Doc Corner: Orson Welles x2

By Glenn Dunks

It has been suggested that Mark Cousins is a very unique brand of filmmaker. In that regard, he makes a perfect filmmaker for a project about another very unique brand of filmmaker: Orson Welles. I have not seen Cousins’ much-loved The Story of Film: An Odyssey nor any of his other film-centric documentaries so I can’t speak to how his latest fits into his oeuvre, but I do know that I was pleasantly surprised to discover that The Eyes of Orson Welles was not a typical bio-doc about Welles.

Instead, it takes the novel approach of using his work in another medium, his love of drawing and painting, to approach his cinematic output and his character as a man more broadly...

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Streaming Roulette, Early March 2019

by Nathaniel R

As is our practice we've selected a couple handful of titles and frozen the films at utterly random moments without cheating (whatever comes up comes up) for this quick preview.  Do any of these screencaps make you wanna watch the movie? At the bottom of the page, check out full listings for Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and HBO for the first half of March. Okay, let's go...

Ohmygosh, he is dreaaammmmy.

The Notebook (2004) on Netflix
Wait James Marsden is the other man in this movie? (You may recall I told you I hadn't seen it when Kim was writing up its famous kiss last month. Somehow I didn't know that Rachel McAdams had to choose between Marsden and Gosling? Tough life, that girl leads.) Oh and did you hear that weird story about how Netflix changed the ending to The Notebook in the UK? I wouldn't have known the difference but bizarre. How is that even legal?

[eery music]

What Lies Beneath (2000) on Hulu
You guys... never look at a pristine empty bathtub while holding a ouija board...

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Russian Doll: Season One

By Spencer Coile

Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) regards her reflection in the mirror. The moment lingers until a sharp knock at the door pulls her out of it. She stomps her way out of the newly renovated bathroom of her best friend Maxine (Greta Lee) – complete with a shotgun doorknob – to join her comrades for her 36th birthday party. Taking a hit from a cocaine-laced joint, hooking up with a stranger, and searching for her cat Oatmeal eventually lead to Nadia’s death. She is struck by a car when crossing the road.

She wakes up, exactly where she was before.  

Reconfiguring the influential conceit from Groundhog Day in meaningful ways, Russian Doll is groundbreaking in its own right...

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Streaming Roulette, February: Ant-Man and the Edge of Velvet Buzzsaws

As is our practice we've selected two handfuls of titles of note and frozen the films at utterly random moments without cheating (whatever comes up comes up) for this quick preview.  Do any of these screencaps make you wanna watch the movie? At the bottom of the page full listings for Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and HBO this month. Okay, let's go...

Guess what? You're my favorite student.

The Edge of Seventeen (2016) on Netflix
Remember how good this Hailee Steinfeld high school comedy was?  She was nominated for a Golden Globe even! But why has Hayden Szeto, her love interest, not busted out yet as a star? He was great, too. Turns out (just looked it up) that he's got three movies coming out this year and will also be a guest star on the TV series adaptation of Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows so there's still hope that people (or in this case Hollywood) will realize how fab he is. Yay!

A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringin'
We'll make you happy 🎵

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Soundtracking: Dumplin'

by Chris Feil

Much to our surprise when Dumplin’ arrived on Netflix last month, the film is stealthily a Dolly Parton jukebox musical. The heartwarming film is a collection of Dolly songs old, new, and (crucially) reimagined, shot straight out of the heart of its heroine. Add in a few appearances by drag queens, and the film is the kind of unassumingly big-hearted self-love anthem to make the music legend proud.

And its no mere cashing in on a famous songbook either - Dolly’s music anchors the emotional backbone of the film...

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