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As America enters its second month of self-isolation, the need for varied, quarantine-friendly activities is more important than ever. Among those is having an old-fashioned home movie night, which studios are attempting to still make into an event worth looking forward to and setting aside quality time for.
One of the most anticipated feature films making its way to the small screen this month is Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” the South Korean film that snapped up a four Oscars in February (remember February?!). Not only did the film win the ultimate Best Picture prize, but its director charmed the film world with his candid and often childlike glee, declaring that he would “drink until the next morning” to celebrate and gazing at his golden statuette lovingly.
Besides “Parasite,” April boasts a range of offerings, from indie darlings and horror flicks, to action films and family-friendly fare. Salon has curated this list to include some of the best, so you don’t have to waste any of your precious quarantine time when you could be baking a loaf of bread or taking a Zoom hip-hop class. But if you want extra suggestions, you can still check out the movies you may have missed in March.
The following is an ongoing list and will be updated:
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“The Elephant Queen” (AppleTV+ free for a limited time at http://apple.co/FreeForEveryone)
AppleTV+ is offering a range of its originals free for a limited time, and that includes this documentary that follows matriarch Athena, her family of pachyderms, and the other critters who gather around and rely on a watering hole. The first half of the film is uplifting, but sensitive souls may need guidance when the film soon gives way to reality and how the ecosystem is threatened and delicately balanced.
If the documentary isn’t your bag, the free AppleTV+ original series also include the sci-fi “For All Mankind,” M. Night Shyamalan’s creepy thriller “Servant,” the bizarre period comedy “Dickinson,” and many more that Salon has reviewed. Conspicuously absent is its marquee series “The Morning Show.” You’ll have to subscribe for that one. See what they did there?
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“Fleabag” (Rent on Amazon Prime and Soho Theatre website)
Yes, “Fleabag” is an Emmy-wining comedy series by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but it began as her one-woman show, which has been on tour intermittently over the past few years. If you weren’t able to catch any of those performances, here’s your chance. For two weeks, the recorded version of the National Theatre Live production will be available to rent for $5, and that rental fee will benefit charities for those affected by the novel coronavirus.
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“The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao” (Amazon Prime)
In this gorgeous and heartbreaking film, two inseparable sisters Eurídice and Guida live at home with their conservative parents in 1950s Rio de Janeiro. When they’re forced to separate, Eurídice must pursue her dream of becoming a renowned pianist on her own, but the sisters never give up trying to reunite.
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“Jane” (Disney+)
As part of its Earth Month collection, Disney+ is streaming a slew of nature documentaries, including originals like “Penguins: Life on the Edge,” “Dolphin Reef,” its Disneynature series (from Chimpan-A to “Chimpanzee” – sorry, had to make a “Simpsons” reference there) to its National Geographic offerings.
Of those titles, “Jane” is a must-watch. The 2017 biographical doc by Brett Morgen uses archival footage to follow her journey as a young and untrained woman who challenges the male-dominated scientific community of her time, makes personal sacrifices, and revolutionizes the way we think of the natural world through her chimpanzee research.
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“La vie scolaire” (Netflix)
According to Netflix, “The new vice principal of a middle school in Parisian suburb Saint Denis, Samia (Zita Hanrot) is warned by her fellow teachers that the students are unmotivated and hard to discipline. She sees things differently, however, when she gets to know the students, especially Yanis (Liam Pierron), who’s sharp and driven but disillusioned by a world that seems to have turned its back on him and his family.”
Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers compared the film to “Dangerous Minds” and said it “gives the inspiring teacher/at-risk youth drama a hard-ass and heartfelt French redo.”
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“Les Misérables” (Amazon Prime)
If you dreamed a dream of a modern-day Les Miz sans big sewer scenes, this is it. Ladj Ly’s feature-length directorial debut is a sprawling affair like Victor Hugo’s classic and features various police officers in an anti-crime brigade in Montfermeil, a stolen lion cub, kids from the slums, incriminating video, and a violent uprising.
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“Never Rarey Sometimes Always” (For rent on Amazon Prime, et al)
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Eliza Hittman’s third feature-length drama, follows taciturn Pennsylvania teen Autumn (the revelatory newcomer Sidney Flanigan) as she traverses state lines to enter New York for an abortion. It’s a dark, picaresque story, with Autumn’s resourceful cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) along for the ride to help her terminate her pregnancy in a state where parental consent is not required. Hittman has referred to the movie as the anti-“Juno,” though it is not without its currents of satire.
Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams writes, “There is much about ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ that is intensely unsettling and enraging. It should be. . . . But please don’t think the film is a downer, or too hard to bear. It is also an affecting testament to resilience, and to the power of female bonds.”
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“Onward” (Disney+)
Pixar only released this heartwarming adventure tale theatrically a month ago, but quarantine times call for new viewing opportunities. In a world populated by mythical magical creatures, elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfood (the MCU’s Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) discover a way they can see their long-dead father for 24 hours, but as sometimes happen, their spell is only partially successful. As they rush to fix the spell within the limited time frame, the two brothers go on a road trip and learn to appreciate each other. Joining in the voiceover fun are Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez, and Klye Bornheimer.
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“Parasite” (Hulu)
There’s a reason why the trailer for “Parasite” is so confusing. Is it a horror film? Is it a comedy? What’s this talk of a magic trick? To go into too much detail is to upset the carefully wrought tension and spoil some joyous surprises.
We can say that the darkly comic class war thriller centers on two families: the struggling Kim family, who assembles pizza boxes in their basement apartment to try and make ends meet; and the wealthy Parks, who live in a modern marvel of a home and hire servants to perform every task. In his review, Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir wrote:
“Where your compassion and sympathy fall in this tale of two interlocking families at opposite ends of South Korea’s societal pyramid will at least partly be a function of your starting point. Furthermore, it’s likely to move around over the course of a deliberately perplexing movie loaded with plot switchbacks, sudden reversals of fortune, moral quandaries, and unexpected revelations.”
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“Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” (HBO for free)
You don’t have to have an HBO subscription to enjoy over 500 hours of its premium programming right now. The cabler is offering for free some of its best series – both recent and classic – documentaries, and theatrical releases from its Warner Bros. partners, and that includes “Detective Pikachu.” You may need to watch through your computer or the Roku app. (For the full list of free offerings, check out this Variety story.) While this move benefits many viewers who are now stuck at home because of social distancing, it’s also probably a strategy to hook viewers to want to subscribe when the HBO Max streaming service launches in May. HBO learns from the best; gotta catch ’em all!
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“Sea Fever” (For rent on Amazon, iTunes, et al)
When the crew of a fishing trawler begin to get sick, a captain is faced with the dilemma to isolate his ship to contain the contagion or risk infecting humanity by seeking medical assistance on shore. Sound familiar? The film stars Dougray Scott as the captain, who spoke to Salon about his character:
“He’s not convinced — a bit like people when you present them with the circumstances of COVID-19, and how we deal with that. Some people are cynical about it, and don’t want to believe the truth, and their selfish desire overrides the scenario.”
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“The Simpsons: Playdate with Destiny” (Disney+)
Here’s the official description of the “Simpsons” short film that actually played before “Onward” in theaters:
“The film begins on a day that seemed like just another day at the park for Maggie Simpson. But when Maggie faces playground peril, a heroic young baby whisks her from danger — and steals her heart. After a blissful first playdate, Maggie can’t wait to see her new baby beau again the following day, but things don’t go exactly as planned. Will fate (or Homer) get in her way?”
The short film builds off the success of the 2012 Oscar-nominated short “The Longest Daycare,” which will also be coming to Disney+. But you can watch it first below:
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“Tigertail” (Netflix)
Pin-Jui is a young, good-looking Taiwanese dude who enjoys hanging out with his girl. But when he gets the opportunity to leave for America by marrying his boss’ daughter, he decides this will give him the means to raise enough money so his mother also quit working her dangerous factory job and retire. Fast-forward 25+ years, and Pin-Jui is now Grover, and he’s had a lifetime of regrets and nostalgia for who he left behind. “Master of None” co-creator Alan Yang makes his feature directorial debut with “Tigertail,” which is inspired by his own father’s story.
In an interview with Salon, Yang said, “I think the reaction I’ve already gotten in the hours it’s been out is people saying, ‘Was every stoic Asian dad a charismatic young guy, who’s dancing around when he was younger?’ It does happen! It’s really something that we don’t think about. We see stoic Asian dads in hundreds of movies, but I don’t think we’ve explored these other sides of them, what they’ve gone through, what made them that way. My dad was the entry point, and I hope there’s a universality and commonality that others find.”
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“Zombieland: Double Tap” (Starz)
Maybe you didn’t know that you wanted or even needed a sequel to 2009’s “Zombieland.” Doesn’t matter; you got it.
“Picking up 10 years after the events of “Zombieland,” the new film begins as Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) move into the abandoned White House in the post-apocalyptic zombie-filled world that Columbus has long referred to as Zombieland. Things seem to be settling down for them until Columbus scares Wichita with a marriage proposal that prompts her to scoop up her sister Little Rock and abandon both Columbus and Tallahassee. After several weeks pass, Columbus has seemingly moved on with a cute new girl named Madison (Zoey Deutch), but both he and Tallahassee are drawn back into the world of adventure when Wichita returns and informs them that Little Rock has run off with a new hippie boyfriend named Berkeley (Avan Jogia) and needs to be rescued,” writes Salon’s Matthew Rozsa.
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COMING SOON
April 14
“Elmo’s Playdate” (Streaming at 7 p.m. ET/PT on HBO, HBO Latino, TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, PBS Kids)
Not really a movie, but this special is a free offering for all families, especially those with younger viewers, to watch together to help make sense of the uncertainty we’re all going through. Here’s the official description:
The half-hour special follows Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, and a few famous friends as they find new ways to play and learn together. Celebrating everything from the EMTs, doctors, and other everyday heroes who are helping families through the health crisis to the simple pleasures of baking cookies at home, the playdate takes the form of a cozy video conference that will feel very familiar to today’s viewers. Celebrities and Sesame Street friends will sing songs, play games, and take silly dance breaks. Tracee Ellis Ross plays a game of “Elmo Says,” Lin-Manuel Miranda pops in for a few rounds of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” Anne Hathaway and Elmo get moving with “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” and more. Kids will love getting a visit from their Sesame Street friends, and caregivers will appreciate how the special models playful learning opportunities they can use at home.
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April 16
“The Lighthouse” (Amazon)
Robert Eggers’ follow-up to 2015’s “The Witch” is a stunning black & white horror flick that stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two 19th-century lighthouse keepers who start to lose their sanity when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed. The film has been praised for its aesthetics, the lead performances, and a gripping story.
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More to come . . .
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