The Invasion
It’s Fourth of July time, so that works with the ongoing tumult of society in a revolutionary space. Our legislators continue to betray us. And trust is in very short supply. I miss pools and cookouts and Black Cherry White Claw-lubricated gossip. And until the movies can truly safely reopen, streaming remains the way of disseminating culture and keeping connected with those we love. So here are some epic bits of entertainment to keep the pleasure center occupied during this ongoing PCP-spiked carnival ride that is 2020. As always, look back at past issues of the Scene for more recommendations of what to stream: March 26, April 2, April 9, April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7, May 14, May 21, May 28, June 4, June 11, June 18, June 25.
The Invasion on DirecTV
If it were just the fourth iteration of Jack Finney’s deathless allegory The Body Snatchers (in this instance adapted by David Kajganich of Suspiria ’18) or a sharp sci-fi fusillade against bourgeois complacency, The Invasion would still be worth checking out. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) took the invaders-from-space tropes and crafted a subtle, downbeat film about waking up to discover your friends have embraced fascism. That’s something we as a people could definitely explore these days, even if rather than the traditional pod-formed duplicates, these invaders are a mycelial parasite that spreads itself via cough or saliva. You don’t have to be digging deep into current events for that to resonate in the hippocampus — when the act of coughing has been weaponized, with lethal results, in real life. But when Warner Bros. got worried about the film being a bit too somber, they decided to bring in a whole new creative team for reshoots — refocusing things and upping the action quotient, but certainly not messing with adding in too many ideas. The creative team chosen to deliver mindless action without making the audience think too hard? James McTeigue and the Wachowski siblings, whose triumph with V for Vendetta for some reason made the suits think they would get lots of brainless sensation. So into this film about cellular infiltration and reconstruction came an entirely different creative force under a completely different set of directives to reshape and reorganize the film from within. It’s not often that a movie’s physical production becomes a demonstration of the concepts that propel it, but weird things happen with big Hollywood money. Beloved Nashvillian Nicole Kidman is great, as always, and there are moments that will haunt you. Respect as always to the inimitable Veronica Cartwright. Audiences pretty much ignored this film in 2007, but way too much of it feels far too resonant in The Now, and it plays like the sharpest and coldest of prophecy. And the implications of its ending will pollinate your nightmares.
Nashville
Nashville on Video on Demand and Amazon Prime
Still the best movie ever made about America and a source of consternation to several decades of the domestic songwriting industry, Robert Altman’s 1975 epic of political mobility, human sprawl, alienation and the marketing of the authentic just grows more and more relevant to being alive. The pointillist bits of tragedy and rapture that we glean from social media feeds today are all there in this deeply human tapestry — the technology is alien, but the emotions are all too relatable. An RPG of circumstance and ambition, a slow-motion collision between fame and infamy, and a wrenching musical about an industry built on hard-won personal truth, Nashville is a daunting masterpiece that remains deeply accessible. Ronee Blakley and Lily Tomlin both got nominated for Oscars, though only Keith Carradine’s devastating song “I’m Easy” would claim one. Nonetheless, this film endures. And if you wanna talk country music masterpieces, Alan Rudolph’s Songwriter (starring Willie Nelson and recent 84th-birthday boy Kris Kristofferson) is also currently streaming on Amazon Prime. And if you wanna get real with it and have a Ronee Blakley double feature, Wes Craven’s peerless A Nightmare on Elm Street is right there waiting for you on HBO Max.
Scare Package on Shudder
A mental margarita of a horror anthology that spreads its aesthetic net wide, this collection was a big hit at the Chattanooga Film Festival last month. Funny, disgusting, smart and willing to dig deep into an idea (or a body), Scare Package exhibits the variety that is typically the strength of the anthology format while avoiding most of the mistakes that one often encounters when working with so many different writers and directors. The wraparound segment is actually incredibly strong, and at its best (a particularly grotesque encounter in the woods exploring the line between human and goo; a literal escape from a metanarrative; Chase Williamson doing that thing he does; a deconstruction of what it means to be a loved one of a horror heroine; the peerless visual instincts of the Andujar sisters) it keeps the viewer hooked and ready for more. If a movie can make you laugh, gross you out and make you want to do some research, that’s an across-the-board win.
The Last of Sheila
The Last of Sheila on Video on Demand and Amazon Prime
Rightfully mentioned by Rian Johnson in publicity for Knives Out (currently streaming on Prime), this 1973 murder mystery/dark comedy is a marvel. With razor-sharp wit and a genuinely provocative and surprising mystery (courtesy of screenwriters Tony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim!), the film finds a group of Hollywood friends and phonies on a luxury yacht — destination: murder. And y’all know a boat- or train-based murder mystery is an irresistible combination of elements. One of those romans à clef that has held its secrets close to its chest for the intervening four-and-a-half decades, The Last of Sheila is a mean and vicious excoriation of what it means to be socially and professionally tied to toxic people, yet it never stops being a riot of pithy lines and devastating quips. Dyan Cannon and Richard Benjamin are at the top of their game, James Coburn is an indelible emotional puppeteer, and a young Ian McShane pops up to lay the groundwork for a career that still surprises to this day. If you’re looking for one of those ’70s films that people (including me) are always saying they never make movies like anymore, this is a great place to start. Theme song by Bette Midler, and exquisite costume design by the late Joel Schumacher (read more on his films in this week’s Critics’ Picks).
Athena on TCM
A tip of the hat to the essential Linoleum Knife podcast for this 1954 MGM musical. In Athena, a family of holistic numerologists, botanists, bodybuilders and freethinkers (seven sisters, each named for a famous goddess in Greek mythology; a gruff personal trainer/cult leader of a grandpa; and a mellow seer of a grandmother) uses kindness, quality living, feng shui and sheer force of will to better the lives of a congressional candidate/lawyer and a mid-level crooner. Debbie Reynolds delivers song-and-dance moxie, and Hercules himself, Steve Reeves, heads up a subplot involving the Mister Universe pageant that brings more beefcake than the mid-’50s could have imagined. It’s silly and diverting, with a great scene of Jane Powell using grace and poise to deflect the bad vibes of an entire fancy cocktail party. It also features one of my favorite kinds of moments — a musical makeover, and in this case it’s for a stuffy old house.
