There are many who seem to enjoy discussions centered upon earnest lamentations regarding the death of cinema, the decline in influence of the big picture studios, the dwindling audiences numbers, and so on and so forth. Despite how fun that sounds, I prefer to focus on the trends of democratization that film is continuing to exhibit. The one growing movie release trend that I’m finding the most personal benefit in these days is the practice by some smaller studios of releasing films on multiple platforms simultaneously, so that those of us unable to see independent cinema in an actual theater can still see these titles in our homes in the form of Video on Demand.
There was a time when the only way to see a movie required actually physically travelling to the nearest theater, and even then, a consumer was at the mercy of where they lived and what was being offered by the exhibitors in their area. The introduction of home video changed this, allowing greater access for people outside of the major metropolitan centers of New York and Los Angeles to actually watch acclaimed movies they had been hearing about for years. This evolved from VHS to DVD and now to various streaming services that facilitate binge watching for movie fans that will never be satisfied. There’s almost too much to watch, but this is a problem preferable to not being able to see Citizen Kane whenever one may wish. Some of this disadvantage still exists when it comes to new releases (I’m still waiting for Blue Jasmine to come to my city, for instance), but there are more opportunities to see little gems and be part of the communal conversation surrounding topical films than there has ever been before. The hope is that this is a trend that will continue and allow the general public to see more new movies at the same time.
For now, here are 6 newly released movies, available on various video on demand platforms, that are worthwhile viewing.
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