Thinking Outside the Multiplex

by MIKE MACCOLLUM

Variety has vanished from most theaters in Indianapolis and Indiana (for the summer, at least), but other choices are still out there, if you look hard enough.  Here’s this week’s list:

Adaptation – The multi-part video installation continues for another week at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  More info at the IMA’s homepage.

The Brothers Bloom – Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi star in this comedy from Rian Johnson, the director of Brick.  It opens this week at Landmark’s Keystone Arts in Indianapolis. I wasn’t very impressed with the trailer for this one, but the reviews seem to have been great, so now I really want to see it. The film’s official site is here.

Cactus Flower – 1969 comedy starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn, showing at the Jewish Community Center’s Laikin Auditorium on June 2, at 7 PM, as part of the Indiana Film Society’s “Time Capsule 1968 – 69” film series. More info at the Film’s Society’s website.

Che Part II: Guerilla – Benicio del Toro stars as Che Guevera in Steven Soderbergh’s film, showing this week (except Tuesday and Thursday) at Fort Wayne’s Cinema Center (website).

Fanboys – Comedy about Star Wars fans on a quest continues through Monday at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, IN (website).

Forbidden Lies – A very cool-sounding documentary that shows both this Friday and Saturday and next Friday and Saturday (June 5 and 6) at The Ryder in Bloomington (website).

Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Tennis Shoes – Surprisingly enough, this is a documentary on… Garrison Keillor and the radio show “A Prairie Home Companion.”  I saw this at the Heartland Film Festival last year and really enjoyed it, even though I am an infrequent listener (at best) to APHC.  This will be shown at 7 PM at the Eastside 9 in Lafayette on Thursday, June 4.  Supposedly, a shorter version has been, or will be, shown on PBS; if you have a chance, though, I would recommend that you check out the full-length/full-strength version. The film’s official site is here.

Gigantic – A romantic comedy starring Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner, Jane Alexander and John Goodman.  It has not played in Indianapolis (yet), but will be at the Cinema Center in Fort Wayne this week (except on Tuesday and Thursday). Visit the film’s official site for more details.

Glenn Beck’s Common Sense Tour Live – The conservative-turned-libertarian (or so I have heard) talk show host has a live event – described on the Fathom Events website as part of his “summer comedy stage tour” – in several Indianapolis area theaters (the Kerasotes Showplace 16 and IMAX on Indy’s southside, Regal’s Galaxy 14, AMC’s Castleton 14 and Goodrich’s Hamilton 16 and IMAX) on Thursday, June 4 at 8 PM.   For more information, go to the Fathom events website.

Is Anybody There? – Michael Caine stars in this comedy-drama, which continues for another week at Landmark’s Keystone Arts.

The Limits of Control – Jim Jarmusch’s new film seems to have been getting some unfavorable reviews, but I’ll still check it out somehow or other, someday.  Isaach de Bankole stars, and Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Gael Garcia Bernal, John Hurt and Paz de la Huerta are in it as well.  The film’s official site is here. Starts this week at Landmark’s Keystone Arts theater in Indianapolis.

New Muslim Cool – A documentary showing on Tuesday, June 2, at 6 and 8 PM at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, IN, as part of their “Reel Matters” series of docs.  As it says on the theater’s site, “See it before it airs on PBS!”

Paper Heart – A comedy about a young woman seeking to make a documentary about love, and then (apparently) falling in love with one of the interviewees. Michael Cera and Seth Rogen star and the film is apparently scheduled for release on August 7; but it will also be shown at 10 AM on Thursday, June 4, at the Rave Metropolis 18 in Plainfield.  I suspect that this is most likely a “critics only” screening, and not open to the public, but it has been on the Rave website’s schedule for three days now, so perhaps not?  I haven’t had a chance to call the theater yet to ask about this, so I am putting this on here just in case it is open to those members of the public who are free at 10 on a Thursday morning. At any rate, the film’s site is here.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show – The cult favorite rides again, with a 10 PM showing on Saturday at the Georgetown 14.

The Sandbox – A drama about the war in Iraq; continues for a second week at both the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis and the Studio 10 in Shelbyville. More info on the distributor’s website.

Sugar – Although the plot concerns a baseball player from the Dominican Republic trying to make it in the US, the reviews I have read indicate that this is far from a standard-issue sports movie cliche-fest.  It was co-directed and co-written by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who also co-wrote Half-Nelson (directed by Fleck), which augurs well.  Continues for a second week at the Keystone Arts (albeit reduced to two shows a day), and also opening this week at the Yes Cinema in Colombus, IN (website). Check out the film’s official site for more info.

Thomas and Friends: The Great Discovery – Showing at 1 PM for another week at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.  (On the movietickets.com site it says this will be there only for the weekend, but I think that that is not correct.)

Two Lovers – Gwyneth Paltrow, Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Shaw and Isabella Rossellini star in this odd, not-entirely-effective-but-still-worth-seeing romantic drama, showing May 29 and 30 and June 5 and 6 at The Ryder in Bloomington.