America has been besieged by the novel coronavirus for under a month now, with over 100,000 cases in the U.S. alone, as of this writing. Two of the first celebrities to test positive were no less than Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The power couple learned of their diagnosis while in Australia, prepping for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, which has since been put on hold. The news came on March 11, when the two self-quarantined. But now, on March 28, they revealed they’ve been able to make it back home to Los Angeles.
Of course, just because they’re back from the other side of the planet doesn’t mean they’re galivanting about outdoors. Los Angeles remains under quarantine, the streets empty except for those getting essentials or doing solitary exercising (that is, of course, if they’re obeying the rules).
“We’re home now and, like the rest of America, we carry on with sheltering in place and social distancing,” the two-time Oscar-winner wrote. “Many, many thanks to everyone in Australia who looked after us. Their care and guidance made possible our return to the USA. And many thanks to all of you who reached out with well wishes. Rita and I appreciate it.”
He ended, as he always does, with his apparent nickname: “Hanx.”
The news of their return broke Friday, at places like Entertainment Weekly, who reported that the two were photographed driving in L.A. Earlier last week Hanks gave an update following their two-week quarantine, writing, “We feel better.” They also advised anyone with symptoms to stay indoors, as they did. “Sheltering in place works like this: You don’t give it to anyone — You don’t get it from anyone. Common sense, no?”
Anyway, good for them, and hopefully the comically long flight from Oz to L.A. was a peaceful one. To the rest of you, do what Turner of Turner and Hooch says and remain indoors.
While most of America is attempting to self-quarantine in the wake of the spread of COVID-19 and the Coronavirus pandemic, the entertainment that keeps us sane while indoors is arguably more important than ever. Already a beloved show, Ru Paul’s Drag Race is continuing to hold down the fort, airing new episodes of the fierce competition between queens who want to come out on top. And during the signature lip sync portion of the show in the latest episode, Ru Paul and the show’s producers slyly made another move at representation by selecting Kim Petras’ shimmering bop, “Heart To Break.”
Uproxx premiered the surreal fairy-tale video for this track when it came out back in spring of 2018, and it helped put Kim on the map as part of pop’s new elite, culminating in her debut full-length, Clarity, released last year. Kim is the youngest person to ever undergo gender reassignment surgery, and has become one of the most prominent transgender stars in the music industry. She hasn’t showed any sign of slowing down since the release of Clarity, either, immediately following it up with another mixtape in October, Turn Off The Lights, a continuation of Turn Off The Light Vol. 1.
Watch two queens battle it out to Kim’s song in Season 12, Episode 5 of Drag Race above.
With the number of coronavirus cases in the United States breaking the 100,000 mark this past week, hospitals and other health care buildings have been struggling to keep their employees safe, especially given the continued nationwide shortage of masks. Looking to lessen the shortage in his community, Future has announced that he will soon donate masks to healthcare works and coronavirus patients.
Future and his non-profit, FreeWishes Foundation, will team up with Atlanta Sewing Style to begin the creation of the masks for their #MaskOn campaign, named after Future’s 2017 hit song. The masks will be hand-made by Atlanta Sewing Style and their network of over 500 sewers and designers before they are sent off to Atlanta hospitals.
“We recognize how alarming and critical the need is for medical equipment, so we have stepped in to help, by ensuring that masks are provided to healthcare professionals and patients, currently hospitalized,” Future said. “Healthcare professionals, on the frontlines of this pandemic, are possibly risking their lives.”
Future’s mother and FreeWishes co-founder, Stephanie Jester, also spoke on the campaign on the foundation’s website. “I think that our healthcare professionals are the heroes in this situation and they are risking their lives for everyone, so it is our responsibility to help protect them.”
To read the full statement about the #MaskOn campaign, head to the FreeWishes website here.
The NBA’s most prominent group of friends are the Banana Boat crew, made up of LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, and despite the fact that he was not in the famous picture, Carmelo Anthony. Four of the best players of their era, this group includes a number of championships, All-Star appearances, and moments that have captivated basketball fans over the course of their careers.
We’ll also occasionally get stories about this friendship from members of the group, something that occurred on Friday when Anthony and Wade had a conversation with one another on Instagram. Gabrielle Union wanted Anthony to “tell the story of when we were in the Bahamas and it didn’t look like you were gonna make it,” a vague prompt that excited the pair of future Hall of Fame inductees. Basically, Anthony got a little too eager to spend as much time as he possibly could snorkeling while on vacation, and as a result, he got caught in the current.
Once James realized what was going on, Wade said he dove in “like that commercial that he had, the LeBrons,” and got Anthony out.
We don’t have games but at least we get cool stories: “Bron jumps off the boat like he’s MacGyver.” pic.twitter.com/oMo4rkMlWC
“I’ve seen LeBron do a lot of amazing things on the court. Off the court, when he went and saved Melo’s life…” Wade said before Anthony confirmed that James did, indeed, save his life. It is a pretty scary story, but fortunately everything ended up ok and Anthony is able to laugh about it now. And at the very least, this gives me a reason to link the old Nike commercial with the LeBrons, which is always fun.
It’s been nearly five months since the tragic passing of Juice WRLD, and many are far from over his death. One of those people is Kid Cudi, who took to Twitter to share a heartfelt tribute to the late rapper.
It hurts we never got to work together. When we met at Coachella I was surprised u were even a fan. I didnt feel so old after all haha I got something just for u I hope u love. All for you brother. Tell my dad I said hey. Love u man. https://t.co/XtmrmDZj2q
Cudi began with quoting a tweet from Juice back in 2018, one that came shortly after “Lucid Dreams” had begun to achieve mainstream success. In the old tweet he wrote, “I need to work with you legend.” In the new tweet, Cudi added, “it hurts we never got to work together.” Cudi also wrote, “When we met at Coachella I was surprised u were even a fan. I didnt feel so old after all haha I got something just for u I hope u love. All for you brother.”
In a second tweet, Cudi shared a screenshot of text messages from him and Juice WRLD following their first meeting at Coachella in 2019. In the texts, Juice WRLD expresses his appreciation for meeting the Cudi, to which he responded, “So awesome finally meeting u. Let’s stay in touch, im runnin around a bit but hopefully we can get up.”
Details on when Cudi will share his tribute to Juice WRLD remain to be seen. Last year, Cudi also confirmed that an album and tour would see arrive in 2020, but with the coronavirus impacting the industry in a number of ways, keeping to that promise may prove very difficult.
Netflix has been working in a movie version of Dragon’s Lair, the legendary (and legendarily maddening) arcade game in which players try to keep a brave but accident-prone knight, known as Dirk the Derring, from untold perils. Now it appears they may have found their Dirk: As per The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Reynolds is in talks to take on a role that requires both action and comedy.
It makes sense to turn Dragon’s Lair into a movie, as it basically already was one. First released in 1983, it stood out from the likes of Donkey Kong and Space Invaders with its cutting-edge technology, which used early laserdiscs to create an interactive film. Players could control the fate of Dirk, out to rescue a princess held captive in the lair of an evil dragon, by moving the joystick in the right direction. If they failed — and players often did — Dirk was treated to an amusingly nasty death. The game made buckets of money due to its difficulty and because it cost 50 cents as opposed to the standard quarter.
Dragon’s Lair was animated by Don Bluth, who had dragged a number of fellow Disney animators away from the cartoon giant, forming his own company. Among the films they made were The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, and The Land Before Time.
The film based on Bluth’s game will be written by Dan and Kevin Hageman, who have credits on The Lego Movie as well as last year’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark — a good sign that it’ll retain the game’s signature mix of adventure and humor.
The coronavirus has caused a number of music festivals to either cancel or reschedule for late summer or fall. Lovers And Friends recently announced their festival would be moved to August 9 while Coachella, also under the Goldenvoice umbrella, will now unfold in mid-October. And now Primavera Sound while join in on the late-summer fun, announcing a new date for the Barcelona leg of their festival.
The heads of Primavera Sound, which originally scheduled for June 3-7, released a statement on their website, breaking the news.
There are things that only happen once in a lifetime. The current global COVID-19 health crisis is, unfortunately, one of them. But it won’t be the only one… Faced with this constantly changing scenario, the restrictions imposed by the authorities on the celebration of public shows and on the free movement of people (making the participation of the announced artists difficult and in many cases impossible) and in coordination with the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council and the Sant Adrià de Besòs City Council, we are forced to postpone the upcoming edition of Primavera Sound Barcelona for reasons of force majeure known to us all.
It remains to be seen whether the new dates, August 26-30, will result in any changes to the lineup. Back in January, Primavera Sound announced that Tyler The Creator, Lana Del Rey, and The Strokes would headline, while Beck, Bad Bunny, Brockhampton, Young Thug, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Kim Petras, Koffee, and many more are also set to perform as well.
To read Primavera’s statement on the new festival date, click here.
Previously on the Best and Worst of Smackdown: Rob Gronkowski danced a jig, humped the ring post, and humiliated a wrestler to call WWE Celebrity Guest Bingo. Plus, Otis made a HAM sandwich out of any heel willing to show to to work during a global pandemic.
One more thing: Hit those share buttons! Spread the word about the column on Facebook, Twitter and whatever else you use. Be sure to leave us a comment in our comment section below as well. I know we always ask this, and that this part is copy and pasted in every week, but we appreciate it every week.
Here’s the Best and Worst of WWE Friday Night Smackdown for March 27, 2020.
Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Curtain
WWE
This column contains some reported WrestleMania news spoilers. Just wanted to let you know. No match results or anything, but if for some reason you’re reading about Smackdown on a wrestling blog and haven’t been inundated with OH NO WRESTLEMANIA news, I don’t necessarily want to be the one to break it to you.
Watching this week’s Friday Night Smackdown felt like two hours of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Per multiple reports, Roman Reigns opted to back out of his Universal Championship main event match against clown killer Bill Goldberg due to, well, you know, being immunocompromised after two battles with leukemia and not wanting to catch a virus that could kill him. That match has already been taped, too, with Roman being replaced by just the worst possible backup option. They could’ve shoehorned the Constable King in there or whatever, I guess, but WrestleMania, your main event, woof. I can’t WAIT to see what THAT Jackhammer looks like. I bet they did five takes and took a three hour nap break before it looked right.
Roman dropping out was reportedly due in part to The Miz showing up to the taping sick and getting sent home. So what is this week’s Smackdown mostly centered around? Promoting the Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg match like it’s still happening, and having The Miz set up a Smackdown Tag Team Championship match for WrestleMania. So … pretty depressing. The show was taped before all of this went down and there’s still another episode next week to explain the card changes, but it’s awfully carny of them to keep promoting matches they know aren’t going to happen not because of on-screen storylines, but because of real-world fear. I’m trying to give WWE the benefit of the doubt as they keep blindly marching toward oblivion while every other major sports organization and entertainment property has shut down, but man, at this point why are you even doing this show at all?
In other words,
K.C. Green / Gunshow
Oh well, at least we’ve still got the Boneyard Match, which is called a “boneyard match” instead of a “graveyard” or “cemetery match” because they don’t want a world full of people scared about dying to hear words that make them think about dying. It’s not a graveyard, it’s a boneyard. Just a yard with some bones in it. Due to circumstances, not the “global pandemic” or the “coronavirus.” It’s not a disease, pal, it’s a championship!
Worst: Words Matter!
On last week’s show, Not General Manager Paige (with help from “her friends at Fox,” who I guess are booking matches now) announced that Bayley would be defending her Smackdown Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans and Dana Brooke. Bayley responded with, “oh you wanna add like, Tamina in there? Does she even work here anymore? I haven’t seen her in years.” It was such an accurate burn that WWE edited out the second half of it in their YouTube clip of the segment. This week, Tamina shows up and they treat her like she’s scary and dominant. It’s almost like what WWE says and what WWE does are two different things, and that heels are the ones who tell the truth because WWE wants to equate reasonable criticism and basic deductive reasoning to villainy and unpopularity in the eyes of their audience!
Also, Dana Brooke’s no longer in the match because she’s under quarantine, and Lacey Evans is calling Bayley and Sasha Banks “nasties” again in a really shitty tone only a few weeks after jokingly explaining to fellow affluent white lady Renee Young that “nasty” is actually a term of affection in the south. Narrator: It is not. Things are just great all over.
Best: Bye, Felicia
I’ll be straight with you, the only real highlight from this week’s episode for me is King Corbin sceptering Elias off the Cathy Kelley Memorial Juliette Balcony at the Performance Center and apparently murdering him in cold blood for singing another song about how Corbin’s a turd. Couldn’t have happened to a spoonier bard.
WWE
talk shit get hit
It’s the second best WWE moment of the year, right behind Elias singing a song about Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble and Brock leaving the ring to beat the piss out of him in the aisle. I hope the only interaction these two get at WrestleMania is Corbin nonchalantly filling a grave plot with dirt in the background during the Boneyard Match and making a cross out of a broken guitar neck.
This Week In Fine But Underwhelming And Flat Wrestling Matches In An Empty Gym
Two weeks ago, Daniel Bryan defeated Cesaro with a roll-up. Last week, Daniel Bryan teamed up with Drew Gulak against Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura and defeated Cesaro with a roll-up. So it only makes sense that this week, Drew Gulak would defeat Shinsuke Nakamura with a roll-up. There’s something truly Monkey Pawish about there being a lengthy Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak versus Sami Zayn, Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura WrestleMania feud over the Intercontinental Championship, but it being performed exclusively through half-assed Smackdown matches in front of nobody. Imagine Savage/Steamboat, but the WWF spent 18 months telling you over and over that Randy Savage is a helpless coward, George Steele pinned him like six times in a row, and then Savage wrestled Steamboat in an abandoned warehouse.
In other Smackdown news to make you go, “for fuck’s sake what??” here’s Alexa Bliss beating Asuka clean with a DDT. Michael Cole trying to deal with Nikki Cross on commentary was pretty funny, though. Welcome to a strange new world where the best part of an Asuka match is Michael Cole.
As mentioned earlier, the main event of the show is The New Day and The Usos doing their best and trying to set up a WrestleMania match with that old booking chestnut of, “champion watches a number one contender match, thinks that if he attacks both contenders to ruin the match he won’t have to face anybody, and is then shocked to find out that since he ruined the match he’ll actually have to face BOTH of them in a TRIPLE THREAT MATCH!” Miz and Morrison on commentary doing a bunch of WWE fan chants and not really meaning it is the best part, but even that’s hurt by the knowledge that Miz isn’t actually doing anything at WrestleMania, and that the triple threat for the Tag Team Championship isn’t a triple threat and doesn’t involve any tag teams.
As a quick side note, New Day is maybe the worst example of WWE Superstars having to do their entire bit and animations without paying attention to context. Big E doing the pre-entrance New Day declaration to an empty building was sad, man. Miz and Morrison were right to make fun of Kofi for spending 80% of the match clapping out of habit with nobody there to clap along. Read the room, y’all, damn. The people at home will understand.
Also In “WrestleMania” News
Otis is still infuriated about Instagram’s run-in from last week, and ends up getting challenged by Dolph Ziggler to a match at WrestleMania. Otis accepts, Ziggler says Mandy Rose is going to be in his corner (although she helpfully notes in a later segment that she’s not a “prize” to be awarded to the winner), and Tucky is like, “okay, guess I’ll die.” Just kidding, he’ll almost certainly be in Otis’ corner and either end the match by professing his love, or by swerving him to become Ziggler’s latest attempt at a Diesel.
Such a shame that the Otis and Mandy Rose story is going to come to a head at WrestleMania and nobody will be there to react to it. It’s like the romance novel equivalent of Gargano and Ciampa.
Bray Wyatt challenges John Cena to a “Firefly Funhouse Match” at WrestleMania, which I’m guessing is House of Horrors but with puppets hanging from the ceiling instead of creepy dolls. I hope they have the Vince McMahon doll driving the ghost tractor. Wyatt punctuates this challenge by murdering Ramblin’ Rabbit in a blender and drinking his corpse. In all seriousness, I am so excited to watch John Cena wrestle a clown on a bootleg Pee-wee’s Playhouse set and avenge the liquefying of the rabbit puppet who loved him. I bet he loves that he put Hollywood and his spot in a bad Instagram cover of ‘Imagine’ on hold for WrestleMania and ended up here.
And In Case You Weren’t Bored Enough
This week’s match from the archives shown in full is Triple H vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32, which is the worst possible thing to show if you’re trying to get people hyped for a Roman Reigns WrestleMania main event. They should’ve followed it with the match from 34 just to see if we’d put our heads through the TV. This is one of the best examples of an aging Triple H muddling through 30 minutes of an “epic match” formula to prove he’s the best worker in the world or something, despite never, ever being that. It’s the same thought process that leads to WWE revisionist history saying Triple H, “ruled the Attitude Era with an iron fist.” The man spent a decade doing matches like this over and over and over, hoping we’d think ANY of them were as good as Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock, or Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker. None of them were.
And I’m not saying Roman Reigns needs to keep his matches at Goldberg length, but whoever keeps asking him to go 25 minutes needs to take a Xanax.
Best: Top 10 Comments Of The Week
SHough610
Vince: Hey, Roman! You should check out Goldberg’s last few matches to get a feel for Mania.
Roman: Sounds good, boss!
:Roman watches Goldberg’s matches against the Fiend and the Undertaker:
Roman: Uh, hey Vince, it’s Roman. I’m not really comfortable risking my health by wrestling Goldberg at the Mania tapings.
Vince: Oh, you mean because you’re immunocompromised?
Roman: Yeah, let’s go with that.
notJames
Miz: “All my movies are dynamite to watch!”
Vince (in headset): “Stop… saying… DYNAMITE…!”
AshBlue
Throwing pancakes all over an empty arena?
The Real Birdman
Me: “Nothing could possibly be worse than WrestleMania 32”
The World: “Hold my beer I just coughed on”
Harry Longabaugh
BRYAN: Thankfully, my wrestling has improved thanks to Sensei Drew teaching me grappling, catch as catch can, and karate.
GULAK: Kara-TAY.
BVR
Sarcastic Song!
Bad Photoshops!
Current Topic Reference!
Condescension!
Poop Reference!
Elias has hit WWE Babyface BINGO!
Mark12
Lots of recent orders of the “I wasn’t at WrestleMania 36” clothing line from WWE Shop…
… from current talent.
LUNI_TUNZ
Ramblin Rabbit, WILL IT BLEND!
GLOSS
If an Elias falls and no one’s around to see/hear it, does anyone care?
Dave M J
You know we’ve made wishes on Monkey’s Paws before. It’s an easy joke.
But GOOD LORD, what did we wish on for this match between Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn? A Babboon Ass that breaks wind when you wish on it?
WWE
That’s it for this week’s Best and Worst of Smackdown. As always, thanks for getting through this with us and checking out the column, especially during this pandemic. I’m trying, I promise. There’s just not much WWE can do if they won’t shut down for a few weeks, and not much I can write about them putting their heads down and trying to push through it. We appreciate you, as well as your comments in our comments section below, and your social media shares. It’s hard to stay employed and paid in new media without my country’s lifespan hinging on how nice certain governors are to the guy who shaved Vince McMahon’s head at WrestleMania 23.
See you next week, when Roman Reigns and Goldberg come face to face only hours before “their” match at WrestleMania, and John Cena responds to Bray Wyatt’s challenge for a Public Access Television For Haunted Children Brawl.
After Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s epic beat battle from earlier this week, many wondered which two producers would give us the next entertaining rap battle. After a bit of instigating from Joe Budden, Boi-1da and Hit-Boy agreed to bring their talents to Instagram Live for a beat battle. The two producers went head-to-head last night and, to put it mildly, fans were greatly satisfied with what the battle entailed.
Boi-1da and Hit-Boy reached deep into their catalogs to show off some of their best work, but it was the songs that haven’t yet been officially added to their catalogs that became the true talk of the show. The two then started teasing those tracks online.
Hit-Boy previewed unreleased music from Benny The Butcher and Nas, as well as a collaboration between Big Sean and the late Nipsey Hussle. He last produced for Nas on “Royalty,” from his 2019 The Lost Tapes II, while he also recently worked with Benny The Butcher earlier this year on “All Business,” from his The Chauncey Hollis Project. As for the track between Big Sean and Nipsey, that song is set to appear on the former’s upcoming Detroit 2 album. The track would also be Hussle’s fifth posthumous release, a list that includes work with DJ Khaled, Mustard, Rick Ross, and The Game.
— Ajayi and Rique Podcast (@AjayiRiquePod_) March 28, 2020
As for Boi-1da, Drak’es longtime-producer previewed a new collaboration between the Toronto star and Roddy Ricch, one that could very well wind up on his upcoming album. In addition to the collaboration, Boi-1da played another unreleased track from Drake, one that finds him switching up the flow a bit.
As for the battle itself, Drake’s “Duppy Freestyle” and “Controlla,” Rihanna’s “Work” and “Sex With Me,” Nicki Minaj’s “Chiraq,” and more were heard from Boi-1da while Hit-Boy played Kendrick Lamar’s “Backstreet Freestyle,” GOOD Music’s “Clique,” Drake’s “Trophies,” Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” and Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “N****s In Paris.”
You can hear snippets from the tracks in the above video.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Amazon Prime is way more than just a way to get your electronics and books in two days or less. There’s a wide breadth of good movies and TV shows out there to choose from if you know what you’re looking for.
To help you out, we’ve rounded the 30 best movies on Amazon Prime right now. From new Oscar winners to classic titles, you might be surprised as to what the service has available.
Awkwafina stars in this dramedy from director Lulu Wang that got a fair amount of Oscar buzz this season. The story follows a Chinese family, who discovers their beloved grandmother has only a short time to live. Instead of telling her, they keep the news to themselves, planning a wedding so that everyone can gather to say their goodbyes. It’s a dark comedy to be sure, but it’s given heart by some brilliant performances including Shuzhen Zhao as the central Nai Nai.
Nauseating. Disturbing. A total mindf*ck. Those are all fitting descriptions of Ari Aster’s Hereditary follow-up, a sophomore outing that gleefully embraces the very worst of humanity and shines an unforgiving light on those universal flaws. It’s a horror story, sure, but it’s a relationship drama at its core, flavored with pagan rituals, brutal killings, unsettling imagery, and all-consuming grief. Florence Pugh gives a career-defining performance as Dani, a young woman reeling from a terrible familial tragedy who accompanies her distant, disinterested boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) and his college bros to a small Swedish village to celebrate the summer solstice.
An early work of director Sofia Coppola, this film based on a 1993 novel of the same name, follows the story of the Lisbon sisters, five girls aged 13-17 who make a suicide pact after their youngest sibling kills herself. A sense of mystery and aloofness adds to the girls’ appeal when it comes to the neighborhood boys, through whom much of the story is told. Confined to their house after the death of their sister, the girls find ways of communicating with the outside world through secret phone calls and late-night trysts. Eventually, the sisters make good on their pact, but Coppola chooses to find a sense of freedom and validation in their decision to commit suicide, one that paints the end of the film in a strangely victorious light.
John Krasinski’s breakout horror flick has made its way to Hulu. The film stars Krasinski and his wife, Emily Blunt, as a couple trying their best to raise their family in the middle of an apocalypse where the slightest sound might attract other-worldly creatures intent on hunting them down and killing them. It’s a thrilling turn for both actors, with twists you don’t see coming and a satisfying ending.
The mind-boggling success of the Marvel Universe this decade makes it easy to forget it’s humble, fantastically-written origins. We’re talking about the first Avengers team-up, a modest affair in comparison to the universe-spanning, dimension-hopping Endgame, but one that still holds up as a worthy outing for our O.G. heroes. This film marked the first time Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and Clint Barton shared any real screentime and while most of the fighting is done in-house, the team pulls it together to take on a scheming Loki and his invading army of earth-destroying space monsters in the end.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in this sci-fi thriller about a woman on the run who must return home to the family she abandoned once word of her supernatural abilities spreads. Mbatha-Raw plays Ruth, a woman whose seizures trigger earthquakes. Her mother and young daughter also have telekinetic abilities and when Ruth comes home to escape a dogged scientist determined to experiment on her, she begins trying to understand her powers with their help while also staying under the radar.
Jimmie Fails plays himself in this semi-autobiographical drama about a young man’s attempts to reclaim his childhood home. Fails and his best friend, Mont (Jonathan Majors), visit the old Victorian house where Fails grew up, only to find it in disarray. When the current tenants find themselves embroiled in a fight for ownership, forced to move out while the battle plays out in court, Jimmy and Mont move in, fixing up the place and fighting to restore some of the neighborhood’s old school charm.
Chris Hemsworth stars in this Whedon creation directed by Drew Goddard that’ll make you wary of ever going on a mountain retreat again. Hemsworth plays one of a group of five friends who head to the woods for some R&R. The remote cabin they stay at quickly becomes a hellish prison they struggle to escape from.
James Stewart stars in this holiday flick about a down-on-his-luck businessman who laments his suburban life. George Bailey wishes for a different, more successful life, one unencumbered by a wife and kids but when his wish is granted and an angel shows him what life would be like without him, Bailey must figure out how to make the most of the present. Stewart is magnetic in the role and though it’s thought of as a Christmas classic, this film can and should be enjoyed year-round.
This film by Destin Daniel Cretton (the guy Marvel’s tapped to direct Shang-Chi) marks the first leading role for Brie Larson. Long before her Captain Marvel days, Larson was playing Grace Howard, a young woman navigating life as a supervisor of a group home for troubled teens. Other soon-to-be stars like Lakeith Stanfield and Rami Malek also have a role in this thing but it’s Larson’s vehicle and she’s in full command of it.
Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is a nostalgic ode to growing up in the 90s. The film follows a 13-year-old kid named Stevie who spends one summer in L.A. navigating between his troubled home life and a new group of friends that push to him to test his own boundaries. The movie is heavy in skater culture, a scene L.A. was known for at the time, but it’s also an introspective look on making the transition from boyhood to adulthood, and how perilous that time can be.
Greta Gerwig’s love letter to her hometown of Sacramento, California follows Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as they navigate the often-frustrating relationship between mother and daughter. Ronan plays “Ladybird,” a young woman attending Catholic school who longs for the culture and change of scenery that New York City promises. Her mother, Metcalf, is overbearing and overprotective, and the family’s lack of money and social standing contributes to a rift between the two. Some hard truths are explored in this film, but watching Ronan manage teenage angst, first love, and everything in between will give you all kinds of nostalgia.
Toni Collette stars in this terrifying nightmare by first-time director Ari Aster. The film charts the grief and shared trauma of the Graham family. Annie (Collette) is mourning the loss of her secretive mother, worrying over her inherited mental health issues and her children. When her son Peter accidentally kills his sister, hauntings begin happenings. Malevolent spirits, possessions, a seance gone wrong — this is pure nightmare fuel people.
A dark, morose examination on everything from faith and fidelity to climate change, grief, and mental health issues, Paul Schrader’s drama about a Protestant minister struggling to reconcile his beliefs with the changing world around him is a poignant, if heavy-handed, commentary on some pretty complicated universal themes. Ethan Hawke gives a stand-out performance as Reverend Toller, a man mourning the loss of his son, facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, and grappling with the reality of his dwindling church membership. He counsels a young woman named Mary (Amanda Seyfried) about her husband, who’s entered a dangerous state of depression over the very real issue of climate change; and through his relationship with her, Toller confronts his own demons and his community’s narrow-minded views. It’s by no means a fun watch, but Hawke is such an underrated actor that being surprised by his stroke of genius in this role is reason enough to stream.
When filmmaker Kurt Kuenne’s childhood friend Andrew Bagby is killed and his suspected killer/ex-girlfriend reveals she’s pregnant, Kurt decides to make a documentary chronicling Andrew’s life. While largely a love letter to a man who touched the lives of many for Zachary, the son he never met, Dear Zachary also tells the starkly bitter side of a broken Canadian legal system that directly endangered a baby. We follow the drawn-out custody battle between Andrew’s parents and Zachary’s mother, interspersed with loving snapshots into the Bagby family. The story sucks you in, but it’s also the at times comedic, fast-paced, and downright enraging documentary style of the film that breaks up the emotional tale.
Natalie Portman leads this cast of badass women investigating a natural phenomenon that is slowly invading Earth. Portman plays Lena, a biologist who leads a team of women consisting of a psychologist (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a scientist (Tessa Thompson), and a paramedic (Gina Rodriguez) into “The Shimmer,” a quarantined zone mutated by alien DNA that seems to be transforming matter at will and spreading further each day. Past teams, including one led by Lena’s husband (Oscar Isaac), have disappeared in The Shimmer and Lena goes searching for a clue as to what happened to them and how she can save her husband — who returned changed from his mission. The entire journey is filled with bizarre happenings tied to meta-commentary about evolution and the human condition but honestly, the coolest thing about this movie is its cast and the kick-ass characters they play
Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson team up for this comedy that imagines the grit and humor it takes to lead a late-night talk show as a woman. Thompson plays Katherine Newbury, an accomplished TV personality who fears she may lose her talk show because of declining ratings and competition from a younger, male comedian. She hires Molly (Kaling) a comedy writer with little experience to diversify her team, and the two women weather hilarious mishaps and a few scandals to bring the show back on track.
Comedian Bo Burnham’s directorial debut looks at the social anxieties of a young girl on the cusp of her high school career. Elsie Fisher plays Kayla, a pre-teen in her final week of eighth grade. She’s virtually friendless, choosing to spend her time creating inspiring Youtube videos that no one sees. When she decides to venture from her computer screen, attending pool parties and hanging out with older kids, she’s thrust into situations she’s not entirely ready for. The film is a painfully honest look at the pressure of growing up, the loss of innocence, and how social media can contribute to feelings of anxiety and isolation in teens, especially young girls who are forced to grow up much more quickly than their male counterparts.
Shia LaBeouf writes and stars in this semi-autobiographical tale of his time as a child star. Noah Jupe plays the younger version of himself while LaBeouf plays his controlling, often abusive father. The two live in motel rooms in L.A. while Otis (Jupe) works on a popular kids TV show. Their relationship becomes strained as Otis ages, and his dad James (LaBeouf) grows resentful of his son’s success. Lucas Hedges plays an elder Otis, who struggles with all kinds of addictions because of his rough, unconventional upbringing. It’s a tough watch but one that feels refreshingly honest, and you can’t deny LaBeouf’s talent and courage in telling such a raw, intimate story.
Based on a historical crime novel set in Victoria-Era England, Park Chan-wook’s lavish, mesmerizing thriller focuses on two young women fighting to escape oppression by the men in their lives. Chan-woo has traded the stuffy British countryside for Japanese-occupied Korea, telling the stories of Lady Hideko and her handmaiden Sook-hee in three parts, weaving a tale of passion, betrayal, dark secrets, and revenge with grander themes of imperialism, colonial rule, and patriarchal corruption. The two women are the draw of the film with both resorting to illicit, illegal, morally compromising schemes in order to gain their freedom, but love is an unintended consequence that leaves the third act — one you might think you have figured out halfway through the film — completely unpredictable.
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon drew from their own unusual love story for their script about a Chicago comic named Kumail (Nanjiani) who falls in love with Emily, a woman (Zoe Kazan) who falls into a coma while in the midst of a rift in their relationship created by the expectations of Kumail’s traditional parents. The funny, moving romantic comedy also features strong supporting work from Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as Emily’s parents, who form an awkward bond with Kumail as they wait for Emily’s recovery.
Joaquin Phoenix stars as a troubled hitman with a dark past in this thrilling crime flick from Lynne Ramsay. Phoenix plays Joe, a gun for hire, former military man and FBI agent, who spends most of his time rescuing victims of sex trafficking. He’s recruited to save a Senator’s daughter from a brothel that caters to high-end clientele, but the job thrusts him into the center of a conspiracy that costs him everything and ends in blood and tragedy. It’s a relentless slog to be sure, but it works because Ramsay is more interested in profiling the man, not the hits he makes.
This family drama based on an NY Times bestseller stars Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as parents to a truly remarkable little boy named Auggie. Auggie has a facial deformity that affects his social life as he begins going to school for the first time. Since we’re nearing the holidays, and this is a time that’s all about families, it makes sense Amazon added this to their library. The kids will love it (and, hopefully, learn from it).
Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet star in this heartbreaking drama about a father trying to save his son from a drug addiction that’s slowly eating away at his family. Carell plays David, a New York Times writer who struggles to help his son Nic (Chalamet) after he falls victim to a worrying drug habit. He has moments of sobriety, attending college, living with his mother in L.A., and working at a drug clinic to help others battling the disease. Yet eventually, his addiction returns, and Nic is powerless to fight it. David is forced to choose between sacrificing his family and his own sanity or continuing to help his son. Both Carell and Chalamet give powerful performances that elevate what essentially is an emotionally restrained look at father-son relationships and the landmines they navigate.
A portrait of a particular moment in music history, when the folk revival found young musicians discovering their voices in old styles and old songs, Inside Llewyn Davis stars Oscar Isaac as a singer/songwriter who can never quite translate his talent into professional success. Joel and Ethan Coen both exactingly recreate early ‘60s New York and use it as the site of one of an affecting tale of the clash between artistic impulses and the needs of the material world, a theme they’d previously explored with Barton Fink and would pick up again with Hail, Caesar!.
Dwayne Johnson and Lena Headey star in this family drama about a pair of siblings with dreams of making it in the WWE. Only one, Florence Pugh’s Saraya, actually makes it, but the road to wrestling stardom is riddled with fake friends, sexism, parental drama, and self-doubt. There’s plenty of great matchups here — body slams, cage matches and the like — but the real draw is Pugh, who completely disappears in the role.
Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton), who’s unwilling and unable to properly care for her troubled son Kevin, watches her life unravel as her husband (John C. Reilly) ignores their problems and Kevin grows more and more sociopathic and violent. The story jumps around in time, showing Swinton’s character as both a new mother who blames her son for ruining her life and as a woman who eventually blames herself for what becomes of her son. Swinton proves once again that she’s the actress that indie movies need for complex characters that live their lives in grey areas. At its core, We Need To Talk is about the importance of proper parenting, communication, and probably therapy. And it’s not for the faint of heart.
Ten years after his last Ocean‘s entry, Steven Soderbergh revisits the heist genre, this time centering on a pair of unlucky brothers (Channing Tatum and Adam Driver) working a scheme to rip off a big NASCAR race. Memorable side characters, rapid-fire dialogue, and charismatic performances keep the story from becoming too predictable even for a twist-filled heist tale. Soderbergh was even able to cut out major studios and keep complete creative control over the movie, thanks to streaming services and international distribution. It’s a largely light-hearted movie, and frankly, that’s necessary sometimes.
A mysterious pawnshop owner (Won Bin), whose only friend is a child that lives next door, tears the local criminal presence apart after she’s kidnapped. This South Korean thriller from Lee Jeong-beom follows a similar format to such films as Léon: The Professional and Man On Fire of “guy with a shady past protects little girl”, but The Man From Nowhere still crafts an original tale of a heartbroken man out to save the only thing he has left in this world. The action sequences are bloody and intense, and Bin’s stoic performance brings a painful depth to the brutal savior.
Coherence is one of those low-budget sci-fi stories that is extremely tough to explain without either giving too much away or requiring an extended entry. Essentially, a group of friends sifts through their own issues and insecurities during a mind-bending paradoxical experience. Taking place almost entirely in the same room on a single night, the characters struggle to find answers just as much as the viewer. It’s a challenging yet enthralling film, perfect for those who love to overthink things.
Recent Changes Through March 2020:
Removed: Silence of the Lambs, Mother!, The Disaster Artist
Added: The Farewell, Honey Boy, Fighting With My Family
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