Thinking Outside the Multiplex

by MIKE MACCOLLUM

As if the oppressive heat wasn’t bad enough, we also have to suffer through another well-nigh inevitable consequence of summer this week, as crummy old “tentpole” movies  (or whatever the trendy buzzword in these days) dominate local theater screens.  Still, we do have two movies opening at the Landmark (Away We Go and Cheri), while the Bollywood film New York starts Friday at the Georgetown 14- and a number of other films (including an Oscar-nominated doc) will play in and around town this week.  So it could be worse, I guess.  Not a very cheery note to start on, but you take what you can get, I suppose.  (And we do have the Indianapolis International Film Festival coming up in a few weeks to offer variety, quality, and relief from the likes of Michael Bay.  So cheer up, already!)

Adaptation – The multi-part video installation continues for another week at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  For more information, click here.

Away We Go – John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph star in the Sam Mendes-directed comedy (or is it a “dramedy”?), starting Friday at Landmark’s Keystone Arts in Indianapolis and the Fort Wayne Cinema Center (click on their sites at right for show time information).  Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhall, Allison Janney and Catherine O’Hara are in the supporting cast.  Reviews haven’t been overwhelmingly positive, but based on the preview and the cast, I certainly want to check it out.  More information at the film’s official site.

The Big Trees - Kirk Douglas stars in this outdoor action drama from the fifties, which will be showing (coincidentally enough)  on the outdoor screen at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, IN.  There will be one showing (on Friday, June 26, at 8:30 PM); if the weather doesn’t cooperate, the rain date is Saturday, June 27.

The Brothers Bloom – Continues for one show a day through Tuesday at the Landmark’s Keystone Arts in Indianapolis (click link at right for show times); also showing twice a day through Tuesday at the Fort Wayne Cinema Center at Indiana Tech (see link at right for times).

Cheri – Michelle Pfeiffer reunites with director Stephen Frears and writer Christopher Hampton, but this isn’t exactly Dangerous Liasons 2, by most accounts (the tone is apparently somewhat lighter, and the reviews have been much more mixed than I remember for DL).  Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates, Felicity Jones and the lovely Iben Hjejle costar.  More information at the film’s official site.

Crossing Over – Continues through Monday, June 29 at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, IN; click on their link at right for show time information.

The Drink and I – This play/drinking game finishes its run at Greenbriar’s Cinema Grill theater with a show at 9 PM on Friday, June 26.  Go to the play’s official site for ticket information.

Easy Virtue – Continues for another week at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis; go to the site for the Keystone Arts (see link at right) for show times.

Field of Dreams – Showing at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on Friday night as part of the “Summer Nights” film series.  Click on the IMA’s link at the right side of this page for more information.

Forbidden Lies – This is apparently the last weekend for this must-see-sounding documentary at The Ryder in Bloomington; click on the link to The Ryder at right for show time info.

The Garden – This Academy-Award-nominated documentary will be showing at the Earth House Collective in Indianapolis on Thursday, July 2, at 8 PM – and apparently, director Scott Hamilton Kennedy will be in attendance.  The film is about a large (14 acres!) community garden in South Central Los Angeles that is threatened with destruction after over a decade of success.  See the film’s official site for more information about this doc.  (I think admission is free, but if that information is posted on the Earth House site – see link at right – as of yet, I missed it.)

Kids Club Cartoon Classics – The mysterious cartoon collection continues for another week (at 1 PM daily) at both the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis and the Studio 10 in Shelbyville.

New York – Katrina Kaif, John Abraham and Irrfan Khan star in this Indian film, which was apparently filmed entirely in the US (Philadelphia, not NYC), according to the ever-infallible IMDb.  It seems that this is a drama (in English and in Hindi with English subtitles) about three young people whose lives undergo vast changes following what the film’s official site describes as “larger events beyond their control”.  Showing three times a day through Wednesday at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.  (Click on the manoranjaninc link at right for show times, although you might want to click on the G14′s website link as well just to see if they agree about a particular show time.)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show – This obscure, little-known film shows on Friday night at 10 PM at the Studio 10 in Shelbyville, and on Saturday night at 10 at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.

Someone to Run With – This second entry in the Jewish Community Center’s Israeli film series will have a free showing at 7 PM on Thursday, June 26, at the JCC’s Laikin auditorium; it will be followed by a discussion.  According to the JCC’s site for the series, this “gritty drama” is about two Jerusalem teenagers on very different missions.

Stand – Broadcaster Tavis Smiley directed and appears in this documentary, which will have a free screening at 7 PM on Friday, June 26, at Butler University’s Clowes Memorial Hall.  Tavis Smiley is scheduled to appear in person at the showing, which will be followed by a discussion and question and answer session.  According to the link at the Clowes Hall site, this film “provides a revealing look at a unique group of scholars, musicians, and social critics who confront their values and beliefs as pioneers of social progress.”  Dick Gegory, BeBe Winans and Dr. Cornel West are also in the film, among others.

Tokyo! – The preview looks really cool, and Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-Ho (The Host) each directed a segment, but (you guessed it!) this is yet another movie that bypassed Indianapolis theaters.  It will be opening at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, IN on Thursday, July 2.  Click on the Lotus Petal link at right for showtimes and this link for the film’s official site.

Two Lovers – Shows one more (last?) time on Friday night in Bloomington; click on The Ryder’s link at right for more information.

“What About Me?” – This documentary (an apparent follow-up, of sorts) to last week’s 1 Giant Leap shows at 6 and 8 PM on Tuesday, June 30 at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, as part of their “Reel Matters” series of docs.  According to the film’s description on the LP’s site, this is a musical exploration of “the complexities of human nature on a global scale”, which “aims to reveal how we are all connected through our creativity and beliefs, but most of all through our madness.”  Noam Chomsky, Tim Robbins, Michael Stipe and Billy Connolly are among the many folks involved with this one.

Yankee Doodle Dandy – James Cagney stars in the classic film, showing three times over the weekend at the historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin, IN.  Click on the Artcraft link at right for show time and admission price info.

NOTE: The Rave Metropolis 18 probably won’t add any new/different titles to the above list for next week- but even if they do have something unusual showing then, I couldn’t tell you about it, since they don’t have their schedule for the coming week posted online as of 8 PM on Thursday.  To whomever is (ir)responsible for this: nice work!)

NEXT WEEK: Kambakkht Ishq is scheduled to open (for two showings only, as of now) at the Georgetown 14, while Whatever Works (directed by Woody Allen and starring Larry David) is scheduled to start next Friday at the Keystone Arts.  (And maybe – just maybe – Spooky Tales will open at the Georgetown 14 and Shelbyville’s Studio 10.  More on that breaking story as events warrant.)

STARTING ELSEWHERE: A documentary on a much more dangerous sounding singing competition – the very well-reviewed (so far at least) Afghan Star – is one of at least eight films opening outside of Indiana on Friday.  Two of the seven other films (Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, about a group of soldiers disarming bombs in Iraq, and The Stoning of Soraya M.) could well be playing the Keystone Arts, since there is a poster and a large cardboard standee for the former film at the theater, and since they are showing a trailer for the latter title.  Two other movies starting Friday (The Girl from Monaco and Surveillance) are being released in the US by corporate siblings of the Landmark chain, so one or both of them could show at the Keystone Arts if they do reasonably well in other cities.  The Italian drama Quiet Chaos also has at least an outside shot at playing the Landmark, if critics and audiences elsewhere show sufficient enthusiasm.  I’m not so sure about The Exploding Girl; I suspect that this one might not get much theatrical play beyond its initial booking(s) this week, but you never know.  And as much as I would like to see Life Is Hot in Cracktown (official site) – from Buddy Giovinazzo, who also made the very memorable Combat Shock/American Nightmare several decades ago- I am guessing that this will never make it to an Indy-area theater either.

Starting Monday (somewhere or other) is the interesting-sounding Died Young, Stayed Pretty (check out the official site for some very interesting posters and other info); the documentary The Beaches of Agnes and the South American dark comedy/thriller Tony Manero start next Wednesday.