Thinking Outside the Multiplex

by MIKE MACCOLLUM

By way of introduction, I am a longtime Indianapolis resident and movie fan. Since I prefer to see movies in theaters when possible, I scan through a number of websites each week to get an idea of which movies will be opening theatrically in our fair city – and which ones will be passing us by. What follows is a list of the lesser-known movies playing in the Indy area this week; a few are already available on DVD and/or Video on Demand, but this information is for those of you who want to catch these titles on the big screen, not a small one. The movies that are (or were) playing on thousands of screens all across the country won’t be mentioned, except perhaps in passing; the intent here is to focus on the movies that you might otherwise overlook. The titles are presented in alphabetical order, followed by movies opening this week in other cities, but not Indy, and then a look ahead to the week to come.

The Audition – A documentary described on the Fathom Events website as a “backstage look at the intense pressures young opera singers face as they struggle to succeed in one of the most difficult professions in the performing arts.” This will be showing only once, on Sunday, April 19, at 3 PM. Four Indianapolis-area theaters are showing this: the AMC Castleton Square 14, the Regal Galaxy 14, the Kerasotes Showplace 16 and IMAX on south Meridian Street, and the Goodrich Hamilton 16 and IMAX in Noblesville. For more information, visit the Fathom Events website here.

The Cross – A religious documentary which opened two weeks ago at several area theaters and continues this week at the AMC College Park.  According to the film’s official site, The Cross is “the story of one man carrying a twelve-foot wooden cross on a pilgrimage around the world”. Visit the official website.

“Faces of Realism” festival – This was listed on the movietickets.com site as playing at the AMC Castleton 14 on Friday morning at 10:30, but additional information was difficult, if not impossible, to find on the web. For anyone else out there who saw this mysterious title and wondered what it was all about, I contacted the theater directly on Thursday night, and was told that this was a corporate event closed to the general public.

The Great Buck Howard – John Malkovich, Colin Hanks and Emily Blunt star in this comedy, continuing this week at Landmark’s Keystone Arts. For more information, visit the Landmark Theatre’s Indianapolis website here.

Gomorrah – Well-reviewed Mafia drama, playing for a second week at Landmark’s Keystone Arts. Follow the Landmark Theatre website link above for more info.

Iron Maiden Flight 666 – A concert documentary about what the film’s official site describes as “the most adventurous tour in rock history.” This is showing only once, at 8 PM on Tuesday, April 21. As far as I can tell, it is at only one theater in the Indy area: the Kerasotes Showplace 16 and IMAX on south Meridian. For more information on the film, visit the official website.

The Mutant Chronicles – I heard from a reliable source that this science-fiction action-adventure film (which stars Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, John Malkovich and Devon Aoki) will be showing on Thursday, April 23, at at least one area theater. Unfortunately, I have not been able to confirm this since there is nothing on the film’s official site about this as of now, and since the Wednesday and Thursday schedules for several area theaters are not online yet (most likely due to the Wednesday opening of the Disney documentary Earth). A Google search revealed that The Mutant Chronicles will be showing twice on Thursday evening at a theater in the Detroit area, so Indianapolis may get this as well. If you are interested, check the sites for area theaters closer to the 23rd. (This is just a guess, as I have absolutely no confirmation of this, but I think that a likely venue might be the Kerasotes Showplace 16 and IMAX on the south side.) More info may also show up on the film’s official site; you never know.

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead – An over-the-top, gross-out style comedy-horror film from long-lived independent company Troma. This is making a one-week-only showing at the Georgetown 14 as part of Indiana-based Monogram Releasing’s series of B-movies. Given the nature of this movie, the following links contain some material that some of you may find objectionable, or at least not safe for work; click at your own discretion: Monogram Releasing website or the film’s official website.

Sin Nombre – Opening this week at Landmark’s Keystone Arts, this film is about “a beautiful young Honduran woman” who “joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States,” according to the official site. Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal co-executive produced, but do not appear in it (or at least so says the IMDb). Follow the Landmark Theatre website link above for more info.

Taylor Made – A film about a pregnant young woman, apparently showing only three times at the Greenbriar Cinema Grill: on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 6 PM. Here is the link to the film’s official website.

This American Life – Live – No, not a movie, but a live presentation of an onstage version of the excellent radio show, “This American Life.” The web site for presenter Fathom Events describes it like this: “Each week on the radio, This American Life presents humorous and profound essays, monologues and audio documentaries, all centered on a theme. In this unique event, the radio show will be performed live by Ira Glass and several popular contributors including Dan Savage, David Rakoff, Starlee Kine, Mike Birbiglia and Dave Hill. Plus a cartoon by Chris Ware, additional visuals by Arthur Jones and a special appearance by Joss Whedon.” One showing only, on Thursday, April 23, at 8 PM, at the AMC Castleton Square 14, the Regal Galaxy 14, the Kerasotes Showplace 16 and IMAX on south Meridian Street, and the Goodrich Hamilton 16 and IMAX in Noblesville. For more information, follow the link given above to the Fathom Events website.

As noted earlier, a number of other movies are opening in other cities this week, but are bypassing Indy. As far as I can tell, this list includes the following titles: American Violet; Ante Up; The Butterfly Tattoo; Chasing the Green; Cody: The First Step; Every Little Step; The Golden Boys; Gooby; Is Anybody There?; Lemon Tree; Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy; and Sleep Dealer. Of these, Is Anybody There and American Violet are the likeliest to make it to Indianapolis theaters, but even these ones aren’t sure bets. The family film Gooby opens at ten screens on April 17, and then expands to about 90 more on Monday, April 27 (!). One of those “expansion” screens is in Fort Wayne, IN – but Indianapolis didn’t make the cut.

The week of April 24 brings more wonders, such as Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy and Alien Trespass, not to mention one-time-only showings of the last film (or so they now say) in the “Death Note” series, in both subtitled and dubbed formats. Me? I can’t wait.