The Friday 5

Your Weekly Film Update By Film Critic and Historian Jack Hanley

I. Film I Am Most Looking Forward To Watching This Week

I cannot wait for the sin and sensuous spectacle of CHALLENGERS- the latest film by auteur Luca Guadagnino. To ready myself, I have been enjoying the marvelous critical conversation surrounding the latest batch of "sports films"- and how recent offerings like CHALLENGERS and last year’s marvelous and criminally underrated Zac Efron-led wrestling drama THE IRON CLAW are showcasing a more evolved and contemporary take on masculinity than their genre predecessors.

Check out this fascinating episode of Critics At Large by the New Yorker: Why the Sports Movie Always Wins. "From RAGING BULL to A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, films about athletes have commanded the attention of even the most sports-skeptical viewers. The pleasure of watching the protagonist undergo a test of body and spirit, proving their worth to society and to themselves—often with a training montage thrown in for good measure—is undeniable."

Check out this fun and nuanced episode BY CLICKING HERE!

II. Critic's Review I Am Loving This Week

I am an unabashed sucker for the succinct and salty filmic takes of longtime New Yorker film critic Richard Brody- even when he gets it GLORIOUSLY wrong (I'm looking at YOU, terrible take on THE ZONE OF INTEREST).

If you haven't yet experienced the haunting craft of brash new filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun (WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR), then Mr. Brody's wonderful new review of Schoenbrun's latest- I SAW THE TV GLOW- is a must read.

FIND IT HERE BY CLICKING THIS LINK and search out the unconventional and brilliant cinematic gem that is Richard Brody.

III. International Recommendation Of The Week

If you share a love of the Romanian New Wave, then you already know (and love) Romanian writer/director Radu Jude (I personally think that his film I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS should be a cornerstone of any Eastern European studies program). His latest masterwork of hyper-modern cinema (and winner of the Special Jury Award at Locarno) is now available on the streaming platform MUBI.

Here is the trailer. I'll leave the recommendation to our great friend John Waters: “A maddeningly radical… Godard–meets–Harmony Korine Romanian masterpiece”

IV. Guest Film Recommendations I Am Loving This Week

I have been single-handedly evangelizing the ASTONISHING work of Irish character actor Kerry Condon for some time (I still will die on the hill that she deserved Best Supporting Actress for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN)...

I cannot tell you how charmed I was to see a fellow "child of the Isle" in the Criterion closet to talk film recommendations...and to my great delight, she DELIVERS on both the charm AND the cinephilia. Just delightful.

V. Curated Programming I Am Loving This Week

What can I say besides SHIRLEY. GODDAMN. MACLAINE. Thank you, Criterion Channel, for recognizing a LEGEND. Watch- and marvel. I dare you not to fall in love.

Jack Hanley is a Boulder-based film critic, programmer, and historian. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast and Flicker with Jack and Scott on YouTube. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com