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A Hidden Life<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Terrence Malick\u2019s World War II drama is available to rent on demand this week. While it\u2019s definitely not the most upbeat thing you could watch right now, it is a beautiful movie, and one that helps give voice to the way a lot of people feel at this moment (and were already feeling before we had a pandemic to worry about). It\u2019s easily one of last year\u2019s best movies, and given the strength of 2019\u2019s cinematic output, that\u2019s pretty significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Hidden Life<\/em> is Malick\u2019s account of the life of Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter, a farmer in rural Austria who was imprisoned and executed for refusing to swear fealty to Hitler because of his Catholic beliefs. It should come as no surprise that this is a very philosophical film, discussing the weight of faith and responsibilities to one\u2019s beliefs and one\u2019s family. It probably also won\u2019t surprise you that WWII in the film is a metaphor for the conflicted discussions and painful conversations that define our lives right now. It is Malick\u2019s most directly religious movie to date, and also, one could argue, his angriest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stargirl<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This adaptation of Jerry Spinelli\u2019s beloved young adult novel was released on Disney + last Friday, and comes from Fast Color<\/em> writer-director Julia Hart. It\u2019s a sweet movie that works well on a streaming platform directed toward families and younger viewers. Occasionally Stargirl<\/em> feels like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl narrative for kids (Spinelli\u2019s 2000 novel reads like the ur-text for YA literature superstar John Green\u2019s whole oeuvre, if that gives you any indication), but it includes some nice ideas for younger viewers about identity, and having the courage to express your authentic self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stargirl\u2019s<\/em> protagonist is Leo (Graham Verchere), a high school junior who\u2019s tried most of his life to blend in and not be noticed, in a small Arizona town where ennui reigns supreme. One day, a new student, the quirky and multi-talented Stargirl (America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em> ukulele wunderkind Grace VanderWaal) shows up, and immediately starts making everyone\u2019s lives better. Her renditions of Beach Boys and Go-Gos songs help the football team win games. She gives awesome surprise gifts, and seems to know details about others\u2019 lives before they\u2019ve even introduced themselves. Leo is smitten, and realizes he wants to live that kind of life, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stargirl\u2019s<\/em> beats are fairly obvious, and its characters not always terribly well-drawn, but it has its aesthetic down very well. This is the kind of movie where two teenagers wander through the desert listening to Big Star\u2019s \u201cThirteen,\u201d and you believe absolutely that these characters would identify with that song (also, if the movie does nothing other than introduce a new generation to Big Star, I\u2019d still consider that a win). Stargirl\u2019s uniqueness is also explored as a full character journey, not just an adorably magical collection of quirks, so even though her character\u2019s sole purpose is to elevate the lives of Leo and his classmates, she\u2019s still allowed to be her own person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are just a couple of options among a variety of new and upcoming streaming possibilities to help keep your mind occupied. Keep checking this space for new recommendations that can give you the cinematic experience you\u2019re looking for, even if you can\u2019t head to a theater for the next several weeks. Since the quick escalation of response to the Coronavirus pandemic, it\u2019s become almost cliche to talk about what you\u2019re streaming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":577,"featured_media":13662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[340,1381],"tags":[162,1425],"class_list":["post-13659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-movies","tag-movies","tag-watch-this"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22879,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13659\/revisions\/22879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/stargirl2.jpg\")
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