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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!