Instant Picks of the Week 3/3/17
Gone are the days of scrolling mindlessly through your queue! No longer will you have to sift through the vastness of what’s coming to the instant viewing wastelands this month! Whether you’re looking for a stellar film or an exciting new show to binge, Instant Picks of the Week brings you the hottest releases in film and television on instant viewing platforms that we know you’ll love, or at the very least not despise.
FRANCES HA (Netflix)
FRANCES HA is an emotional and joyful journey through the life of a woman named Frances who is brutally adjusting to adulthood. (As she herself admits, after her credit card gets declined at a restaurant: “I’m so embarrassed. I’m not a real person yet.”) And yes, she’s right; she struggles through jobs, homes, friends, and love, and all the while feels nervous and excited and passionate. At its core, FRANCES HA is an atypical love story, one about love and compassion between female friends, a type of relationship that, in my opinion, is dreadfully underrepresented in film. As writer/star Greta Gerwig explains, “We very deliberately tried to make it like a love story. She has girl, she loses girl, she tries to win girl back.” But, like all good love stories, FRANCES HA has both an undeniable sadness and satisfaction to it. The character of Frances is so thoroughly and incredibly lovable, real, and relatable that an audience can’t help but care immensely for her. FRANCES HA is a very special and touching movie, with unique and likable characters in situations that feel cruelly real. It is not to be missed. [Hayley Bensmiller]
VINCENT (Vimeo)
A grim yet charming six minute short, this 1982 animation is remembered as Tim Burton’s tribute to Vincent Price and Edgar Allan Poe. VINCENT shows the depths of a young boy’s mind by exploring young Vincent Malloy’s fantasies as he copes with the struggles of childhood. Many can connect with the endearing innocence and exaggerated imagination of young Vincent. Many critics called it a modern masterpiece of gothic art. A story told through poetry and narrated by Vincent Price himself, it is quick and simple, but has all the oddly drawn characters, dark scenery, out-of-place feel, and mix of fantasy and reality that many have come to love. If you liked EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, BIG FISH, and ED WOOD, you will surely love VINCENT. I call it Tim Burton without all the frills. [Lynnzee Highland]
