Indie film news, reviews, commentary, interviews, podcasts and more, updated throughout the week.
More Than Meets the Eye
By Neil Pedley on 06/22/2009
This 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 »
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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 »
I'm a Polar Bear, Get Me Outta Here
By Alison Willmore on 04/20/2009
Filed under: In TheatersOn the nonfiction side of cinema this week, you've got portraits of a famous banjo player, an infamous boxer and, er, nature, while the fiction side delves into a dystopic, mutant-infested future, a bedraggled small town in Korea and Bret Easton Ellis' decadent '80s Los Angeles. Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:06 minutes, 9.54 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Earth" The Mouse House launches its brand new nature documentary arm Disneynature with an Earth Day premiere of this year-in-the-life-of-our-planet feature. The bad news is that "Earth" recycles a lot of the footage from the BBC... MORE »
High Kicks From Both a Chorus Line and Jason Statham
By Neil Pedley on 04/13/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week brings a bumper crop of indie and arthouse releases with something to suit all tastes, even if their added box office is outdone by "Crank: High Voltage." Download this in audio form (MP3: 12:38 minutes, 17.3 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "American Violet" In our politically expedient, hyper-ADD times, director Tim Disney reminds us African-Americans had it tough in the post-civil rights era long before Katrina with this Texas-set drama based on true story. As much a legal thriller as anything else, "American Violet" stars Alfre Woodward as the steely mother of Dee Roberts... MORE »
Life as an "Interquel"
By Neil Pedley on 03/30/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week finds us lampooning the '50s, waxing nostalgic about the '80s and lamenting the fact that Vin Diesel ever made it out of the early '00s. There are also high school kids trying to get off, Brian Cox trying to get out and the finest nomadic goat herder rom-com you'll ever see. Download this in audio form (MP3: 10:40 minutes, 14.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Adventureland" Having played no small part in shepherding in the current bromance boom, "Superbad" director Greg Mottola reverts back to the more traditional boy-meets-girl formula for this '80s comedy... MORE »
Monsters vs. John Cena vs. Cindy Sherman
By Neil Pedley on 03/23/2009
Filed under: In TheatersA barrage of quality indie fare this week compliments a couple of seriously intriguing docs as well as some less than stellar genre fare as the blockbuster season of summer quietly inches ever closer. Download this in audio form (MP3: 7:51 minutes, 10.8 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "12 Rounds" It's something of an irony that Renny Harlin, the man who made grown men cry with the abominable "Die Hard 2," should scratch out a paycheck at the helm of this derivative WWE Studios thriller with a plot that borrows so heavily from the infinitely superior... MORE »
Corporate Cons, Battling Besties and Valentino
By Neil Pedley on 03/16/2009
Filed under: In TheatersIf daylight savings time is upon us, it must mean the first quarter release graveyard really is out of sight now as some big name stars finally come out to play. Meanwhile, some previous SXSW alums make their theatrical bows as the film and music fest get underway in Austin and bromance continues to blossom. Download this in audio form (MP3: 8:28 minutes, 11.7 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Angel" French helmer François Ozon's first English language feature is an adaptation of Brit author Elizabeth Taylor's seriocomic novel of the same title and promises to be... MORE »
Of Soldiers, Playmates and Poets
By Neil Pedley on 03/09/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week sees, for once, nothing imported from Russia and nothing opening in 3D. Hmmm...signs and portents. Download this in audio form (MP3: 7:43 minutes, 10.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Brothers at War" While his very premise negates a documentarian's objectivity, filmmaker Jake Rademacher brings an intimacy and affection to his feature debut, a handheld portrait of his two brothers serving in Iraq. Shot first-hand while embedded with his brothers' units in the field, Rademacher seeks to better understand their actions and motivations as they patrol along the Syrian border. Putting the larger political issues... MORE »
What to Watch If Not Watching the "Watchmen"
By Neil Pedley on 03/02/2009
Filed under: In TheatersSome homegrown interloping mixes with a strong international showing this week to give an overall balance to what's playing at your local multiplex. Comic book fans can salivate over "Watchmen," arthouse fans can enjoy a Louis Garrel double bill, and a Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse-inspired serial killer movie bridges the gap. Download this in audio form (MP3: 10:31 minutes, 14.5 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "12" A best foreign language Oscar nominee from 2008, Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov's interpretation of the Reginald Rose's 1954 play "Twelve Angry Men" puts a contemporary political spin on this... MORE »
Philosophers, Street Fighters and the Jonas Brothers
By Neil Pedley on 02/23/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week's offerings include an art film about the biblical, a documentary exploring the philosophical, a thriller espousing the dangers of the technological and a film about a badass dude with claws that kills people. We know which one we're going to see. Download this in audio form (MP3: 7:14 minutes, 10 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "An American Affair" We're a country enamored with the marvels of our great democracy while also continuing a nasty habit of cultivating political dynasties, the thrall of which we continue to find irresistible, and there is no finer example... MORE »
The Pre-Oscar Scrum of Cheerleaders, Fashion Designers and Madea
By Neil Pedley on 02/16/2009
Filed under: In TheatersWith all eyes on the upcoming Academy Awards (not to mention the Spirit Awards, the afternoon before), it's a relatively quiet week at the box office. There are some bubblegum high school antics, a couple of documentaries about the dysfunctional, a children's literary classic and a somber drama set during WWII. Take heart, we're nearly over the hump. Download this in audio form (MP3: 6:11 minutes, 8.5 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] "Delhi 6" BAFTA-nominated director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra returns with this transatlantic journey of self-discovery that offers itself as another girder in the bridge between... MORE »
A Valentine's Day for the Economically Depressed
By Neil Pedley on 02/09/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis Valentine's Day weekend, there's plenty to make you want to clutch your significant other tight in the dark -- Isla Fisher wields a credit card, Jason Voorhees puts on his hockey mask one more time and Clive Owen is the quite ridiculous vessel for an entire nation's displaced rage. "As Seen Through These Eyes" In the works for ten painstaking years, writer/director Hilary Helstein's debut feature achieves its noble goal -- to tell, in her words, "an uplifting story about the Holocaust" -- by focusing on concentration camp prisoners who made the best of their limited resources and created... MORE »
Oscar shorts, stop-motion Gaiman and "Blair Witch" in Afghanistan
By Neil Pedley on 02/02/2009
Filed under: In TheatersOn offer this week are films both long in the making and short on running time. Dakota Fanning does a double bill, Steve Martin further damages his credibility and "Blair Witch" director Daniel Myrick returns to have people running for their sanity. "2008 Academy Award Nominated Short Films" For one week only, Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures have teamed up again to bring you the world's finest in the way of live action and animated shorts from a multitude of international filmmakers, as determined by the Academy's selection committee. This year's live action lineup includes the Swiss/German drama "Auf der... MORE »
An SF Rom-dram, a K-horror Remake and Liam Neeson Kicking Ass
By Neil Pedley on 01/26/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThe long, slow, soul-crushing stagger towards the Oscars starts this week with many of the nominated prestige pictures that came out three months ago getting back into the spotlight after the flurry of Sundance attention has thawed. Meanwhile, the remake machine cranks out another Asian-inspired chiller, Bollywood goes meta, and Liam Neeson kicks some serious ass. "Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh" Given the Hollywood prestige crowd's endless fascination with all things Holocaust, it is unfathomable how the remarkable story of Hannah Senesh remains largely untold. Hailed in her homeland as a modern-day Joan of... MORE »
A SoCal gang doc, an Elmore Leonard adaptation and a Hitchcock retake
By Neil Pedley on 01/19/2009
Filed under: In TheatersThis week, a strong international lineup stacks up alongside some domestic B-movie madness and traditional big-budget nonsense. "California Dreamin" Despite being technically unfinished at the time of its 27-year-old director's tragic and untimely death in a car accident in 2006, this raucous satire from the late Romanian filmmaker Cristian Nemescu ably illustrates what a great young talent was sadly lost. Partly a slight of American hegemony, partly a where-do-we-go-from-here meditation on his homeland post-Cold War, Nemescu's darkly comic tragedy was inspired by true events. Unfolding against the backdrop of the Kosovo conflict, the story centers on a train carrying NATO... MORE »
Opening This Week: Bollywood kung fu, Biggie Smalls and 3-D slashers
By Neil Pedley on 01/12/2009
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley Anyone not waiting on a ski lift (or screening) with bated breath in Utah can spend their time picking through a hodgepodge of some of the finest examples of genre excess you're likely to find. Bollywood goes to China, the slasher film goes 3D and the people behind "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" make zero effort not to telegraph what will likely end up the lamest rhyming gag ever. "Chandni Chowk to China" Warner Bros looks to establish a foothold in Bollywood with this action comedy, the first of a three-picture deal with Indian outfit People Tree Films.... MORE »
Opening This Week: Horrorfest, a bridal comedy and the best damn Mexican Mennonite drama ever made
By Neil Pedley on 01/05/2009
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley There's a welcome change of pace this week, with nary a Nazi in sight. Character actors go to work both in front of and behind the camera, there's a white wedding, a black comedy and a bizarre love triangle in Plautdietsch just over the Mexican border. "8 Films to Die For: After Dark Horrorfest 2009" For one week only, nasty niche distributor After Dark Films terrorizes 300 screens across the country with their third annual "Horrorfest" showcase featuring a selection of eight indie horror films. This year's selection comprises of: "Autopsy," the Lena Headey-Richard Jenkins' thriller "The... MORE »
Opening This Week: Two more Holocaust dramas
By Neil Pedley on 12/29/2008
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley After the feast of holiday offerings, there's but a meager smattering on offer for a New Year nibble. This week brings two brand spanking new holocaust movies for anyone who still has the stomach (after the other four released in past weeks) or as a tasty alternative you can enjoy some bloody murder in the former Soviet Union or some bloody murder right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. You decide. "Angel's Blade" Depending on your tolerance for ultra low-budget horror, writer/director Robert Stock's debut feature will either delight with its copious amounts of corn... MORE »
Opening This Week: Brad Pitt ages backward, Dustin Hoffman loses his job
By Neil Pedley on 12/22/2008
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley After a December in which big name stars have been mostly MIA, this holiday week finds Dustin Hoffman getting fired, Brad Pitt getting old and Tom Cruise trying to explain why you really should spend Christmas Day with your family reliving one of the most bloody chapters in recent history. Merry Christmas everyone! "Bedtime Stories" A simple glance at the one-sheet for this anarchic family friendly crowd-pleaser from the Mouse House tells you everything you need to know. Searching for a new cash cow post-"Pirates," the folks at Disney took one look at the numbers for "Night... MORE »
Opening This Week: A Will Smith weeper, this year's Cannes winner and Mickey Rourke
By Neil Pedley on 12/15/2008
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley There's a noticeably European flavor this week, combined with some good old-fashioned work-a-day miserablism just in time for the holidays. Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or-winning doc shows a French school in minor crisis, Mickey Rourke battles his demons and Jim Carrey flails about -- all in good festive fun! "The Class" Considering that the ongoing debate over the education system approaches a national pastime in France, it's not difficult to see why Laurent Cantet's pseudo-documentary chronicling a year in a Paris classroom took home the Palme d'Or on its home turf in Cannes. Based on a semi-autobiographical account... MORE »
Opening This Week: Soderbergh's four-hour biopic, Eastwood's other movie
By Neil Pedley on 12/08/2008
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley Things really shift into high gear this week when a bumper crop of award season heavy-hitters and indies stream into theaters, as well as a cadre of movie stars doing what they do best - whether that's Keanu Reeves acting alien, Clint Eastwood brandishing his trademark scowl, or Benicio Del Toro doing his own brand of mumblecore while waging war against fascists. "Adam Resurrected" It's been a long, strange directorial career for Paul Schrader, who followed his work as the unsung hero of some of Martin Scorsese's most celebrated masterpieces with successes like "American Gigolo" and oddities... MORE »
Opening This Week: This year's '60s music biopic, Ron Howard's Oscar bid and one last superhero movie
By Neil Pedley on 12/01/2008
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley Providing the requisite stopgap between showy Thanksgiving distractions and award season stragglers, female directors and assorted indie debutantes are making a strong showing this week. "The Black Balloon" 'What's Eating Elissa Down?' is the question to ask as the award-winning director of Aussie shorts makes the jump to features with this semi-autobiographical tale of a frustrated adolescent on the verge of manhood weighed down by his responsibilities to his autistic younger brother. Daytime soap star Rhys Wakefield takes the role of the Gilbert Grape-esque Thomas, a burdened army brat charged with his brother's care while his parents... MORE »
Opening This Week: Long-awaited films from Baz Luhrmann and Gus Van Sant
By Neil Pedley on 11/24/2008
Filed under: In TheatersBy Neil Pedley Families heading to the multiplexes post-turkey this Thanksgiving can unbutton those tight belts in the dark after choosing from an eclectic mix of hard-hitting action, sweeping epics and prickly romance. "Australia" Never one to be rushed, director Baz Luhrmann has taken seven years since putting his so-called "red curtain trilogy" to bed before delivering this, the first installment in his announced trilogy of epics. Once more showcasing his fascination with great melodrama, old-school villainy and larger-than-life love stories, Luhrmann has reinvented himself without really reinventing himself with this grandiose romance set against the backdrop of a transforming... MORE »
