion Sono

Rating: NR

While Hollywood still makes some films in this genre, there are less historical epics being released, in part due to cost, but also in part due to having had so many, ever since the start of the medium. However, there are some historical events that we rarely see on film, and one of them is The Great Battle. Set before the formation of a united Korea, the film is a classic standoff against a larger army, that has all the swordfighting and armies we’ve come to expect, but it’s also grounded by the dynamic between a young warrior sent to assassinate, and the hardened, brilliant commander whose leadership kept the troops protected. While there are moments that definitely eludes historical accuracy, and there are some subplots that distract from the main conflict, The Great Battle is a fairly entertaining historical epic to watch, especially when focused on the action-packed clashes and the spectacular warfare.

Genre: Action, History, War

Actor: Bae Seong-woo, Bae Sung-woo, Cha Eun-woo, Eom Tae-goo, In-sung Jo, Jang Gwang, Jeong In-kyeom, Jo Hyun-wu, Joo-Hyuk Nam, Ju Seok-tae, Jung Eun-chae, Jung Ji-hoon, Kim Seol-hyun, Nam Joo-hyuk, Oh Dae-hwan, Oh Dae-whan, Park Byung-eun, Park Sung-woong, Seol-Hyun Kim, Seolhyun, Shin Yoo-ram, Stephanie Lee, Sung Dong-il, Sung-woong Park, Um Tae-goo, Yeo Hoi-hyeon, Yu Oh-seong, Zo In-sung

Director: Kim Kwang-shik, Kim Kwang-sik, Kwang-shik Kim

Rating: Not Rated, R

When Toni Morrison taught at Princeton, she told her students, “Don’t write about your little life. Create something.” This documentary follows her instruction by being more than a simple biography. Apart from telling the story of her rich, fully-lived life, The Pieces I Am doubles as an artful and educational history lesson about the unique African-American experience. It’s dotted with beautiful artworks and insightful anecdotes shared by Morrison’s colleagues from the various schools and publishing houses she worked at. But most important of all, Morrison gets to narrate the film in her own beautiful, poetic words and, in the process, reveals different facets of herself. There’s Morrison the teacher, editor, writer, and mother, but also: the delightful baker, the supportive friend, the party enjoyer, the critical philosopher. The Pieces I Am is a great collection of many things, a moving collage that pieces together the most interesting parts about the beloved writer in question.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Angela Davis, Barack Obama, Bill Moyers, Dick Cavett, Fran Lebowitz, Hilton Als, Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, Peter Sellars, Robert Gottlieb, Russell Banks, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley

Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Rating: PG-13

There are moments in cinema when the character and actor are irrevocably linked– to think of one is to think of the other, to the point that the line is blurred between both. One such pair is Spock and Leonard Nimoy, and, after his death, it was inevitable that the documentary about Nimoy would also be a documentary about Spock. For the Love of Spock is the first of two Nimoy documentaries, made by his son Adam, and it’s a lovely tribute to the iconic sci-fi legend that shifted the entire genre and the fan culture that emerged, but it was also a personal film where the family reckons with the fame that occurred as a result. Superfans might not learn that much about Spock (some of them are interviewed in the film), but For the Love of Spock is an excellent profile, even if it’s not as objective and logical as the character itself.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Adam Nimoy, Avery Brooks, Barry Newman, Bill Prady, Bobak Ferdowsi, Brooke Adams, Catherine Hicks, Chris Pine, Christopher Lloyd, D.C. Fontana, Diana Ewing, Donald Sutherland, George Takei, J.J. Abrams, James Arness, James Doohan, James Duff, Jason Alexander, Jeanne Bal, Jeffrey Hunter, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jill Ireland, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Karl Urban, Leonard Nimoy, Liam Neeson, Majel Barrett, Mayim Bialik, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nichelle Nichols, Nicholas Meyer, Peter Duryea, Simon Pegg, Ted Danson, Terry Farrell, Tom Selleck, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, William Windom, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana

Director: Adam Nimoy