A Lovely Trailer for "Menashe"

Chris here. It's worth remembering as we head toward the clanging of the summer movie season that we will have some quieter cinematic treasures ahead to cleanse our palettes. One of my most anticipated is Sundance favorite Menashe, which Nathaniel recently reviewed. 

Menashe stars Menashe Lustig (loosely portraying himself) as a newly widowered father trying to regain custody of his son in their very conservative Hasidic Jewish community. If that sounds a little maudlin, the film promises to be balanced by humor and authenticity, as it stars actual residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood it depicts. The film will be the first non-English language film for distributor A24 - good to see their Oscar triumph with Moonlight isn't making them shy away from the tough sell, not to mention their commitment to new American voices like Menashe director Joshua Z. Weinstein.

The film's first trailer just dropped, and it is delicate and charming in the best way - a familiar story told in unfamiliar voices.

Shine Bright, Shine Far: The "Life-Size" Sequel We Never Knew We Needed

By Spencer Coile 

Let's journey back to 2000: Tyra Banks and Lindsay Lohan lit up the screen in the Disney Channel Original Film, Life-Size. Banks played Eve, the infamous (not to mention, ficitonal) doll who comes to life to help Casey (Lindsay Lohan) cope with the loss of her mother. In true Disney fashion, the film included zany outfits, the occasional musical number, and of course--picked up a cult following of die-hard tween fans. But for those who thought the story ended 17 years ago, think again. Freeform, the sister studio to Disney Channel, has greenlit Life-Size 2, which is expected to make its television debut in December of 2018 as a part of the studio's "25 Days of Christmas" month. 

Although the film will bring back Banks to play Eve and will supposedly be a modern-day Christmas tale, very little is known about this upcoming project. Namely, if Lindsay Lohan will return. Odds are unlikely, but die-hard fans can dream about this reunion in the meantime. Still, I cannot contain my excitement, and I hope I'm not alone. What say you, Life-Size fans? Do we need a sequel? Or for those who haven't seen the first film, are you left with a general feeling of "huh?" 

"Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback."

For better or worse, the date April 20^th infamously sparks an eternal flame in the hearts of potheads across the world in celebration over their vice of choice – and the canon of cinematic stoners is certainly no exception. Hash-loving hippies have long cropped up in motion pictures as anti-establishment icons, quasi-kings of interminable philosophy, and occasionally as crutches for comic relief or character development. While the presence of marijuana in the movies holds a certain time capsule cache in relation to broader anxieties over cultural identity within era-defining films such as Easy Rider or American Beauty or even Children of Men – not to mention its propagandist roots in cautionary tales such as Reefer Madness – it has chiefly acted as a dispensary for daffy, dippy diversions in cannabis-centric comedies like Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, Half Baked, or Cheech and Chong. 

Occasionally, a film strikes Humboldt gold and elevates the presence of the iconic drug to a – ahem – higher place, whether artistically, narratively, or thematically, and the prototypical example would have to be the Coen Brothers’ cult classic The Big Lebowski; that film relies on the aforementioned haze to bolster its emphasis on the transient absurdity of best laid plans, societal systems around class and gender, and sorting personal truths from fiction and lies. And provides the visual opportunity to stage a Busby Berkeley porn parody in an outer space bowling alley with trippy aplomb, a black-and-white stairway to heaven, and Julianne Moore in a Viking helmet.

On that note, who are some of your favorite jokers, smokers, and midnight tokers from the history of cinema?

On this day: Annie Hall, Hot Fuzz, Jessica Lange

On this day (April 20th) in history as it relates to showbiz...

1893 Harold Lloyd, silent comedian of excellence, born in Nebraska

1889 Adolf Hitler born. The German Führer has been played in movies by literally hundreds of actors including in recent years Robert Carlyle, Udo Keir, Noah Taylor, and Bruno Ganz. On this awful subject let's consider it a shame that Jodie Foster never made that rumored Leni Reifenstahl (Triumph of the Will) biopic she was interested in doing. That would have made an interesting less covered piece of the ever-harrowing Nazi puzzle.

⇱ 1924 Oscar nominated actress Nina Foch (Executive Suite, An American in Paris, Spartacus) is born in The Netherlands. She was awesome. 

1937 Modern gay hero George Takei born in Los Angeles. Becomes famous as Lt. Sulu in the Star Trek TV series in the 60s.

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Ten Little Links

People Mag Julia Roberts named "World's Most Beautiful" for record fifth time in the magazine's annual list
i09 new Fahrenheit 451 movie adaptation coming. To star two Michaels, Shannon and Jordan
Tampa Bay Times a street in Florida renamed "Moonlight Way" - how wonderful!
Towleroad Stranger Things "Barb" actress Shannon Purser has come out as bisexual
Variety Chris Pratt admits he was taken off guard by the harsh criticism of Passengers
In Contention Fox Searchlight lines up multiple Oscar hopefuls a year after the Birth of a Nation debacle
Playbill Anika Noni Rose set to play a who, along with her daughters, becomes the center of a hacking media storm in Assassination Nation 
Tracking Board Will Smith circling the genie role in the live action remake of Disney's Aladdin musical
Playbill the Drama League Nominations for 2017  
Film School Rejects on Hollywood's fascination with de-aging its stars and why, storytelling wise, this is generally a bad idea 

Exit Videos
We're just under a year away from the debut of the superhero TV series Cloak & Dagger but they've released a trailer anyway. Seems kinda early!

We've already covered The Beguiled teaser but here's the full trailer (which is very similar in structure but with extra footage). Having seen the 1971 film I wasn't worried about spoilers but you absolutely shouldn't watch this if you haven't seen the original film. For my taste it's a little too revealing.