indie roundup Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Clockwise from upper left: Splinterheads, Ghost World, An Education, House of the Devil.

Opening. Amiable and pleasant, Splinterheads revolves around a romance between Justin (Thomas Middleditch), an aimless small town dreamer, and Galaxy (Rachael Taylor), a gorgeous grifter who (literally) bumps into him at a gas station. She's more interested in separating him from his money than getting to know the lunkhead within, while he quickly decides that he's met the love of his life -- or, even better, a reason to leave his upstate New York world behind and start living for himself instead of his mother and grandfather.

Brent Sersen (Blackballed) is a better director than writer; the characters hold few surprises and the plot's trajectory threatens to die of old age before it reaches its pre-ordained conclusion. Still, he takes advantage of a visiting carnival and the grifter's obsession with geocaching, a variation on treasure hunting, to string together several lyrical interludes and enough laughs to deserve a recommendation. Dean Winters, Lea Thompson, and Christopher McDonald provide reliable support. Splinterheads opens in New York on Friday and expands to other cities the following week; check the official site for theaters and showtimes. Also opening in New York the same day: Collapse, Chris Smith's latest doc (more from last week and the exclusive poster debut).

On-Demand / Online Viewing. Terry Zwigoff's adaptation of Daniel Clowes' graphic novel Ghost World departs from the source material quite abruptly, but still remains faithful to the dark spirit of loneliness that haunts the characters. Thora Birch, Scarlett Johannson, and Steve Buscemi star. It's now available on FilmBuff, Cinetic's cable on-demand channel; check local listings to watch this essential indie at home.

After the jump: Who educated the devil?

Indie Roundup, your weekly dose of what's happening (slightly) outside the mainstream.

Deals. Via our friends at indieWIRE, we learn that Brian Baugh's faith-based To Save a Life will be released by Samuel Goldwyn Films in January 2010. The film follows an "all-American teen" boy dealing with the aftermath of a friend's death. Cross-cultural romantic drama Cairo Time, starring Patricia Clarkson, will hit theaters and on-demand home viewing systems sometime in the new year, courtesy of IFC Films. Bradley Rust Gray's The Exploding Girl will open in early 2010 through Oscilloscope Laboratories. Zoe Kazan stars as a young college woman dealing with conflicting romantic feelings while home in New York for spring break.

Online / On Demand Viewing. Two recommendations this week, both for titles that are newly available through Amazon's VOD service. Susan Seidelman's Smithereens is a quintessentially New York picture and a fiercely independent experience from a time when indies were few and far between. It's a blast of fresh air about Wren (Susan Berman), a rough-talking young woman, and her travails through the seedier side of life as she tries to make something of herself. It's essential viewing, especially if you've been disappointed by one too many slick faux-indies. Musician Richard Hell is great, too.

Much less essential, but no less vital viewing, is Arlene Nelson's Naked States, which trails along as Spencer Tunick engineers massive works of art composed by live, naked human flesh. Tunick is a fascinating photographer / hustler, and so are the people who decide to bare all for the sake of art.

Activity of a different kind, Chilean cleaning, and AFI Fest -- after the jump!

After a one-week break for bad behavior, Indie Roundup returns, refreshed and ready to sum up what's new and what's been happening in the independent film community.

Deals. Multiple deals have been made in the last two weeks, indieWIRE reports, notably involving higher-profile directors Catherine Breillat (Bluebeard, based on a classic fairy tale, will hit theaters next spring, courtesy of Strand Releasing) and Atom Egoyan (Chloe, starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried, due in the first half of 2010 through Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group). Of the latter, an erotic thriller, Monika Bartyzel wrote: "Chloe might not connect on a personal level, it does trap you into these lurid lives that flirt with every notion of bad behavior. I just wish they were characters I could love or hate, or simply feel for."

Director Chris Smith may be lower-profile, but fans of American Movie and The Yes Men (me! me!) will be glad to know that his latest work, Collapse, will hit theaters and VOD simultanteously next month. Kevin Kelly posted an exclusive poster and provided release dates, as well as a tidbit about the doc. Also coming to theaters and VOD next month is suspense thriller Uncertainty, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins; indieWIRE has more details on that one.

Online Viewing. As practically the only film critic in America who liked Couples Retreat, I feel honor bound to tell you that one of its stars, Faizon Love, had a much better showcase for his talents in Tao of the Golden Mask, which he wrote and directed. It streams exclusively on Babelgum this month. And Ti West's Trigger Man is finally available at iTunes Movie store.

The Maid cleans up -- after the jump!

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

Deals. Both Eugene Hernandez at indieWIRE and Anne Thompson at Thompson on Hollywood described the sale of Tom Ford's A Single Man as an electrifying event at the Toronto International Film Festival. Riding a wave of good buzz from the Venice festival, the debut feature from the famed fashion designer stars Colin Firth "at a turning moment in his life after the death of his longtime lover," Eugene wrote. "Despite a distinctly gay storyline, there was little doubt that this universal story of middle-aged lonliness and isolation in the 1960s would quickly find a home." Anne notes that it's "gorgeously designed ... it's an idealized L.A. shot like an Italian movie of the period, plus a stunning digitally-enhanced color palette." The Weinstein Company won the bidding war, as Monika Bartyzel noted this morning.

Festivals. Speaking of Toronto, be sure to check out all the great coverage from our team of writers on the scene to find out what's been hot -- and not so hot -- during the first half of the fest.

News. Not much news has been happening outside Toronto during the past week. In fact, in my usual rounds of news sites and search engines, I have found ... nothing much of interest! (Sorry if you made some news that you thought was notable and either I don't agree or don't know about it.) Come back next week, and I'm sure something interesting will have happened by then. In the meantime, did I mention our great coverage from Toronto?

How do you make crude oil sizzle? Find out in Indie Weekend Box Office -- after the jump!

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

Festivals. As one of our two resident Canadians, Monika B. fittingly wrote about the Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off tonight. If Telluride warmed things up for the fall film scene, Toronto aims to light the sucker on fire. The hardest part for indie fanatics is keeping up with all the offerings that will soon be on tap. Keep it right here at Cinematical for our coverage from Toronto, and watch this space every week to catch up on any major news items you might have missed. (And for those who keep asking, yes, The Brothers Bloom, pictured in the collage in the upper left, will be coming to DVD soon -- it's due on September 29, complete with an audio commentary by director Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman plus deleted scenes.)

Deals. Acquisition news is spiraling out of control, so I suggest checking indieWIRE for the latest and greatest, where they have details on deals for Richard Linklater's latest, wild and funny music doc Nerdcore Rising, and much more.

Online / On-Demand Viewing. If you missed Linklater's baseball doc Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach when it played on ESPN, now's your chance to catch up -- it's just become available at the iTunes movie store. Don't hesitate to check it out if you're not a sports person; Jette Kernion says: "I'm not into baseball at all, but [the coach] is fascinating to watch at work." If you're a basketball nut and a doc lover, you might enjoy 3 Points, which follows Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady on a trip to Darfur; it's available at Hulu.

Immigration joys and sorrows at the Indie Weekend Box Office -- after the jump!

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

Festivals. Its official name is the Traverse City Film Festival, but unofficially it's "the Michael Moore fest," thanks to the filmmaker's role as founding father. Good reports on the fifth edition, which wrapped last weekend, can be found at Spout (by Karina Longworth) and indieWIRE (by Thom Powers).

Deals. Image Entertainment acquired Adam Salky's Dare, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, and Ashley Springer star as "high school students that enter into an unusual triangle of friendship and love." Tim Grierson of Screen wrote: "As refreshing as it is legitimately sexy." Release plans have not yet been announced. [Per indieWIRE.]

Online / On-Demand Viewing. If you hurry, you can still watch the acclaimed documentary 45365 at SnagFilms for free. it's available through tomorrow (Thursday, August 6) as part of their SummerFest preview series. The doc examines life in Sidney, Ohio, as filmed over the course of nine months by two men raised in that small town.

If you're hungry for more (legal) online viewing, check out the newly-launched SpeedCine, a very simple search engine that lets you find out what movies are available to watch through various providers like Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix, either free of charge, for a one-time fee, or by subscription. It's in beta, which means they're still working on it, but right now it flies along very quickly and efficiently. I'm rather amazed -- and very pleased -- to see so many movies that are available at no charge.

Who won the battle for the Indie Weekend Box Office crown? Find out after the jump.

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

Openings. James Gandolfini is the most notable cast member in the highly-praised, acerbic political / military comedy In the Loop, which James Rocchi wrote warmly about when he saw it at Sundance. Reclusive author Jeff Daniels is pursued for advice by single mother Lauren Graham in the comedy The Answer Man. Kevin Spacey is a celebrity Shrink facing serious problems of his own. Highly-recommended thriller The Hurt Locker expands into 200 theaters.

I'm singling out Tommy Davis' very good doc One Minute to Nine, which gets a one-week run in New York and Los Angeles starting on Friday, because I saw it last year and it's stayed with me. Wendy Maldonado, single mother of four, is headed to prison, and it's not immediately apparent why. Davis tells the story of Wendy's life, so by the time you figure out the why, you're fully invested in the real-life drama and the injustices that unfold. *

Deals. Phase 4 Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to Kari Skogland's Fifty Dead Men Walking and plans an August 21 release. Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, and Rose McGowan star in the controversial thriller, set in the 1980s and based on real-life events: McGowan stirred up more talk with her comments about the IRA. [indieWIRE] Fox Searchlight picked up Scott Cooper's drama Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, and Robert Duvall. Release is scheduled for next spring. [Variety]

After the jump: Indie Weekend Box Office, Wild Seven and more on Babelgum, Toronto Fest's doc lineup, Adam Yauch's illness and Oscilloscope Pictures.

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

Friday Openings. Fox Searchlight opens Marc Webb's romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer on 27 screens in selected cities (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington DC). Also in limited engagements: John-Luke Montias' crime story Off Jackson Avenue; Max Farberbock's drama A Woman in Berlin; Boaz Yakin's family drama Death in Love; and Eileen Yaghoobrian's very good doc Died Young, Stayed Pretty, about rock music poster artists, which I saw at SXSW and can recommend highly.

Deals. Overcoming negative reviews at Sundance, John Krasinski's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men has been acquired by IFC, which will release it in theaters and via on demand. Look for it September 25. Another Sundance '09 title, Oren Moverman's The Messenger, has been picked up by Oscilloscope, which plans an awards campaign in November for actors Ben Foster, Samantha Morton, and Woody Harrelson, as well as director/writer Moverman and co-scripter Alessandro Camon. [All details available at indieWIRE.]

Online / On-Demand Viewing. Margaret Brown's excellent doc Townes Van Zandt: Be Here to Love Me is available for free online viewing at Pitchfork TV for one week. It's a captivating portrait of a little-known artist and the "awkwardness of his genius," as Christopher Campbell aptly wrote in his review. If you're in the mood for some fictional thrills of the criminal heist kind, check out Wild Seven, with Robert Forster and Richard Roundtree, available for free at Babelgum for the month.

After the jump: Indie Weekend Box Office, Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces," and indieWIRE turns 13!

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

Opening. Three indie flicks open on Friday: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte's terrific music doc Soul Power, Chris Nahon's live-action adaptation of anime horror thriller Blood: The Last Vampire, and a reissue of Francois Truffaut's 1969 crime romance Mississippi Mermaid, with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve. After a good start in New York and Los Angeles (see below), action thriller The Hurt Locker expands into 50 selected markets.

Deals / Articles of Interest. Our friends at indieWIRE reported on three recent acquisitions with upcoming theatrical releases planned: Chris Fuller's critically-acclaimed teen drama Loren Cass (Kino; July 24); Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, with Robin Wright Penn and Alan Arkin (Screen Media, October); and Dror Zahavi's thriller For My Father (Film Movement, Winter 2010). Eugene Hernandez considers Chris Anderson's new book Free: The Future of a Radical Price and suggests that Anderson's "ideas and examples" are applicable to the "evolving marketplace for movies."

On-Demand Viewing. Anne Thompson posted a clip at Variety for Michael Almereyda's post-Karina drama New Orleans Mon Amour, with Elisabeth Moss and Christopher Eccleston. I saw it at SXSW last year and couldn't get into its very deliberate pacing; its virtues might be better appreciated on a smaller screen. It debuts on cable VOD on July 15. Blogging at The Huffington Post, filmmaker Adam Hootnick compares recent events in Iran with the situation in Gaza after Israel's withdrawal from its settlements in 2005. That's the subject of his film Unsettled, which is now available on iTunes and Amazon VOD.

After the jump: Indie box office results -- and a year-to-date report.

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.