Happy second day of autumn. The Dodgers have six more regular season games. 60-60? You really think that’s impossible for this guy?
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I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, host of The Envelope’s bonus Monday newsletter and someone who has never poured maple syrup into his coffee but won’t think twice about brewing up a pot of this. I’m drawing the line though at Pumpkin Spice Chardonnay. That’s a bridge too far.
Put ‘His Three Daughters’ in your queue
When we last gathered before the weekend, I wrote about the Demi Moore body-horror bloodfest “The Substance,” noting how opinions on the film were all over the place. I’ve recommended the movie to some friends and warned others, those on the more squeamish side, to steer clear. Your mileage will vary!
But I feel pretty safe recommending the character-driven family drama “His Three Daughters,” now streaming on Netflix, to anyone, outside of, say, the little kids down the street, tykes who probably need a few years to appreciate a graceful movie about adult sisters navigating their relationships while saying goodbye to their dying father.
My old friend Mark Olsen talked to the women playing the daughters — Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen (how’s that for a cast?) — along with writer-director Azazel Jacobs not long ago.
Jacobs, Mark notes, wrote his script with these three actors in mind, knowing he had a connection to each and could get the script to them directly. Jacobs had directed Olsen in episodes of the series “Sorry for Your Loss.” He met Coon after directing her husband, the actor and playwright Tracy Letts, in his previous films “The Lovers” and “French Exit.” He met Lyonne after going with actor Lucas Hedges to Lyonne’s 40th birthday party, a screening of the film “The King of Comedy.” The two then became friendly on Instagram.
They’re all wonderful, as my pal Robert Abele notes in his review, calling “His Three Daughters” an “acting master class to savor.” Indeed, it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. If you have time this week to check it out, let me know what you think.
Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne in “His Three Daughters.”
(Netflix)
Fifteen movies we’re excited about this fall
As I mentioned up top, we officially entered autumn on Sunday. How do we know it’s fall in L.A.? If you’ve lived here long enough, you can feel the subtle changes — the leaves are turning (mostly brown, but, hey, that’s different), the sun rises later in the morning and the Dodgers are preparing for another postseason run that (knock on wood) will last more than one playoff series.
Fall in L.A. can feature Santa Ana winds and furnace-like temperatures. The surest sign of the seasonal shift: Three Spirit Halloween stores have popped up within a one-mile radius of your home.
Autumn also marks the beginning of awards season, a time of self-congratulation, yes, but also better movies. We highlighted 15 titles not too long ago that we’re looking forward to seeing in the coming weeks. “A Different Man” and “The Substance,” both on the list, opened this past weekend. And, again, “His Three Daughters” is right there on Netflix, ready for you to enjoy instead of that true crime series you’re hovering over right now.
Have a great week. Steer clear of that pumpkin wine. I’ll talk with you again on Friday.
Clockwise from top left: “All We Imagine as Light,” Paul Mescal as Lucius in “Gladiator II,” “Joker: Folie à Deux,” “We Live in Time”
(Photo illustration by Phyx Design / For The Times; photographs by Petit Chaos, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Peter Mountain / Studiocanal)