Thinking Outside the Multiplex

by MIKE MACCOLLUM

70s Disney perennial Dean Jones and Rob Zombie will be at the same Indianapolis-area theater this week, but they won’t be in the same movie.  (It’s probably a little early for Zombie to follow Ice Cube into family-style films, after all.)  O’Horten and Tetro hold over at the Keystone Arts, which also sees the local debut of My One and Only with Renee Zellweger and Kevin Bacon. For the complete listing of limited release films opening in Indiana and around the country, read on below….

Adam­ – This romantic comedy shows daily at 1:30 and 10:00 PM this week at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis.

The African Queen – John Huston’s classic film will be shown this Friday and Saturday at the historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin; click on the theater’s link in the sidebar for show times.

The Band’s Visit – This recent film about an Egyptian police band making an unusual stopover in a small Israeli town will be shown at 7 PM on Thursday, September 17 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Toby Theatre.

The Casting – This fourteen minute, four channel video installation opens Friday at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and continues through March 14. According to the IMA’s website, the piece intercuts excerpts from the artist’s conversations with a soldier about to leave for his second tour of duty in Iraq with footage of actors mimicking the dialogue. Click on the IMA’s link in the sidebar for more information.

Dead Tone – For those of you unable to resist the lure of Rutger Hauer in digitally projected gore, this horror/thriller has four more showings this week – at 9:30 and 11:30 PM on both Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12 – at the Hamilton 16 in Noblesville and the Portage 16 in Portage.

Food, Inc. – This well-done documentary about America’s food supply will be shown this week at Kerasotes Theatre’s Showplace 11 in Bloomington.

Gene Stratton Porter Festival – In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Hoosier author’s book, several events will take place in the Irvington area of Indianapolis on Saturday, September 12.  The two movie-related events are the screening of a documentary about the writer at 11 AM – supposedly at the Irvington Library, but you might want to call them about this, since it was not on the library’s event page, the last time I checked – and a 7:30 PM screening of the 1934 version of The Girl of the Limberlost­ at the Irving Theatre.  All events are free, but a donation is requested for the 7:30 film. More information on the festival at this page.

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto – Rob Zombie co-directed this animated film, which features the voices of Paul Giamatti and Rosario Dawson, among others; the site for the film’s distributor refers to it as an “R-Rated sexy, twisted tale,” while Zombie himself describes it as “Austin Powers meets The Munsters by way of Hard Days Night.”  The Haunted World of El Superbeasto will screen at midnight on Saturday, September 12, at the Hamilton 16 in Noblesville, the Portage 16 in Portage, and the Eastside 9 in Lafayette; there will also be an 11 PM showing on September 12 at the Eastside Showplace Cinema in Evansville.  (Warning: Adult content in the trailer on this site.)

Humpday – This well-reviewed indie comedy has more showings this weekend at The Ryder in Bloomington; check out their site (see sidebar link) for times.

The Hurt Locker – This tense film about the early days of the Iraq war will be shown this week at the Yes Cinema in Columbus, IN; click on the theater’s link in the sidebar for show times.

In the Loop – The well-reviewed satirical comedy will be showing this week at the Cinema Center in Fort Wayne; click on the theater’s link in the sidebar for days and show times.

The Living Nickelodeon with Rick Altman – According to the information I found about this event at the Browning Cinema at the University of Notre Dame, The Living Nickelodeon “reconstructs the experience of American storefront theaters between 1905 and 1910” by using “a reel of period films (copied from paper prints in the Library of Congress), and several hundred song slides from the Marnan Collection to give modern spectators an idea of what it was like to be part of a nickelodeon audience.”  I think this sounds fascinating; it will be shown at 7:00 PM on Thursday, September 12 at the Browning Cinema. More information at the events page on the Browning’s website.

Mandie and the Secret Tunnel – Dean Jones and Lexi Johnson star in this family film (official site), which will be shown at the Hamilton 16 in Noblesville on Wednesday, September 16 at 7 PM.  The film is based on a series of books that has (as a series) sold over seven million copies.

Moon – This thoughtful science-fiction film starring Sam Rockwell will be shown this week at Kerasotes Theatre’s Showplace 11 in Bloomington, and at Fort Wayne’s Cinema Center.

My One and Only – Possibly the first-ever film based on the early life of actor George Hamilton, this comedy-drama has been receiving mostly positive reviews on the whole.  Renee Zellweger and Kevin Bacon star in this film, which starts Friday at the Keystone Arts.  More information at the film’s official site.

Notorious – Alfred Hitchcock’s 1946 classic will be shown at 3 PM this Saturday at the Browning Cinema at the University of Notre Dame.

O’Horten – This low-key comedy continues for another week at the Keystone Arts, with daily showings at 2:15 and 7:30.  I saw it a few days ago, and enjoyed it.  If you are in the mood for something that doesn’t move at the speed of light, you should check it out while you can.

Paper Heart – This romantic comedy/mock(?)umentary isn’t at the Castleton 14 this week, but it will be playing at the Eastside 9 in Lafayette.

Planet of the Apes – The original 1968 film will be shown Friday and Saturday nights after the first feature (Shorts) at Shelbyville’s Skyline Drive-In – which apparently reopened this summer, and which will be one of the venues for the B-Movie Celebration two weeks from now (see below under “Next Week and Below”).

Pray the Devil Back to Hell – This documentary about women working for peace in Liberia will be screened by the Browning Cinema at the University of Notre Dame at 6:30 and 9:30 PM on Saturday, September 12.

Psst! Pass It On 3 – The Big Car Gallery in Indianapolis’ Fountain Square area will have two showings of this collection of 17 short experimental animated films, which were made by over 175 people from around the world, working in collaboration on different segments of each film.  The screenings are at 8 and 9:30 PM on Friday, September 11; admission is $5.00.

Sunset Boulevard – Billy Wilder’s classic film will be shown for free at 9 PM on Friday, September 11 in Bloomington’s Bryan Park courtesy of The Ryder; click on the theater’s link in the sidebar for more info.

Tetro – Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film will have daily showings this week at 4 and 7 PM at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis.

Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails­ – The most widely-anticipated movie of the year (by someone or other, I guess) continues for another week of daily 1 PM showings at the Georgetown 14.

Tulpan – This incredibly well-reviewed film will be shown again this weekend at The Ryder in Bloomington; click on the theater’s link in the sidebar for show times.

Vanaja – The Browning Cinema at the University of Notre Dame will show this well-made Indian film on Friday, September 11, at 6:30 and 9:30 PM.

VANS Warped Tour 15th Anniversary Celebration – This collection of highlights from the Los Angeles concert of September 6 will be shown at 8 PM on Thursday, September 17 at four theaters in and around Indianapolis (Kerasotes 16 and IMAX on the south side; Castleton 14; Galaxy 14; and Hamilton 16 in Noblesville), plus at other theaters around the state; visit the Fathom Events site for more information.

OPENING ELSEWHERE – Earlier this year, Harrison Ford starred in a movie called Crossing Over, which opened in about seven theaters and went to DVD after playing on a few more screens.  Two weeks ago, the presence of top-billed Jeff Bridges didn’t prevent The Open Road from opening in a mere fourteen theaters in the U.S. – and as far as I can tell, it won’t be playing at any other theaters beyond those fourteen.  This week, Michael Douglas is the superstar of decades past who will have a film opening in limited release, with the DVD release apparently not far off.  Beyond a Reasonable Doubt differs from the other two films in that Douglas isn’t at the top of the cast list, as Ford and Bridges were; he gets an “and Michael Douglas” after Jesse Metcalfe and Amber Tamblyn.  Still, it is interesting to note how these three films pretty much came and went (or apparently will come and go) from just a few theaters in pretty short order, all within the space of a year…  (And I don’t doubt that Ford, Bridges and Douglas all have big theatrical films in their futures – but still.)

Most of the other films opening theatrically outside of Indiana this week don’t have name casts – and even the one that does (The Other Man) doesn’t seem likely to make it to Indiana.  At least one movie on the list below (The Horse Boy) has a theatrical date in Indianapolis on its web site, but that’s the only one with a scheduled Indianapolis booking that I could find, and it’s clearly tentative.

The Appearance of a Man: Decoding the Phoenix Lights Mystery – A drama based on mysterious events in Arizona, this film starts Friday in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt – As noted, Michael Douglas stars in this one; it’s a remake of the Fritz Lang-directed film of the same title from 1956, and it starts Friday in and around LA and NYC.  That might sound like the beginning of a “platform” theatrical release – the kind associated with would-be “prestige” product and art films – but in this case, it might not be.  For one thing, the film is being distributed to theaters by Anchor Bay, an arm of Starz that is usually associated with home video (as opposed to Overture Films, their theatrical arm).  Also, the last I checked, there were no dates or cities on the film’s official site beyond those for the opening week – so maybe this will wind up on DVD in fairly short order.

Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly – This film about the lives of Indonesians of Chinese ancestry – the first feature by a filmmaker heretofore acclaimed for experimental short films – starts Friday at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Broken Hill – This Australian musical drama about a young composer starts Friday in Dallas, Fresno, Salt Lake City and Greenville, SC.

Gogol Bordello Non-Stop – This documentary about the band of the same name starts Friday in NYC.

The Horse Boy – This documentary about a family who travels the world in a search for some insight into their autistic son starts this Friday in Dallas and Houston; the film’s official site says that it is scheduled to hit the Keystone Arts in two months, on December 11.

Ink – This movie about two members of a family who get caught up in a surreal fight between good and evil starts Friday in LA.

No Impact Man – This documentary about a family trying to live lives that have little or no impact on the environment starts Friday in NYC and LA.

The Other Man – Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney star in this drama, which starts Friday in and around NYC and LA.  Like Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, it is being distributed by a video company (Image Entertainment), and has no bookings beyond its opening week on its official site.

Vicious Circle – Paul Rodriguez, Jr. stars in this drama about a skateboarder; the film co-stars Paul Rodriguez (“Senior”?), and starts Friday in LA.

White on Rice – This comedy about a socially inept man who attempts to pursue his best friend’s girlfriend starts Friday in LA after making several stops on the festival circuit.

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND – The Keystone Arts site now says that the documentary The September Issue will start on September 25.  (And although these titles aren’t on the theater’s website yet, the official site for the music documentary It Might Get Loud says that it, too, will open at the Keystone Arts on the same day.  And unofficial word has it that Jane Campion’s Bright Star is tentatively scheduled to open at the Keystone Arts on September 25 as well.)  Manoranjaninc.com has added a release date of October 2 for the comedy Wake Up Sid; as of now, it is scheduled to play two times on that day at the Georgetown 14 and then vanish; I suspect that will change as October 2 gets closer.  And while the suspense/horror film Carriers may have bypassed Indianapolis on its opening weekend, the Centerbrook Drive-In now has a poster for that film on its list of movies scheduled to play at its “Horrorfest” from October 2d through the 24th, but no exact date is listed yet.  If this does play at the Centerbrook – but no other Indianapolis-area theater – it will most likely be the only drive-in exclusive in the area this season, or for the past several years, for that matter.  If you’ve read this far, you may already know that the third annual B-movie celebration will be taking place September 25-27 in Franklin and Shelbyville, IN – and if you didn’t know, here’s a link to the B-fest’s schedule, so that you can check out what they’ll be showing in advance of the festival itself.