#and zombies one last night on direct tv no commercials for all Americans who have direct tv

[gar-trek]

He may eat brains but he's got no guts!

[rachelthompsonauthor]

The past two quarantine months have been like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime, and I turned 56 in January. So rather than regurgitate what you’ve likely read in the news or on social media, I’ve decided to share how I’ve spent my time these past two months along with random thoughts. I hope you’ll continue along with me as I share what I’m doing each week.

Books

Oh, how I’ve missed reading! With my business so insanely busy (for which I’m truly grateful) these past few years, I’ve barely had time to read little more than Slack, emails, texts, and social media updates. Not exactly satisfying for this lifelong, avid reader. This quarantine has allowed me a little bit of extra time, which I’ve put to good use.

In no particular order, here’s what I’ve read: 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow is fantastic. Read it in one sitting because I didn’t want any of the details of this lacy, incredibly intricate work to fade. I highly recommend it. A mix of fantasy, drama, and a love story (because in the end, aren’t all stories love stories?), anyone with a working brain will love this novel.

  Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is also superb. I’d heard about this book for a while, yet only got around to it because it’s also now a mini-series on Hulu (which I watched afterward – also very good, though the character arcs and the plot changed in crucial, at times startling, ways).

Curious if you’ve read the book and watched the series, what your thoughts are? I could write an entire post about it, yet I’ll only share this…

As a child, my parents hire a housekeeper. My folks both work full-time and we are not in any way rich or well-off. Neither of my folks has college degrees – Dad is an assistant manager at a chain drugstore and Mom has just completed x-ray tech school and works nights at San Bernardino County Hospital. We live in a small house on a long street in the smoggy Inland Empire of California.

There are two of us, my older sister and me. Then my mom gets pregnant when I’m nine and has my baby sister when I’m ten. My folks advertise for a housekeeper and Miss Louise answers. She’s African American and willing to work for the little they can pay her. She smokes a lot (outside only, so as “not to hurt the babies”), insists on wearing a uniform though my mom tells her it isn’t necessary and comes looking for us in her big old white Caddy if we aren’t home from school exactly 20 minutes after it lets out.

(Miss Louise’s husband’s name is George. If you are alive in the 70s and watch The Jeffersons, you understand why this is an endless source of amusement to my sister Caren and me.)

Being that young, neither Caren nor I understand what privilege means. We didn’t get whatever we wanted because my parents are always strapped, yet there is food on the table, and the lights are always on. Except for the occasional venture to Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm that one time (mom hated it), our vacations consist of driving to visit our Zayde (great-grandfather) in a nursing home in Santa Cruz, or some other relatives we don’t know somewhere in L.A. (I remember one great-aunt who drank. A lot.) We’d always stop at Cantor’s for a soup and sandwich (the highlight for us), and be back on the road. We don’t mind because it is anywhere but home.

Anyway – my entire point is that in Little Fires Everywhere – the show – Kerry Washington’s Mia is an artist who takes a maid job with Reese Witherspoon’s Elena Richardson’s family to keep an eye on her daughter Pearl, who is quite taken with the teenage Richardson clan. The racial and financial dichotomy is blatantly obvious: a rich family who’s seemingly got it all vs. a seemingly poor black single mother, which adds to the ‘fires’ mentioned in the title.

The book really made me think about my own privilege and despite how well my folks treated Louise, and how much we loved her, and she us, there would always be that wall. Granted, it was a business arrangement and my folks paid her for her services, and in truth, anyone could’ve answered the housekeeping ad. The fact that she was African American and we were white created a racial divide that’s undeniable.

The third book I read is Certain Cure by Jennifer Valoppi, also excellent. It’s the first in a series (parts two and three aren’t out yet, darn it). The novel chronicles the life of three generations of the Cummings family; Claire, a woman in her 70s who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Helene, her television journalist daughter and Justin, the teenage grandson whose adoration of his “Grams” leads him to discover the dark secret behind the miracle technology that is not only curing Claire of her cancer but tempting his mother with eternal youth, as traditional medical industries wage war against the mysterious doctor from China who threatens them all.

I had no idea what to expect with this one, and I’m glad I read it. Valoppi is a former TV journalist from NYC so she knows her stuff. I’m not particularly religious (or scientific), yet I didn’t find either the science or religious stuff bogged me down.  Fascinating read. I highly recommend it.

Movies and Shows

Gosh, so many. With four of us in the house (and two teens), it’s worth it to me to pay for Hulu and Netflix, Amazon Prime Video comes with my Amazon Prime membership already, plus my internet plan comes with AT&T Direct, Showtime, HBO, and other premium channels. For the amount of entertainment, it’s worth the money.

I watch movies and shows on my iPad at night, once I’m finally off my computer. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like a super loud TV with stereo surround-sound barking at me after a long day of noise and stress. So I go upstairs to my cozy bed, surround myself with blankets and pillows and cats, and snuggle in for a few hours to watch a movie or a few episodes of something I enjoy.

Another note: not a big ‘reality TV’ watcher, mostly because, as a writer, I prefer well-written shows. I also don’t like the negativity and yelling normally associated with those shows. That said, I do watch Vanderpump Rules (on Bravo) with my daughter (age 20). We bond.

Shows

Here’s what I’ve binged these past few quarantine months, show-wise (no links because you can Google):

Ray Donovan – ggggggreat! Heard it was wonderful, yet truly had no idea how awesome. Liev Schrieber is captivating as Ray. Flawed, human, sad, and, in case you don’t know, a childhood sexual abuse survivor (church abuse). I had no idea going in this would be a theme of the show, yet it was handled with care and truth. The entire supporting cast is also amazing. Every season is great. Watch it all. I hated to see it end.

Homeland – the first four or so seasons were mesmerizing. Then, I got bored. This last season had me falling asleep and then WHAM! that ending. Worth it.

Hunters – Good, not fantastically great. The twist in the last episode will get you, though.

Upload – Loved it! Thought it would be silliness (and in some places, it was, but that’s okay – we need a little silliness right now). Had a ton of heart which I love.

Bosch – come on, it’s Titus Welliver. He’s fantastic. This last season didn’t draw me in as much as the entire rest of the series, though. You?

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – terrific, all of it. Every season, every episode, every character.

Tales From The Loop – amazing. Anything having to do with time-travel or the bending of time, I’m a total sucker for. This hurt my brain in a good way.

The Feed – weird but good and thought-provoking.

Dark – by far, my favorite show year. A German show dubbed in English (you get used to it – don’t let that scare you off), this time-bending, decade-moving hit show spans two seasons and every episode is worth watching. And the music – my god. Amazing. Here’s a Spotify playlist link.

Movies

Parasite – thought-provoking. Took a while to get into it and then boom! It just goes full-on insanity. Well-written, well-acted, and the message of the movie is just, wow. No spoilers in case you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Hustlers – loved it. Whatever issues people have with strip clubs and ‘dancers,’ get over it. These girls are amazingly talented, are in amazing shape, and work hard to make money for their families. What I loved the most about the movie is that it’s all about the women; the men are only there as a plot device. It’s a movie entirely shot through the ‘female gaze’ (though of course, men will enjoy the dance scenes which are sexy, yet not unclothed). How many movies can say that?

Memento – I think I’m probably one of the few people who had never seen this neo-noir psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce looking like Brad Pitt (who was originally considered for the role). It was great, I think? LOL. My brain still hurts.

Call Me By Your Name – Lovely, sad, gorgeous. (And I will not make a juvenile peach joke.) And the music! Oh, my.

Zombieland – I hate zombies, I hate horror movies. I hate gore and squishy sounds. This movie was cute. (Not ready for the sequel, yet.)

Music

As mentioned above, the music in Dark sent me off on a ‘who are these talented musicians?’ lark. I’ve discovered so many. Here is who I’m listening to right now (all free on Spotify) and links provided here:

Apparat (you’ll recognize the opening theme of Dark and stay for the rest).

Agnes Obel – wondrous. I’ve played her entire catalog repeatedly since discovering her music on Dark. She’s become a commercial favorite as well now. Familiar is the song used in the show that’s received the most play.

Alev Lanz – otherworldly. I’ve not heard anyone like her. Her songs on the Dark soundtrack and Black Mirror are what she’s most noted for (May The Angels, and Fall Into Me, respectively), however, I love all of her work. Her harmonies are like nothing else. One song is layered with her voice and African throat singers – it’s gorgeous (May The Angels). She’s active on Twitter and we’ve interacted a few times. She’s beautifully transparent about her love of music and it shows in all her work.

Patrick Watson – I heard this song, Good Morning Mr. Wolf, on the Ray Donovan soundtrack and immediately clicked my SoundHound app. Who is this talented being? This song, in particular, sounds so large and cinematic – I wondered – is he is a film composer? (yes). A band? (yes). And so much more. I cannot get enough of all of his music, and still, I play this one song on repeat – repeatedly.

London Grammar – I discovered this band a few years ago and still adore them. Strong is still my favorite song, though Rooting For You is a close second. Hannah Reid’s vocals are big and beautiful.

Hilary Woods – ethereal and lovely. Especially the song Kith.

Sufjan Stevens – many of us just discovered him from the movie Call Me By Your Name soundscore, however, he’s been a working musician since the early 2000s. Talented beyond.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here. I made a Female Rockers list on Spotify which you’re welcome to.

Thoughts on Quarantine

My Business

Living in California, I’ve barely left the house in two months, with the exception of going to the pharmacy for meds or for the occasional physician appointment for me or the kids, because of the quarantine restrictions in place. And I’m okay with that.

I’m fortunate that my business is primarily online-only: I work with authors and small businesses on their branding, marketing, and promotion, so given that all real-life events are off the table, I’ve been quite busy working with my clients to ensure their products and services are still viable.

This doesn’t mean I don’t need help as a small business. I applied for an SBA loan and couldn’t even get onto the website the first time – it was pretty ridiculous – like the end scene in Beetlejuice. You all know who those first small business loans went to, right? Not small-potatoes people like me. So the second time around, it went much smoother, and I’m grateful to have received a small loan which will definitely help me keep going with rent, insurance, and other expenses.

I still did my annual non-profit initiative for writers, NaNoProMo (National Novel Promotion Month) this year over on my business site, BadRedhead Media, yet only for two weeks instead of the entire month. Daily blog posts from experts on everything publishing-related plus amazing giveaways. It’s always exhausting, yet I find enormous gratification in helping writers.

This year, however, getting writers to comment to win amazing, FREE giveaways was like pushing a house up a hill. I get it – people are focused on putting food on the table instead of commenting on blog posts, even if the giveaways were worth $500. That’s why I wanted to do this initiative this year – to help writers who are in a jam – yet only a smattering of writers participated.

I’m seriously rethinking if I want to do it next year given the financial cost as well as the personal toll. My first therapist, who I started seeing after I gave birth to my daughter Anya (I was terrified to leave her to go back to work, given my history with childhood sexual abuse), gave me this tip whenever I had trouble deciding whether to do something:

“If you ever aren’t sure if you should do something, ask yourself this question: Is this good for Rachel? If the answer is yes, do it. If the answer is no, don’t. It really is that simple.”

Self-care, y’all.

Social Media

I’ve stopped interacting with the crazies on social media (and who knows, maybe you’re one of them so truly, no offense), but I’d rather stay safe and keep my family safe by working exclusively at home – which I mostly do anyway – than venture back into face-to-face meetings with clients. I support four people with my business and if something happens to me, four people are doomed.

So the answer is simple to me: stay home, work from home, and don’t risk dying from this virus.

I don’t buy into any of this ridiculous conspiracy crap. Sorry, not sorry. You can if you want to. Spending time arguing with people online about it takes away time from my business, my kids, my guy, and my own sanity. Speaking of which…

Mental Health

There were a few mix-ups with my meds when this all started, and I couldn’t get my prescriptions filled and delivered before I ran out, so I ended up having about a week of insomnia which I’ve never had to deal with. I was a zombie (the non-squishy kind) and it sucked.

If you have insomnia, I’m sorry. I feel for you.

It’s all straightened out now, thank goodness. My son Lukas and I donned our masks and drove to the local CVS the other day because I couldn’t wait two days for my meds to be delivered. It felt like walking into a dystopian future walking in there: everyone in masks, tape six feet apart for the waiting line, plexiglass between us and the cashiers.

I’m thankful for these measures, of course, and wonder how long we’ll need them, or if this is our new normal?

My Writing

I finished the final edits on Broken People and sent it back to my editor. She’s had some health issues, so the delay is understandable. To be honest, I’m not in a huge hurry to launch a new book right now. Here are the questions that run through my mind:

Do people have money to purchase a new book?

If they do, will they want to read my new book?

If they do want to read my new book, will they take the money they do have to read mine, and then review it?

Does it even matter in the grand scheme of life? 

I’m an author just like any author – I want to get my work out there so people can read it, engage with it, connect with me. I hope they’ll like it, feel something, reflect on their own lives, learn something new, particularly about being a childhood sexual abuse survivor. It’s a weird limbo to be in right now.

Our New Normal

This phrase is bandied about quite a lot yet let’s face it: it’s life as we know it, now. The anxiety is real, too. I haven’t hugged or kissed my elderly parents who live two miles away in two months. I bring them toilet paper and cookies from our favorite bakery (drive up and trunk drop off, pay online only) and drop it on their porch.

All these scenarios run through my mind: If I go to do this, what happens if? I know I’m not the only one. And yet, we can’t predict anything. So I sit here, writing this post, safe inside my little house bubble, grateful I can pay my rent, put food on the table (delivered by Instacart, thankfully), and everyone around me is healthy.

What’s your new normal? What have you been reading, watching, and listening to? If you’ve stuck it out this far, I thank you. Would love to hear your comments! Safe hugs, y’all. 

***

Read more about Rachel’s experiences in the award-winning book, Broken Pieces.

She goes into more detail about living with PTSD and realizing the effects of how being a survivor affected her life in

Broken Places, available in print everywhere!

                The post This is How To Spend Quarantine With Me appeared first on Rachel Thompson.

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND June 14, 2019  - MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL, SHAFT, LATE NIGHT, THE DEAD DON’T DIE

I apologize for taking last week off, but I really needed a break, especially considering how late I was running on writing anything for the column. I also worry that the fact I write so much about the wide releases over at The Beat -- hitting the ‘net in about an hour -- means I don’t have so much to write here, and I don’t want to disappoint those who click on the link.

Hopefully, some of you are using this column to check up on limited releases and repertory screenings. Feel free to drop me a line or hit me up on Twitter if that’s the case, as I hate working in a vacuum.

Sadly, I don’t think there’s been much buzz for MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL (Sony), the attempt to revive and reboot a franchise without the original movie’s two stars. This has rarely worked in the past, and Will Smith is so well-liked, as seen by the success of the recent Aladdin. Directed by F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious), the new MiB are played by Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, both popular thanks to Thor: Ragnarok and the recent Aven gers: Endgame but not quite up to Smith when it comes to being a box office draw. I’m happy to see Emma Thompson back, although I’m sure she’ll be better used in this week’s expanding release Late Night, while Liam Neeson can be fun when given the right part.

Mini-Review: It’s officially the summer, so studios are starting to hope that film critics will go easier on their movies meant to be entertaining summer “popcorn fare.” That was certainly true of the original Men in Black, which combined a simple premise of an alien-fighting government agency with the charm of Will Smith.

Men in Black International has the same premise, but this time, instead of Smith, it has Tessa Thompson as Molly, a young girl who discovered the presence of the Men in Black. Twenty years later, she wants to become one herself. If you’ve seen the trailers and commercials, you already know that she’s accepted into the group and paired with Chris Hemsworth’s British Agent H.

There’s no point getting further into the plot, because it really doesn’t matter. It’s the exact same rookie MiB agent trying to keep up with the more experience agent who is having none of their youthful shit, as they encounter weird and often deadly CG aliens.

There’s a good reason Tessa Thompson has been cast in this movie, and that’s because she has a likeable personality in everything she does, and presumably, that’s enough to carry an MIB movie.  Similarly, I like Chris Hemsworth as an actor, but right now, he’s in danger of turning into Johnny Depp, basically famous and popular for one character then trying to imbue every character after that with what he thinks works with his audience. In Hemsworth’s case, Agent H is another arrogant and dumb dope always getting things wrong and being corrected by someone else, in this case Thompson’s Agent M. Those looking forward to seeing this movie for Emma Thompson or Liam Neeson may be disappointed by how little they actually appear in the film.

I certainly don’t entirely fault director F. Gary Gray for the movie’s problems, as he clearly was working with what he was given and doing the best he can. The CG and action are well done and so well-blended there’s no problems there, although the only alien that doesn’t seem like a rehash to previous MiB movies is the one voiced by Kumail Nanjiani, who gets in a few fun jabs at Hemsworth.

The best part of the movie probably comes in the third act when Rebecca Ferguson turns up as an alien arms dealer (with extra arms, of course) and somehow, the combination of her with the other three actors delivers some of the movie’s strongest moments… and then it goes back to the tired plot that didn’t really seem to be going anywhere

I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy Men in Black International just fine, but one really has to go into the movie with lowered expectations to think it’s any sort of improvement even over the worst of the previous movies (MiB 3).

For the most part, Tessa Thompson shines in an otherwise uninspired and mostly unfunny reboot that really doesn’t give much hope for the future of this franchise.

Rating: 6/10

I have to admit that I also wasn’t a very big fan of Tim Story’s SHAFT (New Line), which reunites Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree 19 years after the previous Shaft movie, which I also never really liked. Joining them this time is Independence Day: Resurgence star Jessie T. Usher, who also will be appearing on the upcoming The Boys series on Amazon. You probably won’t know it from the amount of coverage you’ll be seeing from me this week, but hey, work is work, and who am I to pass up a chance to interview Jackson and Roundtree, not once but twice? No idea when that coverage is running but I’ll post links here when it does.

Adding a bunch of my features on the movie:

AM NEW YORK FEATURE

COLLIDER INTERVIEW WITH JACKSON, ROUNDTREE AND USHER

COLLIDER INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR TIM STORY

I’m always excited for a new Jim Jarmusch movie, even though I’ve been mixed on some of his more recent films, including Only Lovers Left Alive, his vampire movie starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston that I seemed to be one of the few people who wasn’t that into it. With THE DEAD DON’T DIE (Focus Features), Jarmusch explores the world of zombies, and I think the tone and mood of this one are more in line with Jarmusch’s earlier work but also with Romero’s zombie movies, although there isn’t as much zombie gore as some might hope.

My Review of The Dead Don’t Die from The Beat

Also expanding nationwide this weekend (presumably) is Amazon Studios’ LATE NIGHT, the Mindy Kaling-penned comedy co-starring Emma Thompson. I was mostly bummed about not doing this column last week because it meant delaying my review, but I do hope that people will go out see this very funny movie based on Kaling’s own experiences in late night. I think it’s one of Thompson’s best performances in a long time, although I did think she was great in last year’s The Children Act, a movie that was sadly overlooked by most film critics/writers.

Mini-Review: Anyone who has ever underestimated Mindy Kaling from her TV work on The Office and The Mindy Show will never do so again after seeing Late Night. I’m saddened to say that I’m one of those who has learned that lesson the hard way.

The premise is simple with Kaling playing Molly Patel, a young woman with dreams of being a comedy writer, something that becomes more possible when she’s hired as a writer on the prestigious talk show “Late Night with Katherine Newbury.” What Molly doesn’t know is that she’s a bit of a “diversity hire” once Katherine (Emma Thompson) realizes her writing room is all white males. Molly has troubles fitting in at first but her bright personality proves to be what Katherine needs to start examining her own life, as the network tries to take her show away from her.

Directed by Nisha Ganatra, an indie filmmaker whose work I have sadly overlooked until now, Late Night is a great example of the quality of work that can be created when an actor is allowed to make her passion project.  It’s immediately obvious what Kaling has brought to her television shows as a writer, performer and producer as Late Night.

Kaling and Ganatra’s impeccable storytelling includes many characters around Molly and Katherine that add to their story without taking the attention away from them.Thompson has always been a fine actor but in Katherine Newbury, she’s been given a present that will bring her back to the forefront come awards time. Thompson creates a character that can be funny in the same was as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada but also quite sympathetic, and that’s a hard balance to create.

Overall, Late Night is just a joyous breakout film for Kaling.  If you can imagine a cross between Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” and Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick, then you may have a better idea whether Late Night will be your thing. Rating: 8.5/10

Interview with Director Nisha Ganatra

You can see how I think the above movies will fare over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

Although the big news this weekend is Late Night (presumed) expanding nationwide, as well as the wider-than-usual release for Jim Jarmusch’s latest, there are still a number of movies opening in select cities I want to draw attention to.

One of my favorite films from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival was Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer’s PLUS ONE (RLJE Films), which stars Jack Quaid (from The Hunger Games and the upcoming The Boys series) and Maya Erskine from Pen15as long-time best friends Ben and Alice who decide to accompany each other to an upcoming round of weddings, acting as wingmen to help the other one pick up men and women. As you can imagine, it only works out to a point.

I’m not embarrassed to say that romantic-comedies are a bit of a guilty pleasure with me, and Plus One is a really good one, since it’s both funny and romantic, which isn’t something we often get from studio fare in this vein. I absolutely love Maya Erskine, though I haven’t had a chance to check out her Hulu series just yet; there are few actors who are so talented at being hilariously funny but also delivering on the drama when necessary. I feel like Quaid is trying to keep up with her. If you’re the type of person who gets dragged to weddings every other weekend, this movie is definitely for you.  Plus One will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday, and I definitely recommend seeking it out, especially for a fun date night movie.

Another really good drama coming out this weekend is Sienna Miller’s AMERICAN WOMAN (Roadside Attractions/Vertical), which stars Ms. Miller as Debra, a 30-something woman whose teen daughter goes missing, leaving her to care for her grandson. She’s able to deal with the loss with the help of her sister (Christina Hendricks) and mother (Amy Madigan), but also ends up with a series of bad men until she meets Aaron Paul. Directed by Jake Scott, Ridley Scott’s son, who made the drama Welcome to the Rileys back in 2010, this movie lives or dies on the performance by Miller, and she is pretty fantastic in a role that covers 11 years in this woman’s life. This is definitely a smaller slice-of-life movie that covers the things her character goes through in order to find her best self, but I generally liked the entire cast, which is quite diverse, including Will Sasso (from Mad TV) and the underrated Pat Healy as one of the most abusive men with whom Debra ends up.

Opening at the Metrograph Friday and in L.A. on June 28 is Sophie Huber’s documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, a terrific look at the classic jazz label that’s still going strong thanks to current President Don Was (yes, he of “Walk the Dinosaur” fame) but is also branching out into other jazz-influenced genres. I really dug how Huber told this story, featuring new interviews that’s framed by a recording being done by the current incarnation of the Blue Note All-Stars. If you like jazz or  even have a passing interest, it’s good to know the history of the genre and Blue Note’s part in it.

A movie I’ve been wanting to see but just haven’t had the chance to is FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN  (Sundance Selects), directed by Don Argott (The Art of the Steal) and Sheena M. Joyce and starring Alec Baldwin as the visionary who made his way up through the auto industry only to be disgraced when charged with drug trafficking. Also starring Morena Baccarin, Josh Charles and more, it opens in select cities on Friday.

Miranda Bailey’s BEING FRANK  (The Film Arcade) features comedian Jim Gaffigan as the title character. Set in 1992, it stars Logan Miller as teenager Phillip, who wants to leave his small town to go to music school in New York, something his father (Gaffigan’s Frank) forbids. Philip decides to go on a wild spring break but he then discovers that his father has another whole family in another town.

Jay Stern’s SAY MY NAME  (Electric Entertainment) opens in select cities and on VOD Friday. It stars Lisa Brenner and Nick Blood as two strangers who have a one-night stand that’s interrupted by a robbery, sending them across Wales to try to retrieve their stolen property.

Thomas Stuber’s German drama IN THE AISLES  (Music Box Films) stars Franz Rogowski (Transit) as a guy who just started working at a big box store where he becomes obsessed with a co-worker (Sandra Hüller from Toni Erdmann) but when he starts delving into the secrets she’s keeping, he begins returning to his own dark habits. It opens at the Village Eastin New York on Friday.

Less than a month after her last film Poms bombed, Diane Keaton is back in Joel Hopkins’ HAMPSTEAD  (IFC Films) starring opposite Brendan Gleeson as Emily, a widow in an expensive apartment in the title London neighborhood that she can’t afford. Gleeson plays Donald, a gruff loner living in a cabin who just wants to be left in peace, but when his home is threatened, Emily has found her new cause. Based on a true story, it also stars Lesley Manville, and it will play at the IC Center this Friday.

Kat Rohrer and Gil Levanon’s award-winning doc Back to the Fatherland  (First Run Features) will open in New York (Cinema Village) and L.A. (Laemmle Music Hall). It deals with the friendship between the two filmmakers despite their different backgrounds – Kat is the granddaughter of a Nazi officer while Gil is that of a Holocaust survivor – and they seek out other grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who have moved back to Germany and Austria.

Opening on Wednesday at the Film Forum is Muayad Alayan’s psychological thriller The Reports of Sarah and Saleem (Dada Films) about the clandestine affair between an Israeli café owner from West Berlin and her Palestinian bread vendor from the East, made more complicated when their spouses find out. So it’s sort of a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in Israel? It actually sounds intriguing.

I’m bummed that I didn’t get a chance to see divisive Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas’ latest, Our Time  (Monument Releasing), but at three hours, it was just hard to find time to watch it. This one is about a Mexican family living in the countryside raising fighting bulls who is torn apart by the woman of the house falling in love with another man. No, I have no idea why this story had to be three hours long, but it will open at the Quad Cinema in New York Friday.

Lastly, there’s David Hackl’s Daughter of the Wolf  (Vertigo), starring MMA star Gina Carano as a military specialist who comes back from the Middle East to claim her inheritance only to find her son has been kidnapped.  Also starring living legend Richard Dreyfuss, it opens in a bunch of theaters, but this is more of a VOD special.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Premiering on Netflix (and in select theaters) Wednesday is Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, an amazing film resuscitated from 1975 as Scorsese goes on the road with Dylan during his 1975 fall tour. (Besides streaming on the network, it can also be seen in select theaters like New York’s IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center.)

Also, Adam Sandler is back with his latest comedy MURDER MYSTERY, reuniting him with Jennifer Aniston as a couple who go on a trip to Europe where they’re invited for a party on a yacht by a billionaire (Terence Stamp) who ends up being murdered with them being the prime suspects. So Sandler, a New York detective, needs to work with a local crimefighter, played by Luke Evans.

Also, the doc Life Overtakes Me which looks at the Resignation Syndrome being suffered by refugee children in Sweden as they end up in a coma-like state for months and years with their parents having few options to help them.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

A few decent festivals are starting this weekend, a couple in New York and on in Chcago, but the one that definitely shouldn’t be missed is the annual BamCinemaFest, which kicks off tonight with Lulu Wang’s amazing Sundance favorite The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. Unfortunately I didn’t get to nearly as many of the screenings as I hoped, but I’m sure you can find one or two gems in the line-up this year.

The annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival will kick off at Film at Lincoln Center this week with a wide variety of documentaries, dramas and foreign films. I haven’t seen any of the movies but really, with this festival, you can rarely go wrong in terms of learning what’s going in the rest of the world.

Kicking off in Chicago this week is the Cinepocalypse Genre Film Festival, which features a wide variety of genre films both old and new. It kicks off on Thursday with the World Premiere of Glenn Danzig’s Verotika and in a similar vein, there will be events like Gwar vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare and Gwar vs. Cinepocalypse plus there’s lots of vintage genre including Tammy and the T-Rex from 1994 and Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) in 70mm! Some of the big horror films from other festivals like Villains, The Lodge and Satanic Panic will also get their Midwest Premieres. It’s a fairly robust schedule that runs from June 13 through the 20.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

The Jim Jarmusch retrospective continues through the weekend with Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) with Jarmusch in person Thursday night, and 1991’s Night on Earth as well as a couple reshows. Late Nites at Metrograph will be screening the action-comedy The God of Cookery (1996) starring the amazing Stephen Chow, while Playtime: Family Matinees will screen Jimmy Stewart’s 1962 film Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation.  Sine Sunday is Father’s Day, the Metrograph is screening a couple father-friendly baseball comedies like the 1962 movie Safe at Home!, starring Mickey Mantle, as well as John Badham’s 1976 comedy Bingo Long Travelling All Stars and Moto Kings, starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Wednesday matinee is Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964), starring Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery, then the Weds-Thursday double feature is Dean Martin’s The Wrecking Crew co-starring Bruce Lee with Hammerhead, both from 1968. Friday and Saturday will be screenings of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), then Sunday and Monday is Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time In the West (1968). (Not sure if you noticed a trend there but all four movies are from the same year!) The weekend’s KIDEE MATINE is the Japanese sci-fi film The Green Slime … from 1968! Friday’s midnight movie is Tarantino’s own Inglourious Bastereds while Saturday is Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969 – changing things up a little).  Monday’s matinee is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford  (2007) from Andrew Dominik, and then Tuesday’s Grindhouse double feature is Model Shopand They Came to Rob Las Vegas.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Opening Friday is a new restoration of Jennie Livingston’s Paris is Burning  (1991) which looks at New York in the ‘80s from the perspective of the African-American and Latinx drag scene. The movie ran for six months back in 1991 when it first played at the Film Forum. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is Spike Lee’s Crooklyn from 1994. The Jewish Soul series continues this weekend with Maurice Schwartz’s 1939 film Tevya, while Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad will continue playing for another week, as well. Also, if you haven’t had a chance to see Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, it will play as part of The Hour of Liberation series which also ends on Thursday.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Cassavetes & Scorsese: Love is Strange, the series that just won’t end, continues on Friday with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymoreand A Woman Under the Influence, both from 1974 and a pretty good double feature actually.  On Saturday from noon until midnight, there’s a Camp Void 6-Film Marathon, co-presented by Cinematic Void, which includes a number of classic genre films, as well as a couple comedies from the ‘70s and ‘80s.Kubrick’s long-time assistant Leon Vitali will be back to present a screening of The Shining (1980) for Father’s Day. Although it’s already sold out, the Egyptian will have a special John Woo double feature of Hard Boiled  (1992) and Face/Off (1997) with John Woo in person!

AERO  (LA):

As with New York’s Quad, the AERO is sharing the Pauline Kael centennial love with The Pearls of Pauline: Kael at 100 with Children of Paradise (1945) on Thursday, a double feature of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Thieves Like Us (1974) on Friday, and then Diner (1982) and Melvin and Howard (1980) on Saturday. For Father’s Day Sunday, there’s a special Indiana Jones TRIPLE feature of the first three movies, all in 35mm with the third film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade celebrating its 30thAnniversary.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Because I had to skip last week’s column, I wan’t able to write about the Quad’s amazing new series Losing It at the Movies: Pauline Kael at 100, which pays respect to the film critic who would have turned 100 next week. The movies being shown this weekend include Brian De Palma’s The Fury (one of my personal faves from 1978), Clint Eastwood’s The Gauntlet  (1977), the horror classic Re-Animator (1985), Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and more.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance  goes with David Lynch’s Eraserhead  (1977), Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad will screen Vittoio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves  (1948), while Late Night Favorites: Springgoes with Ridley Scott’s Alien(again), Suspiria (again), The Holy Mountain (again).. and Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.  Seems like Bicycle Thieves is the best bet in terms of stuff that isn’t shown a lot.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Besides the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, the Upper West Side theaters are beginning an extensive Ermanno Olmi Retrospectivethat includes films from the Italian director ranging from 1958’s Time Stood Still and 1961’s Il Posto through 2014’s Greenery Will Bloom Again. I honestly don’t know if I’ve seen any of his movies but it’s an amazing series with two screenings of each movie.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

On Saturday, MOMI will screen Burt Reynolds’ Hooper  (1978), directed by Hal Needham, in 35mm, as well as Sidney Lumet’s musical movie The Wiz (1978) starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as part of a StarringDiana Ross series. That series also includes Lady Sings the Blues (1973) and Mahogany (1975), both screening Saturday.

MOMA (NYC):

The extensive Jean-Claude Carrière will finally conclude on Sunday, and as before, I have nothing to add about it.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985) will be shown on 35mm on Friday and Saturday

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight screening is the 1987 film Hard Ticket to Hawaii.

Next week, Disney is back to dominate with Toy Story 4 as Woody and Buzz Lightyear shouldn’t have too many worries facing the return of Chucky in Orion Pictures’ Child’s Play.

[njawaidofficial]

Critic's Notebook: In George Romero's Zombie Films, a Cathartic Form of Escapism

http://styleveryday.com/2017/07/17/critics-notebook-in-george-romeros-zombie-films-a-cathartic-form-of-escapism/

Critic's Notebook: In George Romero's Zombie Films, a Cathartic Form of Escapism

6:00 PM PDT 7/16/2017 by John DeFore

The ‘Night of the Living Dead’ director all but created the contemporary film/television zombie, offering bored or anxious American consumers a fresh and indelible fantasy.

George Romero, who died Sunday at 77, had an impact on contemporary pop culture that is difficult to overstate. Other living filmmakers, like George Lucas and Martin Scorsese, transformed genres; Romero all but created one.

Yes, there were “zombies” in movies before his Night of the Living Dead came along in 1968. But the wretched victims of 1932’s White Zombie and later schlock movies bore little resemblance to Romero’s ghouls. Before 1968, zombies tended to be people enslaved by voodoo or revived as slaves by evil scientists; Romero’s mysterious plague of widespread corpse reanimation — and the peculiar way these undead beings threatened the still-living — was something new, and lasting.

That was especially true once Romero and cowriter John Russo’s vision comingled in the public imagination with that of Richard Matheson, whose novel I Am Legend inspired the 1971 film The Omega Man. Combine that story’s eerily emptied-out urban spaces and Living Dead‘s shuffling, flesh-hungry hordes, and you have everything you need to make a phenomenally successful TV series for AMC.

It turned out that the zombie-apocalypse scenario was one of the most captivating daydreams of escape from the numbing routines of American consumer capitalism. A mature adult may find it hard to fantasize seriously about learning he was born on Krypton or inventing an Iron Man suit. But who hasn’t done a mental inventory of the kitchen and the tool shed and wondered, How long could I survive if it all hit the fan? And how exciting would it be to try? Mentally transforming one’s coworkers and neighbors into zombies lets one imagine all sorts of cathartic mayhem without feeling too guilty.

As he responded to the surprising success of his first film with sequels in 1978 and 1985, Romero made it impossible to ignore the social critiques underpinning his horrifying fantasies. Dawn of the Dead took place in that new temple of commerce, the indoor shopping mall; Day of the Dead suggested that the impulses of testosterone-jacked military men are as big a threat as brain-devouring monsters.

Romero then took twenty years off from directing Dead films, letting the world catch up to him. A 2004 Dawn remake showed a new generation of moviegoers how scary that film’s premise was; Danny Boyle put a terrifying spin on the format in 28 Days Later (please, let’s for once skip the fast-versus-slow-zombies debate). And in Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg paid perhaps the highest compliment to their forebear, showing that a Romero-style film could be a full-bore comedy and still scare us.

When he returned, Romero refused to repeat himself. Most sequels to trailblazing films are variations on a theme, changing as little as possible; as enjoyable as it is, The Walking Dead has largely told the same story over and over for seven seasons. But in each Dead movie, Romero followed his premise to a new logical conclusion, thought more about how humans would relate to zombies and to each other once the world began to end. Continuing his habit of working (mostly) outside the studio system and (always) with budgets dwarfed by that of the Dawn remake, he saw little commercial success.

But he remained revered by horror fans, and viewed with affection even by many outside that circle. Who could fail to admire his humor, his longevity, his desire to expand the horizons of the world he created?

Some of his most loving fans are surely already inverting the traditional “rest in peace” benediction, imagining the auteur having a hard time staying in the ground once he’s buried. Expect to see fond cartoons of a Zombie George out there online, if they aren’t there already. In Survival of the Dead, the last movie he directed, Romero imagined a clan of humans who kept their reanimated loved ones chained up safely, unwilling to accept they were permanently lost. If anything actually does happen after death that isn’t just a big, blank void, one thing is certain: George Romero will have some ideas about it.

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