Virtual Films Showing Now

The Changin’ Times of Ike White

Director: Daniel Vernon
(2019 – 77 minutes – R)

Serving a life sentence for murder in the early 1970s, music prodigy Ike White had plenty of time to perfect his musical talent, but no hope of putting it to use in the outside world. Ike’s skills were exceptional enough, though, that his story captured the media’s attention. From this notoriety, he was able to record an album inside the prison with big-time producer Jerry Goldstein (War, Sly and the Family Stone). Superstar Stevie Wonder lobbied successfully for Ike’s early release from prison. With an acclaimed album under his belt and the support of Wonder and others in the industry, Ike was poised for stardom. But, instead, he went off the grid for over 40 years. Daniel Vernon’s mesmerizing new documentary is unpredictable and moving, echoing the strange journey of Ike White.

The Changin’ Times of Ike White

Director: Daniel Vernon
(2019 – 77 minutes – R)

Serving a life sentence for murder in the early 1970s, music prodigy Ike White had plenty of time to perfect his musical talent, but no hope of putting it to use in the outside world. Ike’s skills were exceptional enough, though, that his story captured the media’s attention. From this notoriety, he was able to record an album inside the prison with big-time producer Jerry Goldstein (War, Sly and the Family Stone). Superstar Stevie Wonder lobbied successfully for Ike’s early release from prison. With an acclaimed album under his belt and the support of Wonder and others in the industry, Ike was poised for stardom. But, instead, he went off the grid for over 40 years. Daniel Vernon’s mesmerizing new documentary is unpredictable and moving, echoing the strange journey of Ike White.

Hospital

Director: Frederick Wiseman
(1970 – 84 minutes – Not rated)

Hospital shows the day-to-day activities in a large urban hospital with particular emphasis on the emergency ward and out-patient clinics. Cases include: cardiac arrest, knife wounds, drug overdose, and routine ward and teaching activities. The hospital is revealed as an institution dealing with all the social ills of the community, as well as its medical crises.

Beau Travail

Director: Claire Denis
(1999 – 93 minutes – Not rated)

With her ravishingly sensual take on Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor, Claire Denis firmly established herself as one of the great visual tone poets of our time. Amid the azure waters and sunbaked desert landscapes of Djibouti, a French Foreign Legion sergeant (Denis Lavant) sows the seeds of his own ruin as his obsession with a striking young recruit (Grégoire Colin) plays out to the thunderous, operatic strains of Benjamin Britten. Denis and cinematographer Agnès Godard fold military and masculine codes of honor, colonialism’s legacy, destructive jealousy, and repressed desire into shimmering, hypnotic images that ultimately explode in one of the most startling and unforgettable endings in all of modern cinema.

The Keeper

Directors: Marcus H. Rosenmüller
(2018 – 120 minutes – Not rated)

In English and German with English subtitles

The Keeper tells the incredible true story of Bert Trautmann (David Kross, The Reader), a German soldier and prisoner of war who, against a backdrop of British post-war protest and prejudice, secures the position of Goalkeeper at Manchester City, and in doing so becomes a footballing icon.

His signing causes outrage to thousands of fans, many of them Jewish. But Bert receives support from an unexpected direction: Rabbi Alexander Altmann, who fled the Nazis. Bert’s love for Margaret (Freya Mavor), an Englishwoman, carries him through and he wins over even his harshest opponents by winning the 1956 FA Cup Final, playing on with a broken neck to secure victory. But fate will soon twist the knife for Bert and Margaret, when their love and loyalty to each other is put to the ultimate test.

When You Read This Letter / Quand Tu Liras Cette Lettre

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
(1953 – 94 minutes – Not rated)

The story, set in Cannes, concerns two sisters, Thérèse (Juliette Gréco), a novice in a convent, and the younger Denise (Irène Galter). On the sudden death of their parents, Thérèse reluctantly renounces her vocation. She leaves the convent to run the family stationery shop and support Denise. Max (Philippe Lemaire), who is a mechanic, boxer, thief, and gigolo all in one, meets Denise who he rapes. Her sister seeks revenge. However, Thérèse is not immune to Max’s charms.

The World Before Your Feet

Director: Jeremy Workman
(2018 – 95 minutes – PG-13)

There are 8,000 miles of roads and paths in New York City and for the past six years Matt Green has been walking them all – every street, park, cemetery, beach, and bridge. It’s a five-borough journey that stretches from the barbershops of the Bronx to the forests of Staten Island, from the Statue of Liberty to Times Square, with Matt amassing a surprisingly detailed knowledge of New York’s history and people along the way.

Something of a modern-day Thoreau, Matt gave up his former engineering job, his apartment, and most of his possessions, sustaining his endeavor through couch-surfing, cat-sitting and a $15-per-day budget. He’s not sure exactly why he’s doing it, only knowing that there’s no other way he’d rather spend his days.

Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

Directors: Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni
(2019 – 90 minutes – Not Rated)

This film is an exploration of the career, music, and influence of the legendary Canadian musical icon Gordon Lightfoot. With unprecedented access to the artist, the documentary follows Lightfoot’s evolution from Christian choirboy to troubled troubadour to international star and beloved Canadian icon who has sold over 10 million albums and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards.

Jazz On A Summer’s Day

Director: Bert Stern
(1959 – 85 minutes – Not Rated)

The acts alternate from the event’s open-air venue, to images from around Newport RI, and periodic cutaways to the America’s Cup yacht race occurring simultaneously in the nearby harbor. The footage is presented without narration or voiceover (aside from an announcer telling us who the next act is), so there’s nothing to distract from the music and the joyous mood it brings out in the audience.

John Lewis: Good Trouble

Director: Dawn Porter
(2020 – 96 minutes – Not Rated)

Using interviews and rare archival footage, John Lewis: Good Trouble chronicles Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.

Immediately following the feature, there will be a pre-recorded discussion between Representative Lewis and Oprah Winfrey, filmed last month and being made available exclusively for virtual cinema and in-theater engagements of the film. This is a wide-ranging, informal, 16-minute conversation that’s a perfect follow-up to the documentary.