Saoirse Ronan as Rona in THE OUTRUN. Image: Natalie Seery. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Saoirse Ronan stars as a woman from Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands is forced to return home when her alcoholism implodes both her career as a marine biologist and her personal life, in the moving, true story-inspired THE OUTRUN. Based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir, THE OUTRUN tells the story of 29-year-old Rona’s (Ronan) as her life at college in London transforms from a promising one full of new freedoms, to a spiraling struggle with alcoholism. Forced back home to the Orkney Islands, Rona struggles with new found sobriety and regrets, as she also copes with her separated parents, a bipolar farmer father and a cold, religious mother, plus the social isolation and loneliness of life on a sparsely inhabited, remote island.
Saoirse Ronan gives one of her best performances here, and is on screen, usually alone, most of the time, adding an extra challenge. Ronan takes us through the moving inner journey of her character, both as she battles alcoholism and copes with lost love, but as she discovers a new way of being in the world, a journey of self-discovery that brings connection to both human community and the natural world.
The film is divided into three parts, one being Rona’s life of fun and freedom at college in London, as she studies marine biology at college and embraces the party life with her friends after hours and finds new love with Daynin (Paapa Essiedu). But alcoholism takes over her life and destroys it, sending her to rehab and eventually home to Orkney. In Orkney, Rona struggles with sobriety, with her parents’ problems, and her loneliness, until in a third phase, she finally finds a way back, through connection with the natural world and human community, on a tiny, weather-lashed and very remote island in the Orkneys.
But the film opens at the middle part of this story, with Rona just back home in Orkney, and tells her story in London with flashback scenes, plus a few flashbacks to childhood. The film unspools in a non-linear manner but we are aided by the central character’s vividly dyed hair, which helps us keep track of where we are in time in her story, as the blue color she sports in London grows out and an orange one later takes its place eventually in Orkney. Without that marker, it might be a bit hard to keep track.
Since this is based on a memoir and the author, Amy Liptrot collaborated on the film, director Nora Fingscheidt made the wise decision to change the central character’s name and to fictionalize the story a bit, to make things easier for actor Saoirse Ronan and the writer. The story still remains much the same, as powerful and moving, and unconventional as before, with the power of the natural world to transform her life a central key.
Rona feels out of place back on Orkney and living with her stern mother, while checking on her unstable if loving father. But a pivotal moment come when she takes a job as part of a group of conservationists surveying the island population of a rare endangered but once common bird, a corn crake. At first she carries out her work with indifference but as she scans the horizon and listens for the bird’s unique call, she begins to connect with the natural world around her which she has hardly thought about before.
Shooting on location was essential. The film’s photography is stunning, and the screening is frequently filled with breathtaking, wild seaside scenery or windswept views of the scenic, remote Orkney Islands. The islands’ wild beauty and unforgiving weather are almost a character in the film, and connecting with that natural world is key to Rona’s recovery. The sea surrounding everything is both breathtakingly beautiful and harshly unforgiving. Having grown up there, Rona has become so accustomed to the natural world around her that it is nearly invisible, and real change only comes when she becomes deeply aware of both sides of that terrible beauty, its invigorating energy and the danger to the unprepared.
THE OUTRUN opens Friday, Oct. 4, 2024 in theaters.
Marisa Abela stars as Amy Winehouse in director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s BACK TO BLACK, a Focus Features release. Credit: Olli Upton/Focus Features
Talented singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse’s tragic life was already the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, AMY in 2015, made a few years after her death in 2011at age 27 from alcohol poisoning. So my first reaction on hearing of the biopic drama BACK TO BLACK was to wonder if we needed another Amy Winehouse movie. The excellent 2015 documentary seems to have have told her story well and thoroughly, but reportedly the Winehouse family was unhappy with it. However, the family granted permission to the filmmakers of this new biopic drama, BACK TO BLACK, with access to materials and song use.
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer Matt Greenhalgh previously collaborated on another music biopic, NOWHERE BOY, a fine drama about the childhood of John Lennon. The filmmakers assert that the Winehouse family had no say on the final film but the family does come across in a more positive light in this drama and they also have a more prominent role than in the 2015 Oscar-winning documentary.
BACK TO BLACK follows the familiar rise and fall pattern of biopics of other gifted but tragic musicians but does feature some nice acting performances and a chance to hear her songs again. It starts out with young Amy (Marisa Abela) on the verge of her fame, surrounded by her loving, working-class, Jewish family in the Southgate section of London. Amy is talented, and ambitious, and encouraged by her beloved paternal grandmother Nan (Leslie Manville), a still-cool, stylish, former jazz singer, who influenced Amy’s love of jazz and her ’50s-’60s fashion style of beehives, heavy eyeliner, and tight retro dresses. Amy is also funny, strong-willed, out-spoken, hot-tempered and driven. She also already has a big drinking problem.
First off, it is important to mention that the documentary is the much better film, and you will learn much more about the talented but self-destruction Amy Winehouse from it than this biopic. BACK TO BLACK often assumes the audience knows things about Amy Winehouse and her life that they may not, such as her struggles with bulimia, which makes for some confusing or even misleading scenes.
That said, Marisa Abela does a fine job portraying Winehouse, capturing her mannerisms, accent and assertive yet funny persona. The same is also true of the wonderful Lesley Manville as her beloved grandmother Cynthia, whom Amy calls Nan. Eddie Marsan is also very good as her father Mitch, along with Jack O’Connell as Amy’s charismatic, handsome but toxic husband Blake. Juliet Cowan plays Amy’s mother Janis Winehouse, a pharmacist suffering from multiple sclerosis, who raised Amy after separating from her father, and Sam Buchanan as Nick Shymansky, Amy’s friend her became her first manager, but the bulk of the narrative is carried by those first four characters.
The best parts of BACK TO BLACK are the cast’s performances and the chance to hear some of Amy Winehouse’s hit songs. However, the drama assumes that audiences know some things about Winehouse that they may not, and if you want to really learn about Amy Winehouse’s life and career, that Oscar-winning documentary is still the better choice. But you do get more of a feel for her family life and growing up Jewish in London’s Southgate in BACK TO BLACK.
Abela does her own singing and while she does well enough, she is an actress, not a singer, and certainly does not have Amy Winehouse’s distinctive, golden voice. Still, Abela does her best to sing in Winehouse’s style, and is at her most convincing singing the signature “Back to Black.” However, it would have better to have used Amy Winehouse’s real voice, instead of following this craze of actors playing famous singer doing their own singing, often with mixed results, and depriving fans of hearing the real star’s voice, the thing that made them famous.
Abela tries to capture Winehouse’s singing style, and does pretty well, but she is better in capturing Winehouse’s speaking voice, her mannerisms, and gives a convincing and touching portrayal of this funny, demanding, and fascinating talented woman who knew what she wanted and had a deep knowledge and love of jazz.
Lesley Manville is marvelous as Amy’s beloved grandmother Cynthia, a jazz singer who dressed stylishly and influenced Amy’s style and encouraged her musical interest from a young age. The film captures how Winehouse adored her paternal grandmother, whom she called Nan, and depicts Amy as she gets her tattoo paying tribute to her. The other delightful performance is from Eddie Marsan as Amy’s taxi-driver dad Mitch, who had a close loving relationship with his daughter but didn’t always make decisions in her best interests. As Amy’s career soars, dad Mitch is more of an ever-present figure, while mom Janice virtually disappears until late in the film. Mitch had a strong influence and worked closely with his daughter as her career took off, but was not always as good an influence.
Audiences may have some confusion over the relationship between Mitch and Cynthia, as Manville is only 12 years older than Marsan, and they look about the same age. It is easy to assume they are siblings rather than mother and son, and the drama does nothing to clarify this situation, one of the drama’s several problems.
The drama gives a little nod, although not enough, to Winehouse’s skill as a songwriter, and accurately depicts her as a perfectionist in her work, at least until drinking and drugging took their toll. While the bulimia is not directly mentioned until the end, the drama does a better job with her alcoholism, Even before her career really launches, Amy has already had a serious drinking problem, including incidents of seizures. A later scene depicts a confrontation with her manager about going to rehab, with her father siding with his daughter after she promises to cut back, something echoed in the lyrics of her song “Rehab.”
The film is stronger and more focused overall in its first half. The drama starts out fairly well, although it focuses more on Amy’s personal and family life than her career and work. However, it makes a turn into a doomed romance story after Amy meets her future husband Blake Fielder-Civil. The turning point comes after a strong, emotionally powerful sequence where Amy meets Blake. Those scenes are very good, with strong romantic chemistry between Abel and O’Connell, laying the groundwork for the obsessive, toxic love affair that follows. But once Amy falls for Blake, the film becomes increasingly disorganized, jumping around in time and failing to explain several things that pop up. There is a scene where the hard-drinking Amy discovers her new love’s drug problem and firmly rejects and even condemns drug use, yet in almost the next scene, we see Amy buying her own drugs, without Blake, leaving us puzzled as to what happened in between. The film continues to deteriorate in that fashion, ans once Manville’s Nan dies, both Amy and this drama go off the rails, morphing into a film about the toxic romance rather than her music, with Amy repeatedly talk about her longings to be a wife and mother.
Whether Blake was the real villain in Amy Winehouse’s life or not is another matter, as it seems more likely a combination of factors, including Amy’s self-destructive behavior, the loss of a strong hand to steady her with the death of her grandmother Cynthia (reportedly the only person she would listen to when she was out-of-control), a shark-like media, family and friends who failed to intervene to protect or help her, and her drug-addicted husband. But in this drama, the major blame is placed on a drug-addict husband who wanted to hitch his wagon to her rising star.
Although there are a few nice concert scenes after the biopic switches to toxic romance, the film continues to unravel, with several scenes that leave the audience confused about what is going on with the singer. While someone might argue that the film’s narrative falling apart might be meant to mirror Winehouse’s increasingly chaotic life, that explanation doesn’t really hold up. The film continues as a confusing mess until fizzles to a weak ending, with Amy walking away from the camera and seeming on the way to recovery, followed by a black screen and texts telling us of her death from alcohol poisoning at age 27. Then instead of just going to black, there is another scenes with Abela, instead of footage of the actual Amy, saying all she wanted to do was entertain with her songs.
Again, despite the strong performances and warm early scenes with family, you will not really learn much about Amy Winehouse in this biopic drama. Again, the 2015 documentary AMY is the better choice, and a better film overall, where you will learn much more about the massively talented but self-destructive Amy Winehouse.
Maybe that Shakespeare guy was on to something. That line about “All the world’s a stage” in particular. Then everyone’s life or “story” could be that a play, or a piece of theatre. This may account for the popular phrase about folks in the news when they burn brightly in the limelight of fame, then the glow around them dims, often amping back up as pundits relate the story of someone’s “second act”. But that might apply to most everyday people if they’re fortunate. And what if we’re not limited to two acts, but a never-ending series of such life changes? That’s the main theme of the new drama hitting the multiplexes, and it might very well pertain to its lead. The setting is the world of amateur sports and that one guy who’s far beyond his “golden days” as a “phenom”. His life’s now on the skids, and, out of the blue, his old passion provides a lifeline as the waters of depression and rage that engulf him. The question for him is whether this revisiting of his youth will show him THE WAY BACK.
The man in question is Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck), a burly 40-something construction worker who’s drifting through life in a fog of booze and regrets. Separated from his wife Angela (Janina Gavankar), he spends his days on the “worksite” slurping “spiked” coffee, and his nights getting “blackout ” drunk in a seedy neighborhood “watering hole” or in his squalid walk-up apartment. Thanksgiving with the family provides little relief as his sister Beth (Michaela Watkins) chides him for his drinking, and his stagnant lifestyle (not returning calls from his soon-to-be-ex). Then one message on his voicemail stuns Jack. It’s the priest who ran the high school where Jack played basketball (twenty-five years ago he was the local star athlete). He cleans himself up and goes down to Bishop Hayes to meet his old “padre”. Seems that they need a new basketball coach since a heart attack has put the current one on the “bench”. After much soul searching (over a case of beer), Jack decides to give it a try. He meets with assistant coach Dan (Al Madrigal), who has too much on his “plate” at home to take over the position. The “ragtag” squad has few members and lacks height and a real dedication to the sport, with far too many “showboats” with little skill. But Jack sees the raw talent that he can mold and shape. He’s a tough taskmaster, but come game time an inner fire ignites the old passion. More importantly, the new after-hours gig seems to keep him sober. His efforts begin to lessen the point gap at games, with the team on a “roll”. Ah but Angela and their tragic past catch up to him. Will that old “darkness” derail this new chance at life? Or will the respect of his “boys” pull him back from the depths of despair?
The film works due to the compelling performance of Affleck, who is on screen for nearly all of its nearly two-hour running time. He seems to have found a way to channel his very public struggles (his tabloid exploits were getting more attention than his films for a time) into one of his best screen roles in years. Jack is a self-medicating bear of a man, trying to hide away from anyone, his family, his wife, who enters his “cave”. Through Affleck’s sunken dark eyes we see that Jack has truly “disconnected”, even lashing out at all who would try and throw him a rescue rope. But we see how the game pulls him back in. With his body language, from lumbering and “hunched-over” to head held high as he strides on the court, Affleck conveys the new sense of purpose that has jolted Jack back to life. He also begins to engage with others, becoming a passionate mentor (complete with colorful language) to the young men in his charge. This builds into a most heart-wrenching, but honest climax. It’s a career-high for this talented artist (hopefully we’ll see another directing effort soon). He gets surprisingly strong support from two actors with roots in TV comedy. Perhaps best known for his stint as a “Daily Show” reporter (along with stand-up comedy), Madrigal takes what could be a one-note goofy side-kick, the nerd who wants to be a jock, and infuses him with a real confident spirit, looking up to Jack but not letting him s”slide by” on his gifts, always doing the “right thing”. A single season on SNL was the springboard to a busy career for Watkins, shifting from TV comedies (superb work on Hulu’s “Casual”) to “indie” comedies like last year’s BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON and SWORD OF TRUST. Now she shows us her dramatic “chops” in a great turn as Jack’s unfiltered, no “B.S.” sister who adores him, but who also won’t give him a “pass”, her haunted eyes hinting at the years of worry and betrayal. the same could be said of Gavankar as estranged wife Angela who shares Jack’s trauma but pushes aside her pain to try and help the man she once adored. There’s also some impressive work from several young actors as the players, including Da’Vinchi as the reserved but gifted Devon, Melvin Gregg as the arrogant Marcus who gets a much needed “humbling”, and Will Ropp as the very funny, motor-mouthed “playa'” Kenny.
Director Gavin O’Connor has crafted a character study set in the sports world that avoids the usual cliches of the sports flick genre. The script he co-wrote with Brad Ingelsby has its greatest emotional heft off the court and away from the locker run. A montage of each game conveys all that’s needed with a fast freeze-frame relaying the final score before moving on (though they start to win, Jack doesn’t seem much happier than the defeats). Ther’s no uplifting, bombastic music score during the final game seconds, but rather the lone, subtle piano tinkling from Rob Simonsen’s sparse soundtrack. That section of the script, the “team-building” sequences are the only time when the solid script loses a bit of its focus. That’s when Jack appears to have gone “cold turkey” (Dan does chide him for some “empties” he saw in his office), but with little of the realistic consequences. Sure, we don’t need a repeat of Ray Milland’s “DT” hysterics from THE LOST WEEKEND, but Jack would be showing more of the “detox’ effects, considering we see him “killing a case” during the course of one evening. Luckily the story gets back on track for the last act as life delivers a cruel reminder to Jack, one that the game can’t erase. That’s when he must decide to “save himself” as the usual final game “fade-out’ is replaced by a quiet promise of hope and redemption. And kudos for the honest depiction of the dismal “bar life’. In recent years, TV has somewhat romanticized the corner pub as a frequent sitcom setting from “Cheers” to “How I Met Your Mother” making them cozy, well-lit backdrops for witty banter and lovable eccentrics. This film’s “dive”, Harold’s Place, is a dark, dank den of misery, with regulars staggering out to do damage in the dawn’s new light. Not quite Hell, but not much like the clean bright “watering holes” we usually see. THE WAY BACK is a gripping drama that takes some offbeat chances, ones that pay off thanks to the great cast lead by a re-invigorated Affleck.
Seems like yesterday (actually a few weeks ago) that we were talking about the depiction of alcohol dependency in movies with the release of the excellent FLIGHT. This weekend the much lower-budgeted independent film SMASHED opens in a few select screens (far fewer than the Zemeckis flick). I hope movie goers don’t pass this one up thinking that they’ve covered this territory too recently. This is a study of a young couple in their 20’s and how the desire to end an addiction affects the relationship. There’s no nail-biting airliner crash landing at the heart of this one, but the journey of the young woman at the center of SMASHED has more than its share of emotion and drama.
That aforementioned young woman is Kate Hannah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). She’s happily married to Charlie (Aaron Paul). They share a modest LA home and spend their evenings at several local watering holes boozing the night away. Charlie works out of their home while Kate barely makes it to her job while dealing with the after-effects of the previous nights. One day the hangover catches up to her at work which compels her to lie to her gullible boss (Megan Mullally). Everyone believes the fib except Kate’s co-worker Dave (Nick Offerman), who suspects her secret. He invites her to an AA meeting. She brushes him off until two more frightening black-outs convince her to join Dave’s group. Kate befriends a recovering caterer named Jenny (Octavia Spencer), who agrees to be her sponsor. Unfortunately Charlie chafes at his wife’s news. He just doesn’t think that there’s a problem. A trip to make amends with Kate’s estranged mother (Mary Kay Place) doesn’t go as hoped. But Kate struggles to change her ways. Can she get clean before the truth comes out at work? And will her quest for sobriety drive a wedge between Kate and Charlie?
This an intimate,smaller-scaled version of a story Hollywood has told previously with THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES and WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN. Without a big budget it needs strong performances to draw us in. Luckily Winstead is more than up to the task. Her powerful work is the anchor of the story. She’s made a name for herself in the past few years with mostly genre roles (THE THING, SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER), but this film establishes her as a major dramatic actress. This echoes Charlize Theron in MONSTER. We’ve seen her before, but had no idea of her range. Kate’s behavior disturbs us (she keeps a cold beer bottle within reach of the shower) and is often repellant (an early morning liquor run turns grim quickly). But we see how good she is at her job and how pleasant she is with her co-workers. Immediately we’re rooting for her. Her decision to get help doesn’t send her to happiness. One of the film’s most harrowing moments is when she relapses. Kate’s confrontation with Charlie is raw and very scary. Winstead delivers a brave, searing performance that takes Kate to dark, ugly depths. If there’s any justice Mary Elizabeth Winstead will be one of the five actresses vieing to take home Oscar. I look forward to hopefully even more stellar work from her.
Winstead is joined by a superb supporting cast that’s mostly known for their superb work on television. Paul has taken home several awards for the acclaimed “Breaking Bad” and will get some deserved recognition as the hard-partying Charlie. He truly adores Kate and fears that she will change radically once she’s sober. The aforementioned relapse scene shocks him to the core but doesn’t spur him into dealing with his own abuses. Although he can be cruel , he still elicits much sympathy by the film’s end. Offerman is doing a lovable buttoned-up, nerdy variation on his Ron Swanson character on the sublime “Parks and Recreations”. A scene expressing his feelings for Kate is both hilarious and unbelievably awkward (truly cringe-worthy). Mullally infuses Barnes with more of the daffyness of her sitcom work, which makes her resolution with Kate even more heart-breaking. It’s great see Place back on the big screen once more. She’s unafraid to show why Kate has broken off contact with this toxic parent. This film is Spencer’s first work since picking up the Oscar this year for THE HELP. Jenny is much quieter than the boisterous Minny. Her testimony at the meeting and her advise for Kate while working in the kitchen are memorable. Like her co-stars, she works very well with Winstead.
Relative newcomer director James Ponsoldt hasn’t gotten great performances from all the actors here. He never lets the camera get in the way of this intimate character study. His nighttime LA is fully of wavering streetlights and headlights that simulate intoxication. The sunlight sears into the hungover revelers almost causing them to react like classic vampires (none of that sparkly stuff!). Unlike FLIGHT, Kate knows she has a problem fairly early on. The drama is seeing her try to get past all the many obstacles life tosses in her way to recovery. SMASHED is quite a wonderful drama that’s not to be missed. Ponsoldt and his troupe ( especially the astounding Ms. Winstead) have uncorked one of the year’s most powerful (almost intoxicating) films.
I received an email from Gigantic Releasing wanting to know if I would screen their new documentary ‘Must Read After My Death’. I told her I am a “Movie Geek” and I never refuse to see a film. I thought it seemed like a good title and found out when I got the DVD it was an even better story.
Morgan Dews, the writer-director-producer and most important “grandson” of Allis and Charley on which the documentary is based. Dews who discovered a cryptic box of letters, photos,recordings and super 8 home movies that Allis has labeled “Must Read After My Death” Dews has now shared his discovery about his family with the world told in a very unique way as told in the film of the same name ‘Must Read After My Death’
Charley and Allis (no last names were given out of consideration of the surviving siblings) were married following World War II and had moved to Connecticut to raise their four children Anne, Chuck, Bruce and Doug. Allis was the homemaker and stay at home mom raising the kids while Charley had to spend 4 months or more out of the year traveling to Australia. Charley invested in a Dictaphone recorder to make records in order to communicate back and forth with the family during his long absences away over seas. These recordings and home movies allow the audience to see inside the picture perfect family and see the real dark secrets bubbling to the surface. Charley had begun drinking, sometimes heavily. And during an Australian trip in the 60’s decided to shack up with a local gal there and begin swinging. He informed Allis of all of this in one of his records home along with a rendition of “Tie Me Kangaroo Down” by Charley and Merle (the Girlfriend).
Charley was not the only problem for the family. Allis was struggling keep the house going and raising the children. One of the boys was raging to the point they had to have him inturned for psychological testing. This was the 60’s and a very male driven world. Allis is repeatedly told by medical professionals that everything was her fault and she was causing the problems with the children. The family would suffer even further turmoil in the years to come with Anne moving away from home just to try to lead a normal life (and give birth to filmmaker Morgan Dews). There is also the untimely death of the oldest son Chuck in a car accident. Once your half way through this film you feel is if your part of the family and could only imagine what shock Dews must have gone through sifting through his grandmothers tales she had left him.
‘Must Read After I’m Dead’ is a surprising look at the family unit told in the most unique way. The only real knock I have on the film is sometimes the timeline seems a bit confusing . But I really liked this film and the way director/producer Morgan Dews put the films and recordings together to let Allis and Charley tell their story. ‘Must Read After My Death’ opens today in New York and L.A., and is worth the hunt to find what local theater is showing the film. Gigantic Releasing is also making the film available digitally through a weekend download for the rest of the country. You can purchase a digital ticket for $2.99 at www.giganticdigital.com and it will allow you unlimited viewing of the film for 3 days beginning today. The film is streaming in HD quality and has no ads or commercials. So if your on one of the coasts go find this film! If not, I encourage you to download it and enjoy.
[Overall 4 stars out of 5]
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Nick:
‘Must Read After My Death’ is an intimate look into the dark heart of the American family. This documentary’s only agenda is to expose the raw emotions of a family teetering at the brink of a complete meltdown. It is insightful, heartbreaking and even frightening.
The film is directed by Morgan Dews and assembled from an extensive collection of home movies and audio recordings. This collage of archival material introduces us to Allis and Charley, a seemingly typical family in 1960s America. They have three sons and one daughter.
Charley has a job that takes him to Australia for four months out of the year, so the couple purchases Dictaphone recorders to stay in touch. The husband and wife are frank and open in their relationship, encouraging each other to find solace in the company of other men and women during their extended separation. Trouble brews on the horizon.
What starts as a habit in which a separated family can feel closer together, becomes a cathartic exercise in which all members of the family can voice the ways they’ve grown apart. The recordings become confessionals. They range from melancholy to bitter and to hopelessly desperate.
Late in the film, much of the conflict comes from the institutionalization of one of Allis and Charley’s son. Misdiagnosed, their son spends years away from home. He goes from being a frustrated boy to a young man who has disassociated from his family and brimming with rage.
I hope this powerful film, the 2008 Grand Prize winner at the International Documentary Festival in Marseilles, finds the same audience that lauded ‘Capturing the Friedmans’. It is every bit as involving as that film and a far more rewarding experience than its close, fictional cousin ‘Revolutionary Road’.
‘Must Read After My Death’ is distributed by Gigantic Releasing. Interestingly, they are the first distributor to open first-run films simultaneously in cinemas and day and date online. Gigantic is able to do this through their Gigantic Digital broadband theater. Gigantic Digital streams in ultra high quality, commercial-free and at a modest price. $2.99 gets you a three-day, unlimited ticket. Do take note that cities in which the film is or will be playing in theaters will be blacked out so that the digital release does not compete with cinema bookings.
