rip a remix manifesto Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"Slim pickings" is the best way to describe this week's releases. Isn't anyone planning to stay home and watch DVDs?

Two Lovers
Joaquin Phoenix can't decide between Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw. Directed by James Gray, this suffocating drama is dark, thoughtful, and "more true to real human existence than most of the dreck that comes out of Hollywood studios," wrote Kim Voynar. I wasn't quite as impressed by it as she was, but it's still my top pick in a slow week. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

12 Rounds
Wrestler John Cena stars in Renny Harlin's latest train wreck (as I described it in my review), a sober drama that resolutely refuses to embrace its loonier plot elements (fire engine smashing through New Orleans, an out-of-control street car). Aidan Gillen (The Wire) provides one of the few pleasures as an exceptionally-nasty master criminal. Also on Blu-ray. The "Extreme Cut" adds less than three minutes of footage. Skip it.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li
I was hoping against hope that this might provide some cheesy fun, but Nick Schager slammed that door shut: "Fighting sequences are dreadfully lethargic ... their choreography is of a dull, unimaginative sort." Not even Kristin Kreuk can save this one. Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

Also out: Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience.

After the jump: "Indies on DVD" provides several good rental choices, a landmark film by Spike Lee hits Blu-ray, and a long-dismissed effort by director Hal Ashby gets dusted off.

The day was overcast but the rain stayed away in Austin on Saturday, which was good timing for the first full day of screenings and panels. I bounced around from the Austin Convention Center to the Paramount Theater to the Alamo Ritz to the Alamo South Lamer, and the panels and films I sampled all had good to overflowing attendance.

News: B-Side Entertainment officially kicked off its new distribution division, first revealed at Sundance, and announced it has acquired Brett Gaylor's "open source documentary" RiP! A Remix Manifesto. indieWIRE has the details on the company's release strategy for the film, which "essentially explores the legal and artistic ramifications of the mash-up."

Reviews: As we noted yesterday, John Hamburg's I Love You, Man opened the film fest, and Eugene Novikov posted his review; he found it to be a "sweet, amusing, and perfectly acceptable comedy all around, but it's exciting because it marks the point where [Paul] Rudd finally begins to stake out his territory as a comedian and a leading man." Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, and Andy Samberg are also featured.

First Impressions: Andrew Bujalski's narrative feature Beeswax is a tasty slice-of-life comedy/drama, Jessica Oreck's "bug doc" Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo is an intriguing look at the Japanese fascination with insects, and Michael Paul Stephenson's doc Best Worst Movie is a very funny, warm and poignant in ways that are totally unexpected. And Pierre Laffargue's Black is completely, off-the-charts lunatic in its approach to action, an audacious collision of Shaft in Africa, Sssssss, and Cat People. More on that one later.