Movie fans find myriad ways to endure this plague

Above : Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo star in the comedy “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.” (Photo: Cate Cameron, Lionsgate)

It’s been nearly a year since I stepped into a movie theater. And I’m not sure when I’ll do so next.

Until then, I continue to watch movies on a regular basis, courtesy of the subscription services – Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu – that I pay for. Not to mention the various other VOD sources that I can find online.

Example, a number of film festival offerings. My wife managed to purchase screenings of three feature films at last week’s Sundance Film Festival . And two of them, the documentary “Cusp” and the Kosovar feature “Hive,” ended up being award-winners. (She’s always had a knack for finding the best movies.)

Another example, through its Virtual SIFF Cinema the Seattle International Film Festival is screening the French-language feature “Two of Us.” The film, which tells the story of two aging women facing a big obstacle to their love when illness and family concerns get in the way, is France’s official Oscar submission for Best International Film. Click here to order.

More choices? On Feb. 12, the following should be available in one form or another:

“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” (VOD): SNL veteran Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo star as two friends who decide to leave their Midwestern town – for the very first time – and have the adventure of their lifetime. It’s a comedy.

“Judas and the Black Messiah” (HBO Max): And for something that couldn’t be more different, Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield star, respectively, as the late Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and the man (William O’Neal) who betrayed him. Definitely not a comedy.

And still the plague goes on. Someday it will end and life should return to some sense of normality.

At least that’s the hope.