Happy Saturday From Nebraska

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Happy Saturday to you! This is going to be kind of a quick one because we’re flying out to Scottsdale this morning to celebrate my sister-in-law’s 60th birthday this weekend. I grew up as an only child, so I’ve loved calling Lisa my sister for nearly 30 years now. Plus, it will just be nice to hang out and relax with family in the desert after the insane month October has been. This week in particular has been nuts.

Here’s what we reviewed this week on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast, in case you missed anything. Take us with you on the go if you’re traveling this weekend, too, and maybe leave a few stars and thoughts to help folks find us in the ether. We appreciate you!

• SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE. We knew we had to have Bruce Springsteen superfan Ben Mankiewicz back to help us review this movie. We miss seeing him, now that he’s so busy with Turner Classic Movies full-time, so it was nice to have a mini What the Flick?! reunion. The three of us have a wide range of opinions on Scott Cooper’s film, in which Jeremy Allen White stars as Springsteen as he’s on the brink of superstardom, writing and recording the moody, introspective “Nebraska” album in 1982. (I also shot a longer-than-usual reaction video on Monday night with my good friend Brian Aubert, lead singer and guitarist of Silversun Pickups, who shared his insights as a musician.) In theaters.

• BUGONIA. The always insightful Tim Grierson fills in on a review of the latest provocation from Yorgos Lanthimos. The Greek auteur reteams with Oscar-winning “Poor Things” star Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons (“Kinds of Kindness”) to tell the story of a pair of conspiracy theorists who kidnap a Big Pharma CEO because they think she’s a space alien. I kinda loved this one. In theaters.

• BLUE MOON. Ethan Hawke gives a delightfully showy performance in his latest collaboration with indie legend Richard Linklater. He stars as venerable songwriter Lorenz Hart, who’s bitter on the opening night of “Oklahoma!” that his former creative partner, Richard Rodgers, is enjoying success with someone else. Hawke is up for the challenge of this densely packed script, and the use of forced perspective and other analog filmmaking trickery really makes him look like the diminutive Hart. In theaters.

• THE MASTERMIND. Like “First Cow,” this is another Kelly Reichardt heist movie, which means the heist is not exactly going to run like clockwork. Josh O’Connor stars as a failed architect who schemes to steal four paintings from a museum in a brazen, midday theft in 1970 Massachusetts. This is a movie set in the ‘70s that also feels like it was made in the ‘70s. The mood and production details are specific and perfect. In theaters.

• DEPECHE MODE: M. Depeche Mode is still my favorite band ever, so when I heard that this IMAX concert film was coming out, I knew I had to see it and record a little reaction video. This was shot over three nights of their 2023 “Memento Mori” tour before enormous, sold-out crowds in Mexico City, and they still sound awesome. They do a lot of songs off that album, but for all you Gen Xers like me, they also do “Never Let Me Down Again,” “Personal Jesus,” “Stripped, “Everything Counts” and an incredible performance of “Enjoy the Silence.” But director Fernando Frías also includes artful interstitials exploring the significance of death in Mexican culture. They’re pretty, but I would have enjoyed more music. “Depeche Mode: M” is only playing for three nights next week, Oct. 28-30, so find out here if it’s at a theater near you.

Also, I was on FilmWeek on LAist 89.3 with the great Larry Mantle and the always witty Manuel Betancourt, discussing these movies and many others. Give us a listen and take us on the go. Public radio could use your support more than ever these days.

If you love movies in general and Martin Scorsese in particular, you will love “Mr. Scorsese,” a five-part documentary series streaming on Apple TV. It’s been out there for about a week, but we’re recapping it in pieces on our Breakfast All Day Patreon to savor it. Rebecca Miller takes a comprehensive look at the legendary filmmaker’s life and work, and talks to a wide range of collaborators and friends, including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Schrader, Jodie Foster, Sharon Stone, Cate Blanchett, Brian De Palma and Daniel Day-Lewis (who also happens to be Miller’s husband). Longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker has especially invaluable insight into his process and personality. And Scorsese himself is generous and expansive and — naturally — an entertaining storyteller. Usually, when the subject of a documentary agrees to participate, it can be too affectionate and adulatory. But Scorsese is surprisingly candid about his mistakes, his flops, and the drug use that nearly killed him in the late 1970s. Each episode is just under an hour, and they’re addictive. What is your favorite Martin Scorsese movie? It’s impossible to pick, but I’d love to know.

Finally this week, I had the pleasure of moderating a Q&A with writer-director Ido Fluk after a screening of his latest movie, “Köln 75,” at the South Bay Film Society. This lively and inspired film recreates Keith Jarrett’s famous, 1975 jazz performance in Cologne, Germany. John Magaro (who’s also in “The Mastermind” this week) plays the pianist, but the story is really about the 18-year-old concert promoter who organized the event. Mala Embe is wildly charismatic as the spitfire Vera Brandes, and Fluk is playful with form as he follows the insane logistics that went into making that night happen. “Köln 75” is in theaters now, and you can find out here if it’s playing near you.

That’ll do it for me for this week. I’m literally going to throw some clothes in a bag and dash out the door. If you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I hope you’ll pass it along. And if someone has passed it along to you, I hope you’ll subscribe. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.