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Couch Cinema
Monday, August 31, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'Build the Wall'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 7:55 PM
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
Build the Wall
Where to see it
YouTube
The deal
No, this movie is not a pro-Trump statement (though you will find plenty of impassioned defenses of the border wall if you simply plug the title into a search engine). It’s a low-budget, low-key drama that was shot by prominent indie film figures in Hardwick, Vt.
The film
Build the Wall
Where to see it
YouTube
The deal
No, this movie is not a pro-Trump statement (though you will find plenty of impassioned defenses of the border wall if you simply plug the title into a search engine). It’s a low-budget, low-key drama that was shot by prominent indie film figures in Hardwick, Vt.
Monday, August 24, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'At the Drive-In'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 8:05 PM
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.
This week, I’m complementing my cover story about Vermonters rediscovering the drive-in picture show in the summer of COVID-19 with a review of a 2017 documentary about some folks who were ahead of the curve.
The film
At the Drive-In
Where to see it
Kanopy, Tubi, Amazon Prime Video; rentable on other platforms
The deal
Located in rural Lehighton, Pa., the Mahoning Drive-In has been showing movies since 1949. Its single screen is one of the largest CinemaScope screens — designed for the widescreen spectaculars that flourished at midcentury — on the East Coast.
This week, I’m complementing my cover story about Vermonters rediscovering the drive-in picture show in the summer of COVID-19 with a review of a 2017 documentary about some folks who were ahead of the curve.
The film
At the Drive-In
Where to see it
Kanopy, Tubi, Amazon Prime Video; rentable on other platforms
The deal
Located in rural Lehighton, Pa., the Mahoning Drive-In has been showing movies since 1949. Its single screen is one of the largest CinemaScope screens — designed for the widescreen spectaculars that flourished at midcentury — on the East Coast.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'Support the Girls'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 1:11 PM
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
Support the Girls
Where to see it
Hulu; rentable on various other platforms
The deal
Lisa (Regina Hall) is the general manager of Double Whammies, a Texas strip-mall restaurant devoted to “beer, boobs and big screens.” She cares a lot about her employees, sometimes to the point of running afoul of the owner, Cubby (James LeGros). On this particular day, a series of mishaps heats things to the boiling point.
The film
Support the Girls
Where to see it
Hulu; rentable on various other platforms
The deal
Lisa (Regina Hall) is the general manager of Double Whammies, a Texas strip-mall restaurant devoted to “beer, boobs and big screens.” She cares a lot about her employees, sometimes to the point of running afoul of the owner, Cubby (James LeGros). On this particular day, a series of mishaps heats things to the boiling point.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'The Goldfinch'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Aug 11, 2020 at 11:22 AM
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 Goldfinch
Where to see it:
Amazon Prime Video; rentable on various platforms
The deal:
In this adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, a terrorist bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art changes everything for 13-year-old Theo Decker (Oakes Fegley). His mother is killed in the blast, setting him adrift to find a home first with the cultured matriarch (Nicole Kidman) of a Park Avenue family, then with his deadbeat dad (Luke Wilson) amid the foreclosed homes of Las Vegas, then with a sympathetic antiques dealer (Jeffrey Wright).
The film:
The Goldfinch
Where to see it:
Amazon Prime Video; rentable on various platforms
The deal:
In this adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, a terrorist bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art changes everything for 13-year-old Theo Decker (Oakes Fegley). His mother is killed in the blast, setting him adrift to find a home first with the cultured matriarch (Nicole Kidman) of a Park Avenue family, then with his deadbeat dad (Luke Wilson) amid the foreclosed homes of Las Vegas, then with a sympathetic antiques dealer (Jeffrey Wright).
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'The Old Guard'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Aug 4, 2020 at 3:15 PM
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 Old Guard
Where to see it:
Netflix
The deal:
Her name is Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron), but you can call her Andy, and nothing can kill her. Stalking around in black jeans and sporting the deadpan charisma of vintage Clint Eastwood, Andy leads a team of centuries-old warriors with miraculous regenerative abilities. Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) date from the Crusades; Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) from Napoleonic France. Together they while away their seeming immortality by fighting for good causes.
The film:
The Old Guard
Where to see it:
Netflix
The deal:
Her name is Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron), but you can call her Andy, and nothing can kill her. Stalking around in black jeans and sporting the deadpan charisma of vintage Clint Eastwood, Andy leads a team of centuries-old warriors with miraculous regenerative abilities. Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) date from the Crusades; Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) from Napoleonic France. Together they while away their seeming immortality by fighting for good causes.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'The Great'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Jul 21, 2020 at 8:00 AM
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:
“The Great” (10 episodes, 2020)
Where to see it:
Hulu
The deal:
In 18th-century Russia, a teenage princess arrives at the imperial court for an arranged marriage to the young emperor. Theirs is not a match made in heaven. While the bride, Catherine (Elle Fanning), is a dreamy bookworm who worships the thinkers of the French Enlightenment, the groom, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult), is a spoiled man-child who enjoys boozing, killing things, recreational sex and more boozing.
The series:
“The Great” (10 episodes, 2020)
Where to see it:
Hulu
The deal:
In 18th-century Russia, a teenage princess arrives at the imperial court for an arranged marriage to the young emperor. Theirs is not a match made in heaven. While the bride, Catherine (Elle Fanning), is a dreamy bookworm who worships the thinkers of the French Enlightenment, the groom, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult), is a spoiled man-child who enjoys boozing, killing things, recreational sex and more boozing.
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'Homemade'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 11:52 AM
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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:
Homemade (2020)
Where to see it:
Netflix
The deal:
Want to check out Maggie Gyllenhaal’s home in Vermont? Here’s your chance. Let’s be clear, though: Nosiness about the celebrity next door is not the best reason to watch Homemade, Netflix’s new collection of 17 short films created by filmmakers in quarantine. With offerings from celebrated directors around the world, all pitting their creativity against the restrictions of lockdown, this wildly diverse anthology has a lot more to recommend it than voyeurism.
The film:
Homemade (2020)
Where to see it:
Netflix
The deal:
Want to check out Maggie Gyllenhaal’s home in Vermont? Here’s your chance. Let’s be clear, though: Nosiness about the celebrity next door is not the best reason to watch Homemade, Netflix’s new collection of 17 short films created by filmmakers in quarantine. With offerings from celebrated directors around the world, all pitting their creativity against the restrictions of lockdown, this wildly diverse anthology has a lot more to recommend it than voyeurism.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'The Vast of Night'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Jul 7, 2020 at 12:16 PM
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.
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.
Monday, June 29, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'Curon'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 5:00 PM
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).
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).
Monday, June 22, 2020
Couch Cinema / Film / Movies Couch Cinema: 'Fast Color'
Posted By Margot Harrison on Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 4:48 PM
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.
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.
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