The Lovebirds – not screened — Netflix
A couple (Issa Rae & Kumail Nanjiani) experiences a defining moment in their relationship when they are unintentionally embroiled in a murder mystery. As their journey to clear their names takes them from one extreme– and hilarious — circumstance to the next, they must figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.
Director: Michael Showalter
Starring: Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani, Paul Sparks
Lucky Grandma – TBD — VOD, including SLFS@Home
In the heart of Chinatown, New York, an ornery, chain-smoking, newly widowed 80-year-old grandma (Tsai Chin) is eager to live life as an independent woman, despite the worry of her family. When a local fortune teller (Wai Ching Ho ) predicts a most auspicious day in her future, Grandma decides to head to the casino and goes all in, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck-suddenly attracting the attention of some local gangsters. Desperate to protect herself, Grandma employs the services of a bodyguard (Corey Ha) from a rival gang and soon finds herself in the middle of a Chinatown gang war.
Director: Sasie Sealy
Starring: Tsai Chin, Hsiao-Yuan Ha, Michael Tow
Military Wives – 3 stars — VOD streaming platforms
Military Wives centers on a group of women from different backgrounds whose partners are away serving in Afghanistan. Faced with their loved ones’ absences, they come together to form the very first military wives choir, helping each other through some of life’s most difficult moments, and quickly find themselves on an international stage
Director:Peter Cattaneo
Starring:Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Emma Lowndes
The Painter and the Thief – 3 1/2 stars — VOD streaming platforms
Young Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova relocates from Berlin to Oslo to launch her career as a painter. In April of 2015, her two most valuable, large-format paintings are stolen – with care – in broad daylight from the windowfronts of Galleri Nobel in Oslo’s city center. Desperate for answers about the theft of her paintings, Barbora is presented with an unusual opportunity to reach out to one of the men involved in the heist – Norwegian career criminal, Karl-‘Bertil’ Nordland. Filmmaker Benjamin Ree begins to document the story after Barbora unbelievably invites her thief to sit for a portrait, capturing the unlikely relationship that ensues as the equally damaged duo find common ground and form an inseparable bond through their mutual affinity for art.
Director:Benjamin Ree
Starring:Karl Bertil-Nordland, Barbora Kysilkova
Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy – 3 1/2 stars — VOD, including SLFS@Home
Winner of the 2019 SXSW Special Jury Award for ‘Excellence in Storytelling’, NOTHING FANCY provides an intimate look at ‘Mexicanophile’ and nonagenarian Diana Kennedy – a veritable gastronomical anthropologist who’s dedicated over six decades of her life to traversing Mexico collecting, preserving, and sharing a wealth of distinct regional dishes and preparatory traditions across nine acclaimed cookbooks. DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY features extensive footage of the charismatic and fiery scholar of traditional Mexican cuisine on her property in eastern Michoacán, alongside interviews with famed chefs José Andrés, Gabriela Cámara, Rick Bayless, and Alice Waters.
Director:Elizabeth Carroll
Starring:José Andrés, Gabriela Camara, Diana Kennedy
The Trip to Greece – 3 1/2 stars — VOD streaming platforms
Actors Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan travel from Troy to Ithaca following in the footsteps of the Odysseus.
Director:Michael Winterbottom
Starring:Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan
