Gareth’s Picks

Marjoe (1972)

Best Documentary Winner at the Oscars, this film tells the story of Marjoe Gortner, who was a child evangelical preacher (and needless to say a fraud) who later on confessed all of the duplicity in his family business and went on to become an actor in B movies like Starcrash and Food of the Gods.  Absolutely fascinating. Directed by Sarah Kenorchan who went on to write my other recommended film Learning to Drive.

Available on TUBI

Learning to Drive (2014)

film written by Sarah Kenorchan but directed by noted Spanish director Isabel Coixet.  It stars the always brilliant Patricia Clarkson as a woman who has just separated from her husband and starts to take driving lessons from a Sikh instructor played by Ben Kingsley.  There is some beautiful interplay between these two masterful actors.  More depth that you would expect from the preview.

Available on FreeVee

Craig’s Picks

Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros (2023)

For his 44th documentary, Frederick Wiseman journeys to the French countryside to examine the workings of a family-owned, Michelin-starred restaurant. It’s 4 hours long. Yes…4 hours. It’s worth it. Oh come on, don’t tell me you didn’t watch 4 hours of The Office in one sitting last week. You can watch a 4 hour documentary.

PBS

The Rider (2017)

Just read Marvel Studios canceled The Eternals 2 which is disappointing if not expected. It is a weird, slow super hero movie directed by Chloe Zhou. I mean, I loved it, but yeah. Her pseudo-documentary style didn’t work with spaceships and giant robots as much as I wanted it to. It does work with The Rider, about a Lakota-Sioux bill rider looking for purpose after a terrible bull rider accident. It’s beautifully shot on location in the Badlands. 

Available to stream on all the rental platforms