Game 7 Vibes This Saturday

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Happy Saturday, Happy November, and hope you had a Happy Halloween. Nic turns 16 next week, and this is the first year he hasn’t gone trick or treating. Where am I supposed to get mini Reese’s peanut butter cups now? I can’t just go out and buy them (although they’ll be on sale today). That would be unseemly.

More importantly on this Saturday, we get the two best words in sports: Game 7. This World Series has been so insane that of course it has to go all the way. (Theoretically, the Dodgers and Blue Jays will be playing Game 8, since they endured an 18-inning marathon on Monday/Tuesday.) I want all good things for Canada always, but not at the expense of my hometown team. Tonight should be fun.

If you don’t care about baseball, and you came here because you thought this was a newsletter about movies (which it is, mostly), here’s what we reviewed on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. Take us with you on whatever autumnal adventures you’re enjoying, and maybe leave a few stars and thoughts if you have a moment. It helps folks find us in the ether.

• NOUVELLE VAGUE. Richard Linklater’s loving homage to the French New Wave is pure joy. He recreates the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking 1960 debut, “Breathless,” with painstaking detail, a perfectly chosen cast and a ton of playful humor. If you know this era of film, you’ll love it, but if you don’t, you won’t find it alienating. “Nouvelle Vague” also provides a fascinating contrast with Linklater’s “Blue Moon,” which just came out last week, as a study of the obsessive creative process. In select theaters now and streaming on Netflix Nov. 14.

• HEDDA. Tessa Thompson is a radiant goddess in this bold reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, “Hedda Gabler.” Writer-director Nia DaCosta’s adaptation takes this historical setting and turns it upside down, making it queer, multiracial and stylish in a way that’s reminiscent of “Bridgerton.” The cinematography, production design and costume design are all exquisite. Streaming on Prime Video.

• IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT. This is a movie you’re going to be hearing a lot about as we get deeper into awards season. Iranian master Jafar Panahi tells a story that’s personal and perfectly balanced in tone. A group of disparate people come together to abduct a man they believe was their torturer in prison. Sounds heavy and intense, and it is, but it also features moments of unexpected, absurd humor. And there’s a 12-minute-long single shot here that will have you holding your breath. In theaters.

• SHELBY OAKS. OG YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann has finally come out with his long-gestating horror movie. He crowd-funded it, Neon picked it up, and Mike Flanagan came on as an executive producer. And it’s … fine. It’s got a lot of mood, but it’s extremely derivative and repetitive, and then it ends abruptly, right as it’s getting interesting. Our good friend William Bibbiani helps me out with this review. In theaters.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! It had been a few weeks since we’ve both been traveling, so it was nice to get back with our folks for our Friday news livestream. Lots to discuss, including the upcoming “Stranger Things” finale, “Sinners” and “KPop Demon Hunters” back in theaters this week, Gotham Award nominations, and Francis Ford Coppola auctioning off his watch collection to cover his “Megalopolis” losses. We’re gone again next week, but come back on Nov. 14 at Noon Pacific.

Over at Ebert, I reviewed “Stitch Head,” a sweet animated movie that’s just the right amount of scary. Guillermo del Toro would love this family-friendly take on “Frankenstein” because it has a soft spot for its monsters. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Guy Bass, “Stitch Head” follows a good-natured but under-appreciated assistant to a mad scientist who keeps making bizarre hybrids in his castle lab, high on a hill, before discarding and forgetting about them. Stitch Head (voiced gently by Asa Butterfield), as he’s known, was his original creation. The first act is the strongest, but the movie gets less interesting as it becomes more about the perils of fame. Still, the character design is delightful, and the delicate details in the animation can be quite lovely. In theaters now.

For our October Off the Menu review at our Patreon, we revisited “All the President’s Men” in honor of the late, legendary Robert Redford. Alonso curated a poll of several essential Redford performances, and this is the one our subscribers selected. Alan J. Pakula’s 1976 political thriller remains gripping, albeit a little depressing in its depiction of actual consequences for presidential transgressions. Still, I loved the portrayal of newsroom culture, as well as the way Redford and Dustin Hoffman, as Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, take turns playing good cop and bad cop as they work to break the Watergate scandal. Simply watching Redford make phone calls and take notes on a legal pad is riveting, because he’s such a compelling screen presence. But I also walked away feeling inspired, seeing journalists do the monotonous, unglamorous work of knocking on doors and asking the right questions. I was never this kind of reporter, but I so admire those who are. “All the President’s Men” is streamable in a lot of places including The Criterion Channel. And keep an eye out for our November Off the Menu poll, where we’ll pay tribute to Diane Keaton, another icon we lost recently.

Also at our Patreon this week, we recapped the season 5 finale of “Only Murders in the Building.” Did you guess who the murderer was this time? We didn’t, although in retrospect we should have, because this character is so obviously villainous. This season started out a little slow but picked up as it went along. Renée Zellweger, Christoph Waltz, Logan Lerman, Keegan-Michael Key, Téa Leoni and Bobby Cannavale were fun additions as guest stars. And there was legitimate poignancy toward the end, as it looked like our characters would have to say goodbye to the Arconia for good. The end of this episode teases season 6, which apparently takes place in London, so we’ll be curious to see how the show transports its New York-specific vibe there. What did you think of this season? I’d love to know.

That’ll do it for me this week. I’m so thankful to you for spending some time with me during your weekend, especially when it’s a holiday weekend. If you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I’d be honored if you’d pass it along to a friend. And if someone passed it along to you, I’d be honored if you subscribed. (There’s a handy little button right up there.) Have a great week, Go Dodgers, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.