Armchair Vacation: Five Films To Watch At Home This Weekend [May 9-11]

Every day, more and more films are added to the various streaming services out there, ranging from Netflix to YouTube, and are hitting the airwaves via movie-centric networks like TCM. Therefore, sifting through all of these pictures can be a tedious and often times confounding or difficult ordeal. But, that’s why we’re here. Every week, Joshua brings you five films to put at the top of your queue, add to your playlist, or grab off of VOD to make your weekend a little more eventful. Here is this week’s top five, in this week’s Armchair Vacation.

5. The Selfish Giant (Netflix)

From director Clio Barnard (The Arbor) comes this new, beautifully made new picture that tells the tale of two teens who attempt to make some cash by selling stolen wires to a local parts dealer named Kitten. Things go south when the dealer takes a stronger liking to one of the youngsters, and what follows is a wonderfully lush tale that takes inspiration from everything from Oscar Wilde to Ken Loach. A deft bit of social realism that became an award winning film last year during a run at the 2013 AFI Fest, the film is a gorgeously crafted neo-realist drama that gets two star-making performances out of its lead actors Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas, while also finding Barnard at the very height of her powers. Emotionally powerful and intimately crafted, Barnard is one of today’s most interesting cinematic voices, and this is yet another stunner to come from her ever capable hands. Not to be missed, this film.

4. The Case Of The Grinning Cat (Fandor)

With May marking a new series on the streaming service DocClub.com under the SundanceNOW Doc Club label looking at his career and his legacy, now is as good a time as ever to watch one of legendary filmmaker Chris Marker’s greatest works. Besides a handful of films streaming on that service (including a few making their debut), Fandor has one of this writer’s favorite Marker films, The Case Of The Grinning Cat. The film itself has an entrancing beginning, as at the start of the new century, there became a rush of yellow cats plastered to the sides of buildings in Paris. Inspired by this and an ever changing world socially and politically at the start of a new millennium, Marker ventured out to ask these questions and crafted what may be one of his most entrancing and truly engrossing cinematic essays. Beautifully made and definitively Marker, this is a film that truly needs to be seen to be believed.

3. Blue Ruin (VOD)

Revenge tales come a dime a dozen, but few are ever as raw and deeply troubling as this new stunner from writer/director Jeremy Saulnier. A critical darling, even garnering an award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Blue Ruin is one of the best films of this still very yong year, and tells the tale of a man who returns home only to have his world forever changed when he sets his sights on some sweet, violent revenge. Instead of going according to plan, plans dramatically change and he must not only hunt down the revenge he seeks, but try and keep his family safe and sound. A brutally bleak near-masterpiece, this film is an unforgettable revenge picture in a world where the genre has become a home for camp-filled, turgid pieces of faux-drama. It carries within it entrancing themes and a handful of performances that are sure to launch careers, particularly that of lead Macon Blair, who gives a performance that will likely be forgotten come end of the year discussions, but shouldn’t because it’s just too damn good to get lost amongst the muck. Hopefully this film won’t be forgotten, because I know I never will be able to shake it.

2. Beware Of Mr. Baker (Netflix)

The last handful of years have been a real golden age for non-fiction filmmaking. With films not only changing the way we look at the medium, but the way we look at the world, there also has something to be said for the films that have opened up the idea of what a character study can look and feel like within this type of medium. Cinematically, this documentary from director Jay Bulger is superb. The interviews are intriguing, but it’s the archival footage that one will be talking about after viewing the film. Truly thrilling, the viewer gets the chance to see this legend not only at work, but vicariously finds themselves in the middle of one of the most influential careers in music. There are sequences of Cream performances that are thrilling, and the Fela Kuti set piece may be one of the most engaging bits of music-focused non-fiction filmmaking you’ll ever see. It does meander a tad bit, and it feels slightly over long, but when the biggest issue one has is that one gets to spend too much time partaking in the life of a musical icon, it’s nitpicking.

1. But Film Is My Mistress (Hulu)

From director Stig Bjorkman comes this 2010 film that attempts to paint a portrait of one of the greatest directors of all time by using footage from that very director’s career. Using behind the scenes footage from eight of the director’s productions, starting with Persona and ending with Saraband, this film looks at the persona that was Ingmar Bergman, and is one of the newest additions to Criterion’s ever growing Hulu Plus page. An unforgettable meditation on the creative process of this cinematic giant, a director who has forever changed cinema with his canon, this is a must watch documentary for fans of Bergman’s or for your run of the mill cinephile alike, as there truly aren’t enough of these types of documentaries in today’s film world. With influences on today’s cinema ranging from Woody Allen to Lars von Trier, Bergman is a name that altered the way we look at cinema, and for that this has inherent importance. It also helps that what we have here is a genuinely moving portrait of an artist at work that would be breathtaking if it looked at any director.