In the dead of winter, Hollywood finds a rich harvest
WHEN IT COMES TO SMALLER, independent films—including labors of love, pictures whose makers have fought for years to bring to life—January could go down as a mini golden age of cinema. The range of extraordinary new films you can see right now in theaters, or even on Netflix, is unusually vast. Unlike last year at this time, when the two awards front runners leading the conversation were Moonlight and La La Land, with little in between, the field this year is wide open and multitextured. What’s more, many of these films address—in either subtle or direct ways, and nearly always with a dose of humor—the social and cultural issues that have come to preoccupy so many of us in this flash-point era of anxiety and uncertainty.
