FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Ma Rainey knows her worth. As played by Viola Davis in the screen adaptation of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ma is a confident truth-teller who has experienced a lot, and learned even more. The “Mother of the Blues” is an extraordinary songstress and performer, and isn’t about to let anyone take advantage of her. In Chicago 1927, during the height of the Great Migration, Ma is recording an album with her faithful band and new trumpet player, Levee (the late Chadwick Boseman). Ma’s manager and the head of the recording studio, both white, repeatedly pull bullshit moves: decreasing her pay, dictating the songs she records, ignoring her needs. But Ma holds firm. She knows her music is good, and that people want to hear it. If the white music establishment wants her, they’re going to have to bend to her will. It’s a pleasure to see Ma, a Black woman in a world controlled by whites, holding all the cards. Of course, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is too sensitive to Black American history to merely bask in the joy of one Black person’s success. The film is unflinchingly honest about our country’s habit of exploiting Black labor and creativity for white profit. The film takes place in the ’20s but its examination of white supremacy in the arts and the wider world feels very timely, indeed. (Rachel Montpelier)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is now available on Netflix.
Sister of the Groom – Written and Directed by Amy Miller Gross
“Sister of the Groom”
Audrey (Alicia Silverstone) struggles with turning 40 while meeting her new, seemingly perfect sister-in-law. With every intention of breaking up the happy couple, Audrey and her loyal husband (Tom Everett Scott) throw the weekend into a tailspin of embarrassing series of mishaps that make this destination wedding truly unforgettable.
“Sister of the Groom” is in theaters and available on VOD.
Modern Persuasion – Directed by Alex Appel and Jonathan Lisecki; Written by Barbara Radecki and Jonathan Lisecki
Wren Cosgrove (Alicia Witt) is a happy, single, and self-confessed workaholic who, after rising to the top of the corporate ladder, finds herself coming home every night to her cat. When her firm is hired by Owen Jasper (Shane McRae), “the man who got away,” long-lost feelings are stirred, giving Wren a second chance at true love.
“Modern Persuasion” is now available on VOD.
Yellow Rose – Directed by Diane Paragas; Written by Diane Paragas, Annie J. Howell, and Celena Cipriaso
“Yellow Rose”
“Yellow Rose” is the timely story of a Filipina teen (Eva Noblezada) from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Diane Paragas.
“Yellow Rose” will be available on VOD December 22.
Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You (Documentary)
Ariana Grande takes the stage in London for her Sweetener World Tour and shares a behind-the-scenes look at her life in rehearsal and on the road.
“Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You” will be available on Netflix December 21.
Max Cloud – Written by Sally Collett and Martin Owen
When teen gamer Sarah (Isabelle Allen) opens a portal into her favorite side-scroller, she becomes trapped in an intergalactic prison, home to the galaxy’s most dangerous villains. To escape, she must finish the game — or remain a 16-bit character forever.
“Max Cloud” is now available on VOD.
Monster Hunter
When Lt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers are transported to a new world, they engage in a desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers. Based on the video game by Capcom.
“Monster Hunter” is now in theaters.
Skylines
When a virus threatens to turn the now earth-dwelling friendly alien hybrids against humans, Captain Rose Corley (Lindsey Morgan) must lead a team of elite mercenaries on a mission to the alien world in order to save what’s left of humanity.
“Skylines” is now available on VOD.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD
Museum Town (Documentary) – Directed by Jennifer Trainer
“Museum Town”
“Museum Town” tells the story of a unique museum, the small town it calls home, and the great risk, hope, and power of art to transform a desolate post-industrial city. In 2017, MASS MoCA became the largest museum for contemporary art in the world — but just three decades before, its vast brick buildings were the abandoned relics of a massive shuttered factory. How did such a wildly improbable transformation come to be? A testament to tenacity and imagination, “Museum Town” traces the remarkable story of how a rural Massachusetts town went from economic collapse to art mecca.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jennifer Trainer.
“Museum Town” is available in virtual cinemas. Find screening info here.
Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day (Documentary) – Directed by Charlotte Juergens
Don McCarthy was 20 years old on D-Day, when his infantry division landed on Omaha Beach. Don and the other veterans who survived D-Day will someday soon have passed into memory and legend. This realization inspires 20-year-old filmmaker Charlotte Juergens to join Don and seven other D-day vets on a journey to France — a commemorative pilgrimage to Omaha Beach for the 70th anniversary of the invasion.
“Sunken Roads” is now in virtual cinemas.
Chasing the Rain – Written and Directed by Cindy Jansen
A shy photographer (Matt Lanter) desperately tries to fit in and hold on to the decent life he seems to have. But when tragedy suddenly befalls him, his unresolved past begins unraveling. As he struggles to cope, he becomes increasingly fearful that something — or someone — must be inflicting ruthless suffering on some people more than others, and he plans an escape.
“Chasing the Rain” is now available for rent or purchase on Amazon VOD.
Bad Impulse – Directed by Michelle Danner
In the aftermath of a traumatic event, Henry Sharpe (Grant Bowler), a suburban father and husband, gets a cutting edge security system from a mysterious man only to find out that it slowly destroys that which he most wants to protect.
“Bad Impulse” is now in theaters and available on VOD.
The Emoji Story (Documentary) – Directed by Martha Shane and Ian Cheney
“The Emoji Story” explores the complex, conflict-prone, and often hilarious world of the creators, lovers, and arbiters of emoji, our world’s newest pictorial language. How do you create a global language on the fly? This film charts the evolution and investigates what they may reveal about our increasingly technological world.
“The Emoji Story” will be available on VOD December 22.
Tiger Within – Written by Gina Wendkos
A friendship between a troubled, homeless teen, and a Holocaust survivor sparks larger questions of ignorance, fear, lies, family, love, forgiveness, and our divided world at large.
“Tiger Within” is now in virtual cinemas. Find screening info here.
TV AND EPISODIC PREMIERES
Up Early Tonight (Talk Show) – Hosted by Abbi Crutchfield (Available Now on Hulu)
Finally, a talk show for moms that tells it like it is. We’re tackling the good, the bad, and the ugly of motherhood — with host Abbi Crutchfield and guests dishing over anonymous mom confessionals, commiserating over unsolicited advice-givers, sleepless nights, sex, mom fashions, and everything in-between. Panels, parodies, stand-up, and sketches give moms the laughs and the support they need. It may feel like you’re the only one up, but we’re here, too, and we’ve got your back.
On Pointe (Docuseries) – Directed by Larissa Bills (Premieres December 18 on Disney+)
“On Pointe”
“On Pointe” captures a season in New York City’s world renowned School of American Ballet (SAB). Featuring unprecedented access to one of the top youth ballet institutions in the world, the series follows the lives of students ages eight to 18 pursuing their dreams to become ballet dancers. While older students from all over the country rigorously train for professional careers, younger students from New York City are put through their paces as they rehearse and perform in New York City Ballet’s holiday classic “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” onstage at Lincoln Center.
Sweet Home – Created by Hong So-ri, Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo, Kim Hyeong-min, and Park So-hyeon (Premieres December 18 on Netflix)
As humans turn into savage monsters and wreak terror, one troubled teen and his apartment neighbors fight to survive — and to hold on to their humanity.
Letters to Satan Claus (TV Movie) – Directed by Emma Jean Sutherland (Premieres December 19 on Syfy)
“Letters to Satan Claus” revolves around Holly (Karen Knox) who, after returning to her hometown of Ornaments as a big-city news reporter, faces off with the demon of her past following a simple typo made in her letter to Santa. It’s a harmless mistake that summons Satan to kill her parents.
London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck (Comedy Special) – Written by London Hughes (Premieres December 22 on Netflix)
Hughes
London Hughes, the sauciest comedian to come out of the U.K., takes us on a brilliant and bold tour of her dick catching history.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK
Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” will screen at Sundance 2021: Sundance Institute/Edu Grau
Apply Now: Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab
Investigating Intimacy: Crowdfunding Picks
Women Directed 47 Percent of Sundance 2021’s Overall Feature Slate
Black List 2020: Sophie Dawson’s Cannibal Story “Headhunter” Receives Most Votes
National Film Registry Adds Record Number of Women-Directed Titles This Year
Exclusive: NYWIFT Announces Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant Awardees
Quote of the Day: TCA Prez Sarah Rodman on the Toll COVID Has Taken on Shows By and About Women
Katori Hall Signs Overall Deal with Lionsgate TV, Sets Up Mentorship Program for Black Playwrights
Teen Dreams and Nightmares: VOD Picks
Patty Jenkins Will Be the First Woman to Direct a “Star Wars” Movie
Note: All descriptions are from press materials, unless otherwise noted.
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