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Living Room Theatres reopens for limited-capacity public screenings this Friday for the first time since March, but if you (understandably) don’t want to venture out, there are plenty of exciting new movies and shows to stream at home. Read on below for options available locally (like Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, streaming through Cinema 21 and Hollywood Theatre and playing at Living Room Theatres) and through national platforms (like Judas and the Black Messiah on HBO). Plus, don’t forget that the Mercury‘s amateur stoner short film fest SPLIFF is accepting submissions through March 5!
LOCALLY STREAMING: NEW & NOTEWORTHY
Minari
There is so much to love about the sublime Minari, the reasons why could fill a film of its own. So, forgive me if I’m a little effusive. Taking place in 1980s Arkansas, it follows a Korean American family as they attempt to start a farm. It’s alluded that they’ve previously worked somewhere in California and in Seattle, where they were making just enough of a living to get by. Now, the family has purchased land that no one else wants in a long shot at making their own Garden of Eden. Jacob (Steven Yeun), the family’s somewhat naive but caring patriarch, initially gives the farm the biblical name. It soon becomes clear that he is driving the family to take the leap of faith with him. There is Monica (Yeri Han), the justifiably worried matriarch, who must balance out her husband’s dreams with keeping the family whole. The film clearly comes from a personal place for writer and director Lee Isaac Chung, who delicately breathes life into every corner of the film. His down-to-earth story combines with visuals that are boldly full of wonder—from the rich reds, seen in the hat on actor Steven Yeun’s head, to the tranquil greens of the natural world around them. CHASE HUTCHINSON
Cinema 21 & Hollywood Theatre (also playing in-person at Living Room Theatres; see here for details)
Starting Friday
