The weekend of July 4 is usually the biggest movie weekend of the summer, but this year it has been silenced by the new coronavirus pandemic. And while drive-ins are having a moment, most movie theaters across the country are still closed.
But there are still new movies coming out. Every weekend since the pandemic began, on streaming services and through “virtual theatrical” releases, new and newly available movies have arrived to delight moviegoers of all stripes.
This weekend, seven movies deserve your attention. There is a family drama starring two pillars of French cinema, and a film about a young man drawn to radicalism. There are four documentaries covering very different terrain: a profile of a civil rights icon, a portrait of a girl in Scotland’s working class, a searing exploration of the dangers faced by Russian LGBTQ + activists, and a strangest account. than fiction. an entire town ripped off. And one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time is finally available for all to see (with a Disney + subscription).
Or, if none of these pique your interest, watch one of this year’s 28 best movies so far.
Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2015 musical Hamilton It is more than an Internet favorite: it is one of the most innovative musicals in Broadway history. And now it’s also a movie. Recorded in June 2016, the month the show broke records for the Tonys, this film version of Hamilton It more or less replicates the experience of watching the show in the theater with the original cast, including Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Chris Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, and Jasmine Cephas Jones. That is enough to attract any Hamilton fan, but the movie is a truly fantastic watch for beginners and veterans alike: camera close-ups and panoramic shots offer a better view of the performances than you can have from any seat in the theater, and the effect Radical about choosing people of color to play historically white characters is much clearer when you see the actors at work. Hamilton it’s set to be the summer movie, and it feels more vital in 2020 than ever.
How to look at it: Hamilton airs on Disney +.
John Lewis: Good problem
Civil rights pioneer John Lewis spoke at the March on Washington, marched from Selma to Montgomery, and has served in the House of Representatives since 1987. His three-volume graphic novel memoirs, March, won several awards, including the National Book Award in 2016 for the third installment. He has also been attacked by Donald Trump and is being treated for pancreatic cancer. Therefore, it is more than appropriate that he is now the subject of a documentary that traces the general contours of his life and career through archive footage, scenes from his tireless campaign campaign for colleagues such as Stacey Abrams, and interviews with Lewis and many of his colleagues.
As documentaries of this type tend to do, John Lewis: Good problem He overlooks the details of some of the most interesting and controversial parts of Lewis’s career, such as his 1986 candidacy for Congress against Julian Bond, which reveals some major ideological and tactical disagreements among black voters in Georgia and in the United States. usually. Lewis is a figure important enough in history to deserve a more revealing portrait in the future. But John Lewis: Good problem he’s still a valuable and interesting introduction to how and why people fought in the civil rights movement and are still fighting today, and he’s a noble tribute to a man who has been there for all that.
How to look at it: John Lewis: Good problem It is available to rent or buy digitally on services including Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube and Vudu. For a complete list, visit the movie’s website.
Narrowsburg
Narrowsburg it’s a weird real-life story, one that ended up shaking an entire small town. In upstate New York, the small village of Narrowsburg one day discovered the arrival of two glamorous strangers, who had connections in the movie business. The strangers launched a film festival (which, they proclaimed, would become the “Sundance of the East”) and filmed a movie with the participation of the entire city. So things got really, really weird. Director Martha Shane keeps you guessing what was really going on: Narrowsburg It is full of twists, as it paints a poignant portrait of the appeal of show business in American life.
How to look at it: Narrowsburg It is available to rent or buy digitally on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.
Scheme Birds
One of the most ignored documentaries of 2019 is finally available to watch at home. Scheme Birds plays as a coming-of-age story, a vérité portrait of the teenage Gemma, who lives with her grandfather in Scotland. Directors Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin follow Gemma for three years as she causes trouble with her friends, raises birds with her grandfather, falls in love, has a baby, and tries to decide what the future holds for her. Gemma tells her own story, explaining what she thinks, feels and does. The film is a different kind of study of adolescent life that we are used to, intimate and raw without fabricated drama. (I often thought about Andrea Arnold’s movies, especially Fishbowl, while looking at him.) And without sentimentality, he brings up the challenges that a girl like Gemma faces when trying to change her life.
How to look at it: Scheme Birds It is available to rent or buy digitally on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play or Vimeo.
The truth
The truth is another quiet family drama from Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters) – this time, set in France. The great movie star Catherine Deneuve plays a great movie star named Fabienne, who experiences a lot of friction in her relationship with her daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche). Lumir is a screenwriter who lives with her husband actor (Ethan Hawke) and daughter in the United States; She and her family travel to France to celebrate the release of Fabienne’s memories, and sparks fly when it turns out that Fabienne’s account of her past doesn’t match Lumir’s memories. The story explores the nature of memory, truth, and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves in a story of gentle and bittersweet love and repentance.
How to look at it: The truth It is available for digital rental or purchase on platforms including Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, and more. For a complete list, visit the movie’s website.
Welcome to chechnya
People who identify as LGBTQ + experience opposition and difficulty around the world. But in the Russian republic of Chechnya, and the regime backed by Vladimir Putin led by strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, the state is kidnapping and killing them with impunity. Welcome to chechnya, who won an award for his edition at Sundance, carefully follows several Chechens fleeing for their lives and others trying to shelter them and make way for countries where they could be safe. Directed by investigative journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker David France, the film digitally hides the faces of fleeing people, a technique for hiding the “truth” that becomes even more powerful when it suddenly becomes part of the story.
How to look at it: Welcome to chechnya airs on HBO and HBO Max.
Young Ahmed
In movies like The promise (nineteen ninety six) The son (2002), and Two days one night (2015), the Dardenne brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc have told stories about people on the outskirts of French and Belgian society, exploring the ways in which poor people, immigrants and other marginalized people work to stay afloat. His last movie Young Ahmed, is the story of a young man who is radicalized by his magnet and tries to kill his teacher, which seems an uncertain premise. But the Dardennes handle it deftly, subtly criticizing the notion that a young man who has been radicalized simply needs some exposure to generously liberal tolerance to “see the light.” Young Ahmed He recognizes the complex factors that drive a teenager to the point of embracing dangerous ideologies and the deep-seated reasons that someone like Ahmed might respond to men who want to turn him into hard-line violence.
Where to watch it: Young Ahmed It receives its streaming premiere on the Criterion Channel.
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