If you are looking to stir emotions and grab some tissues this weekend Our Friend has got you covered. Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two
Specialty Streaming Preview
The specialty box office and streaming space is ringing in 2021 with a peppering of new titles starting with Shadow in the Cloud starring Chloë Grace Moretz, which opens in select theaters and drops on VOD and digital starting January 1, 2021. Directed by Roseanne Liang who co-wrote the script with Max Landis, Shadow in the
Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari made its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year and immediately became the talk of the fest after it won Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Now, A24 is set to share this moving story with the world — well, in limited release at least. The family
As we enter the throes of awards season more and more films are starting to make their qualifying runs in what is expected to be a very different kind of season. For starters, Searchlight Pictures is set to release Chloe Zhao’s buzzy pic of existential wanderlust Nomadland starring Frances McDormand for its virtual qualifying run
This weekend is Halloween and Focus Features is delivering some scares with the Jacob Chase-directed horror Come Play, which opens in theaters starting today. Come Play is based on Chase’s 2017 short film Larry. The feature version which is dubbed as “a terrifying new vision in horror” follows Oliver (newcomer Azhy Robertson), a lonely young boy
The specialty streaming space will be On the Rocks this weekend — so to speak. Sofia Coppola’s father-daughter dramedy is set to drop on Apple TV+ on Friday and it seems like light-hearted movie-watching fare from the Oscar-winning filmmaker. Deadline’s resident critic Pete Hammond seems to sign off on the sentiment that this will bring a
There is a very good mix of theatrical, digital, VOD and hybrid releases this weekend starting with The Kid Detective from Stage 6 Films starring Adam Brody and Sophie Nélisse. Written and directed by Evan Morgan, the movie is about exactly what the title suggests: a kid detective. Brody plays a once-celebrated kid detective who is
Filmmaker Garrett Bradley is known for tackling pressing issues facing the Black community with her work. Her documentary short America painted a portrait of how Black people are represented in American culture while Alone, investigated the impact of mass incarceration on the modern Black family through the eyes of a single mother in New Orleans. The latter
As September comes to a close and October brings in autumnal vibes, the country (and the world for that matter) is focusing on two things: the forthcoming November election and the end of the world. Luckily, in this early edition of this week’s specialty preview, we have something that is relevant to both! After making
As box offices start to test the waters, Roger Michell’s family drama Blackbird starring Susan Sarandon is set to open in theaters and on demand starting today. Known for My Cousin Rachel and Notting Hill, Michell directs a script by Christian Torpe, who wrote the 2014 Danish film, Silent Heart on which the family drama is based. In it,
The origin of the drama Buoyancy can be traced back to when Australian filmmaker Rodd Rathjen came across an article a few years ago about Cambodian workers and their life on a Thai fishing trawler. He became riveted by the unbelievable story and upon more research, he said in a statement: “The scale of modern
As the world seems like it is aflame with a pandemic, divisive rhetoric from an oppressive administration and the unjust killing of Black lives at the hands of police officers, hope seems dim. However, there are voices and role models in the world that are fighting for change and on the frontlines fighting against 45,
After making its world premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield is ready to hit theaters. Searchlight Pictures is debuting the reimagining of the Charles Dickens’ classic starring Dev Patel in physical theaters (remember those?). To be more specific, the film will open in over 1,350 theaters across
After numerous delays, Well Go USA’s Cut Throat City is finally making its debut — and in theaters. Yes, you heard that right. The RZA-directed crime drama will make its way into select theaters starting today as they slowly start to open their doors across the country. “Well Go is a supporter of the traditional theatrical
You may have heard his name uttered by Kanye West or Migos in songs but Martin Margiela isn’t necessarily a household name when it comes to fashion — but it should be. One of the most elusive designers in the fashion industry, there are barely any photos of him on the internet, but his work
The fight for freedom of the press and against the oppressive political regime in the Philippines takes center stage in Ramona S. Diaz’s A Thousand Cuts, which opens in theaters and in virtual theaters nationwide. As journalists around the world face threats and the term “fake news” is thrown around recklessly by world leaders, A Thousand Cuts puts Filipino
It’s a volatile time in our country. We are divided and there’s an extreme sense of civic unrest. As hopeless as many of us feel, there are heroes on the front lines who are protecting our constitutional freedoms when it comes to abortion rights, immigration rights, LGBTQ rights and voting rights — and those heroes
Amazon Studios brings the story of Marie Curie to the screen with Radioactive starring Oscar-nominated actress Rosamund Pike as the pioneering scientist. Directed by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) and written by Jack Thorne, Radioactive is based on the 2010 graphic novel Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss. The film adaptation follows
Vaclav Marhoul’s adaptation of Jerzy Kosinsky’s novel The Painted Bird has been on quite a journey. The film took more than a decade to be made and it premiered at the 2019 Venice Film Festival where it was honored with the Cinema for UNICEF Award before debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival. The pic was
With its sun-kissed energy and oasis vibes, it’s appropriate that the Max Barbakow-directed comedy Palm Springs be released during the summer. The time-hopping comedy made its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year and drops on Hulu today. The film written by Andy Siara follows carefree Nyles (Andy Samberg), who meets Sarah (Cristin Milioti) a reluctant
John Lewis has always been fighting for civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. He’s been doing it for over 60 years so to say that his narrative is relevant more now than ever is a wild understatement. In the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble, director Dawn Porter (Trapped, Gideon’s Army) chronicles
In what has been one hell of an election year, Jon Stewart is cutting through all of it with his biting political comedy Irresistible starring Steve Carell, Rose Byrne and Chris Cooper. The Focus Features film was originally set to hit theaters on May 29, but like all films impacted by the pandemic, it pivoted to
On June 19, 1865, slavery was abolished in Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It is a benchmark in Black history and is more timely now than ever as it is a day to celebrate and champion Black voices. That said, it is a good day for the debut of Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss
We’ve seen Elisabeth Moss take on corporate male toxicity in Mad Men, a ghost of a man in The Invisible Man, Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale and punk rock in Her Smell. This weekend we’ll see her try her as a horror author who tries not unravel as she goes through her creative process in the Josephine Decker-directed Shirley. The
The Focus Features musical dramedy The High Note is looking to hit exactly that as it lands on-demand starting today. Directed by Late Night‘s Nisha Ganatra from a script by Flora Greeson, the film was originally set to hit theaters on May 8 but, like many films, the film adapted and shifted to a digital. However, with theaters slowly
Director and cinematographer Benjamin Ree injected his deep interest with art theft in his latest feature The Painter and the Thief, which drops in virtual cinemas as well as VOD platforms starting Friday. The documentary debuted at Sundance earlier this year and went on to win the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative
Annette Bening, Bill Nighy and Josh O’ Connor are ready to deal with some serious family issues in the drama Hope Gap. Screen Media Ventures and Roadside Attractions released the film today on digital platforms after having to pivot from their originally planned March 5 theatrical release due to the pandemic –because the show must go
The story of the notorious outlaw Ned Kelly is dropping on digital and on-demand today with the Justin Kurzel-directed True History of the Kelly Gang starring George MacKay (1917, Captain Fantastic), Russell Crowe (Boy Erased, The Loudest Voice) and Nicholas Hoult (The Banker, X-Men franchise). The grimy western crime drama, which was adapted by Kurzel from
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp is going from the world of the Upside Down to world of the culinary arts in the newly released comedy Abe from Brazilian director Fernando Grostein Andrade (Wandering Heart, Quebrando o Tabu). The film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last year, features Schnapp as the food-obsessed titular pre-teen Abe — although
There are more than enough streaming and VOD titles of all genres in the specialty arena making their debut this weekend as they shift from theatrical to streaming for your quarantine entertainment. For those who need to quench their thirst for a rom-com, Mike Doyle’s Almost Love is set to premiere. The Vertical Entertainment film made