What to Watch If Not Watching the “Watchmen”

A collection of international films hit the art houses.

“New York City Serenade”
Once an actor who spent what seemed an eternity on the verge of stardom only to become a reliable character actor in recent years, Frank Whaley corrals fellow former up-and-comers Freddie Prinze, Jr., Chris Klein and Jamie-Lynn Sigler to star in his third directorial outing, a buddy comedy about an aspiring filmmaker (Prinze, Jr.) and his wannabe musician pal (Klein). A love letter to Whaley’s hometown yet set mostly outside of it, “New York City Serenade” offers the notion that the bright lights and big city toughen you up against the disappointments that inevitably follow.
Opens in limited release.

“Phoebe in Wonderland”
First-time writer/director Daniel Barnz takes us down the rabbit hole in this surrealist, spirited coming-of-age drama that sees young Elle Fanning follow her sister in transitioning from bit-part cutie to diminutive leading lady. As the perennially misunderstood outsider struggling to reign in her boredom fueled classroom antics, the “Alice”-obsessed Phoebe (Fanning) is thrilled at the chance to star in the school’s production of the Lewis Carroll classic, aided by her compassionate drama teacher, Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson). Desperate to control her behavioral issues and keep the part, Phoebe relies on her imagination to brings forth beloved characters from the book to help her find her way. Bill Pullman and Felicity Huffman co-star.
Opens in limited release.

“Reunion”
Born out of a short story inspired by his own Ivy League reunion, former Yale Law graduate-turned-writer/director Alan Hruska plumbs the murky depths of a secret society whose members reunite for the first time following the death of a friend. Bringing together an ensemble of veteran small-screeners including Christopher McDonald, Cynthia Stevenson, Jamey Sheridan), Hruska’s thriller carves open old wounds amongst the elite group as they uncover a secret that has shaped their lives since their college days and expose past actions they hoped would remain buried.
Opens in limited release.

“Sherman’s Way”
Comfortable like a pair of old shoes, writer/director Craig M. Saavedra’s directorial debut ticks off enough genre boxes with this colorfully quirky road trip comedy to compensate for what it lacks in originality, or at least so said the audiences at the Cinequest and Newport film festivals, who both bestowed audience awards upon it. So bring on the acoustic indie soundtrack and the eclectic cast of familiar faces in this film about an uptight silver spooner Sherman (Michael Shulman) looking to escape the overbearing clutches of his politician mother (Donna Murphy) by hightailing it to his girlfriend’s summer home. Arriving just in time to catch her with her hunky ex-boyfriend, Sherman hitches a ride out of town with lethargic ex-Olympian Palmer (James LeGros) in a possibly stolen convertible.
Opens in New York; opens in Los Angeles on March 13th.

“Shuttle”
Another SXSW alum from last year, first-time director Edward Anderson’s screamer fits the mold of eerily plausible lowbrow horror like “The Hitcher,” if perhaps the psychotic John Ryder stalked airport parking lots as opposed to the Interstate. Tony Curran stars as the blank-faced airport shuttle chauffer who lures two party girls in from the rain on a deserted airport beltway and embarks on a hellish ride to who knows where?
Opens in limited release.

“13B”
Indian actor turned writer/director Vikram Kumar cooks up, of all things, a Bollywood supernatural slasher film for this his directorial debut. The film tells of well-to-do Indian Manohar played by Madhavan, his middle class family, and their brand new apartment on the thirteenth floor. Housebound the women of the family are hooked on an enthralling new TV show that’s set-up oddly mirrors their own. As events on screen take a turn for the decidedly nasty those same events begin to seep from the screen into their world threatening to consume the family. In English and Hindi with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.

“Tokyo!”
An anthology of international interpretations on the enigmatic city of neon from the directorial dream team of Michael Gondry, France’s Leos Carax and Korea’s Bong Joon-ho, “Tokyo!” contains three disparate chapters that combine to celebrate the unique character of the bustling Japanese metropolis. Gondry’s “Interior Design” tells of Hiroko and Akira, new arrivals to the city with big dreams, but as those dreams start to fade, so does Hiroko. Carax’s “Merde” is the story of a mischievous sewer dweller that periodically resurfaces to feed and wreak havoc. Finally, Bong’s “Shaking Tokyo” offers the story of a lonely shut in who pines after a pizza delivery girl who gives him the impetus to finally step outside. In Japanese with subtitles.
Opens in New York; opens in Los Angeles on March 20th.

“Watchmen”
That it was deemed unfilmable by the likes of Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, and Paul Greengrass, speaks to the towering stature of Alan Moore’s monolithic graphic novel, but “300″ director Zack Snyder steps up to the plate with his take on the dense, noirish deconstruction of the superhero genre. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, Jackie Earle Haley stars as the masked vigilante Rorschach, who attempts to reassemble his former comrades following the murder of their teammate, The Comedian (Jeffery Dean Morgan), with the fear that the retired superheroes are being set up as patsies in a much larger conspiracy.
Opens wide and in IMAX.

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