Happy Roger Deakins Day to All Who Celebrate

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Happy Saturday, friends. It’s early but I’m already giddy about the prospect of sharing the stage tonight with my great hero, the legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins. As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, FilmWeek is doing a screening of “The Big Lebowski” at 7pm at the Gardena Cinema, and I’ll have the pleasure of taking part in a Q&A afterward. Deakins will be joining us along with his wife and collaborator, James Deakins, to discuss his work on the film and with the Coen brothers in general. (If you love the process of filmmaking, check out their Team Deakins Podcast!) If you’re in Southern California and would like to try and make it, tickets are available here. This is the one time you can roll on Shabbos.

As for new movies, here’s what we discussed this week on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. Take us with you if you’re out and about on this rainy weekend, but don’t let Alonso’s mellifluous voice distract you. Eyes on the road! And leave a few stars and comments if you have a moment, please. It helps folks find us in the vast podcast ether.

• THE RUNNING MAN (2025). Glen Powell brings his blinding, megawatt star power to Edgar Wright’s dark, dystopian thriller, based on the Stephen King novel. If he can survive 30 days with the world hunting him, he’ll win a billion dollars and save his family. There’s a ton of style here, which is always the case in Wright’s films, but we’re mixed on this. In theaters.

• THE RUNNING MAN (1987). We also went back and watched the original version of “The Running Man,” which provided one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature roles. Surprisingly, given that we’re both children of the ‘80s, neither of us had seen this. And it is SO ‘80s. Richard Dawson is perfect casting as the smarmy game show host. This was fun. Available for rental.

• TRAIN DREAMS. This is one of those movies you’ll definitely want to see in the theater if you can. It’ll be on Netflix starting Nov. 21, but it’s such a lush and transporting sensory experience that you’re going to want to luxuriate in it. Joel Edgerton stars as a logger, building a life in the Pacific Northwest after World War 1. This reminded us of both Terrence Malick and Kelly Reichardt in the lighting and texture of its natural setting, but Clint Bentley’s film is very much its own thing. “Train Dreams” will probably end up on my top-10 list this year.

• BUGONIA SPOILER CHAT. Alonso caught up with the latest from Yorgos Lanthimos, so we were excited to sit down and hash through everything Tim Grierson and I couldn’t discuss in the non-spoiler review we did a few weeks ago. Have you seen “Bugonia”? What did you think of its divisive ending?

I also did a couple of quick, out of the theater reactions after two movies I know you’ll be interested in seeing. One is the dazzling “Wicked: For Good,” the second half of the film version of the Broadway musical phenomenon. The songs aren’t as catchy this time around, but it has more emotional heft. We’ll have a full review for you once the embargo lifts on Tuesday at 9am Pacific.

The other is “Keeper,” the latest trippy horror movie from Osgood Perkins (“Longlegs” “The Monkey”), which is out in theaters now. Neon didn’t show this widely to critics before opening day and has been keeping plot points a secret. I’ve got some questions about what’s actually happening here, but I’m glad I saw it. Alonso and I will have a non-spoiler review early next week, but we’ll also do a live spoiler chat, because you’re going to want to talk about it, too.

Over at Ebert, I reviewed “Left-Handed Girl,” the solo directing debut of Shih-Ching Tsou. She’s a longtime collaborator of Sean Baker, who co-wrote the film with her and edited it. Fresh off his domination at the Academy Awards with “Anora,” Baker returns to his early, indie filmmaking instincts here, both technically and thematically. “Left-Handed Girl” follows a single mother and her two daughters as they return to Taipei after spending a few years in the country. They struggle to build a new life for themselves, which we mainly see through the lively perspective of younger daughter I-Jing (Nina Ye, a talented and poised child star who’s already a veteran at age 9). Like Baker’s “Tangerine,” this movie was shot on iPhones, which allows for nimble and kinetic camerawork through the labyrinth of the city’s bustling night market. The script tries to intertwine too many plot threads, but a spirit of redemption shines through. In select theaters now before streaming on Netflix on Nov. 28.

And over at our Patreon, we’ve begun recapping “Pluribus” on Apple TV. The latest from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” creator Vince Gilligan is, once again, gripping television. The great Rhea Seehorn from “Better Call Saul” stars as a misanthropic fantasy novelist who discovers she’s immune when a happiness virus takes over the planet. These first two episodes are darkly funny and quietly chilling in their precision. We can’t wait to see where the series goes from here. New episodes of “Pluribus” come out on Fridays, and we’ll recap the following Tuesdays all season long.

Plus! We’re also recapping Rachel Sennott’s 20something comedy series “I Love LA” on HBO Max these days, and the season 4 finale of “The Morning Show” airs this week, so this is a great time to join our Patreon if you haven’t already. And if you don’t want to commit to a subscription, you can always dip a toe into our content by purchasing our recaps of individual episodes or entire collections. We strive to make this one of the good places on the Internet, so come hang out with us.

And speaking of our wonderful Patreon community, we’re doing our November Lunch Date a little earlier than usual because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Our next online meet-up will be this Monday, Nov. 17, at Noon Pacific. So if you’re a member at that top tier, you should have received a Zoom link in your messages. And if you’d like to join us here, you can find out more about the perks at various levels on the Membership tab.

That’ll do it for me this week. Thanks so much for sharing some of your weekend with me. It’s such a busy time, so I’m always honored to have you. If you’ve enjoyed my Saturday Matinee newsletter, I hope you’ll pass it along to a friend. And if someone passed it along to you, I hope you’ll subscribe. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.