This column was conceived as a hedge against uncertainty; when the pandemic descended, it brought with it chaos and confusion. It disrupted the movie business and made my job a little more interesting.
In normal times, theatrical releases are set weeks or months in advance. But almost all the major theatrical events scheduled for 2020 were scuttled as postponed. Which, as we've said, represents a certain opportunity for lower-profile projects, but wreaked havoc on any sort of long-range planning. From week to week, we don't know what we're going to put in these pages. That makes me nervous. That led to me thinking that maybe a weekly column explaining ourselves and our decisions was called for until whatever next normal arrives.
Earlier this week, for instance, I was concerned that we might not be able to review any of the films opening theatrically in Arkansas this week because we weren't sure we'd be able to see them. We scrambled, and hats off to Dan Lybarger, who managed to run down two of the three films -- Ryan Murphy's "The Prom" and a romantic comedy called "All My Life." We struck out on "Half Brothers," but in looking through my email I discovered we'd been offered a screening link to it a few weeks ago. So it's really on us that we don't have it.
Except, I don't think it would be physically possible to watch every single film that I've been offered over the past few months in a timely fashion. Lots of filmmakers understand that with the major motion picture factories on hiatus, there's a chance for them to get their movies before critics and maybe even before audiences. And while I'm sympathetic to independent filmmakers, there are only so many hours in a day and I have a job that precludes watching six hours or more a day.
I'm not complaining. It's not, as a friend of mind is given to saying, like running a tree saw all day (though for the past two days a crew has been dismantling a 100-foot tree across from my house and they make it look like fun). But even if you love movies, you probably don't like all movies or even most movies. Even federal judges and chief ice cream tasters probably reach the point where their day-to-day routines feel like actual work.
So we missed "Half Brothers." Sorry.
Another thing this column is designed to do is to direct your attention to specific features in this section. And this week I'd like you to pay a little attention to the OnFilm video -- presuming you are reading this newspaper's iPad edition -- you can access directly from this page. I want you to look at the video for a couple of reasons: watch to find out how to win a Blu-ray of the just-to-be released Brandon (son of David) Cronenberg film "Possessor Uncut" and to hear a little bit about "It's a Wonderful Life," which the Riverdale 10 is screening on Tuesday and which will be screened online by the Arkansas Arts Center in conjunction with the Arkansas Cinema Society on Dec. 17. I'm involved with the AAC/ACS screening. I'll either be chatting or Tweeting (follow me @borkdog on the Twitter machine) about the film as it runs -- I'm not sure what the technical capabilities of the software we'll be using are -- and afterward I'll talk about it and take questions.
Now it's important that you get that last date right. The AAC/ACS screening is on Dec. 17. I say Dec. 10 in the video because that's when it was scheduled way back on Tuesday morning when I shot the video. But things happened, and the virtual screening had to be pushed back a week. Which will give me time to crawl even farther down the Frank Capra rabbit home I'm currently in. (I've also written about the film for Sunday's Style section.)
In general, I'm not much on seasonal offerings, but Kurt Russell certainly seems to have comitted to the role of Santa Claus, which he reprises -- now joined by Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus -- in the sequel "The Christmas Chronicles: Part 2," which features music by Little Steven Van Zandt and a cameo by Darlene Love. Find it on Netflix, where you can also find the documentary "Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker" which goes behind the scenes at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy to offer a peek at preparations for Allen's annual award-winning holiday version of "The Nutcracker."