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As a programmer (my first time!) for the 2009 Gen Art Film Festival, I can tell you that finishing this slate was not easy. It required me (and a small group of others) to watch a lot of films ... and I mean a lot of films. The awesome part of this, though, is the discovery. Sure, you'll get the occasional mess -- but then sometimes you stumble across a brilliant piece of work that hasn't been seen by anyone yet, and you just know it's destined for greatness. With that said, the programming is now complete and I'm able to share with you the names of the films playing at this year's Gen Art Film Fest in New York City from April 1 to April 7.

The Sundance and Toronto hit Lymelife (we premiered the poster here) was chosen as this year's opening night film. It's a gem of a family drama starring Alec Baldwin and Cynthia Nixon (watch the trailer on Moviefone), and you should definitely look for it in theaters on April 8. Also from this year's Sundance fest is the romantic dramedy Peter and Vandy, starring my gal Jess Weixler and Jason Ritter. One of the more experimental and cult-ish films screening is My Suicide, which I whole-heartedly recommend as a deep, dark and oddly hilarious flick about the Me Generation. Julie Davis' Finding Bliss (starring Leelee Sobrieski, Denise Richards and Jamie Kennedy) was chosen to close out the fest, while Gigantic (Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel), Punching the Clown (Slamdance audience award winner) and Picture Me: A Model's Diary (doc about a model) round out this year's slate.

As always, I'll be on the ground at the Gen Art fest looking for whatever I can wrap my brain around -- so definitely stay tuned. But, heck, if you're in the NYC area, you may as well check this sucker out for yourself. The fest runs from April 1-7, and you can find out much more (like how to buy tix) over at the official Gen Art Film Fest website.

Full press release after the jump

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Relationships are tough, and filming relationships for the big screen is even tougher. How many times have you watched (insert romantic comedy here) and thought, "Real people in real relationships don't do that or talk that way or race through the streets on foot in an attempt to stop the person they love from boarding that airplane to Fiji." But then again, if we really filmed the mundane goings-on of your average relationship, is there really anything cinematic about that? Newbie writer-director Jay DiPietro totally thinks the "realness" of the relationship is what's most fascinating, and with Peter and Vandy, his first film, DiPietro teases us with several glimpses -- moments, really -- of a relationship between two young New York City lovers.

Like several other films here at Sundance this year, the story of Peter (Jason Ritter) and Vandy (Jess Weixler) is told out of order, with bits and pieces from the beginning, middle and end chucked into a bowl, tossed, and thrown in front of the audience to dissect. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't -- in the case of Peter and Vandy, the non-linear plot does, at times, feel like a gimmick or a device to simply make the film a little more interesting. But then you get to moments like near the end -- when we're on their first date at an Indian restaurant -- and it's a scene that means more and feels more alive because we know these people now, and we've been on this journey with them.

(We first saw it back at Sundance, but the indie drama Good Dick is opening this weekend in limited release. So here's a reprint of our review from last January.)


By: Scott Weinberg

Yes, the title of the movie is "Good Dick," no, there's no character named Dick in the film, and yes, I definitely think that the flick's eventual distributor will change it to something a little less, well, tacky. But I believe a brave distributor will come along and show this fine little film some love -- despite its frequent proclivity for very frank and seriously explicit sex talk. Fortunately, the film comes from a very sincere and heartfelt place, which makes the few "uncomfortable" moments perfectly acceptable ... and frequently quite fascinating.

Jason Ritter and fantastic newcomer Marianna Palka star as a pair of unnamed twenty-somethings who don't "meet cute," don't fall madly in love, and don't really get along all that well -- yet they still make for one of the most fascinating on-screen movie couples in quite some time. "He" is a homeless video store clerk who has a desperate yearning for some romantic contact. "She" is a seriously unhappy young woman who seems to have a strong affection for hardcore pornography. "He," for some strange-yet-sweet reason, can see through her powerfully unpleasant exterior -- and he seems to be well and truly smitten with this dysfunctional female. "She" claims to have no affection whatsoever for her new sorta-boyfriend, but she also welcomes him into her apartment (and bed) time and time again. Oh, but she won't get physical. At all.

Just what would you expect from a white, cutie student from The Jane Austen Book Club (or the dysfunctional son from Transamerica) and Spike Lee? Believe it or not, Lee is executive producing a new indie film called The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll, and Variety reports that Kevin Zegers (the cutie student) and Jason Ritter (The Education of Charlie Banks) will star.

Written by Scott Rosenbaum, who is also directing, the film focuses on "a rock star (Zegers) who retreats to his Long Island hometown after his sophomore album flops." Oh, the woes of stardom. So, in this story, we'll also see the likes of Peter Fonda, Taryn Manning, Lauren Holly, Aimee Teegarden, and James Ransone -- plus, appearances by music names like Billy Morrison, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, and Sugar Blue.

There's not enough information to really get a handle on the story, but I'm in just to see who Peter Fonda will play. Production on the film has already begun in New Jersey, New York, and Los Angeles, so we should know more soon.

Yes, the title of the movie is "Good Dick," no, there's no character named Dick in the film, and yes, I definitely think that the flick's eventual distributor will change it to something a little less, well, tacky. But I believe a brave distributor will come along and show this fine little film some love -- despite its frequent proclivity for very frank and seriously explicit sex talk. Fortunately, the film comes from a very sincere and heartfelt place, which makes the few "uncomfortable" moments perfectly acceptable ... and frequently quite fascinating.

Jason Ritter and fantastic newcomer Marianna Palka star as a pair of unnamed twenty-somethings who don't "meet cute," don't fall madly in love, and don't really get along all that well -- yet they still make for one of the most fascinating on-screen movie couples in quite some time. "He" is a homeless video store clerk who has a desperate yearning for some romantic contact. "She" is a seriously unhappy young woman who seems to have a strong affection for hardcore pornography. "He," for some strange-yet-sweet reason, can see through her powerfully unpleasant exterior -- and he seems to be well and truly smitten with this dysfunctional female. "She" claims to have no affection whatsoever for her new sorta-boyfriend, but she also welcomes him into her apartment (and bed) time and time again. Oh, but she won't get physical. At all.

What do you do once you've covered the world of vagina dentata? I mean, once your crotch gets a mind of its own and eats away at the jerks who try to force themselves on you, will anything seem as interesting? Teeth star Jess Weixler is moving on from her killer vagina, and is going to take things down a notch or two, with her next project. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that she will star along with Jason Ritter (The Education of Charlie Banks) in the upcoming romantic drama, Peter and Vandy.

It'll be another typical Manhattan love story showing the good times and bad times of a New York couple. "The film shifts back and forth in time from their romantic beginnings and increasingly manipulative behavior to their ultimate reconciliation." Well, at least it'll have a happy ending! Unless they reconcile in misery. The pair will be joined by Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) as Peter's best friend Paul, and Tracie Thoms (Kim from Grindhouse) as his wife, Marissa. Written by Jay DiPietro, the film is an adaptation of his own play, that he directed and starred in -- a role that scored him a 2002 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding One-Person Solo Performance. This will be his feature directorial debut, and production has already gotten underway in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

While Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst is already moving onto his second cinematic feature, a sports drama starring Ice Cube, many of us are still anxious to see what he made of his first, The Education of Charlie Banks. A few years ago, he was telling people he was a "real director" before he had even made the feature. Then, it sounded like the statement might have been more than pompous boasting -- beyond a cast headlined by the wonderful Jesse Eisenberg (Roger Dodger) and Eva Amurri (Saved!), Variety gave the film a solid review from Tribeca earlier this year. Now, finally, the film has been picked up for distribution.

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Anchor Bay has picked up the North American theatrical and DVD rights to the debut, for release this spring. It's a coming-of-age drama starring Eisenberg as a high school student who sees a bully (Jason Ritter) severely beat two kids at a party. Years after telling the police and reneging his testimony, he enters college and the bully shows up at his school, becoming part of his circle. Of course, the kid wonders what the bully's motives are, and whether Ritter's character is there for revenge. Between curiosity over Durst's directorial chops, and this cast, I'll be there to check it out, but what about you? Will Durst's name make you run to the theater? Keep you from it? Or is his involvement irrelevant?

Now I've seen everything. A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed the newly released DVD of Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, an oddball film from 1990 about a small town enthralled with the idea that their favorite daughter, who left the town and went on to become a movie star, was gracing them with a return visit. Now comes Our Very Own, a straight-to-DVD release that's a near ripoff of Roxy, only more crazy. This time it's not a fictional movie star that the entire town is obsessed with, but a real one. Actually, I take that back -- it is a fictional movie star. It's Sondra Locke. Yeah, Sondra Locke, the 70s-era Clint Eastwood companion who appeared in several of his films -- remember the revenge-seeking rape victim from Sudden Impact? -- and whose acting career coincidentally ended at around the same time they broke up. Our Very Own, in a stunning retcon of reality, has its cast of Tennessee townies walk around in a near hypnotic state over the potential arrival of Locke, who we're repeatedly told is a major star.

If the movie were set in 2007 instead of 1978, Melora, the main character, would be the kind of kid who starts a fan site to celebrate her favorite actor. Played by Autumn Reeser, who looks like a young Julie Warner and gives away her non-Southern roots from the start by badly affecting a Reese Witherspoon-style white-trash Tennessee twang, Melora sports a The Heart is a Lonely Hunter poster on her bedroom wall and forestalls sex with her boyfriend so that she can confess her fondest hopes and dreams, which all involve Sondra Locke. "I want to meet her so bad," she says. "I dream about being just like her. [Wow] I don't know what I'll do if I don't get to see her and get to know her. I think she'll really like me!" Her boyfriend makes the mistake of indulging her in this line of thinking, which only brings out more of her fantasizing. "I wonder how she did it ... figured out how to be somebody," Melora muses. "She knew something ... something we don't know yet." Again, wow.

As I'm sure you all remember, late last year Fred Durst told MTV about his rather impressive cinematic ambitions. And I quote: "I want to be beside Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson and Francis Ford Coppola. I'm a real director." Make no mistake about it, haters, Durst has big plans. And now, finally, The Education of Charlie Banks, Durst's long-discussed feature debut, is going ahead. The movie, which has a budget of about $10 million, was written by Peter Elkoff, and revolves around "a Vassar College [Holla!] student who gets an unannounced visit from the scariest kid from his old New York neighborhood." (What Vassar has to do with it is anyone's guess, but I'm preparing to be offended.)

Durst has scored a surprisingly solid young cast for his film, including Jesse Eisenberg (the big brother from The Squid and the Whale), who will play Banks, and two of the shockingly talented male leads from Joan of Arcadia, Jason Ritter and Chris Marquette. The movie starts filming this June and, with those stars and a $10 million budget, Durst has a great start on that movie career of his. He better not screw it up, dammit.