Nomadland

Nomadland (Hulu) is an award-winning 2020 drama film based on the 2017 nonfiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. It stars Frances McDormand (who is one of my favorites) as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada after she loses her job because the plant closes down, leaving the town a ghost town. She travels around the United States in her van as a nomad. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves. A fascinating study of a life I didn't know existed. Most reviews are positive.

trailer:

*******

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now (Amazon Prime) is an award-winning 1979 epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War. The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a renegade Special Forces officer who is accused of murder and presumed insane. The ensemble cast also features Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford. I had heard of this film, of course, and was familiar with quotes from it, but I had never seen it. I don't tend to like war movies, but I do try to keep an open mind. I see why it's considered one of the greatest films ever made.

trailer:

*******

Blue Jean

Blue Jean (Hulu) is an award-winning 2022 British drama film about a closeted lesbian gym teacher in the 1980s. Reviews are positive. It must have been a difficult and stressful life. I hope the environment continues to improve. There were a number of films the various streaming services were recommending for Pride Month, and I've been watching some of them. There are more than I expected.

trailer:

*******