first-run online streaming

‘God of the Piano’ tackles the perils of desperation

“God of the Piano” (2019 production, 2020 release). Cast: Naama Preis, Andi Lev, Ron Bitterman, Ze’ev Shimshoni, Alon Openhaim, Shimon Mimran, Leora Rivlin, Itay Zipor. Director: Itay Tal. Screenplay: Itay Tal. Web site. Trailer. Preserving a family legacy is certainly a noble goal. It provides a sense of continuity that links the generations and gives a family its character, reputation and even notoriety. But how far is one willing to go to keep up the tradition? At what point does a goal turn into an obsession? And what are the costs of going too far? Those are among the issues raised and addressed in the captivating new Israeli psychological thriller, “God of the Piano.” Anat Tal (Naama Preis) comes from [...]

Brent Marchant2020-12-13T04:22:28-05:00October 27th, 2020|Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘Bare Necessity’ inspires us to strip away the clutter

“The Bare Necessity” (“Perdrix”) (2019 production, 2020 release). Cast: Swann Arlaud, Maud Wyler, Fanny Ardant, Nicolas Maury, Patience Munchenbach, Alexandre Steiger, Bastiste Kerroué. Director: Erwan Le Duc. Screenplay: Erwan Le Duc. Web site. Trailer. How often have you wanted to rid yourself of the unnecessary elements of your life, removing the clutter and seriously focusing only on what’s most important? Like cleaning an overstuffed closet, it’s something many of us say we have to get around to doing one day but somehow don’t manage to find the time – that is, until our hand is forced and we have to do it out of necessity. Wouldn’t it be easier if we made peace with the idea and just went ahead with [...]

Brent Marchant2020-10-12T20:32:22-05:00September 11th, 2020|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Movie Reviews, Romance|

‘Fatima’ extols the virtues of faith

“Fatima” (2020). Cast: Harvey Keitel, Sônia Braga, Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Visnjic, Stephanie Gil, Alejandra Howard, Jorge Lamelas, Lúcia Moniz, Marco D’Almeida, Joana Ribeiro, João Arrais, João D’Avila, Figueira Cid, Elmano Sancho, Carla Chambel, Iris Cayatte, Ivone Fernandes-Jesus. Director: Marco Pontecarvo. Screenplay: Valerio D’Annunzio, Barbara Nicolosi and Marco Pontecarvo. Web site. Trailer. Faith is something that’s exceedingly difficult to characterize. It doesn’t have any palpable, easily identifiable qualities. It won’t conveniently fit into a neat little package. And it’s not something that can be readily recognized at a passing glance. But, for those who understand and appreciate it, its existence is undeniable, no matter how intangible it might be and how difficult it may be to convince disbelievers of its [...]

Brent Marchant2020-10-10T21:04:09-05:00September 9th, 2020|Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘Song Without a Name’ pleas for justice, reform

“Song Without a Name” (“Cancíon sin nombre”) (2019 production, 2020 release). Cast: Pamela Mendoza, Tommy Pàrraga, Lucio Rojas, Maykol Hernández, Ruth Armas, Lídia Quispe, Jhazmin Mamani, Lourdes Villareal, Carlos Victoria, Luis Menezes, Boris Severola, Gabriela Velásquez, Yiliana Chong, Janet Gutarra, Melvin Quijada, Ronald Saravia, Jenny Torres. Director: Melina León. Screenplay: Melina León and Michael J. White. Web site. Trailer. Life in a land riddled with injustice, intolerance and inequality – conditions that many of us can relate to these days – is ripe for change. But the birth pangs of bringing about such reform are often as difficult to endure as the problems that sparked their institution. And, to complicate matters further, these ordeals are often felt both across society and [...]

Brent Marchant2020-09-25T13:11:35-05:00September 2nd, 2020|Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘Dare to Dream’ blends love and ‘attraction’

“The Secret: Dare to Dream” (2020). Cast: Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas, Jerry O’Connell, Celia Weston, Sarah Hoffmeister, Aidan Pierce Brennan, Chloe Lee, Katrina Begin, Sydney Tennant, Cory Scott Allen. Director: Andy Tennant. Screenplay: Bekah Brunstetter, Andy Tennant and Rick Parks. Story: Bekah Brunstetter. Book: Rhonda Byrne, The Secret. Web site. Trailer. Oftentimes we spend considerable portions of our lives hoping that we’ll be the beneficiaries of our most cherished aspirations, especially when it comes to finding the loves of our lives. We hold out hope that the perfect soul mate will walk into our existence and join us in a life of happily ever after. But do we really believe in the possibility of that happening? And, if so, what [...]

Brent Marchant2020-09-17T11:55:32-05:00August 28th, 2020|Conscious Creation, Movie Reviews, Romance|

‘Mighty Oak’ sheds light on the mystery of reincarnation

“Mighty Oak” (2020). Cast: Janel Parrish, Tommy Ragen, Carlos PenaVega, Levi Dylan, Ben Milliken, Nana Ghana, Rodney Hicks, Gianna Harris, Alexa PenaVega, Raven-Symoné, Bill Lewis, Linda Ardell Wendfeldt, Marco Drapeau, Thomas Kasp. Screenplay: Matt R. Allen. Story: Frank Ragen and Matt R. Allen. Web site. Tariler. Most of us have heard of the concept of reincarnation, and many of us – including skeptics – are intrigued by the notion. It’s become so ingrained in the culture that we’ve even embraced sayings like “not in this lifetime,” implying matter-of-factly that there’s more than just one incarnation. But how many of us are willing to look past our doubt and genuinely buy into the principle without definitive proof of its existence? That’s [...]

Brent Marchant2020-09-15T23:30:15-05:00August 26th, 2020|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘My Dog Stupid’ wages a war on discontent

“My Dog Stupid” (“Mon chien Stupide”) (2019). Cast: Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Eric Ruf, Pascale Arbillot, Ben Attal, Adèle Wismes, Pablo Venzal, Panayotis Pascot, Oscar Copp, Lola Marois, Sébastien Thiery, Franz Lang. Director: Yvan Attal. Screenplay: Stéphane Guillon and Dean Craig. Story: Dean Craig, Yvan Attal and Yaël Langmann. Book: John Fante, West of Rome. Web site. Trailer. Most of us feel dissatisfied with our lives from time to time. Sometimes we have only a vague sense of what’s irking us, but often we have a clear picture of the irritation. Still, even with such an awareness, we frequently lack an understanding of how to fix the problem. Perhaps looking to the source of that discontent can help us figure [...]

Brent Marchant2020-09-18T05:30:45-05:00August 13th, 2020|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘The 11th Green’ wrestles with the nature of truth, beliefs

“The 11th Green” (2020). Cast: Campbell Scott, Agnes Bruckner, George Gerdes, Leith M. Burke, Tom Stokes, April Grace, Ian Hart, Currie Graham, David Clennon, Monte Markham, Kathryn Lee Scott, Tom Connelly, Eli Cusick, Imani McNorton, Peter Tingstrom. Archive Footage: Harry S. Truman. Director: Christopher Munch. Screenplay: Christopher Munch. Web site. Trailer. We all know the truth when we see it, don’t we? After all, it’s a fixed, finite concept that’s applicable to all of us, isn’t it? Or is it something more nebulous, a moving target that shifts over time? Moreover, is it something that compliantly falls in line with our observations and beliefs, or is it subject to manipulation as a result of the influence of outside sources? Indeed, [...]

Brent Marchant2020-08-12T10:57:36-05:00July 4th, 2020|Conscious Creation, Movie Reviews, Sci-Fi|

‘Miss Juneteenth’ cautions us on the dangers of stalemates

“Miss Juneteenth” (2020). Cast: Nicole Beharie, Alexis Chikaeze, Kendrick Sampson, Lori Hayes, Marcus M. Mauldin, Akron Watson, Liz Mikel, Phyllis Cicero, Lisha Hackney, Mathew Greer, Jaime Matthis, Margaret Sanchez. Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples. Screenplay: Channing Godfrey Peoples. Web site. Trailer. Being stuck in our circumstances can be a horrible fate. Such stalemates keep us mired in unsatisfying conditions, preventing us from moving forward. But what’s even worse is not realizing that we are stuck, an exercise in ongoing frustration examined in the new generational drama, “Miss Juneteenth.” In 2004, Turquoise Jones (Nicole Beharie) was proudly crowned Miss Juneteenth, the top honor in a beauty pageant staged in honor of the 1865 freeing of the remaining Black slaves in Texas, two [...]

Brent Marchant2020-08-01T14:50:01-05:00June 25th, 2020|Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘The New Bauhaus’ dissects the creative process

“The New Bauhaus” (2019 production, 2020 release). Cast: Interviews: Olafur Eliasson, Elizabeth Siegel, Joyce Tsai, Robin Schuldenfrei, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Hattula Moholy-Nagy, Barbara Kasten. Archive Material: László Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Walter Gropius. Director: Alysa Nahmias. Screenplay: Alysa Nahmias and Miranda Yousef. Web site. Trailer. A Chinese fortune cookie I once cracked open imparted a simple but inspiring message, “There is no greater joy than creation.” Those words have stayed with me for years, and I’m always moved when I see comparable sentiments expressed through other means. And, in that vein, a recently released film echoes that notion through a portrait of an individual whose calling epitomizes that very idea, the central figure profiled in the engaging new documentary, “The New [...]

Brent Marchant2020-07-30T09:56:36-05:00June 17th, 2020|Conscious Creation, Documentary, Movie Reviews|