Fall generally brings not only a new slate of movies, and I’ve been so impressed by the selection across the platforms. Here a few of my favorites:
Over on Amazon and iTunes, they’re offering Captain Fantastic, an indie I caught at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in the East Village this past summer. My husband and I literally walked in to the theater and just discovered the film and decided to see it, and it blew us both away. It’s about a man who raises their parents in the woods and is forced to bring them back into society after his wife dies. His parenting skills are a bit out of the usual and viewed as abusive by some, even though the children are not only brilliant but happy. Viggo Mortensen is one of the most under-rated actors of our time and may be your main reason for loving this film, but I promise you won’t regret it.
So many greats but if you haven’t seen Amy, the doc about Amy Whinehouse, watch it on Amazon. From BAFTA award-winning director Asif Kapadia (Senna), it tells the incredible story of six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse – in her own words. Featuring extensive unseen archive footage and previously unheard tracks, this strikingly modern, moving and vital film shines a light on the world we live in, in a way that very few can. I felt very sorry for her at the film’s finish and very much wish she was still here with us to bless us with her voice.
I saw Amelie the year I got married and it has never left my mind. It’s about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Delicatessen”; “The City of Lost Children”) invoked his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of an ingenue, played by Audrey Tetou. The result? Something very special. Watch it on Netflix.
Named for the colors of the French flag, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s visually dazzling, hit art-house trilogy Three Colors concerns the intersecting lives of characters in Paris, Warsaw, and Geneva and have never remained etched in my memory since the first time I saw them: in Blue, a woman rebuilds her life after the death of her famous composer husband; in White, a Polish immigrant hatches a revenge plot on his ex-wife; in Red, a fashion model becomes unlikely friends with a retired judge who harbors a dark secret. These films all came out in the years 1993-1994 and had a quiet power over my soul. Watch them all on Hulu.
Disclosure: I’m a member of Netflix’s Stream Team but all opinions are my own.
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