By Susan Granger

Actor Jesse Eisenberg (“Zombieland,” “The Social Network”) had a wonderful spring planned — with two new movies — neither of which ever made it to theaters.

In “Vivarium,” watch carefully as the introductory scene with the cuckoo birds shows how they trick other birds into raising their young. It’s a metaphor foreshadowing what’s about to unfold.

Thirty-something landscaper Tom (Eisenberg) and his schoolteacher girlfriend Gemma (Imogen Poots) are thinking about taking the next step in their lives by buying a home in suburbia. So they talk with a creepy real estate agent (Jonathan Aris).

Intrigued by a newly planned community called Yonder — boasting the ominous slogan: “You’re home. Forever.” — they decide to view one of the identical, prefabricated properties, which are arranged in looping, labyrinthine subdivisions, only to discover there’s no way out.

By Susan Granger

Starting today on Netflix, there’s an exuberant, uplifting documentary, “Crip Camp,” this year’s Sundance Audience Award-winner.

In 1971, when theatrical/film sound designer Jim LeBrecht was 15, he spent an extraordinary summer at an experimental camp for disabled kids. After sharing his memories with Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nicole Newnham, they decided to make a movie.

Of course, they had no idea that final funding would come from Higher Ground, the production company run by Barack and Michelle Obama.

In upstate New York, Camp Jened claims to be the birthplace of the disability-rights movement. When Jim LeBrecht, born with spina bifida, embarked on the three-hour bus trip into the Catskills, he knew that it was a place for children with disabilities — and it was run by hippies.

The Westport Country Playhouse has announced that its 90th season official opening is now scheduled for July instead of the previously announced April kick-off, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The revised 2020 lineup includes a total of three productions:  two musicals, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Next to Normal,” and a new comedy, “Tiny House,” instead of the originally scheduled five productions.

The three shows were part of the initial 2020 season plan, although two have had date shifts.

“Antigone” and “Blues for an Alabama Sky,” originally scheduled in the 2020 season, have been postponed to future seasons, an announcement said.

In response to the coronavirus, the Westport Museum for History & Culture announced today the launch of its “Virtual Museum” initiative to provide house-bound citizens “interactive and engaging history-based content.”

“These are unprecedented times in our town and our nation,” Ramin Ganeshram, museum executive director said. “Folks are finding creative ways to keep their mental juices flowing and to remain involved with others.

“Our hope is that the Virtual Museum initiative fosters fun learning and a sense of connection at this time when we are all sequestered in our homes,” she added.

According to the announcement, offerings at the Virtual Museum include online exhibits; book, TV, movie and podcast reviews; historic recipes; videos; and, in the near future, sourced and original podcasts including some in the format of classic radio shows.

By Susan Granger

Since misery loves company, here are movies about pandemics that you can stream at home.

It’s ‘social distancing’ that you need survive the plausible global pandemic in the all-too-terrifying bio-thriller “Contagion” (2011) that begins with an international traveler.

Headed home to Minneapolis from Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) stops for a drink at the airport, nibbles snacks at the bar and pays with a credit card. She’s feverish, coughing and jet-lagged when, two days later, her husband (Matt Damon) finds her dead.

Soon, others are displaying the same flu-like symptoms in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Chicago, London and Paris, and it’s obvious that a lethal virus is been unleashed.

By Susan Granger

While local movie theaters have now been closed, earlier they limited capacity and encouraged social distancing. But the new releases really aren’t worth leaving home for.

Because of political controversy, the initial 2019 release of “The Hunt” was delayed following mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas; now it’s in theaters during a pandemic. Go figure.

Taking its cue from Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game,” it depicts wealthy, heavily armed elites exercising their Second Amendment right against a dozen drugged/kidnapped/gagged victims, stalking them as sport on a private game reserve in Croatia.

As the opening text notes: “Nothing better than going out to the Manor and slaughtering a dozen deplorables.”

Saturday, March 21
Broadway Method Academy has canceled their “2019 Gala, Night of a Thousand Stars,“which had been rescheduled to March 21. Please contact Broadway Method Academy at (203) 675-3526 for more information.

Barker added: “As of today, we have not made the decision to cancel or postpone future events after March 21, including our Script in Hand reading of Mrs. Mannerly, scheduled for Monday, March 23.

“As the situation evolves, we will continue to keep you informed. If you have any questions about the Playhouse’s preparations around this or any other public health issue, please feel free to reach out to us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).”