September 29, 2023

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 9/29

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you want a masterpiece

wings of desire

Vincent Georgie: German filmmaker extraordinaire Wim Wenders made not one, but two major new films this year. He’s a treasure worth celebrating by highlighting one of his most popular, touching and visionary films. A piece of trivia: it was remade in 1998 into the Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage film City of Angels.

Synopsis: Wings of Desire is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed.

Available on iTunes and YouTube.

if you love a twisty thriller

house of games

Vincent Georgie: This one is deeply underseen and that’s a shame: it’s a very smart, sharp and labyrinthian thriller. A hidden gem.

Synopsis: After one of her patients threatens suicide, psychiatrist Margaret Ford confronts the source of his anxieties, a downtown bookie named Mike. Once she decides that Mike is not a serious threat, however, she herself becomes interested in his world of high-stakes gambling, and makes use of her skills at reading “tells,” becoming entrenched in his dealings. Things get dangerous, though, when Mike turns out not to be a bookie at all, but a con man.

Available on iTunes and YouTube.

if you love 80s comedies

mannequin

Vincent Georgie: The ridiculous concept, the game cast, the wild hair, the eccentric characters and the Oscar-nominated song “Nothing’s Going To Stop Us Now”. Trust me, go back and enjoy this one.

Synopsis: Jonathan Switcher, an unemployed artist, finds a job as an assistant window dresser for a department store. When Jonathan happens upon a beautiful mannequin he previously designed, she springs to life and introduces herself as Emmy, an Egyptian under an ancient spell. Despite interference from the store’s devious manager, Jonathan and his mannequin fall in love while creating eye-catching window displays to keep the struggling store in business.

DOUBLE FEATURE

1970s jack nicholson

Inarguably, this is a peak, dangerous and fascinating era of Nicholson. Here are two of the very best in a field of many films to choose from.

five easy pieces

Rejecting his cultured upper-class background as a classical pianist, Robert Dupea opts for a blue-collar existence, working in a California oil field and spending time with his waitress girlfriend, Rayette. But when Robert discovers that his father is gravely ill, he wants to reunite with his estranged family in the state of Washington. He and Rayette take a road trip that brings the two paths of his life to an uncomfortable intersection.

Available oniTunes, Amazon Primeand YouTube.

the last detail

When sailor Larry Meadows is sentenced to eight years in a New Hampshire prison, Navy lifers Billy Buddusky and Mule Mulhall are assigned to escort him there from Virginia. Along the way, they warm up to their prisoner, indulging him in small ways such as making excursions to a brothel, and to his mother’s house. As they get closer to their destination, their fondness for Larry makes it harder for them to execute their orders.