Big Screen Scene

The summer movie season is polluted with bloated studio productions and redundant blockbusters. Just how many Marvel movies can one take?! We spoke with Charlie Birnbaum, film director and manager at the Stonzek Theatre in Lake Worth, to get the scoop on some under-the-radar flicks to see this season. (561-296-9382, lakeworthplayhouse.org)

  • The Beguiled Set during the Civil War, The Beguiled revolves around a southern boarding school for girls, where the headmistress (Nicole Kidman) takes in an injured enemy soldier (Colin Farrell). Based on a 1966 novel and a 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood, this iteration is director Sofia Coppola’s first attempt at a remake, one that seeks to flesh out the female cast (including Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning) into fully formed characters.
The Beguiled, Courtesy of Focus Features
  • A Ghost Story Fresh off his Academy Award–winning performance in Manchester by the Sea, Casey Affleck dons a white sheet to play a recently deceased ghost in a lyrical story of loss and longing from director David Lowery. This indie film cost next to nothing to make and takes place almost entirely in one home in Texas, where Affleck returns in his current specter state to attempt to comfort his widow, played by Rooney Mara.
  • Lost in Paris A French-Canadian romp by Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, Lost in Paris follows a spinster librarian as she travels to Paris to find her elderly aunt. The filmmakers, who also star as the two leads, describe the movie as a burlesque comedy with a simple plot that makes way for scene-stealing performances. After opening to international acclaim in 2016, Lost in Paris will be released in the U.S. this summer.
  • Okja This Netflix film from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho can best be described as King Kong for the new millennium. In this adventure movie, a young girl must save Okja, a massive, mystical animal, from being kidnapped and put on display by a powerful business conglomerate. Okja, which stars Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, is streaming on Netflix and will also receive a limited theatrical release.
Okja, Courtesy of Netflix

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