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Pick of the Week

Margaret (Fox Searchlight) — Oh boy. Oh wow. If your idea of a rewarding time at the movies is a symphonic drama that aches with the blood, sweat and tears of real life while simultaneously upholding the finest traditions of opera, of theater, of poetry, of literature, look no further than Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. Much has been written about the unfortunate legal brouhaha surrounding the film’s post-production—it was shot in 2005 but didn’t come out until late 2011—and though no one seems able to definitively say whose cut of the film the 149-minute theatrical version is (for what it’s worth, the film print has a 2008 copyright), and word on the street is that the extended three-hour cut presented here isn’t 100% approved by Lonergan, none of that even matters. Margaret is superior cinema any way you look at it. Read my full HTN review. Available in a Blu-ray/ DVD Combo and at Amazon Instant.

Recommended

Kassim The Dream (Zeitgeist Films) — Available on DVD.

On The Ice (Millennium Media) — Available on DVD and at Amazon Instant.

New/Old to DVD/Blu-ray

Senna (Arc Entertainment) — I don’t like auto racing. At all. Which is why Senna, a look at the career of Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, was the biggest surprise of Sundance. The film, which is comprised exclusively of archival footage of Senna’s life on and off the track, has it all; a hero, a villain, triumph, tragedy, redemption and a constant parade of visual thrills, including a lot of first person camera work from the driver’s seat of Senna’s car has he flies around the world’s most prestigious Formula One tracks. Senna is thrilling and contemplative all at once, everything you could want in a non-fiction film. (Tom Hall) Now available on Blu-ray (also on DVD and at Amazon Instant).

Have Not Seen Yet But Really/Kinda/Sorta/Maybe Wanna

Flowers of War (Lionsgate) — Available on DVD, Blu-ray, and at Amazon Instant.

Being Flynn (Universal) — Available on DVD, Blu-ray, and at Amazon Instant.

All In: The Poker Movie (Naedomi Media) — Available on DVD and at Amazon Instant.

Seven Minutes In Heaven (Film Movement) — Available on DVD.

Making Plans For Lena (Zeitgeist Films) — Available on DVD.

Black Limousine (Anchor Bay) — Available on DVD.

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Michael Tully is an award-winning writer/director whose films have garnered widespread critical acclaim, his projects having premiered at some of the most renowned film festivals across the globe. He is also the former (and founding) editor of this site. In 2006, Michael's first feature, COCAINE ANGEL, chronicling a tragic week in the life of a young drug addict, world premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film immediately solidified the director as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s "25 New Faces of Independent Film,” a reputation that was reinforced a year later when his follow-up feature, SILVER JEW, a documentary capturing the late David Berman's rare musical performances in Tel Aviv, world-premiered at SXSW and landed distribution with cult indie-music label Drag City. In 2011, Michael wrote, directed, and starred in his third feature, SEPTIEN, which debuted at the 27th annual Sundance Film Festival before being acquired by IFC Films' Sundance Selects banner. A few years later, in 2014, Michael returned to Sundance with the world premiere of his fourth feature, PING PONG SUMMER, an ‘80s set coming-of-age tale that was quickly picked up for theatrical distribution by Gravitas Ventures. In 2018, Michael wrote and directed the dread-inducing genre film DON'T LEAVE HOME, which has been described as "Get Out with Catholic guilt in the Irish countryside" (IndieWire). The film premiered at SXSW and was subsequently acquired by Cranked Up Films and Shudder.

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