New on Netflix: Trial of the Chicago 7

by Tony Ruggio

We weren't arrested. We were chosen.

The older you get, the more you realize how true the adage “history repeats itself” is. You realize it’s no longer just a pithy catchphrase but a reality of life as we know it. Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 was clearly intended, to some extent, to echo the trials and tribulations of the present. Little did Sorkin and co. know just how relevant their 1960’s period drama would turn out to be. Chicago 7 is both a classical Sorkin courtroom drama, focused on the thrilling broad strokes of such a monumental case, and a protest film designed to show us the moving chess pieces of an ongoing, decades-long culture war between the conservative right and two factions of the left: the progressive revolutionaries like Abbey Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), focused on change through disruption, and the pragmatic Democrats like Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), focused on change through winning elections. 

Revolving around a clash between protestors and police that took place outside the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the trial was the result of blatant entrapment by local authorities and represented a circumvention of free speech laws by the newly appointed Nixon administration...

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Let’s have a blast with Nick and Nora!

by Cláudio Alves

The power of movie stars shouldn't be underestimated. A glamourous screen presence, a straight shot of charisma, can make even the least impressive piece of cinematic fluff into a must-see event. At the very least, the difference between unwatchable mediocrity and a jolly good time can often be someone who electrifies the screen with a look, someone who enchants the camera and conquers our attention with no effort. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better example of the wonders of stardom than The Thin Man series…

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Review: "Deerskin" on HBO

by Cláudio Alves

Fashion kills in one of Quentin Dupieux's latest absurdist comedies, the loony nightmare that is Deerskin. After blessing moviegoers with the nonsensical sight of a homicidal tire in Rubber, the French director has now imbued a fringed jacket with the power to unravel the human mind and precipitate its wearers into paroxysms of murderous madness. Jean Dujardin's Georges is the victim of such demonic influence, though, at the start, he, like all things in Deerskin, appears unnervingly mundane…

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Streaming Review: Over the Moon

By Abe Friedtanzer

Many religions and cultures find meaning in inanimate objects and physical locations, teaching mythical stories about their significance. As children grow up, they may assume a more metaphorical and symbolic understanding of what they heard from their parents and grandparents, no longer convinced that something magic could indeed be real. That can erode the sense of wonder that they once felt and cause them to believe in something less fervently because they believe it couldn’t possibly be true.

Not giving up that childlike hope may be unrealistic, but it does serve as the premise for some of the most heartwarming animated films.

In Over the Moon, streaming on Netflix on October 23rd, we’re introduced to Fei Fei, who, as a young girl, helps her parents make and sell mooncakes, eagerly running all over the city describing their delicious taste. She is always sure to emphasize their connection to the moon itself and to Chang’e, the moon goddess...

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Yes No Maybe So: Hillbilly Elegy

Can the movie world please slow down? After months of nothing much happening, everything is happening at once. Three more festivals start today and the trailers keep hitting. It's as if we're in a typical year's mid October even though Oscar nomination battles are not two months away (as they'd usually be) but four months away. Early buzz on Hillbilly Elegy has been a bit hard to read. Is it going to be bad? Is it going to be good? Is it going to be so bad it's good camp classic. Is it going to wow and compete for all the Oscars or none after face-planting? 

Glenn Close and Amy Adams Arguing About Who is Going to Win the Oscar First: The Movie (2020) pic.twitter.com/VDZgSVjQze

— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) October 15, 2020

We'd argue that the trailer does not answer these questions although there is a lot of capital A acting (which is always hard to judge out of context though lord knows everyone does when they see trailers) So we invite you to contribute your own Yes No and Maybe So in the comments as we're at a loss.

P.S. We've adjusted the Best Actress (Amy) and Best Supporting Actress (Glenn) charts to reflect the confirmed campaigns.