Clouds (Streaming October 16, on Disney+)
When her teenage son, Zach (Fin Argus), was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, Minnesota mom Laura Sobiech (Neve Campbell) encouraged him to follow his heart. Zach’s musical ability and writing partnership with best friend Sammy (Sabrina Carpenter) prompted songs recording his journey. These culminated in the YouTube hit, “Clouds.” Adapted from Laura’s memoir, Fly a Little Higher... , the movie, filmed over just 42 days, follows Zach’s romance with Amy (Madison Iseman), and his efforts to make the most of his time. (Lisa Miller)
The Blue Eyes (IndiePix Films)
It’s an intriguing set-up whose music and imaginative credits sequence calls up the spirit of those gloriously mad Italian horror films from the ‘70s. A vengeful spirit greets the young American couple visiting Chiapas, Paul (Zachary Booth), whose grandfather was a pioneer in Mayan studies, and Karen (Allison Case). They came with intellectual curiosity and become emersed beyond reason in the darker aspects of local culture. All those vultures, which form a visual motif throughout, are a clue—as is the eerie music accompanying the odd encounter with an aged woman in the marketplace. Several scenes by director Eva Aridjis are inspired, especially the black-and-white dog’s eye perspective of a canine who might really be a shape-shifting shaman. (David Luhrssen)
“The Captain’s Collection” (Shout! Factory)
William Shatner looks like he’s having a great time jetting around the planet to meet with the other captains from the Star Trek universe. “The Captains” is one of the Shatner-directed documentaries assembled on the Blu-ray set “The Captain’s Collection.” Each starship skipper has an interesting back story and some remarks as to how they came to their series. Busy Patrick Stewart said no to a six-year contract until someone convinced him that “Next Generation” wouldn’t last past one season. Scott Bakula didn’t want to be “the next captain” until he realized he’d been offered a series set a century earlier than Kirk’s “Star Trek.” Whether intentionally or not, the various iterations benefitted by casting each captain against the type of his or her predecessor. (David Luhrssen)
I Am a Dancer (Film Movement Classic)
I Am a Dancer repeats the legend that Rudolf Nureyev was born on a moving train, a profound beginning for the boy who made art from motion. Pierre Jourdan shot this documentary in 1972 when Nureyev was the biggest dance star in the world and could chose whom to work with and where. Included are scenes from classic ballets such as Sylphide and The Sleeping Beauty as well as Field Figures, choreographed to the harshly astringent music of Stockhausen. Rehearsal scenes show how he balanced phenomenal physical training with an aesthetic sensibility rare in any other human undertaking. (David Luhrssen)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Streaming October 16, on Netflix)
Following riots at the 1968, Chicago Democratic Convention, the federal government charged seven protesters with conspiracy and inciting to riot. Presided over by Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella), the trial infamously resulted in up to four-year sentences for contempt of court. Writer/director Aaron Sorkin cast Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen as establishment-taunting Tom Hayden and Abbie Hoffman; Mark Rylance as defense lawyer William Kunstler; and Michael Keaton and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in service of the Feds. The film invokes the circus created by red-eyed public officials and throngs of demonstrators besieging the court. (Lisa Miller)
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