Starman — Netflix
Horror legend John Carpenter took a romantic sci-fi detour with this 1984 drama starring Karen Allen as a widow who finds new love in the shape of an alien who has inhabited the body of her dead husband. He is played by Jeff Bridges, who was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his work. What begins as a left-of-field sci-fi soon becomes a surprisingly tender love story that Carpenter deftly directs towards its bittersweet conclusion. What sounded like a silly idea on paper has stood the test of time mostly because of the careful way its characters are drawn and the authenticity of the relationship at the story’s heart.
Bugsy — Netflix
It may not be considered one of the great big-budget period gangster dramas, but there’s still a lot to admire in Barry Levinson’s 1991 biopic of gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel — the man who made Las Vegas what it is today. Warren Beatty, who had been working for years to bring Siegel’s story to screen, plays Bugsy as an optimistic conman with a dark side that’s softened only by his obsession with Hollywood starlet Virginia Hill (Annette Bening). Nominated for 10 Oscars — but winning only two for art direction and costume design — it’s still a handsomely executed biopic that features several memorable set pieces.
The Testament of Ann Lee — Buy from Apple TV+
Mona Fastvold directs this eerie and beautiful musical drama inspired by the life of Shaker founder Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), whose 18th-century gospel of abstinence turns her into the sect’s Messiah. It is co-written with husband Brady Corbet and anchored with haunting music by composer Daniel Blumberg, which draws on Shaker hymns. The always enigmatic Seyfried gives a career-best performance in this unnerving fever dream.
The House of the Spirits — Prime Video
Isabel Allende’s 1982 magical realist family saga gets a lavish, Spanish-language series adaptation after the failure of the star-studded 1993 film adaptation directed by Billie August. Following the trials and tribulations of three generations of women in the Trueba family, the series offers an emotional portrait of the fortunes of Chile from the 1920s through the toppling of Salvador Allende by the murderous Pinochet regime in 1973.
The Girl with the Needle — Mubi.com
Nominated for the best international feature at this year’s Oscars, director Magnus von Horn’s tense psychological period horror draws its inspiration from the story of Dagmar Overbye, who murdered between nine and 25 children while “caring” for children born out of wedlock in 1913-21.
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