Limited and Virtual Releases: Feel Free to Watch a Movie the Weekend
June 11, 2020
There’s an eclectic mix of limited and virtual releases this week with more than a few that are earning critical praise. Marona’s Fantastic Tale is an animated film that packs an emotional punch and GKIDS has a proven track record when it comes to quality. Hill of Freedom is a South Korean romantic drama with an excellent hook and reviews to match. Even some of the smaller films on the main list, like The Short History of the Long Road, look intriguing.
Highlights:
Aviva
Marona’s Fantastic Tale
For They Know Not What They Do
Hill of Freedom
The Short History of the Long Road
The Surrogate
Other Releases:
Billie
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An art-house musical romance that features two main characters, Aviva and Eden, each of whom is played by both a man and a woman. It also features copious amounts of adult content. There was no way this film was ever going to find a mainstream audience, but it could do better virtually. The film debuts this Friday in New York and Los Angeles, but expands over the coming weeks. More information can be found on its official site.
The latest animated film released by GKIDS is a French animated film about a dying dog remembering the four owners it had throughout its life. Get ready to cry. You’ll probably also want to adopt a puppy after watching this movie, so be warned. The film opens virtually this Friday. The official site has more details.
A documentary about the right-wing backlash against the legalizing of gay marriage. The critical acclaim is amazing and if this film were opening in the Fall, then I would expect it to be a player during Awards Season. As it is, I fear it will be forgotten by Awards Season votes by the time they have to vote. The film is opening on Friday virtually. Check out the official site for more details.
A romantic drama from South Korea. In it, Kwon is given a packet of letters left by Mori, who has come to propose to her. However, before she can read these letters, she drops and scatters them. Now she has a packet of undated letters and must make sense of chronology. That is a good hook for a romantic drama and the reviews live up to that hook. The film opens on Friday virtually. Check out the official site for more details.
For teenage Nola, home is the open road. Her self-reliant father is her anchor in a life of transience. When tragedy strikes, she searches for her mother, who she never knew, and perhaps finds a more permanent home along the way. This movie doesn’t have a lot of reviews, but the ones it has are mostly positive. It probably won’t have been able to thrive in limited release under normal circumstances, but we are far from normal right now. On the one hand, not enough theaters are open for a film like this to truly thrive. On the other hand, there’s not a lot of competition out there. I still think it will have to wait until it’s available in the home market to be found by most people.
A dialogue-driven indie drama written and directed by Jeremy Hersh and starring first-time lead Jasmine Batchelor. There are not many reviews out there, but the ones I’ve seen are positive. The film is getting a virtual release this week and you can check out the official site to see what theaters you can support while watching this film.
Chhalaang
Infamous
The Longest Wave
There are two documentaries among the smaller releases and of these, Billie is the one I want to see the most.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Infamous, For They Know Not What They Do, L'extraordinaire voyage de Marona, Chhalaang, Billie, The Surrogate, The Longest Wave, Aviva, The Short History of the Long Road, ja-yu-eui eon-deok, Ryo Kase, Steven Ogg, Sabrina Carpenter, Seo Younghwa, Jeremy Hersh, Jasmine Batchelor