Mark Pigott

KANOPY : A GREAT FREE STREAMING SERVICE VIA YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY

Pedro Almodovar’s magnificent, beautifully sad ‘Julieta’
Pedro Almodovar’s magnificent, beautifully sad ‘Julieta’

 

It appears that Sydney’s lockdown is not going to end any time soon. We need to keep our minds stimulated and entertained during this time and watching quality movies is one of the better ways to fulfil this need.

One of my favourite streaming services is KANOPY. It is a free service available from your local library. Borrowing DVDs and videos from libraries is a thing of the past and has been replaced by watching online. There is a limit of five films per month per person per library. 

The collection includes a lot of award winning films, foreign films, documentaries and older films. There are thousands of films to choose from and sufficient variety to suit a broad range of tastes.

Some of the films are widely known and others have been mostly forgotten but here are some of the ones I have watched and enjoyed, have found interesting or have filled in gaps in my movie knowledge.

My Tehran for Sale, The Salesman and The Stoning of Soraya M are some of the fascinating Persian language films available. An oppressive regime like Iran does force film makers to be creative and this often results in powerful and intelligent drama.            

Director Jim Jarmusch features frequently in the catalogue. Some his films available are Only Lovers Left Alive, Night on Earth, Paterson and Mystery Train.

An action film recommended is Leon The Professional with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman.

Frances Ha is funny and unpredictable.  Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig have made some very interesting films.

Pedro Almodovar films include are the thriller The Skin I Live In and the beautifully sad Julietta.

There are Australian films such as The Dressmaker, The Babadook and Jasper Jones, and English films including Their Finest and On Chesil Beach. 

There are excellent documentaries to view. I Am Not Your Negro, Man On Wire and Exit Through the Gift Shop. The Battle of Algiers feels like a documentary and is an exceptional film.

Some of the older films available are Black Orpheus (1959), Dial M for Murder (1954) and Orson Welles’ The Stranger (1946).

Some of the other films available and recommended are Faces Places, Jesus of Montreal, The Phone Call, Babette’s Feast, Paris Texas, The Insult, Bernie, The Clouds of Sils Maria, Toni Erdmann, and Lore.

Featured image : Jim Jarmusch’s classic movie ‘Night On Earth’