Indie film news, reviews, commentary, interviews, podcasts and more, updated throughout the week.
Twilight of the Bad Lieutenant
By Neil Pedley on 11/16/2009
Holiday festivities are about to kick into full gear, but you wouldn't know it looking at this angst-ridden release slate, since the closest we come to Christmas is Nicolas Cage's "Bad Lieutenant" doing a lot of "snow." Instead, planets are discovered, new moons rise and suns set. Download this in audio form (MP3: 18:21 minutes, 16.8 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" Ever since Nicolas Cage was shown clinging to his "lucky crackpipe," cinephiles have been jonesing for Werner Herzog's re-imagining of Abel Ferrara's arthouse cop thriller. After months of... MORE »
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The Fantastic and the Apocalyptic
By Neil Pedley on 11/09/2009
Filed under: In TheatersRichard Curtis sets out to the high seas to rock our world, Roland Emmerich just obliterates it and Wes Anderson reenvisions it in stop-motion animation, while as a group of documentaries ponder real world issues of war, God, poverty and Glenn Gould. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:59 minutes, 15.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "2012" On behalf of moviegoers everywhere, we here at IFC would like to thank that schoolyard bully who must have so traumatized a young Roland Emmerich that he has spent his recent career ritualistically laying waste to our world one... MORE »
Thinking Outside the Box
By Neil Pedley on 11/02/2009
Filed under: In TheatersA week loaded with oh-so-worthy awards season contenders is offset with the comic relief of Jim Carrey's performance captured flailing, George Clooney's self-deluded staring, and the teasing promise of an affordable(!) trip to the ballet. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:59 minutes, 15.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "The Box" You could make the argument that if Richard Kelly could only get the whole world to come over to his house and listen to his record collection, he might not feel the need to make films at all. That said, his fall from grace following... MORE »
Boondocks, Babysitters and Broncos
By Neil Pedley on 10/26/2009
Filed under: In TheatersA Halloween week surprisingly light on horror sees instead some romantic dust-ups, courtroom showdowns and an epic battle of egos waged across the vast cosmic expanse of time and space. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:23 minutes, 13.2 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Aladin" While much of Bollywood's output has a touch of the fantastical, this contemporary adaptation of the classic fairytale cranks things up to a whole new level. The latest from Indian director Sujoy Ghosh, this romantic fable finds Ritesh Deshmukh as the eponymous hero, a ne'er-do-well bullied by local thugs whose life... MORE »
Vampires, "Antichrist"...and It's Not Even Halloween Yet
By Neil Pedley on 10/19/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week finds early awards season contenders lining up alongside a queer cinema double bill, a troupe of unorthodox vampires and a horror movie franchise that's become torturous in more ways than one. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:15 minutes, 13.1 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Amelia" Awards season takes flight with celebrated director Mira Nair's biopic charting the early life and rise to prominence of pioneering aviatrix Amelia Earhart. Hilary Swank produced and stars as the elusive Kansas-born pilot as she perilously navigates the skies, the trappings of fame and her romances with publisher... MORE »
Wicked Stepfathers, Law Breaking Citizens and Wild Things
By Neil Pedley on 10/12/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week in theaters finds some late-to-the-party summertime silliness lining up alongside a couple of titles arriving three weeks early for Halloween. Elsewhere the arthouse scene provides a strong showing with Chilean maids, Filipino mothers and some good ol' New York psychos. Download this in audio form (MP3: 15:25 minutes, 14.1 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Adela" The only person who's worked harder in the Filipino film industry over the past three years than director Adolfo Alix Jr., who's made 11 features since 2006, is his leading lady Anita Linda, who has made 13 in the... MORE »
C'mon, Get Unhappy
By Neil Pedley on 10/05/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week's releases arrive draped in a pervasive air of dissatisfaction -- Chris Rock's daughter is unhappy with her hair, a '70s feminist movement is unhappy with their options, and Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler are unhappy with each other. Elsewhere, British cultural icons are talked up while global corporate interests are torn down. Download this in audio form (MP3: 19:59 minutes, 18.3 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "After The Storm" In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Oscar-winning filmmaker and activist James Lecesne's decision to bring a production of the Off-Broadway musical "Once on This Island"... MORE »
Zombies, Lies and Videotape
By Neil Pedley on 09/28/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week's offerings give us the choice of walking with death or battling the undead. For those taking it easy this week, there's also roller skating with Ellen Page and having fun playing God (or inventing him, at any rate) with Ricky Gervais. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:51 minutes, 13.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Afterschool" After making a name for himself at Cannes with his award-winning shorts, NYU film grad Antonio Campos took his feature debut there last year. "Afterschool" earned its share of controversy during its festival run, along with as a... MORE »
Fame, Rage and Capitalism
By Neil Pedley on 09/21/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week, contrasting approaches to filmmaking bring about balance and equilibrium. Experimentalism (Sally Potter's "Rage" and Michael Almereyda's "Paradise") collides head on with tried and tested formulas (the Clive Owen starrer "The Boys Are Back" and a remake of "Fame"). Download this in audio form (MP3: 18:27 minutes, 16.9 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Blind Date" Stanley Tucci adapts and stars in the second remake from the canon of slain Dutch director Theo Van Gogh, the first being Steve Buscemi's 2007 "Interview." A whimsical psychological tussle between a husband and wife who play games to patch... MORE »
Ugly People and Dangerous Men
By Neil Pedley on 09/14/2009
Filed under: In TheatersWith the Venice Film Festival having just concluded and Toronto now underway, the award season's wheels begin to roll with big name players, both indie and arthouse, making a showing, with Steven Soderbergh and Jennifer Aniston keeping things light at the multiplex. Download this in audio form (MP3: 20:11 minutes, 18.5 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "35 Shots of Rum" While Claire Denis' latest film, "White Material," is in the midst of a prestigious festival run that will take in Venice, Toronto and soon London, fans of the French filmmaker's work can enjoy this delicate domestic... MORE »
Blind Pigs, Horse Boys and the Nines
By Neil Pedley on 09/07/2009
Filed under: In TheatersAs the super-serious prestige season begins to gear up in Telluride, Toronto and Venice, an odd blend of matters spiritual, ecological, supernatural, and extraterrestrial are coming to a theater near you this week. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:03 minutes, 14.7 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "9" After his Oscar-nominated short turned the heads of producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, former Weta artist Shane Acker delivers a full-length version of his terrifying vision of the future with this dark, dystopic animated fantasy. Boasting an all-star line-up of voices including Elijah Wood, Martin Landau, Jennifer... MORE »
Drowning in Work
By Neil Pedley on 08/31/2009
Filed under: In TheatersIf Labor Day's coming up, that must mean there's a new Mike Judge movie on the way. It's also that time of year when a few distributors dust off some well-traveled festival films as the summer winds down and the start of the school year is underway. Download this in audio form (MP3: 12:03 minutes, 11 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "American Casino" A disaster for ordinary citizens, the financial crisis has naturally become catnip for politically minded documentary filmmakers. With "the most feared filmmaker in America" preparing to offer his take a few weeks from... MORE »
August Evenings
By Neil Pedley on 08/24/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week's slate reinvents the wheel, so to speak, unveiling a vast array of twists, tweaks, role reversals and reinventions to satisfy all tastes. Download this in audio form (MP3: 12:46 minutes, 11.7 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "At The Edge of The World" Made famous by the weekly embedded correspondence of their TV series "Whale Wars," the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society puts the active in activism, taking self-described "direct action" (sabotage, vandalism, etc.) against the predominantly Japanese whaling fleets still hunting these gentle giants of the sea. Joining the battle-ready crew on their third Antarctic... MORE »
Basterds, the IRA and the real Mad Men
By Neil Pedley on 08/17/2009
Filed under: In TheatersAnother monster release slate this week finds, amongst other things, interpretations of the Irish troubles, both real and imagined. Also, we meet the real life Mad Men, QT's Basterds and the godfather of African-American indie film as a bearded ten-year-old boy. Download this in audio form (MP3: 15:35 minutes, 14.3 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Art & Copy" Filmmaker Doug Pray ("Surfwise") goes inside the advertising industry to uncover the creative minds behind such iconic slogans as "Got Milk?" and "Just Do It," encountering a multitude of contrasting viewpoints, from those who feel they have whored... MORE »
Battle of the Bands
By Neil Pedley on 08/10/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week offers animation from Asia, science fiction from South Africa, horror from Europe and romance on the home continent. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:23 minutes, 15 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Bandslam" Despite the odd detour to pen such fare as the unpleasant 1993 remake of "The Vanishing," actor-turned-writer/director Todd Graff has returned time and again to themes of ambitious young performers struggling for recognition. With his follow-up to 2003's "Camp," he offers up a plush, pristinely PG tale of a gaggle of Texas high school misfits who congregate under the believe-in-yourself banner... MORE »
Beeswax, Bloggers and Barack
By Neil Pedley on 08/03/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week's new releases include a Latin American double bill on the nature of the fame game, a British one-two centered on the macabre and a global smattering of meditations on love young and old. Download this in audio form (MP3: 13:04 minutes, 12 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Beeswax" Following on the heels of well-received festival performers "Funny Ha Ha" and "Mutual Appreciation," mumblecore alum Andrew Bujalski delivers another characteristically lo-fi tale of post-grads trying to build lives for themselves. Complete with a who's who of Austin indie film players (including SXSW film fest head... MORE »
A Bolt From the Blue
By Neil Pedley on 07/27/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week plays host to a release slate so big that when it's finished doing the rounds in theaters we expect it to climb out of the sea and attack Japan. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:50 minutes, 13.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Act of God" Following "Manufactured Landscapes," her compelling 2006 portrait of photographer Edward Burtynsky and the paradoxical beauty of his images of industry, Canadian documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal turns her attention to one of nature's most dynamic phenomenon. Collecting a multitude of testimony from lightning strike survivors and witnesses, Baichwal explores... MORE »
Deadgirls and Grouchy Gurus
By Neil Pedley on 07/20/2009
Filed under: In TheatersA small smattering of romantic fare amongst the new releases this week lines up alongside some caustic political satire, a couple of dark chillers, somber documentaries, and a string of grouchy gurus. Download this in audio form (MP3: 13:52 minutes, 19.1 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "The Answer Man" Having quietly transformed himself into one of the most versatile character actors working today, Jeff Daniels returns to leading man duties for this romantic indie, the feature debut of writer/director John Hindman. Daniels plays Arlen Faber, the author of a worldwide bestselling page-turner on spirituality who's spent... MORE »
Summer, Somers and Potter
By Neil Pedley on 07/13/2009
Filed under: In TheatersJust a couple of blockbusters this week, one of which we've seen most of already. For everybody else, there is a strong selection of international art house pics to go with a couple of homegrown indies. Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:33 minutes, 13 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "(500) Days of Summer" Longtime music video director Marc Webb turned down a lot of horror remakes and teen comedies to make his feature debut with this unconventional recitation of a relationship that doesn't work out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt co-stars as Tom, a poker-faced field mouse rejected... MORE »
Everyone's At It
By Neil Pedley on 07/06/2009
Filed under: In TheatersFiction be damned this week as the documentary makes an impressively strong showing amongst the new releases. For those who simply must make believe, there are vampire slayers, guys and girls in love, guys and guys in love, and a guy pretending to be a guy who loves other guys. Download this in audio form (MP3: 7:58 minutes, 10.9 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Blood: The Last Vampire" Since beginning its (after)life back in 2000 as an animated feature, the teen-oriented "Blood" saga has spawned a comic book sequel, three novels, a video game and a... MORE »
Nollywood, Bollywood and a Little Bit of Hollywood
By Neil Pedley on 06/29/2009
Filed under: In TheatersA little lightness this week to offset last week's doom and gloom in theaters; love is in the air, as we enjoy imported romance alongside some family friendly animation and docs on the film industry and its players. Download this in audio form (MP3: 7:28 minutes, 10.3 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "The Beaches of Agnès" While most people commit their memoirs to the page, Belgian octogenarian auteur Agnès Varda has constructed a nostalgic visual document of her life, times and work. Flitting between past and present, Varda assembles a collage of memory and experience channeled... MORE »
More Than Meets the Eye
By Neil Pedley on 06/22/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week in theaters, everyone seems to have opted to go dark, with cinemas offering up grieving families, persecuted immigrants, endangered pop singers and the slow death of intimacy in the internet age. This is... supposed to be summer, right? Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:34 minutes, 13.2 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Afghan Star" With the American version still able to compel 30 million people into a zombie-like trance each week, "Pop Idol" is the latest craze sweeping the nation of Afghanistan, where contestants are subject to a campaign of intimidation that puts Simon... MORE »
Cavemen, Mobsters and Nazi Zombies
By Neil Pedley on 06/15/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week in theaters sees more history coming to life while the oceans around us die. Woody Allen fans can start counting backwards from 364 again, while Sandra Bullock makes Ryan Reynolds suffer, which, after "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," has got to be a cause worth supporting. Download this in audio form (MP3: 8:51 minutes, 12.2 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "$9.99" Thanks to the mainstream explosion of snarky adult-oriented animation, grown-ups no longer need to dream up creative excuses to spend all day in front of cartoons, which is nice. This latest dose of claymation cleverness... MORE »
What's Old is New Again
By Neil Pedley on 06/08/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week sees a couple of golden oldies trotted out alongside the customary summertime family fun, docs on science both good and bad, and another lesson from the Tony Scott school of flash-bang filmmaking. Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:09 minutes, 12.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Betty Blue: The Director's Cut" Having inspired everything from ardent film student party chatter to the pure cinematic showmanship of Luc Besson, Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1986 Oscar-nominated romantic drama has a legacy that reaches far and wide. This new print of Beineix's definitive 1991 cut of his oh so... MORE »
On the Road With Mariah, Maya Rudolph and Zach Galifianakis
By Neil Pedley on 06/01/2009
Filed under: In TheatersIf you're a fan of road movies, then you better call in sick with a case of swine flu, as this weeks sees a lot of them arriving in theaters. For everyone else, there are docs on art and music, some European sunshine and a little smattering of domestic darkness. Download this in audio form (MP3: 10:56 minutes, 15 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "24 City" Festival favorite Jia Zhang-ke ("Still Life") delivers a portrait of a culture in flux and a meditation on the ethereal nature of history with yet another of his patented hybrids... MORE »
Going "Up," "Offshore" and Down to "Hell"
By Neil Pedley on 05/25/2009
Filed under: In TheatersWith Cannes now wrapped up, this week finds everyone on the move as a trio of Indian workers go to Michigan, Sam Raimi goes home and Karl Fredricksen and his yappy companion go, well, up. Download this in audio form (MP3: 07:59 minutes, 11 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Departures" Best known as the unknown film that won the Best Foreign Language Oscar, Japanese director Yojiro Takita's tonally eccentric story of guilt and self-realization finally gets a chance to prove its bonafides. Crushed by the dismantling of his Tokyo-based orchestra, newly unemployed cellist Daigo Kobyashi (Masahiro... MORE »
A Christian Baleout
By Neil Pedley on 05/18/2009
Filed under: In TheatersAll eyes might be on that resort town in the south of France, but we here at home can enjoy another bumper crop of releases comprising both arthouse excellence and blockbuster entertainment. Oh, and the Wayans brothers have a new movie out, too. Download this in audio form (MP3: 09:25 minutes, 13 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story" The unsung heroes (no pun intended) of the Mouse House's most celebrated animated features, Oscar-winning composers Richard and Robert Sherman wrote the delightful ditties that were the core of hits like "The Jungle... MORE »
Cons, Corporate and Otherwise
By Neil Pedley on 05/11/2009
Filed under: In TheatersYour guide to what's new in theaters this week: Offbeat foreign fare compliments star-studded domestic offerings, alongside some intriguing and inventive docs. Download this in audio form (MP3: 08:58 minutes, 12.3 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Anaglyph Tom (Tom With Puffy Cheeks)" Forty years after "Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son," his groundbreaking interpretation of Thomas Edison's turn-of-the-century short, experimentalist and paracinema pioneer Ken Jacobs returns to Edison's original print, this time with a mind to work his singular magic in gloriously vibrant 3-D. Employing digital technology to isolate actors and images and intermingle the themes of... MORE »
Chock Full Of Spock
By Neil Pedley on 05/04/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThe arrival of "Star Trek" signals the start of blockbuster season (in our orbit, "Wolverine" doesn't count), and the indie world wastes no time with responding in kind with a few big name players of its own. Download this in audio form (MP3: 10:00 minutes, 13.7 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Adoration" Atom Egoyan landed himself a Palme d'Or nomination at last year's Cannes for the latest of his patented multi-stranded narratives of introspection, this one a meditation on the marginalization of truth and the role of technology in the post-9/11 mindset. Devon Bostick stars as... MORE »
Surfers, Dancers and Wolverine
By Neil Pedley on 04/27/2009
Filed under: In TheatersWith Tribeca well under way, there's much in the way of art house fare this week for everyone with a rich international flavor. Go crazy! Download this in audio form (MP3: 11:33 minutes, 15.8 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "A Wink and a Smile" Seattle-based documentary filmmaker Deirdre Allen Timmons makes her debut by pulling back the velvet curtain on the world of burlesque, where art and erotica co-exist in the same spectacle. Timmons introduces ten game volunteers, comprised of eager housewives and bored professionals, to Miss Indigo Blue's House of Burlesque, where the ladies find... MORE »
