Dear friends,
It’s the last week of the month, so there are many noteworthy titles in the “expiring but worth your time” section.
THE TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
I Am Jonas
📺 On Netflix Everywhere; in French 🍅 rating: 100%
This atmospheric 82-minute French drama is set between 1995 and the present time, between a shy and lonely teenage version of the main character, Jonas, and an extroverted, chain-smoking one. The common thread between the two is a night gone wrong at a local gay bar.
I Am Jonas is a detailed portrait of a troubled, self-loathing character, and an exploration of the long-lasting impact of trauma experienced young.
THE TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Doctor Foster
📺 On Netflix almost everywhere; 🍅 rating: 90%
This five-part BBC drama is a seemingly simple story of a woman who suspects her husband of infidelity. But, being crafted by a playwright, Mike Bartlett, the straightforward premise is falsely disarming and is quickly exploited into a much more complicated and dark story.
The lead character, Gemma, is played to jaw-dropping perfection by Broadcasting Press Guild and BAFTA-winning actor Suranne Jones.
Readers’ top picks
The Social Dilemma on Netflix is our readers’ favorite movie. It’s about how social media is disrupting societies, as testified to by people from the industry who helped build the same tools.
River also on Amazon Prime is our readers’ favorite show for the third week in a row. Stellan Skarsgård, aka Skarsgård OG, plays a troubled London police detective.
New titles worth your time
Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown is in a family-geared new Sherlock spinoff called Enola Holmes.
Jon Favreau and Roy Choi’s The Chef Show came back for a second season this week.
Renée Zellweger’s portrayal of singer Judy Garland in the 2019 movie Judy was added to Amazon Prime today.
Great titles that will soon expire
At the end of the month this Wednesday, September 30th, leaving Netflix are: Mud with Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, Frances Ha with Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver, Inside Man, and Donnie Brasco.
An important documentary on The Troubles expires this Sunday, September 27th. Boby Sands: 66 Days is the story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike through the lens of one leader in prison.
Many classics leave Amazon Prime this Tuesday, September 29th: 1984, Hotel Rwanda, Kathy Bates's 1993 drama A Home of Our Own, 1991's The Man in the Moon, Much Ado About Nothing, The Silence Of The Lambs, and The Usual Suspects.
The next day, on the 30th, the expiring list is: Nicole Kidman’s Rabbit Hole (a previous newsletter pick), the great 2013 drama The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, and Ryan Reynolds’s Buried.
The Newsflash: Filmfest Hamburg
We have a famous saying in Morocco that goes “7rk lma yban l3tchan”, or juggle the water, you’ll see who’s thirsty.
The Venice Film Festival was a big juggle of festival excitement for me. So I decided to squeeze in one more physical event, and this Tuesday I’m headed to the Hamburg Film Festival in -plot twist- Hamburg, Germany.
The Venice Film Festival, with its rigid organization, felt really safe. The scariest aspect of going there from a virus perspective was actually the flying. The planes were crowded, people (Italians) didn’t seem to care for distance in lines — it was all too traumatic.
So this time, I’m driving! I can carry way more masks in the car too. And my focus will be on the following films:
Sound of Metal, the new Riz Ahmed movie where he plays a heavy-metal drummer who starts to lose his hearing. Check him out:
Nomadland, the Chloé Zhao and Frances McDormand movie that actually won the Golden Bear at Venice, but which I was unable to catch because I’m bad at planning and got excited about the other films.
Sun Inside, a new documentary about five stories of coming-of-age in modern-day Brazil. Ever since Edge of Democracy (on Netflix), I’ve been obsessed with Brazilian documentaries.
Mayor, an American documentary that follows the mayor of the city of Ramallah for two years, the de facto capital of Palestine.
I’ll report to you next Friday on these movies as well as their planned releases.
That’s it for today, I hope there is something in there for you.
If you can, please support the newsletter by subscribing or giving it as a gift:
The next edition will be in your inbox on Friday, October 2nd.
Until then,
Bilal Zou, founder [bilal@agoodmovietowatch.com]
Carried with the support of the Creative Europe Program – MEDIA.
Your choices for Hamburg FF look awesome, enjoy !