Synopsis: In rural Maine, a bold and magnetic 20-year-old woman named Michelle Smith lives with her mother Julie. Michelle is quirky and charming, legally blind and diagnosed on the autism spectrum, with big dreams and varied passions. Searching for connection, Michelle explores love and empowerment outside the limits of “normal” through a provocative sex-positive community. Michelle’s joyful story of self-discovery celebrates outcasts everywhere.
Emmy Award-winning producer of “Friends”, Kevin S. Bright met Michelle while teaching a filmmaking class at Perkins School for the Blind in Boston years ago, the school Helen Keller went to. The director, Garrett Zevgetis also volunteered his time at the school. Independently, both were completely struck by her authenticity and exuberance, and have been involved with Michelle and her story ever since. While filming, they discovered the startling lack of opportunities available for all people to fully engage in our society, and the need to fix the fear and misunderstanding people have towards those considered “other”.
When we all graduated from high school, we had big dreams. Perhaps, moving away from home and starting a career, finally being able to go out when we wanted, eat what we wanted, buy whichever shoes she wanted from shoe hero, and party until dawn. Michelle is much like any other young woman. She’s trying to find her way in the world by following her passions without judgement or outside pressure. The only difference being, Michelle is legally blind and on the autism spectrum. Much like myself, she’s a total fangirl. She likes the dry wit of Daria, attends convention, yearns for acceptance and respect in her niche groups. She acts appropriately for her age. The film follows her for several years post graduating. Through her love life, job searches, and striving for her independence. All seems pretty “normal” until you propose her challenges to those who function without them. Her Mom suggest she attend her brother’s basketball game and at first her protest seems nothing more than a bored and annoyed sister, unwilling to cheer on a sibling just because their interests don’t align. But, once you listen to her reasoning, as a viewer, will gain further insight into the life of someone forced to live differently. It’s a perfect turning point in the film. You finally get to walk in her shoes and mind for a brief moment. Although, director Garrett Zevgetis, does and excellent job early on with a blurred focus lens to help explain how Michelle figuratively sees the world around her. It is incredibly effective. Above all, this is the story of a young woman whose almost constant stream of self-esteem and positivity shines like a beacon of hope for anyone that has ever felt left out or chastised for being slightly different. I wish I could be as outwardly upbeat every single day and now perhaps I’ll take a second breath and thank my lucky stars I have the life I do. Michelle asks us to love who we are as much as she loves who she is. She asks us to “unlearn normal”. In a year where so much has happened to us as a country, maybe it’s time to take her advice.
BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS opens in NYC on Friday, Dec 2nd, and in LA Dec 9th. Check out the trailer below:
Website: http://bestandmostbeautifulthings.com
Facebook: BestandMostBeautifulThings
Twitter: @BestandMostFilm
RT: 90 Minutes
Happy Thanksgiving! We are so excited to bring you this breaking news about THE SAN ANTONIO 4 – subjects of the award winning documentary “SOUTHWEST OF SALEM: THE STORY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOUR.” Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has declared these four women innocent and fully exonerated. They were wrongfully convicted close to 20 years ago for a crime they did not commit. 
presents
Coal Country, West Virginia is filled with workers whose way of life has been ingrained for generation after generation. It proves to put food on the table but at what cost to personal health and the destruction of the environment in what is most definitely a dying industry. In this tumultuous election season, we saw a lot of promises. Locals voted to make their lives better, and we all cross our fingers that it doesn’t end up being against their own self-interest in the end.
Much like the Detroit, someone who cares and wants to give these folks a real new beginning, has a wonderful opportunity to come in and set up shop. Bring hope to these threatened lives. With renewable energy costing less and less each year, we as a people are moving away from destruction and towards the future. Riddled with corruption by the local government since the start of the industry, why would any local vote for a candidate being touted as “elite” and “Washington insider”, regardless of a record of working her entire life for the betterment of families? I have a hard time believing that a man, whose entire life has revolved around himself and making money off the backs of hard-working people, a man high in his towering glass highrise, is going to keep the promises he made. Maybe this will finally be the hard lesson coal country needs to learn, but what an awful loss that’s coming along the way.
The Twilight Zone is still one of my favorite shows in television history. Each episode has an unpredictable storyline and a twist ending. The new film THE SIMILARS (LOS PARECIDOS) might be using the beloved series as a blueprint for its overwhelmingly creepy premise. Director Isaac Ezban gives us a glorious gift is shock and awe in this homage to one of the greats. 
The film opens with a visual precision that is truly impressive. It is set in 1968, in a bus station, 5 hours outside of Mexico City. A massive rain storm has stranded an eclectic group of strangers. No buses are arriving at the station and vague messages are streaming from a radio connected to the speaker system. The singular phone is connecting sporadically and everyone is on edge. The mood gets more tense when the group begins experiencing odd symptoms, one by one. Why is this happening? Can it be stopped? 
From the lighting to the costumes and the superb writing, the story zooms into action from opening to end credits. Constantly making you guess and jaw drop, The Similars is one hell of a ride into the unbelievable. The cast is a director’s dream and their chemistry and delivery is both period appropriate and fantastic. There is not one single moment in its entire run that bored me or lost my attention. I was impressed at the level of weird and wanted desperately to know how it would all end. Writer/Director Isaac Ezban has given us a real gift with this film and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
AFTER FIRE
Writer/Director Mike Mills knows women. He appreciates the ins and outs, the nuances of age and stage and the humor in everyday life. Annette Bening asks one of her tenants Abbie, and son’s high school aged best friend, Julie to teach him how to be a food man. Since his father is out of the picture and mother Dorothea has trouble keeping an age appropriate man around for long, she had enlisted help. thankfully she has been thus far successful in raising an open-minded and perfectly curious boy. His inspiration for exploring the world is only enhanced by the eclectic females he is surrounded by. The film is funny and sweet. It’s a bit if a time capsule and yet somehow remains timeless in the theme of self discovery. The transitions are like colorful music videos mixed with punk music from Talking Heads and Black Flag.
After seeing Stewart and Assayas team up on the NYFF52 film Clouds of Sils Maria, there was doubt that we were in for a unique treat in Personal Shopper. Some might still be skeptical of Stewart’s work if they’ve only been exposed to The Twilight franchise. She admits that it most definitely gave her the option to choose her work. Her indie film roles are nothing short of impressive. Clouds allowed her to be the first American actress to win France’s most prominent Cesar award. Stewart plays Maureen, dealing or not dealing with the death of her twin brother, she floats through life by attending to a spoiled supermodel’s fashion needs all while suspecting her brother is trying to contact her from the beyond. Caught between her own sanity and a murder mystery, Stewart bares all in an emotionally wrought and frightening tale that makes us ponder our own beliefs and life choices. With some of the world’s most beautiful fashion as eye candy, Paris and London as our backgrounds, and the trust Assayas has with his leading lady, I was constantly on edge and intrigued. The pace is great and the use of texting as a major plot point brings technology to the forefront in more than one way. Assasya’ long lingering shots, he admitted in the press conference following the screening, were half by choice and half due to the performance Stewart was giving at any moment in time. Their relationship is very clear as you watch. She is in almost every frame. that is a lot to carry as a young actress, but she 100% owns this film. I was able to ask both Assayas and Stewart if they believed in the paranormal and their answers were perfection. you can watch the footage below. If eerie movies are your thing, then this is most likely one you’re enjoy. If you want to see a gorgeously shot film with a stellar leading lady, this too fits the bill. If you’re open minded about things that are considered other worldly, if nothing else, Personal Shopper begs the question, “Is death the end?”
Jarmusch does it again with this seemingly simplistic story. The film elegant in that very simplicity. Following Paterson along on his daily routine, which only slight varies as the plot rolls along, we are privy to the everyday moments we often take for granted. We watch his breakfast, eavesdrop on conversations among his route passengers, sit with him on lunch breaks, walking home, and his nightly interactions with local bar patrons, his dog Marvin, and girlfriend Laura. She is a free spirit, artist, baker, and aspiring musician, painting everything in their home in black & white patterns. This is a stark juxtaposition to the lush cinematography when Paterson is out and about. There is an abundance of visual symbolism utilizing time and shadows and even with an almost 2 hr run-time, the film never loses its gentle pace. The beautifully easy score that underlies Adam Driver‘s fantastic voice overs as he writes his poetry in real-time, only serves to highlight how lovely this film truly is. Driver brilliantly portrays a man of calm and old-fashioned demeanor. He is quietly contemplative and extremely well read. With each role, he proves more and more what a star he is.
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