Author: Josh Hornbeck

Josh is the founder of Cinema Cocktail, and he is a writer and director, podcaster and critic, and communications and marketing professional living and working in the greater Seattle area.

Youth (2017) | June 1

A group of performing art troupe members each face their own trials and tribulations in Chengdu; from escaping a family scandal to dealing with unrequited love, each experiences rejection that shapes their lives. – JustWatch.com

Director: Feng Xiaogang

Cast: Huang Xuan, Miao Miao, Elane Zhong, Yang Caiyu, Li Xiaofeng, Wang Tianchen, Keru Wang, Sophie Su Yan, Drolma Suijun

Country: China

Distributor: China Lion Film Distribution

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hours, 16 minutes

Platform: Prime Video

Where to Watch

Blood and Black Lace (1964) | May 31

Inspector Sylvester is assigned to investigate the violent murder of a fashion house model by a masked assailant. As the investigation proceeds, all of the house’s various sins – including corruption, abortions, blackmail, and drug addiction – begin to come to light. It turns out that Isabella had kept a diary detailing these vices, and now almost every employee becomes nervous. – JustWatch.com

Director: Mario Bava

Cast: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner, Ariana Gorini, Dante DiPaolo, Mary Arden, Franco Ressel

Country: Italy

Distributor: VCI Entertainment

Rating: R

Runtime: 1 hour, 28 minutes

Platform: Prime Video

Special Programming: Classic Cinema, Midnight Movies

Where to Watch

Mandabi (1968) | May 31

A money order from a relative in Paris throws the life of a Senegalese family man out of order. He deals with corruption, greed, problematic family members, the locals and the changing from his traditional way of living to a more modern one. – JustWatch.com

Director: Ousmane Sembene

Cast: Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N’Diaye, Isseu Niang, Mustapha Ture, Mouss Diouf, Christoph Colomb, Serigne N’Diayes

Country: Senegal

Distributor: Janus Films

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Classic Cinema

Special Events: Shorts Included

Where to Watch

Tauw (1970)

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Smooth Talk (1985) | May 31

Based on the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” by Joyce Carol Oates, this film chronicles 15-year-old Connie’s sexual awakening in the Northern California suburbs. Her experimentation gets out of hand when the mysterious Arnold Friend takes an interest in her. – JustWatch.com

Director: Joyce Chopra

Cast: Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place, Levon Helm, Elizabeth Berridge, Margaret Welsh, Sara Inglis

Country: United States

Distributor: Janus Films

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 1 hour, 32 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Classic Cinema

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations, Shorts Included

Where to Watch

Filmmaker Conversations

Joyce at 34 (1971)

Girls at 12 (1975)

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Clorae and Albie (1976)

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Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, Parts 1-3 (2019) | May 31

As told through clips from 183 female directors, this epic history of the cinema focuses on women’s integral role in the development of film art. Using almost a thousand film extracts from thirteen decades and five continents, Mark Cousins asks how films are made, shot and edited; how stories are shaped and how movies depict life, love, politics, humour and death, all through the compelling lens of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers – all of them women. – JustWatch.com

Director: Mark Cousins

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Kerry Fox, Debra Winger, Thandiwe Newton, Sharmila Tagore

Country: United Kingdom

Distributor: Janus Films

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 3 hours, 12 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema, Long-Form Cinema

Where to Watch

Nationtime (1972) | May 31

A report on the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, in 1972, a historic event that gathered Black voices from across the political spectrum, among them Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Richard Hatcher, Amiri Baraka, Charles Diggs, and H. Carl McCall. – JustWatch.com

Director: William Greaves

Cast: Sidney Poitier, Amiri Baraka, Coretta Scott King, Dick Gregory, Jesse Jackson, Bobby Seale, Harry Belafonte, Isaac Hayes

Country: United States

Distributor: Kino Lorber

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema, Classic Cinema

Where to Watch

The Infiltrators (2019) | May 30

A rag-tag group of undocumented youth – Dreamers – deliberately get detained by Border Patrol in order to infiltrate a shadowy, for-profit detention center. – JustWatch.com

Director: Alex Rivera , Cristina Ibarra

Cast: Maynor Alvarado, Manuel Uriza, Chelsea Rendon, Juan Gabriel Pareja, Vik Sahay

Country: United States

Distributor: Oscilloscope

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Platform: Kanopy

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema

Special Events: Centerpiece Screening, Filmmaker Conversations

Where to Watch

CENTERPIECE SCREENING

Filmmaker Conversations

La Llorona (2020) | May 30

Accused of the genocide of Mayan people, retired general Enrique is trapped in his mansion by massive protests. Abandoned by his staff, the indignant old man and his family must face the devastating truth of his actions and the growing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes. – JustWatch.com

Director: Jayro Bustamante

Cast: María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kénefic, Julio Diaz, María Telón, Juan Pablo Olyslager

Country: Guatemala

Distributor: Shudder

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Platform: Shudder

Special Programming: Midnight Movies

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations

Where to Watch

Filmmaker Conversations