The Sydney lockdown may have ended but the PTSD of sorts has not.
Hence, while I can go to the cinemas if I am so inclined, the reality is, bar a couple of bookings – Eternals on 6 November and No Time to Die on 16 November, I am quite content, despite my great love of going to the movies normally, to stay at home and stream some cinematic delights.
No doubt as things settle down, and hopefully they will – though if this pandemic has demonstrated anything, it’s that you can depend on a damn thing to actually happen the way you think it will – I will venture out more, increasing candy bar income flow wherever I go, but for now, it’s casting to the TV that’s working for me.
Thankfully, two of the three offerings this post play right into that temporarily-scared-of-the-world approach …
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It tells the story of J.R., a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie, is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father — J.R. begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams — with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar. The Tender Bar stars Ben Affleck (Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One), Lily Rabe (American Horror Story), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Max Martini (Saving Private Ryan) and Rhenzy Feliz (Marvel’s The Runaways). (synopsis courtesy Flickering Myth)
The Tender Bar premieres on Prime Video on 7 January 2022.
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Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali) returns to her family’s posh suburban New Jersey home after spending a year away at college and upends their well-ordered life with her newfound independence. Befriending Varun (Rish Shah), the handsome son of the new owners of the local Indian grocery, she invites his family to a weekly dinner gathering with her parents’ wealthy friends. She is shocked to learn that her perfectionist mother Sheila (Manisha Koirala) has a previous connection to Varun’s mother Bhairavi (Deepti Gupta). Alia’s surprise turns to indignation when she uncovers intriguing secrets about both her parents that push her toward a daring and transformative confrontation. India Sweets and Spices is written and directed by up-and-coming Indian filmmaker Geeta Malik, her second feature after making Troublemaker previously, as well as a few other short films. Produced by Naomi Despres, John Penotti, Gigi Pritzker. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
India Sweets and Spices opens in select US cinemas on 19 November (following premieres at San Diego Asian Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival).
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Takes place over the course of a week during production of I Love Lucy, which sees Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz encounter a crisis that could jeopardize their careers and marriage. (synopsis courtesy Wikipedia)
Being the Ricardos premieres on Prime Video on 21 December 2021.