Stream Guide: The Breadwinner & White Bird In A Blizzard (February 23rd, 2018)

February 23, 2018 / Leave a Comment

THE BREADWINNER on NETFLIX

This year’s Academy Award nominated “The Breadwinner,” which is up for Best Animated Feature, is available on Netflix. This joins “The Boss Baby,” which is also nominated in the same category and is also streaming on Netflix. The film follows a young girl named Parvana whose father is taken away to jail by the Taliban, leaving her, her mother, and her sister to fend for themselves in an Afghanistan village where women are not to be seen or heard without an accompanying male relative/husband. This forces Parvana to cut her gorgeous locks and to take on the persona of a young boy, in order to get water, buy rice, and eventually earn money for the family. With different animation styles, the film itself is a gorgeous piece of animation.

When he’s not playing Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk, Mark Ruffalo is usually acting in a simple romantic comedy like “The Kids Are All Right” and “Begin Again” and in “Thanks For Sharing” he plays a sex addict that tries to keep his addiction a secret from the gorgeous woman that he meets, played by Pepper Potts herself, Gwyneth Paltrow. Pink, Josh Gad, and Tim Robbins also star. Following another romance, former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield plays a man contracting Polio at 28 and confined to a bed. But with the help of his wife played by Claire Foy and others, he’s able to continue living and helping people with the same condition. This film is directed by Andy Serkis, who you know as Gollum from “The Lord Of The Rings” and Caesar from the “Planet Of The Apes” films and just starred in Marvel’s “Black Panther” as Ulysses Klaw. Known for her role on the television series “The Flash,” Danielle Panabaker stars in an indie sci-fi film titled “Time Lapse,” about a machine that prints pictures from a day in the future. Before he was General Zod in “Man Of Steel,” Michael Shannon was working with director Jeff Nichols in all his films (“Take Shelter,” “Mud,” and “Midnight Special”), including Nichols’ first feature, “Shotgun Stories,” about a rivalry between half-siblings after the death of their father.

In films that have no actors connected to the Marvel universe, “A Most Beautiful Island” is a film that missed out on a Best Foreign Language Feature nomination. Directed by, written by, and starring Spanish actress Ana Asensio. In it, she plays an illegal immigrant living in New York City who finds herself apart of a dangerous game. In the comedy genre, there is “The House,” starring Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell as a couple running an illegal casino in order to get the money they need to put their daughter through college. “Tragedy Girls” is a dark comedy about two crime reporting teenage high school girls who follow and end up capturing a serial killer, but decide to commit murders of their own to boost their social media presence. With Daniel Day-Lewis currently nominated for an Oscar at this year’s 90th Academy Award for his leading role in “Phantom Thread,” let us revisit his Oscar winning turn in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” which also won for Best Production Design. And lastly, in some great pairing, actresses Eva Green and Shailene Woodley find themselves cast in the same film titled “White Bird In A Blizzard,” in which Woodley plays a teenager whose life begins spiraling after her disturbed mother, played by Green, goes missing.