There is no doubt that 2020 was a strange year for movies. With the shuttering of movie theaters nationwide, many studios delayed the release of their big-budget tentpoles, and streaming became ubiquitous. In the absence of theaters, watching movies went from a communal experience to a painfully solitary one. Still, these circumstances allowed a unique [...]
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Early on in director Chloé Zhao’s latest film, an Amazon warehouse worker shows off her tattoos to the movie’s protagonist, Fern (Frances McDormand). Morrissey’s lyrics are inked all over her body, and she makes a point to read one of her favorites out loud: “Home, is it just a word? Or is it something you [...]
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We’ve all had to adapt to the “new normal” of life amid a pandemic, from virtual concerts to drive-through birthday parties, and film festivals are no exception. The Chicago International Film Festival, which ran from Oct. 14 to Oct. 25, was almost entirely virtual, giving The Wheel the unique opportunity to cover the festival. Though [...]
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The world has gone awry since the pandemic first began in early 2020, and major events have been canceled as a result, from the Met Gala to Coachella. For the most part, however, film festivals have adapted to complications arising from COVID-19, and this year’s Atlanta Film Festival, which ran from Sept. 17 to Sept. [...]
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Although independent cinema has boomed in popularity only in recent years, it has already adopted its own set of cliches such as a twee sensibility and a focus on 20-something hipsters coming of age. Though director Morgan Ingari’s debut film “Milkwater” is not immune to these cliches, it still finds a way to tell a [...]
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