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Indie Roundup: 'Whatever Works,' 'Harmony and Me,' LAFF 'Stoning'

Filed under: Independent », New Releases », Box Office », Cinematical Indie », Trailers and Clips »

Indie Roundup

Indie Roundup reviews the past week of news from the independent film community and provides a peek at what's coming soon.

Openings. This weekend will finally see the release of Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, an extraordinary, ticking time bomb of a movie. Michelle Pfeiffer returns to the screen in Stephen Frears' "scandalous romp" Cheri. The very timely Iranian tale The Stoning of Soraya M., which just played the Los Angeles Film Festival, should ignite further discussion. Afghan Star features four women who (literally) risk everything in a televised singing contest.

Box Office. Woody Allen's Whatever Works performed just fine, pulling in $29,574 per-screen at nine locations. The re-issue of 1947's Brighton Rock (a very good film starring Richard Attenborough as a small-time hood) drew $10,626 at one theater; Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow scared up $5,363 in business. Several films expanded: Duncan Jones' Moon to 21 theaters ($8,541 per screen), Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro to eight locations ($7,176 per screen), and Sam Mendes' Away We Go to 132 theaters ($6,600 per screen).

Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE provided details on the acquisition of Stanley Tucci's Blind Date (due in theaters late this summer or early fall) and West of Pluto, directed by Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault. Pluto screens tonight at the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF).

Trailer. Also screening at LAFF this week is Bob Byington's Harmony and Me, which revolves around a 20-something musician (Justin Rice) who still pines for his dearly departed girlfriend. The film has been showing up at festivals all over the place, and the trailer has a good, bouncy vibe.

After the jump: Watch the trailer for Harmony and Me! Plus, more on LAFF.

Indie Roundup: 'Bama Girl,' Moon Walking, 'Anvil,' 'Eichmann'

Filed under: Documentary », Drama », Independent », Deals », Box Office », Distribution », Exhibition », New York », Other Festivals », Cinematical Indie », Trailers and Clips »

Indie Roundup

Tax day can be stressful -- trust me, I feel your pain -- so Indie Roundup is here to make you feel better with soothing news of the adventurous indie film community.

Touring. Rachel Goslins' acclaimed doc 'Bama Girl got underway on its so-called "Southern Circuit Tour" this week, barnstorming across the South at a variety of venues through April 24. The doc revolves around a woman who wants to become the first African-American Homecoming Queen at her university, despite the nefarious efforts of a secret society determined to keep the crown lily white. Jette Kernion called it "one of the most entertaining movies" she saw at SXSW last year. More information is available at the official site; Ms. Goslins is also blogging about her adventures.

Box Office. Over the weekend, two docs outdrew Hannah Montana on a per-screen basis. Mark Cowen's Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, re-released in four IMAX theatres, took in $15,845 per screen, per Box Office Mojo. Produced and narrated by Tom Hanks, the 40-minute film was originally released in 2005. Sacha Gervasi's Cinematical-approved heavy metal doc Anvil! The Story of Anvil, pulled in $11,550 per-screen at three severely-rocking cinemas. The never-say-die original band members are terribly appealing; check out the trailer embedded below for evidence.

Deals. Two films have been acquired for distribution today, according to indieWIRE. Regent Releasing and Here Media picked up Robert Young's docudrama Eichmann and will release it theatrically in October. The film stars the generally terrific Thomas Kretschmann in the title role and Franka Potente as the wife of Eichmann's interrogator after Hitler's architect of "the final solution" was captured in Argentina.

After the jump: Today's other deal -- for The Horse Boy; plus news on the Atlanta and New York film fests.

Indie Weekend Box Office: Bollywood 'Babyy' and 'Deep Water' Score

Filed under: Independent », Box Office », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »

New releases had a tough time drawing interest this past weekend. Leonard Klady of Movie City News estimates that Bollywood comedy Heyy Babyy grossed the highest amount with a box office take averaging $4,460 per screen at 68 locations -- for a total of $300,000. This is the first full-length feature by Sajid Khan, who previously contributed a segment to the anthology film You Must Be Scared. Heyy Babyy looks like it was inspired by Three Men and a Baby; the trailer features a ton of faces being slapped, for some reason that doesn't translate without subtitles.

A handful of indies made their debuts in very limited engagements. Deep Water did the best, with Klady estimating $10,550 for each of its two screens, while Dedication took in $5,570 per screen and Hannah Takes the Stairs followed with $4,800. I checked Rotten Tomatoes for each: Deep Water scored a perfect 100%, while the others trailed far behind, with Dedication at 46% and Hannah at 55%. Cinematical's Nick Schager was highly critical of Dedication, but Jette Kernion was much more positive about Hannah. Deep Water, a doc about nine men competing in a solo boat race around the world in 1968, has a smashing trailer.

Three other new releases performed below expectations; our own Ryan Stewart saw two of them. He quite liked Right at Your Door, which he described as a manipulative but clever thriller with a good performance by Mary McCormack. On the other hand, he described Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State as "one of the most unauthentic films I've seen in a long time ... I've seen more sexual chemistry from two doorknobs." Ouch! Right at Your Door played on 20 screens but could only scare up $1,430 at each, according to Klady's estimate, while The Hottest State only pulled in $2,730 per screen (at three locations). That's still far better than family film Eye of the Dolphin, which dragged in just $290 per screen at 130 locations.
 
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