Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 11:52 AM

Tags: Homemade , Maggie Gyllenhaal , Vermont , Paolo Sorrentino , Pablo Larrain , Rungano Nyoni , Ladj Ly , Rachel Morrison , short film , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Jul 7, 2020 at 12:16 PM

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Courtesy of Amazon Studios

Sierra McCormick as a teen switchboard operator in The Vast of Night

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The film:
The Vast of Night (2019)

Where to see it:
Amazon Prime Video

The deal:
No need to adjust your television. If your HD picture is suddenly fuzzy black-and-white, that’s because it’s the 1950s and you’re watching “Paradox Theater,” an anthology of tales of the unexplained. This week: What caused the bizarre noise that rippled over the airwaves in the town of Cayuga, N.M., one dark night while everyone was in the high school gym cheering on the basketball team?

Well, almost everyone. That doesn’t include our main characters: Everett (Jake Horowitz), a hot-shot young radio DJ; and Fay (Sierra McCormick), a 16-year-old bobby-soxer/science enthusiast who works at the telephone switchboard. The story opens with Fay showing Everett her new prized possession: a portable cassette tape recorder.

Tags: The Vast of Night , The Twilight Zone , Twin Peaks , The Magnus Archives , Jake Horowitz , Sierra McCormick , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 5:00 PM

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Netflix

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The series:
“Curon” (2020)

Where to see it:
Netflix

The deal:
The top of a bell tower pokes bizarrely from a lake in Curon, Italy, part of a village that was drowned beneath the sparkling waves. The tower’s bells have been removed, but sometimes, locals say, people still hear them ring. Then bad things happen.

Something bad happened to Anna (Valeria Bilello) when she was a teen — a nightmarish experience that ended with her mother dead. Now an older Anna returns from Milan to the hotel her father owns in Curon, fleeing an abusive husband with her teenage twins, Daria (Margherita Morchio) and Mauro (Federico Russo).

Tags: Curon , Dark , Black Spot , The Returned , Les Revenants , Netflix , Twin Peaks , Web Only , Video , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 4:48 PM

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Codeblack Films

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The movie:
Fast Color (2018)

Where to see it:
Amazon Prime Video, Hulu; rentable on iTunes.

The deal:
The future is here, and it’s parched. In the world of Fast Color, rain hasn’t fallen for eight years, water is strictly rationed, and grocery-store shelves are sparsely stocked.

But Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has bigger problems to worry about: We meet her fleeing from a warehouse with rope burns on her wrists. As she drives across the wasted landscape, we soon learn who imprisoned her and why: Ruth has seizures that can cause earthquakes, opening new seismic faults. Hunted by government agents, she’s continually being betrayed by a power she can’t control.

Out of options, Ruth eventually makes her way to her childhood home, an isolated farmstead where her mother, Bo (Lorraine Toussaint), welcomes her with misgivings. Bo has devoted herself to providing a safe haven for preteen Lila (Saniyya Sidney), the daughter whom Ruth abandoned in her infancy.

Tags: Fast Color , Julia Hart , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM

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Courtesy of Neon

Michael Stuhlbarg and Elisabeth Moss as Stanley Hyman and Shirley Jackson

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The movie:
Shirley (2020)

Where to see it:
Hulu; rentable on various services; and at VTIFF Virtual Cinema.

The deal:
At midcentury, Rose Nemser (Odessa Young) accompanies her professor husband (Logan Lerman) to Bennington College, where he’s secured a job. The young couple boards with older prof Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg) and his wife, Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss), who recently became a literary celebrity for her dark short story “The Lottery.”

At Stanley’s urging, pregnant Rose takes over the domestic tasks of the household for Shirley, who is depressive, borderline-agoraphobic and struggling with her next novel. Meanwhile, Stanley enjoys his pick of a “harem” of adoring female students. Shirley knows he’s unfaithful, and wicked barbs fly between the pair.

Tags: Shirley Jackson , Elisabeth Moss , Bennington College , Michael Stuhlbarg , Josephine Decker , Susan Scarf Merrell , Web Only , Image , Video

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 6:40 PM

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Courtesy of Lionsgate

Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs as childhood friends in Blindspotting

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The movie:
Blindspotting (2018)

Where to see it:
HBO Max, HBO Go; rentable on other services.

The deal:
In this explosive indie film from first-time feature director Carlos López Estrada, Daveed Diggs (Tony Award winner for Hamilton) and Rafael Casal play Collin and Miles, best friends who grew up together in Oakland, Calif. They work for a moving company, reluctantly facilitating the influx of affluent hipsters who are reshaping their beloved city. Together they banter, talk shit and freestyle about their frustrations.

But sometimes their concerns diverge. Collin is black; Miles is white. Collin is a convicted felon who is determined to stay out of trouble for the last three days of his year of probation. Miles is a fast-talking hothead who sometimes carries a gun.

Tags: Blindspotting , Daveed Diggs , Rafael Casal , Carlos Lopez Estrada , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 5:25 PM

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KC Bailey

Leah Lewis and Alexxis Lemire in The Half of It

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The movie:
The Half of It (2020)

Where to see it:
Netflix

The deal:
Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac offers an irresistible template for romantic comedies. What if the wordsmith who’s been hired to help a tongue-tied oaf win the girl of his dreams … is also in love with her?

An award winner at the Tribeca Film Festival, this fresh-faced update from writer-director Alice Wu is set in rural Washington. Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) is a bright, lonely teen who helps support her widowed dad (Collin Chou) by selling term papers to the popular kids. When football player Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) asks her to write a letter to Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire), who’s dating one of his teammates, Ellie initially refuses because she has a crush on Aster herself.

Tags: The Half of It , Alice Wu , Saving Face , Never Have I Ever , The Miseducation of Cameron Post , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, May 25, 2020 at 6:46 PM

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Courtesy of KimStim

María tries to feed her "family" in The Wolf House.

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The movie:
The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo) (2018; released in the U.S. 2020)

Where to see it:
Currently available for rent on the Vermont International Film Foundation’s Virtual Cinema platform.

The deal:
This 73-minute stop-motion animation took Chilean artists Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña five years to create. It’s immediately clear why — every second is mesmerizing.

Tags: The Wolf House , La Casa Lobo , Vermont International Film Foundation , Cristóbal León , Joaquín Cociña , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, May 18, 2020 at 5:00 PM

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Hulu Originals

Where do we find entertainment these days? On our laptops and in our living rooms. The streaming options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. So, in this weekly feature, I review a movie or series that might otherwise be easy to overlook.

The series:
“Normal People” (Season 1, 12 episodes, 2020)

Where to see it:
Hulu

The deal:
Based on the best-selling 2018 novel by Sally Rooney, “Normal People” follows the evolving relationship between Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal), who grew up in the same town in Ireland’s County Sligo. We meet them as high schoolers: Both are intellectual achievers, but Connell is a beloved athlete and Marianne a pariah. Social class separates them, too: Connell’s mom (Sarah Greene) cleans the mansion where Marianne’s mom (Aislín McGuckin) presides.

Tags: Normal People , Sally Rooney , Hulu , Sarah Clarke , Daisy Edgar-Jones , Paul Mescal , Web Only , Image , Video

Posted By Margot Harrison on Sat, May 16, 2020 at 2:05 PM

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Courtesy of Menemsha Films

Still from 'Crescendo'

Now in its fifth year, the upcoming Stowe Jewish Film Festival is embracing social distancing with an all-virtual experience. And — more importantly, perhaps, for anyone who's running out of thought-provoking streaming options — it's free. For that, founder and cochair Edee Simon-Israel thanks "generous sponsors" and "our marketing and technology partner," Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, which served as the fest's venue in 2019.

The fest will last three weeks, starting May 24, with each of three films available to stream for three days.

Tags: Stowe Jewish Film Festival , Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center , Edee Simon-Israel , Jewish film , Crescendo , My Polish Honeymoon , The Samuel Project , Web Only , Image