September is the worst month for movies

9/12/22

The first Saturday in September was anointed “National Cinema Day” by the cabal of local and national movie theater chains operating across the country. Anyone could go to the movies and spend $3 a ticket, a great incentive for families and people who don’t participate in AMC A-List or any of the equivalent movie subscription services. This was, in some respects, an act of desperation, since no big comic book movie is opening in theaters until late next month. The smaller films opening in September and October have no guarantee of making any money, and so movie theaters could soon be in as dire financial straits as they were at the beginning of the pandemic.

There have been some good movies to come out in this post-Labor Day dead zone. My recent favorite, one of the best films of the year so far, is Owen Kline’s Funny Pages, about a teenage aspiring comic book artist navigating post-adolescence and the eccentric characters that inhabit his corner of New Jersey. Kline (the son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates) was mentored by the Safdie brothers, and some of their shallow-lunged anxiety shows up in what could have been a run-of-the-mill coming-of-age drama. I felt the influence of fellow mid-Atlantic misanthropes John Waters and Todd Solondz, who share with Kline a middle-class fascination and unsentimental empathy for the most depressed, mentally ill, sociopathic and marginal members of society. In a moment where even word-of-mouth indies seem to need some high concept premise or big star to break though, Funny Pages succeeds on the strength of its characters, tone, and sense of place.

Funny Pages is in limited theatrical release and available to rent on demand.

I also enjoyed, with some reservations, Adamma Ebo’s Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, starring Sterling K. Brown and the exceptional Regina Hall. Hall, since her breakout turn in Scary Movie, as become one of the great comedic actors of her generation, and she is able to seamlessly navigate the often jarring tonal shifts in this megachurch satirical mockumentary. The mockumentary form has been played out since Christopher Guest lost his edge 20 years ago, and Evangelical Christianity is parodied much more effectively in Danny McBride’s The Righteous Gemstones. But Hall, as a shallow, materialistic “First Lady” whose world crumbles around her as her pastor husband’s reputation takes a hit after a sex-scandal, allows the audience to feel empathy for a character ruined by her own ambition and myopia.

Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. is playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock.

The most shocking, ambitious, and technically brilliant movie currently in theaters has to be Zach Cregger’s Barbarian, a sort of synthesis of every horror sub-genre developed in the past 50 years. This is a film that shouldn’t be spoiled, so I’ll just say that it’s about a young woman (the deceptively British Georgina Campbell) who finds that her AirBNB has been double booked. It’s Psycho, it’s Halloween, it’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it’s Night of the Living Dead, it’s The Hills Have Eyes, it’s The Blair Witch Project. See this in a full theater before some blabbermouth tells you too much.

Barbarian is ONLY playing in theaters, thank God.

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I made a really simple and flavorful (almost) vegetarian curry last week that really hits the spot if you don’t feel like ordering out for Thai or Indian. The sweet potatoes add a nice sweetness that balances out the heat from the curry paste and chile. The dish is more Indian than Thai, but you use Thai curry paste, so I guess it’s fusion? I don’t want to get into a whole Alison Roman stew situation, so I’ll keep my big white mouth shut. It’s based on the New York Times’ Red Curry Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Spinach, which is annoyingly behind a paywall, so I’ll share my adaptation below and hope the Sulzbergers don’t sue me into the ground.

Lentils, Sweet Potatoes, and Spinach with Coconut and Green Chutney

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

the biggest sweet potato at the store (1 lb), peeled and cut into small cubes

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 jar of Thai red curry paste (Mekhala brand is the best)

8 garlic cloves, sliced

1 inch knob of ginger, grated

1 fresno chile, chopped (omit if you don’t want spicy or add two if you want really spicy)

1 teaspoon ground turmeric (single origin Lakadong from Diaspora, duh)

1 cup organic red lentils (masoor dal), rinsed

4 cups chicken broth, better than bouillon, or veggie broth if you want this to be vegetarian and vegan

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1 bag (4-5 oz) organic baby spinach

1 lime, juiced

Topping:

1/4 cup green chutney (I used Poonjiaji’s Coriander Chutney) or 1 small bunch of cilantro finely chopped

1/4 cup full fat organic yogurt (or vegan yogurt if you prefer)

unsweetened coconut flakes to taste

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a dutch oven or big pot and brown the sweet potato cubes on medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes. Take them out of the pot and set them aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the pot and lower the heat a bit. Add the onion, and cook for a few minutes until soft. Then, add the curry paste, garlic, ginger, and turmeric and cook until fragrant, about a minute more.

Add the lentils, stock, salt, and browned sweet potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil over high. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

Add the coconut milk and keep cooking until the stew is reduced and the lentils are falling apart, about 15 more minutes.

Add the spinach and combine until wilted, 1-2 minutes. Then turn off the heat and add the lime juice (and some more salt if you want.)

To make the topping, combine the chutney or cilantro and the yogurt and stir together.

Serve the stew in bowls over rice, topped with the yogurt-chutney sauce and coconut flakes.