Hmm, I don't remember any of this week's noteworthy indie DVD releases playing at theaters in my area, so why don't we catch up together and decide what to rent? Listed (roughly) in order of critical favor:

Chop Shop (pictured). Second feature by Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart) is a coming of age story set in a New York junkyard. Cinematical review (entirely positive): Kim Voynar. DVD features: audio commentary with director and actors, rehearsal footage, and trailer.

The Tracey Fragments. Ellen Page stars in Bruce McDonald's harrowing drama. Cinematical reviews (both positive): Erik Davis; James Rocchi. DVD features: behind the scenes footage and interviews with McDonald and Page, entries from the "Tracey: Re-fragmented" contest, a selection of images by photographer Matt Sullivan, and trailer.

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. Julien Temple's doc on the influential Clash musician. Cinematical reviews (both frustrated): Kevin Kelly; Jeffrey M. Anderson. DVD features: audio commentary with Temple, 100 minutes of additional interview footage, and trailer.

American Zombie. Grace Lee's horror comedy depicts the ordinary, day to day challenges of life as one of the undead. Cinematical review (disappointed): Jette Kernion. DVD features: audio commentaries, behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, and trailers.

Sleepwalking. Family drama about a young girl dealing with life after her mother abandons her; with Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb, Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, and Dennis Hopper. Cinematical reviews (both negative): James Rocchi; Jeffrey M. Anderson. DVD features: "making of," and trailer.

Mash-ups are all the rage these days as songs, movies, and every sort of media find their disparate parts joined into a usually surprisingly-cohesive whole. Now the filmmakers themselves are getting into the trend. Jam! reports that Canadian director Bruce McDonald has put together a nifty little project -- he's uploaded tons of raw footage from his experimental film, The Tracey Fragments, onto the film's sweet-looking website, along with the script and the Broken Social Scene soundtrack -- days before it gets released.

According to the report, the footage is in four files, each weighing in at approximately 4.5 gigs. Those who bite and get creative with the clips are invited to post them on YouTube and take part in their contest. McDonald will check out the creations, and along with his editors, they'll pick a winner who will get an Apple Final Cut Pro prize pack, and a chance to appear in the film's DVD special features. Not a bad deal -- especially since people often do this just for their own amusement.

The flick definitely lends itself to a lot of interpretations, as our James Rocchi explained from Cannes this year: "Tracey's story skips all over the place, and so does the film; every shot in The Tracey Fragments is made up of multiple panels -- now and then ordered in geometric precision, occasionally as random and shattered as Tracey's thoughts and life." To make it all even more interesting and view-worthy, it stars Ellen Page. What more could you want?

Prior to its screening, director Bruce McDonald, sporting a nifty cowboy hat, told the jam-packed house that half their ticket was a tab of acid. And, if they let it rest on their tongue now, then halfway through the film things should start making sense. Part of me wishes that were true, and part doesn't – McDonald's The Tracey Fragments (enjoying its World Premiere in Berlin, and chosen as the opening night film for the fest's Panorama section) is so warped and twisted, one definitely needs to be sober in order to accurately digest what's happening up on the screen. Based on the book by Maureen Medved, The Tracey Fragments travels inside the mind of Tracey Berkowitz (or, as she likes to call herself, "Tracey Zero-itz" or "40-Below Zero-itz"), played by the always-enjoyable Ellen Page, as she sets out on a misguided adventure to find her missing little brother ... who thinks he's a dog. Oh, and it gets weirder ...