If the "fire and fury" of this week's political tension has you seeking relief, Up To Date's indie, foreign and documentary film critics have suggestions for the perfect movie to keep your mind off earthly crises. Well, except for the first item on the list which, coincidentally, is about Earth's environmental problems (it's still worth watching though!)
Steve Walker
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, PG
- A decade after Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary about climate change, he's back on the international stage to trumpet the advances in several countries while lamenting the stalemate in the U.S., chiefly the current administration's secession from the Paris Accord.
Lady Macbeth, R
- Defying divisions of class and color in 19th century England, a young woman, played by Florence Pugh, rebels against her marriage to a pious bully and takes up with a randy groomsman employed by her husband.
Maudie, PG-13
- This poignant and unconventionally romantic biopic about Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, who suffered from debilitating arthritis, stars Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, both excellent as the title character and her grumpy, illiterate husband.
Cynthia Haines
Landline, R
- Two sisters bond while investigating their father's suspected affair in a comedy with a rather refreshing take on the imperfections of family.
Lady Macbeth, R
- Set in rural England during the mid 19th Century, Florence Pugh's Katherine is caught in an affair between her bitter husband and one of his employees. The film colorfully explores the social concept of privilege between the wealthy and the poor.
Maudie, PG-13
- Based on the true story of Canadian painter Maud Lewis, Sally Hawkins deftly portrays the renowned folk artist, who was first hired as housekeeper for the painfully introverted man she eventually falls in love with.
