The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television during the week of Aug. 2, as well as notes on TV programming for the same week. Televised films may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations while the programs listed have not been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by OSV News.
Streaming Now:
“The Birth of a Nation” (2016; Hulu)
Nate Parker wrote, directed and stars in this moving dramatization of the life of Nat Turner, an enslaved Virginian whose eponymous 1831 rebellion represented the most serious challenge of its kind ever posed to slavery in the antebellum South. Taught to read at an early age, Turner becomes a preacher whose gifts are turned to perverse use when his master (Armie Hammer) agrees, for a fee, to have him tour nearby plantations delivering sermons in favor of submission. But the range of inhumanities he witnesses along the way, together with brutalities inflicted on his beloved wife (Aja Naomi King) and himself lead him to view the message of Scripture in an entirely new light. Christian faith is obviously central to Parker’s debut film; so, too, are the moral issues raised by the brief but bloody uprising he chronicles. Parker handles all this with sensitivity and subtlety while nonetheless presenting Turner in an unequivocally positive light. The educational value of this engrossing profile would normally suggest expanding its audience to include at least some teens. Yet the amount of cruelty inherent in this story is so extensive that even many mature viewers will find it difficult to endure. Strong gory violence, including torture and an off-screen rape, a scene of marital intimacy, upper female nudity, a few uses of profanity, a handful of crude and crass terms. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“Nomadland” (2021; Netflix)
A sense of loneliness pervades this poignant drama in which Frances McDormand gives a bravura performance as a working-class widow from a failed factory town who takes to the road in search of seasonal employment, becoming part of a subculture of marginalized nomads who move from one trailer park to the next in their struggle to evade economic ruin. Though she forms friendships along the way, including with a few real-life sojourners playing themselves, she resists possible romance with another fellow migrant (David Strathairn) and a couple of opportunities to abandon her travels and settle down in one place. Drawing on journalist Jessica Bruder’s 2017 book, writer-director Chloe Zhao highlights how momentary encounters and emotional connection help to relieve the cycle of menial labor and anxiety for the future her vulnerable but resilient protagonist endures. She also emphasizes the spiritual lineage all her travelers share with the pioneers of old. Parents will have to weigh whether delicately handled elements that would normally bar younger viewership should be overlooked in the case of mature teens. Brief full and partial female nudity in nonsexual contexts, mature themes, including suicide and euthanasia, fleeting scatological material, at least one profanity and a milder oath, a single crude and a couple of crass terms. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“Support Your Local Sheriff” (1969; Amazon Prime)
Gentle Western spoof set in a lawless boom town whose leading citizens hire a quiet drifter (James Garner) to be sheriff and he proceeds to tame the town through a series of clever and non-lethal maneuvers. Garner is past master at this kind of genial characterization and his performance combines neatly with Burt Kennedy’s deft, off-beat direction to make a very solid comedy. Joan Hackett supplies the daffy romantic interest and Walter Brennan, Jack Elam and Bruce Dern are excellent in support. The OSV News classification is A-I – general patronage. The Motion Picture Association rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted. (The related film “Support Your Local Gunfighter” (1971) is also streaming.)
Looking Ahead:
Sunday, Aug. 2, 8:33-11 p.m. EDT (ABC) “Cocktail” (1988). Young New York bartender (Tom Cruise) learns the ropes about life and love from a heavy drinking, womanizing mentor (Bryan Brown) but manages to jump off the fast track before it’s too late for honest success and a good woman (Elizabeth Shue). Australian director Roger Donaldson’s colossal bore lacks interesting characterizations and dramatic credibility. Sexual promiscuity, unwed pregnancy, excessive alcohol consumption, off-camera suicide and some profanity. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Sunday, Aug. 2, 10 p.m.-midnight EDT (TCM) “The Harder They Fall” (1956). Crooked fight promoter Rod Steiger hires veteran sportswriter Humphrey Bogart to build interest in a musclebound Argentine boxer who’s being set up to lose big. Director Mark Robson gets convincing performances from a strong cast in an adaptation of Budd Schulberg’s novel about the callous types behind the brutal fight racket. Some menace and stylized ring violence. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association. (Part of a 24-hour marathon of movies featuring Bogart, starting with “Kid Galahad” (1937), 6-8 a.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 2, and ending with “China Clipper” (1936), 4-6 a.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 3.)
Thursday, Aug. 6, 3:30-5 a.m. EDT (EWTN) “Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Transfiguration.” Fransican Father Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land, is scheduled to serve as the celebrant at this Euchristic liturgy at the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. The Mass will re-air 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT (TV-G — general audience).
Thursday, Aug. 6, 6-8 p.m. EDT (TCM) “Love and Death” (1975). Ambitious and delightful spoof of Russian literature with Woody Allen turning his wit on the most turgid aspects of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, mocking both the characters and the heavy philosophy. It’s a rather rarefied comedy trying perhaps a little too hard to be naughty and nice, funny and ferocious. Given the context and some knowledge of the subject of the satire, it should not offend mature viewers. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (Part of a 24-hour marathon of films featuring Diane Keaton, beginning with “Mrs. Soffel” (1984) 6-8 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 6, and concluding with “The Little Drummer Girl” (1984), 3:30-6 a.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 7)
Thursday, Aug. 6, 6-9 p.m. EDT (AMC) “Jaws” (1975). Solid thriller about a killer shark first establishes the monster’s reality by the effect of its attacks on the tourist trade of a seaside community and then becomes the all-out battle of three men (Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss) against a malignant force of nature. Aided by good acting and superior special effects, Steven Spielberg directs the hunt and killing of the monster with sustained and riveting dramatic intensity. Graphic scenes of the shark attacks may be far too strong for younger viewers. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Saturday, Aug. 8, 6:26-8:05 p.m. EDT (Cinemax) “Hitchcock” (2012). The legendary film director and “Master of Suspense” gets quite a dressing-down in director Sacha Gervasi’s absorbing adaptation of Stephen Rebello’s 1990 book “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.” Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) is portrayed as a compulsive voyeur and control freak who suspected the motives of just about everyone, even his devoted wife (Helen Mirren). With stars (Scarlett Johansson, James D’Arcy) playing stars (Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins), the film follows the production of Hitchcock’s biggest success. In crafting it, Hitchcock battled the Hollywood censors to allow an unprecedented degree of explicitness, and contributed to the breakdown of the long-standing production code that had regulated movie content since the 1930s. Graphic re-creations of movie-making violence, a scene of implied adultery, sexual innuendo, some profane and rough language. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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