Videoreleases
Babylon
While transporting an elephant to Los Angeles in 1926, Mexican immigrant Manuel “Manny” Torres (Calva) finds himself at a wild, debaucherous party held at a Kinoscope Studios executive’s palatial estate. Manny finds himself captivated by Nellie LaRoy (Robbie), an up-andcoming actress, and befriends waning movie star Jack Conrad (Pitt), who helps Manny secure jobs that allow him to climb the studio system’s ranks. Manny quickly gets caught up in the decadence and outrageous excess of the Hollywood scene, in a time when studios are transitioning from silent to sound films.
Director: Damien Chazelle. Stars:
Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P. J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Tobey Maguire. 189 mins. 2022. Comedy.
Lullaby
After recently welcoming their son Eli, happily married couple John (Rodríguez) and Rachel (Chaplin) are struggling to maintain a balance between their jobs, relationship and a new bundle of joy. Rachel’s mother sends the couple a care package containing items that once belonged to Rachel’s sister, Vivian (Balaban), who lost both her husband and baby under mysterious circumstances. Rachel discovers an ancient hymn in a book, and upon singing the calming lullaby to baby Eli, Rachel unwittingly unleashes the biblical spirit of Lilith (Guloien), who is destined to steal the baby and bring him to the underworld.
Director: John R. Leonetti. Stars: Oona Chaplin, Ramón Rodríguez, Liane Balaban, Mary Ann Stevens, Julie Khaner, Kira Guloien. 89 mins. 2022. Horror.