Any week would be a letdown after the insane vat of riches that was last week (and that’s just talking about a certain film), especially when the following week is the typical “start of the month” dumping ground. But hey, we’ve got some good stuff this week too. The biggest one is Rogue One, which I have not seen, and probably the worst one is Office Christmas Party, which I have also not seen, but the best one is Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, which I have seen. Anchored by a terrifically quiet lead performance by Adam Driver and some ever-patient, observational direction from Jarmusch, it’s a lovely little ode to viewing the world creatively. And it has a great dog performance. That’s it for new titles, and there’s not much more for catalog titles. The best of the bunch is Sam Peckinpah’s classic Ride the High Country, and obviously I have to recommend UK/European consumers who haven’t picked up Arrow Academy’s third Woody Allen set to buy Arrow’s last three separate releases from it, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Alice, and Shadows and Fog but I’d like to stick up for another title, Gus Van Sant’s Finding Forrester. It’s not a great movie, it kind of obviously shows Van Sant trying to rip off Good Will Hunting, it has an entirely unnecessary antagonist, and it does in fact have the line “You’re the man now, dawg!”, but it’s a low-key charming movie with some gorgeous cinematography courtesy of the late, great Harris Savides. And hey, that’s about creativity as well! If only Barry Shabaka Henley had worked up the courage to tell Adam Driver in Paterson to punch the keys, for god’s sake.
Alice (Arrow Academy, UK-only, Region B)
Behind the Door (Flicker Alley)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (Arrow Academy, UK-only, Region B)
Finding Forrester (Sony Choice Collection)
Little Nikita (Mill Creek)
Office Christmas Party (Paramount)
Paterson (Universal)
Punchline (Mill Creek)
Ride the High Country (Warner Archive Collection)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Disney)
Shadows and Fog (Arrow Academy, UK-only, Region B)
Why We Fight (Sony Choice Collection)