Unbelievable! Daniel Craig Reconsidered + LA’s Must-See Movies This Week!

Greetings! I’m Mark Olsen. I’d like to welcome you to another edition of your go-to guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

No matter where one’s political inclinations lie, this week has been a whirlwind of unpredictability and stress. One sleepless night, in a bid to distract myself, I decided to watch a movie. Preparing for my upcoming interview with “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — which you can catch on an upcoming episode of “The Envelope” podcast — I chose to watch Steve McQueen’s “Widows.”

I didn’t really need a reason, as I’ve been a fan of the film since its release. Despite having not seen it for quite a few years, it unexpectedly proved to be the perfect way to resonate with my current emotional state and lift my spirits.

Co-penned by McQueen and “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn, the film recounts the story of a group of women in Chicago (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Carrie Coon, and Elizabeth Debicki) who are left in a quandary when their husbands’ criminal crew dies in a botched job. Suddenly, they find themselves indebted to some dangerous characters, and their only way out is to execute a heist of their own. (Erivo portrays a single mother who joins their team as an accomplice.)

The film is a chic, brooding crime thriller, but it also keenly explores the intricacies of race, class, and gender, making it exceptionally insightful. (Colin Farrell delivers a layered performance as a corrupt local politician, reminiscent of his recent role in “The Penguin.”) What struck me during this viewing of “Widows” is how these women are continually underestimated and dismissed, yet they navigate their way through challenges, rising to claim what they rightfully deserve. It turned out to be just the movie I needed.

In his initial review of the film, Justin Chang remarked, “‘Widows,’ despite its tense and twisty nature, never feels like escapism. It transforms a contrived B-movie template into a clever and muscular portrayal of social realism, reminiscent of a grittier version of ‘Ocean’s 8,’ with faint echoes of ‘Set It Off’ and ‘Diabolique.’”

“Widows” is currently available on various digital platforms, including Prime Video.

A Look Back at Daniel Craig

The American Cinematheque is initiating a retrospective series on actor Daniel Craig starting Thursday with an early screening of his forthcoming film “Queer,” directed by Luca Guadagnino, alongside John Maybury’s 1998 “Love Is the Devil.” Craig is expected to be present for a Q&A. “Queer” is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel which is based on his life in Mexico City, with Craig taking on the role of expatriate writer William Lee. Meanwhile, “Love Is the Devil” stars Derek Jacobi as artist Francis Bacon, with Craig playing his partner.

Craig is also set to appear on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Egyptian Theater for a career discussion ahead of a screening of David Fincher’s 2011 film “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”

Though Craig will forever be most recognized for his portrayal of James Bond and his role in redefining that franchise, he is far more than just an action hero — he is a performer with great versatility, capable of nuanced character acting and leading-man charisma.

Other films in the series include Matthew Vaughn’s 2004 crime thriller “Layer Cake,” Roger Michell’s 2003 drama “The Mother,” Craig’s first Bond film in Martin Campbell’s 2006 “Casino Royale,” and the first of the mystery series where he plays detective Benoit Blanc, Rian Johnson’s 2019 film “Knives Out.”

When I spoke with Craig in 2022 around the release of the second Benoit Blanc film, “Glass Onion” — a third one, “Wake Up Dead Man,” is slated for 2025 — he was hesitant to try to identify a pattern or theme in his work. As he put it, “You’re assuming that I have some sort of plan. I don’t overthink it… I don’t have a strategy. The decisions I make about my professional life are largely instinctual.”

‘Making Mr. Right’

Tonight, Vidiots will host a 35mm screening of Susan Seidelman’s 1987 film “Making Mr. Right,” the follow-up to her 1985 movie “Desperately Seeking Susan.” Both Seidelman and actress Ann Magnuson will be present for a Q&A. The film revolves around a heartbroken image consultant (Magnuson) hired by an inept scientist-entrepreneur (John Malkovich) to train his android double (also played by Malkovich) to behave more humanly. The aim is to make him more appealing to the public before his seven-year space mission.

The movie is immensely charming, thanks in large part to the performances of Magnuson and Malkovich, who is excellent in his dual roles, and the overall eclectic thrift-shop aesthetic that is reminiscent of Jonathan Demme’s 1986 film “Something Wild.”

Earlier this week, Magnuson shared a photo from the film’s premiere with Seidelman and renowned artist Keith Haring, inviting fans to “join us to get out and to be with friends and yes, have some laughs.”

Highlights

‘The Graduates’

Having debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023, “The Graduates,” the first feature from writer-director Hannah Peterson, lists Chloé Zhao and John Cho among its executive producers. The film offers a tender yet emotionally accurate depiction of a community grappling with the aftermath of a school shooting and the struggle of moving on after a tragedy. Mina Sundwall, in the lead role of Genevieve, who lost her boyfriend in the incident, brings a sense of freshness and depth. The cast also features Alex Hibbert, Maria Dizzia, and Cho.

The film is the first to be distributed by the nonprofit organization The Future of Film Is Female. It will be screened at Vidiots on Monday, with a Q&A with Peterson moderated by “Anora” director Sean Baker. On Nov. 15, there will be a screening at the American Cinematheque at the Los Feliz 3, featuring a Q&A with Peterson, cinematographer Carolina Costa, and actors Cho, Sundwall, and Yasmeen Fletcher, moderated by Nora Bernard.

‘Candy Mountain’

Mezzanine will host the West Coast premiere of a new restoration of 1987’s “Candy Mountain,” directed by Robert Frank and Rudy Wurlizter, on Wednesday. The film, a laid-back road movie featuring Kevin J. O’Connor as a struggling musician hired to locate a legendary guitar maker (Harris Yulin), includes appearances by Tom Waits, Joe Strummer, Leon Redbone, Dr. John, and David Johansen.

Frank is best known for his 1959 photo essay “The Americans,” but he also had an intriguing career as a filmmaker, including 1959’s Beat Generation-inspired “Pull My Daisy” and 1972’s Rolling Stones tour film “C—sucker Blues.” Wurlitzer also contributed to the screenplays for Monte Hellman’s “Two-Lane Blacktop,” Sam Peckinpah’s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” Alex Cox’s “Walker,” and Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Little Buddha.”

In his 1987 review of the film, Michael Wilmington described it as “a comedy with a sharp bite; a romance with a cruel twist. It’s also an action movie about going nowhere, and a musical about the music that goes unheard. Directors Rudy Wurlitzer and Robert Frank take these paradoxes and play with them thoughtfully, soberly, transforming them into potent poetry. … It’s almost a small masterpiece: morally courageous, beautifully paced, funny, sad, and powerful. With quiet skill, it unveils and subverts some of the glittering illusions of the American dream.”

A Double Feature of Early Nicole Holofcener

Next Wednesday and Thursday, the New Beverly will screen a double bill of Nicole Holofcener’s 1996 debut film, “Walking and Talking,” and her 2001 follow-up, “Lovely & Amazing.” Together, they showcase Holofcener’s keen ability to depict characters, relationships, and the details of everyday life from the very beginning of her career.

“Walking and Talking” stars Catherine Keener and Anne Heche as female friends trying to navigate their relationship after one of them gets engaged. (Liev Schreiber, Todd Field, and Kevin Corrigan also appear in the film.) “Lovely & Amazing” stars Keener, Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer, and Raven Goodwin as a family of women each attempting to define and understand her own identity.

Reviewing “Walking and Talking,” Kevin Thomas wrote that the film “skillfully reveals those moments of unintended hurt and unexpected vulnerability that seem an inevitable part of our closest relationships. … Holofcener deserves credit for not trying to make Amelia and Laura adorable. They’re both edgy, candid women, often tactless; they’re attractive but not stunning beauties. Their vulnerability and honesty, their efforts to sort out their lives, and their capacity to cause and suffer pain in the process, make them seem very real. It’s a refreshing experience to be presented with characters you can identify with, see yourself in them, without being asked to like them.”

In his original review of “Lovely & Amazing,” Kenneth Turan wrote that the film “is nearly impossible to describe, and that is its strength. Like the best of personal, independent cinema — terms that too often mask a multitude of faults — it is both wonderfully observed and completely unique. There is no film like this film, and that is something you don’t hear every day. … ‘Lovely & Amazing’ engages us because it is so sharp, so darkly humorous about how we live our lives. Many of these characters are people we almost hate to love, but by highlighting their humanity, this film leaves us no choice.”