ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
ON THE SMALL SCREEN By Jenny Peters
BIG MOVIES PIVOT TO SMALL SCREENS BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR Lionsgate/On Demand Like most of the movies included here, Barb & Star Go to Vista del Mar was expected to be a big box-office hit for Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. That pair scored an Oscar nomination for their first screenwriting collaboration, 2011’s Bridesmaids. This comedy is their follow up, as they co-star as sheltered Midwestern gals who head to Florida for a fun-in-the-sun getaway that goes hilariously wrong in every way. BLITHE SPIRIT IFC Films/On Demand Noel Coward’s timeless comedy of séances, ghosts, and assorted craziness returns yet again to the screen, this time with Judi Dench playing wacky Madame Acarti and Dan Stevens as the novelist with two wives (one alive, one not so much). Isla Fisher and Leslie Mann round out the lunacy here; and once you’ve seen this one, try David Lean’s 1945 classic Oscar-winning take, too, with Margaret Rutherford and Rex Harrison in fine form. JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH HBO Max The Oscars are odd this year, as films releasing until February 28, 2021, are eligible for 2020 nominations. This intense movie that is getting a lot of late-entry traction follows the Black Panther movement in ‘60s Illinois and is inspired by true events. It stars LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, and Martin Sheen and is directed by first-time helmer Shaka King. MALCOLM & MARIE Netflix Emotional highs and lows hit this couple as they celebrate an important day. Emmy winner Zendaya and John David Washington star in this romantic two-hander shot during COVID-19 restrictions. They are the only people we see throughout this film which was originally planned for theatrical release. THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY Hulu Andra Day stars—and sings—in this fact-based story of Billie Holiday’s fraught relationship with the FBI throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s. Oscar nominee Lee Daniels directs this disturbing, emotional look at what one of the world’s greatest singers went through in the years before the Civil Rights movement took hold in America. Trevante Rhodes and Natasha Lyonne co-star. 54 | OUR CITY, YOUR LIFE | FEBRUARY 2021
