Speech 1, Songs 0 (Patreon)

Yet another ludicrously close showdown this week, with Speaking Parts—the oldest extant request, having been an option for roughly nine months (you never know when a film will suddenly catch fire!)—winning by a single vote. Obviously, those of you who are eager to have me weigh in on Original Cast Album: Company, which has now been our runner-up twice in a row, should recruit some like-minded friends to join at the $5 voting level—you only need one or two more, looks like.

(In all seriousness, many thanks to the bunch of you who've just arrived, as well as the hundreds who've been on board for anywhere from a week to closing in on two years now. At this point, with California law having more or less closed off my primary freelance gig until January—I can write only five more A.V. Club pieces before hitting my new, idiotic annual cap; am saving some for big features like the 2000/year-end lists, rationing the remainder for longer essays that'll pay more than reviews—and with live poker unlikely to return for the foreseeable future, y'all are my sole source of income. Which I definitely did not anticipate when I kicked this off. Hopefully, AB5 will be amended come November, and I won't have the same issue next year; also hopefully, we won't all still be trapped in our homes indefinitely through 2021. For now, however, I can't express sufficient gratitude. Just doing my best to give you your money's worth.)

As for July's random drawing—newcomers, this is a monthly deal in which I watch and review the top two films from among all current and past requests that were in the mix for at least four weeks; it's meant to ensure that even unpopular choices get a shot—the algorithm picked Straight Time, which was retired a while ago, and Red Hook Summer, which improbably made it to the (near-)top of the list via just four entries. (Rare, but it does happen!) The latter, which looks like's its streaming on Amazon Prime, is among the very few dramatic (i.e. non-doc) Spike Lee Joints I've never seen, along with She Hate Me and Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. Straight Time will likewise be new to me. (It's easily rentable. Speaking Parts is on the Criterion Channel, I'm pretty sure...though I guess I was wrong last week when I said the same about Ball of Fire, which had just left. Sorry.) 

And the Oldest Extant Request torch now passes to...Terence Davies' Distant Voices, Still Lives, currently at 35 weeks. Just in case you're still in an it's-about-time mood.