Member Newsletter: 1970, Manhattan, Saint-Narcisse, and more

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The newsletter will cover the best films to watch in the coming month on streaming/VOD/virtual cinemas, primarily in Canada, the US, and the UK — though it's a great resource for what to watch out for if you live in other places.

This month, I've got a very varied set of recommendations for you. If you're still caught in Barbenheimer fever (or avoiding the crowds), I highly recommend this Manhattan Project counterprogramming: the under-appreciated TV series Manhattan (2014-2015). Relive the 1970 Polish Workers' Rebellion in the stop-motion-animated doc 1970. Catch the wild and whacky Saint-Narcisse for some big laughs and twincest. Watch Ben Whishaw at his best in This is Going to Hurt, the best TV series of 2022. And finally, if you're in Canada (or the UK), there's a way to watch Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet again.

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1970

🇨🇦🇺🇸 Mubi or rent/buy on ProjectR

Tomasz Wolski's1970 mixes documentary recordings of phone calls with archival footage and stop-motion animation to illuminate telephone conversations between top communist officials during a crucial historical event: the 1970 Polish workers' rebellion. It won the International Competition at Visions du Réel in 2020, and it's only now easily available to stream. And it's only 70 minutes! A must-see.

Read my review

I also interviewed Wolski in depth about his work on 1970 as part of our animated documentary case study in our ebook. Subjective Realities: The art of creative nonfiction film.

To read the interview, get a copy of the book:

Get your copy of Subjective Realities

Manhattan - the TV series

🇨🇦 Stream on Hoopla, AMC+, CTV; buy on iTunes 🇺🇸 Stream on FreeVee, Tubi, Hoopla, AMC+; buy on iTunes, Amazon, etc. 🇬🇧 Prime 🇦🇺 Stan, AMC+, Starz 🇳🇿 Prime, AMC+

'Tis the season of Barbenheimer fever so, I'm offering some alternate and complementary programming: the short-lived TV series Manhattan (2014-2015), a fictionalized story of the people in Los Alamos who helped design the atomic bomb. It's one of my favourite TV series: a great character study, tremendous performances, impressive lighting, and often incredible direction (better blocking than in most movies). It also features a who's who of character actors in its leads: John Benjamin Hickey (AKA Mr. ChumHum), Mrs. Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), Nate from Succession (Ashley Zukerman, whom I'll always refer to by his Manhattan character's name), Olivia Williams, Michael Chernus (Severance), Katja Herbers (Evil) and more! Daniel London (of Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy) is an excellent Oppenheimer (a recurring but supporting character on the show).

I haven't written about the show (yet!), but Friend of Seventh Row Brandon Nowalk recapped the second season (and the finale of S1) over at A.V. Club. They're an essential viewing companion.

Read Brandon's A.V. Club recaps

Saint-Narcisse

🇨🇦 Free on CBC Gem, Mubi 🇺🇸 Mubi, Kanopy, Film Movement + 🇮🇪🇬🇧VOD

Bruce LaBruce's bonkers family dramedy with a bit of twincest is the perfect summer film for a big laugh and a breezy afternoon. It's part camp, part melodrama, about biological and metaphorical families, in the home and the church. At the centre of the film is the question, what if Narcissus looked into the pond and his reflection walked out of it so that they could bang each other? Bruce LaBruce updates the Narcissus myth to 1972 Quebec, where a leather-clad motorcycle-riding Montrealer, Dominic (Félix-Antoine Duval), suddenly finds himself face to face with not just his image in a lake, but his identical twin, a monk named Daniel (also Félix-Antoine Duval).

Read my interview with Bruce LaBruce on Saint-Narcisse

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet

🇨🇦 Kanopy 🇬🇧 Curzon Amazon Channel, VOD

After just a year on Mubi, Ana Katz's wonderfully weird, hilarious, and melancholy The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet seemed to have disappeared forever outside of the UK (where Curzon has rights). It's not available as physical media with English subs AFAIK. But your library has come to the rescue if you're in Canada! The film was our #1 film of Sundance 2020 and in our top 10 films of the year. (Yes, there is, in fact, a dog who wouldn't be quiet in the film.)

Read my interview with Ana Katz on The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet.

This is Going to Hurt

🇨🇦 Free on CBC Gem 🇺🇸 AMC+ 🇬🇧 BBC iPlayer 🇦🇺 Binge/Foxtel 🇮🇪Sky

Ira Sachs's new film, Passages, starring the chaotic trio of Ben Whishaw, Franz Rogowski, and Adèle Exarchopoulous hits North American cinemas this month. To celebrate a new Whishaw film, catch up with one of his best performances in This is Going to Hurt. Whishaw plays a junior OBGYN barely surviving in This is Going to Hurt. The show is, at turns, hilarious, contemplative, and sad. It's a celebration of the NHS (and socialized medicine) and an indictment of all the ways the system lets doctors and patients down.

We did a podcast on the show last year! Head to your Seventh Row Premium Podcast feed to listen.

Happy watching!

If you have any feedback on the newsletter, please hit reply and let me know. What's working? What isn't? What could make it more valuable?

Best,

Alex Heeney, Editor-in-Chief

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