Previews

On Screen: Coachella, Cat Videos, István Szabó trio, Extra Ordinary, Trolls, and more.

by Josh

It’s going to be a warm weekend in Seattle, but the city’s biggest parks are going to be closed because we just can’t be trusted not to heed the call of the sun and congregate. So, continue staying at home and squashing the curve. There’s a ton of stuff to stream including a filmed version of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag (the original one-woman show) on Prime Video for charity, Alan (Master of None) Yang’s Tigertail debuting on Netflix, and Best Pictur- winner Parasite making its way to Hulu. Some other highlights, many supporting local cinemas below:

  • Coachella was supposed to kick off the first of two weekends today, but early in the coronavirus crisis realized that throwing 100,000 people into a sprawling polo grounds with bands, art installations, drink tents, dance tents, campgrounds, hotels, day parties, afterparties, and sunscreen-soaked swimming pools was going to be even more questionable from a public health perspective than usual. They postponed the mega-festival until October, but for now you can salve your Coachella withdrawal with a Couch-chella session. So today, just when the gates at the Empire Polo Grounds were scheduled to open, YouTube Originals is premiering their documentary Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert. Set to feature some of the best performances and behind-the-scenes scoop from the past two decades, it’s available to stream for free, no VIP wristbands required.
  • SIFF was a little slow to get into the virtual cinema game, but they’re bolstering last week’s selection with four more. Administer a self-care session with Best of CatVideoFest: Creature Comforts Edition and/or take a deep dive into the works of Hungarian auteur István Szabó with Cannes jury prize-winner Colonel Redl, WWII-era resistance thriller Confidence, or Academy Award-winning Mephisto, in which an actor in Nazi Germany achieves fame through a Faustian pact.
  • No part of the film industry has been harder-hit than the Trolls Industrial Complex. Whereas most studios postponed their biggest blockbusters by months or years, Universal knew that the hunger for the continued adventures of the singing, dancing, animated nostalgia objects couldn’t be quelled. So, while you won’t be able to share the experience of Trolls: World Tour in the physical company of fellow aficionados, the latest installment of this perplexing franchise is now available for purchase to fuel home dance parties. At Vanity Fair, longtime Trolls enthusiast Richard Lawson warns parents that the even-louder jukebox musical will ruin their lives.
  • This week’s opportunities to help the Grand Illusion include Ken Loach’s social drama Sorry We Missed You as well as Extra Ordinary, a new comedy about an Irish driving instructor with supernatural abilities, small time exorcisms, and Will Forte as a one-hit-wonder rock star who makes a deal with the devil.
  • Northwest Film Forum continues much of their online programming, with new additions including an weekend-long “live-ish” presentation of Nocturnal Emissions and Kantemir Balagov’s prize-winning Russian PTSD drama Beanpole, which Kathy Fennessey praised for revealing the unwomanly face of war.
  • On April 13 at 5pm, Focus Features will do another Movie Mondays, this time featuring Wes Anderson’s melancholy summer camp tween rom-com Moonrise Kingdom with questions and answers from the director revealed during the livestream.