TIFF: "Lucy in the Sky" Flung Out of Taste

by Chris Feil

Fargo and Legion’s Noah Hawley makes his big screen directorial leap with Lucy in the Sky, a loosely transcribed true story stripped of its sensationalism. But despite this diaperless retelling of the infamous story of an earthbound astronaut’s struggles with mental illness and her eventual attempt on her lover’s life, Hawley still flattens the drama for this would-be intense character study. Even with Natalie Portman at its forefront, doing another of her signature bold, safety-net-free characterizations, Hawley’s more pseudo-humane vision is defined by its inertia. It’s too boring to be embarrassing...

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Shimmer

Watch at Home: Tales from Captain Marvel's City, Mother

Nathaniel R giving you the heads up on what's available to you now to screen at home.

New on DVD/Blu-Ray
Captain Marvel - The year's second biggest hit, and less of a prequel of Avengers Endgame than we were expecting given Carol Danvers itty-bitty part in that ensemble behemoth, is now available in a physical copy if you're into those. Also out today: the hit indie The Mustang starring Belgium's golden perfection Matthias Schoenaerts, the sci-fi drama Captive State, and the romantic drama Five Feet Apart.

Notable iTunes 99¢ Deals
It's a weak week this time for those special deals with not much in the way of exciting pictures. But if you've never seen David Cronenberg's masterful Dead Ringers (1988) or the lesbian indie classic The Watermelon Woman (1996) now is as good a time as any.

New to Streaming

[LAUGHING] Oh this is surreal!

Tales of the City (2019) on Netflix
The Lovely Laura Linney is back in one of her signature roles as Mary Ann Singleton in this continuation of the classic Armistead Maupin series about life in gay ol' San Francisco...

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Yes No Maybe So: "Lucy in the Sky"

by Nathaniel R

We're finally excited about 2019. The culprit is one Lucy in the Sky which is neither a Beatle biopic nor a sequel to Lucy in which ScarJo became some sort of supercomputer with black tentacles. Instead it's a sci-fi drama with Natalie Portman playing an astronaut named Lucy. Wasn't Portman going to do Gravity (2013) at one point? Anyway she finally gets her chance to do the wide-eyed-at- the-mysteries-of-the-cosmos thang here. Arguably she's already been there via Annihilation (2018) but that was less wide-eyed with wonder and more wide-eyed with "we're all gonna die" tension.

Lucy in the Sky is the feature directorial debut of Noah Hawley who made his name on various TV shows including the surreal superhero drama Legion, the one with Dan Stevens and his multiple personalities. We'll break down the trailer after the jump with our Yes No Maybe So system...

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PETA's "Oscat" Winners: Bradley Cooper, Black Panther, Annihilation

by Nathaniel R

Here's an award you might not have heard of. PETA, the animal rights organization, gives out "Oscats" each year honoring the most animal friendly films and stars. So, even though Bradley Cooper has PETA's senior vice president says:

PETA is thrilled to recognize the people and projects behind Hollywood’s most significant animal rights advances of the year.”

The winners and why they were chosen after the jump...

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Review: Vox Lux

by Chris Feil

Vox Lux opens with visceral brief violence and closes with extended musical euphoria that it keeps out of our reach. The sophomore feature of Brady Corbet, the film is most defined by its refusal to allow us to access it even as it monolithically announces its themes. It feels at once like someone screaming into the abyss of an empty stadium with locked doors. But somehow it keeps us banging on its doors that never budge.

The film follows the birth and would-be rebirth of superstar Celeste, played separately in two acts by Raffey Cassidy and Natalie Portman...

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