This has been a big week for looking forward and looking back. Some of the year’s biggest and buzziest film festivals lay just ahead, while audiences remember late film stars like Dolly Parton, Tim Curry and Peter Cullen in the days after their deaths. Paramount+ has key movies from a few of those stars, as well as the film that provides the basis for an upcoming festival debut.
Here are the three best movies to watch on Paramount+ this week.
“Clue”
The late Tim Curry was a comic genius, an actor able to slot into any film and make it funnier by his presence alone. In “Clue,” that unparalleled talent is firing on all cylinders, helping elevate what could be a bland adaptation of a board game to an iconic ’80s comedy. Curry truly gets to shine in the conclusion of the film, an incredible stretch of comedy filmmaking that delivers the same euphoria as winning a hotly contested game night.
“Rocky”
As the festival season onslaught begins, one Toronto premiere that’s turned some heads as a potential awards contender is “I Play Rocky.” The film, directed by “Green Book” filmmaker Peter Farrelly and written by Peter Gamble, follows the making of the 1976 Best Picture winner led and penned by Sylvester Stallone. If you haven’t caught “Rocky” lately, it holds up as a strong, moody sports drama that evades at least as many genre cliches as it cements. The film may be iconic, but it’s also something much more important: It’s good.
“Transformers”
Peter Cullen had one of Hollywood’s most iconic voices, frequently delivering memorable and incredible performances as Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots in “Transformers.” While that franchise doesn’t have the strongest track record on the screen, Cullen’s performance and some exceptional special effects make it worth revisiting Michael Bay’s first outing alone. It’s a solid action movie, one that remains the highlight of Bay’s work in the series, with an extraordinary performance from Cullen. Roll out.
