Thinking Outside the Multiplex

by MIKE MACCOLLUM

It’s another busy week at the movies in central Indiana and throughout the state, what with Bright Star and A Serious Man opening at the Landmark, Blue (and other Indian films) playing at the Georgetown 14, and both Amelia and Good Hair starting at several theaters across the state – not to mention the finale of the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, and the last weekend of the year for several Indiana drive-ins.  For all of that and more, including this week’s listing of limited release films opening around the country, read on below.  (Just remember, though, that the Michael Jackson film This Is It starts at a number of theaters on Wednesday, so at least some of the films mentioned below just might have abbreviated runs ending Tuesday night.)

Aadhavan – This Tamil-language action film (official site) – which apparently does not have English subtitles – will be shown at 7 PM on Friday and Saturday nights at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.

Aida – The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Verdi’s epic drama will be shown live and in HD at 1 PM (ET) on Saturday, October 24, at the Hamilton 16 in Noblesville, the AMC Castleton Square 14, UA Galaxy 14, and ShowPlace 16 and IMAX in Indianapolis, and at least eleven other locations around the state; click on the Fathom Events link in the sidebar at the right of the page for more information.

All the Best: Fun Begins – The Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis will show this Bollywood comedy at 2 PM on Saturday, and at 6 and 9 PM on Sunday.

Amelia – Mira Nair’s biopic on the life of famed aviator Amelia Earhart stars Hilary Swank, Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor; it starts Friday at the Keystone Arts and Kerasotes Showplace 16 and IMAX in Indianapolis, the Rave Metropolis 18 in Plainfield, the Regal Village Park 17 in Carmel, the Kerasotes ShowPlace 12 in Schererville, the Carmike 20 in Fort Wayne, the Showplace Cinema East in Evansville, and Kerasotes Evansville Stadium 16. Visit the film’s official site for more information.

Angry Red Planet and Godzilla vs. Mothra – Shelbyville’s Skyline Drive-In has  screenings of Godzilla vs. Mothra – presumably the one from 1964, but it could also be the 1992 version – starting at dusk, followed by the 1960 science fiction film Angry Red Planet, on Friday and Saturday nights.

Barney: Jungle Friends – This 2009 children’s film will be shown at 1:10 PM on Saturday and Sunday this weekend at the Rave Metropolis 18 in Plainfield (more info here).

Blood: The Last Vampire – The Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville will be showing this action/horror film again this week and next; click on the Lotus Petal link in the sidebar for days and show times.

Blue – Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta and Zayed Khan star in this Indian film (official site), which involves the search for an underwater treasure that is located in the same area as a large group of hungry sharks; Kylie Minogue makes a musical guest appearance (presumably sans sharks – but this being a Bollywood film, you never know).  Blue – which was on manoranjaninc.com’s site, then off it, and then back on – will have five showings this week (at 10 PM on Friday, 4:45 and 10 PM on Saturday,  and 1 and 3:30 PM on Sunday) at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.

The Boys Are Back – It isn’t at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis this week, but this film does start Friday at the Kerasotes ShowPlace East 11 in Bloomington; it will also be showing through Wednesday, October 28 at the Cinema Center in Fort Wayne (click on the Cinema Center link in the sidebar at the right of this page for show times there).

Brick by Brick – The Indianapolis Art Center will show this new, locally-made film at 4:30 and 7:30 PM on Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25.  According to the film’s official site, it is a “dramatic piece tempered with bits of comedic moments,” and is about a young woman trying to recover from traumatic events in her childhood, even while facing several present-day obstacles and crises.

Bright Star – Jane Campion’s drama about the love affair between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) starts Friday at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis, the Carmike Encore Park 14 in Elkhart, and the Carmike 20 in Fort Wayne. More information at the film’s official site.

Central State – See Ghost Stories 3 below.

Cheri – Continues through Monday, October 26 at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville.

Departures – IU’s Fine Arts building in Bloomington will have showings of this film – which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film – through this weekend, courtesy of The Ryder Magazine and Film Series; click on the link for The Ryder in the sidebar at the right of this page for show times.

Dinosaurs Alive! 3D – This 2007 film will be showing again this week at the IMAX Theater at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis; click on this theater’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page for show times.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – John Barrymore stars in this silent film version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, which will be shown in the Clowes Auditorium at the Central Library in Indianapolis on Wednesday, October 28, at 7 PM.  A live soundtrack will be provided by experimental musicians from Shiny Black Shirt, Tonos Triad, and other bands; admission is free.  This screening is part of “Big Curiosities: A Miniseries of Mysterious Events,” a joint project of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Libraries and the Big Car Gallery. More information at the library’s website.

Examined Life – Astra Taylor’s documentary – which interviews highly regarded thinkers such as Slavoj Zizek and Cornel West in locations relevant to their ideas – will be shown at 6:30 and 9:30 PM on Thursday, October 29 at the University of Notre Dame’s Browning Cinema; click on that theater’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page for more information.

Food,Inc. – The Ryder Magazine and Film series will screen this documentary in Bloomington again this weekend; click on The Ryder’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page for location and show time information.

Ghost Stories 3 – The last in a trilogy of documentaries by local filmmaker Dan T. Hall about spooky occurrences in Indiana will be shown as a double feature with Hall’s earlier doc Central State on Friday at 9:30 PM and Saturday at 8:15 PM at the IMAX Theater at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis.  Ghost Stories 3 will also be shown at 8:30 PM on Friday and Saturday nights at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville (which will show Central State at 6 PM on those same days).

Godzilla vs. Mothra – See Angry Red Planet above.

Good Hair – Chris Rock’s documentary on the complicated relationship between African-Americans and their hair starts Friday at Regal’s UA Eagle Highlands 10, Kerasotes Glendale ShowPlace 12 and Wasington Square ShowPlace 12 in Indianapolis, the Kerasotes Evansville Stadium 16, and the Kerasotes Merrillville 10 in Merrillville.

Haunted Castle 3D – The IMAX Theatre at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis will screen this animated film from 2001 again this week; click on that theater’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page for show times.

Heartland Film Festival – The Heartland finishes up this weekend; among the films that will be shown are The Eagle Hunter’s Son, Broken Hill, D Tour, Seven Minutes in Heaven, After the Storm, Sync or Swim, P-Star Rising, Holy Land Hardball, Mandie and the Secret Tunnel, Another Harvest Moon, and That Evening Sun.  These titles will all be shown at AMC’s Castleton Square and Greenwood Park theaters, but the closing night film, The Horse Boy, will be shown at 7 PM on Saturday, October 24 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in downtown Indianapolis. Follow these links for the festival’s schedule and homepage.

Homeless for the Holidays – Breathe Motion Pictures – based in Auburn, IN – is the company behind this family film about a rich man who loses his job, and finds that he and his family face dire circumstances at Christmastime because his new job (at a fast food joint) isn’t enough to pay the bills.  I didn’t realize that this movie started last week at the NCG Auburn Cinemas in Auburn and the Rave Jefferson Pointe 18 in Fort Wayne, so I didn’t mention it at the time.  It continues at the Jefferson Pointe 18 this week, and also opens on Saturday, October 24, at the Oxford 7 in Oxford, Michigan. More information at the film’s official site.

Horrorfest – Martinsville’s Centerbrook Drive-In closes out the year showings of Zombieland and a “Mystery Horror Movie” (which won the highest number of votes from visitors to the drive-in’s web site; it could be Halloween II, Orphan, The Final Destination, Pandorum or Jennifer’s Body) on Friday and Saturday nights.  The gate opens at 7:15; Zombieland starts a half hour later, and the Mystery Horror Movie begins at 9:10.

Lewis and Clark: The Great Journey West – This 2002 film will be showing again this week at the IMAX Theater at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis; click on this theater’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page for show times.

Local Horror Shorts by Indiana Filmmakers – Which films will be shown at this event?  That I cannot tell you, for the Earth House web site lists them not – nor does any other site I checked, as of Thursday evening.  If you want to find out for yourself, go to the Earth House Collective in Indianapolis from 7 to 10 PM on Thursday, October 29.  (You also might try clicking on the Earth House link in the sidebar; they may have added more information since the last time I checked.)

Main Aurr, Mrs. Khanna – This Bollywood romantic comedy (?) will be shown at the Georgetown 14 this week at 5 PM on Monday and Wednesday, and on Tuesday and Thursday at 8 PM, according to the G14′s schedule on the movietickets.com site.  (Manoranjaninc.com, on the other hand, says that Main Aurr, Mrs. Khanna will be at the G14 at 5 on Thursday only, and at 8 on Wednesday only – so you might want to call the theater first to see when the film will be showing, if you plan on seeing it this week.)

Mall of America and 0% Down – These two short films by Josephine Meckseper will be shown simultaneously (on different walls of the same gallery) at the Indianapolis Museum of Art through February 7, 2010.  For more information, click on the link for the IMA in the sidebar at the right of the page.

More Than a Game – Continues at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis this week with two shows a day (at 4:35 and 9:55), and also starts Friday at the Kerasotes ShowPlace East 11 in Bloomington.

Mostly Martha – The Cinema Center in Fort Wayne will show this 2001 German film about a chef and her young niece at 7 PM on Tuesday, October 28.

Motherhood – Uma Thurman, Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards star in this comedy about a New York City mom trying to pull off a birthday party for her young daughter while coping with everything else going on in her super-busy life.  Motherhood (official site) starts Friday at the Kerasotes ShowPlace 16 in Schererville, along with thirty-plus theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston.

Nosferatu – F. W. Murnau’s 1922 vampire film – starring the memorably creepy Max Schreck – will be shown at the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Toby Theater on Thursday, October 29, at 7 PM.  Butler University Fairbanks Professor and Media Arts Department Chair Kenneth Creech will give a brief talk before the film, and Ensemble 48 will provide a live soundtrack for this silent film.  For more information, click on the IMA’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page.

Omer Fast: The Casting – This fourteen minute, four channel video installation continues at the Indianapolis Museum of Art 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.

Paper Heart – The romantic comedy/(pseudo?) documentary with Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera will be showing this week at the Kerasotes Cinema 10 in Richmond; it is also showing through Monday, October 26 at the Cinema Center @ Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne (click on the Cinema Center link in the sidebar at the right of this page for show times there).

Paris – Juliette Binoche stars in this film from director Cédric Klapisch, which continues for another week at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis.

Personal appearance by actor Bill Johnson – Bill Johnson, who portrayed Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, will be making a personal appearance at the Kerasotes ShowPlace 16 and IMAX in Indianapolis on Saturday, October 24, from 2 to 4 PM.

The Rape of Europa – The Indianapolis Museum of Art will show this excellent documentary on the looting of European art treasures by the Nazis at 7 PM on Friday, October 23, in the Toby Theatre.  For more information, click on the IMA’s link in the sidebar at the right of this page.

R.E.M.: This Is Not a Show: Live at the Olympia in Dublin – The Fine Arts Building at IU in Bloomington will have one showing of this “un-concert documentary” – courtesy of The Ryder Magazine and Film Series – at 7 PM on Saturday, October 24.  According to the film’s official site, it is about an hour long, and shows the band trying out some then-new songs, as well as playing several old favorites, at some “working rehearsals” in 2007.

Rocketship X-M – Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, Noah Beery Jr. and Hugh O’Brian star in this 1950 science fiction film about an expedition (“X”) to the moon (“M”).  Rocketship X-M will be shown at 7 PM, Friday, October 23, at the Irving Theater in Indianapolis, along with chapter one of the serial The Phantom Empire.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show – If you haven’t seen it in a theater yet, with a crowd – what are you waiting for?  TRHPS will be shown again at 10 PM this Saturday night at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry – Continues for another week at the Kerasotes ShowPlace 11 in Richmond.

A Serious Man – The Coen brothers’ latest film – which some critics suspect may have some semiautobiographical elements – is about a professor facing multiple crises in his life; it is set in a Minneapolis suburb in 1967.  A Serious Man starts Friday at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis. Visit the film’s official site for more information.

Spookley, the Square Pumpkin – This children’s film will be shown daily at 1 PM again this week at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis; it can also be seen at 1:00 and 3:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday at the Studio 10 theater in Shelbyville.  Spookley will also be shown at 1 PM on Saturday and Sunday at the Carmike 20 in Fort Wayne, at 11:30 AM on the same days at the Rave Jefferson Pointe 18 in Fort Wayne, at 1 PM on those same days at the Carmike Encore Park 14 in Elkhart, and at 11 AM throughout the week at the Showplace Cinema East in Evansville.

Stan Helsing: A Parody – Kenan Thompson and Leslie Nielsen (in drag, apparently) are in the cast of this comedy about a video store clerk (and descendant of the vampire-hunter Van Helsing) who winds up fighting movie monsters like Jason, Freddy, Pinhead and Chucky.  Stan Helsing (official site) will have two (!) theatrical showings in Indiana, at 11:45 PM on Friday, October 23 at the Carmike Encore Park 14 in Elkhart, and at 12 midnight, Ocotber 23 at the Carmike 20 in Fort Wayne.  (It’s out on DVD and Blu-Ray next Tuesday.)

Tosca – The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Puccini’s tragic love story will have an “encore showing” in HD at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, October 28, at the Hamilton 16 in Noblesville, the AMC Castleton Square 14, UA Galaxy 14, and ShowPlace 16 and IMAX in Indianapolis, and at least eleven other locations around the state; click on the Fathom Events link in the sidebar at the right of the page for more information.

Wake Up, Sid! – This Bollywood comedy about a young slacker must have been fairly popular; it is returning to the Georgetown 14 for 8 PM screenings on Monday and Wednesday, and 5 PM showings Tuesday and Thursday, according to the movietickets.com page for the G14.  (The manoranjaninc.com site, on the other hand, says nothing about Wake Up, Sid! at all this week – so you might want to call ahead if you have plans to see it.)

A Woman in Berlin – Nina Hoss, Irm Hermann and Rüdiger Vogler star in this German film, which will be shown again this Saturday and Sunday at IU’s Fine Arts building in Bloomington.  This is a presentation of The Ryder Magazine and Film series, so go to The Ryder’s site (see link in sidebar at right) for show times.

War Child – A documentary about a hip hop artist who used to be a child soldier in Sudan’s civil war, this film will be shown at 6 and 8 PM on Tuesday, October 27 at the Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville; it is part of the Lotus Petal’s “Reel Matters” series of docs.

Young Frankenstein – Mel Brooks’ comedy classic will be shown at the historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin at 2 and 7:30 PM on Friday, October 23, and at 7:30 PM on Saturday, October 24.  For more info, click on the Artcraft link in the sidebar.

OPENING ELSEWHERE – Only one of the movies below (Antichrist) has a release date for Indianapolis on its official site, although one other film, Hannah Free, will play at an upcoming film festival in Indy; the others most likely will never see the inside of a theater in Indiana, with the possible exception of the re-release of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Alf Mabrouk – Ahmed Helmy stars in this variation on Groundhog Day from Lebanon; it starts Friday at several theaters in the Phoenix Adlabs chain.  (I would link to what appears to be the film’s official site, http://www.alfmbrouk.com/, but every time I clicked on it, I got an error message….)

Antichrist – It seems that Lars Von Trier has made another controversial film; if anyone out there is surprised by that, I have some investment opportunities I’d like to discuss with you….  Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star as a couple who head to a quiet place in the country following the death of their child; apparently, their plans for rest and recuperation don’t go quite as they anticipated.  According to the film’s official site, Antichrist starts Friday in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, DC; it is also scheduled to open at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis on December 4.  (Merry Christmas!)

The Baker – Damian Lewis, Kate Ashfield and Michael Gambon star in this 2007 British film – a “comedy/thriller” per the IMDb – about a hit man with doubts about his future in the job who hides out from his boss by working at a bakery in Wales.  The Baker starts Friday at the Living Room Theater in Portland, OR.

Battle League HORUMO – The Viz Cinema in San Francisco will start a two-week run of this Japanese action comedy – which stars Chiaki Kuriyama of Battle Royale and Kill Bill, Vol. 1 – on Friday, October 23.

Bettadapurada Ditta Makkalu – As far as I can tell, this is a Kannada-language children’s film from India; it starts Friday at the Indian Movie Center 6 in San Jose, CA.

The Canyon – That’s “canyon” as in “Grand Canyon”, you see.  This is a suspense thriller about two honeymooners who are stranded at the bottom of the Grand Canyon; it starts Friday in Los Angeles and Denver.

Eulogy for a Vampire – This horror film is apparently targeted to gay audiences; it’s  about a young man who seduces and vampirizes members of a monastery where someone was murdered a quarter of a century ago.  Eulogy for a Vampire starts Friday in New York City.

Fray Justicia – Rene Cardona III directed this crime comedy/action/romance movie from Mexico, which started last Friday at four theaters (two in California, two in Nevada); it holds over this week at one of these theaters (the Bakersfield Valley Plaza 16) and opens this Friday at the Columbia Park 12 in North Bergen, NJ.  This is another movie for which I could not find an official site by my deadline, but here is a link to the film’s trailer.

Fuel – This documentary about America’s addiction to fossil fuels- and the alternative energy sources that will help to break that dependency- won an award at Sundance, according to its official site, and is apparently more humorous and lively than the subject matter might seem to suggest.  Fuel opened October 9 at the Loft Cinema in Tucson; it starts this Friday at the Landmark Hillcrest in San Diego and the Crest Theatre in Sacramento.  (Yes, like Homeless for the Holidays and Fray Justicia above, and Hannah Free below, this is one that I overlooked in its opening week.  I have decided to mention all of these movies this week- the first time I heard of any of them- in order to provide as complete a list as possible of films that are playing around the US.)

Hannah Free – Sharon Gless stars in this drama as a woman reminiscing about her long-term lesbian relationship.  Hannah Free – which apparently had a run at the Gene Siskel Theater in Chicago earlier this year – starts Friday in Los Angeles, and will be shown at the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival on November 14.

Jayeebhava – A Telegu-language action film from India that apparently involves a hero seeking both romance and revenge, Jayeebhava starts Friday at several theaters in the Phoenix Adlabs chain.  I couldn’t find an official site for this movie, but this site has some information and photos.

Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis – Israel Kasztner was a Hungarian lawyer who negotiated with Nazi Germany in an effort to save 1,600 Jews in the era of the Holocaust; as the title indicates, Kasztner was Jewish himself, which meant that he was (and is) a very controversial figure.  This documentary on Kasztner’s life, death (he was murdered twelve years after the end of World War 2), and legacy starts Friday in New York City

Night & Day – Korean director Hong Sang-Soo made this film about a man who flees legal charges (and his wife) in Seoul, and winds up in a Paris hotel populated by other Koreans.  Night and Day starts Friday at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City.

Ong Bak 2 – The first Ong Bak film opened fairly wide in the US, on 387 screens, but this film – which is apparently a prequel, not a sequel – is going the arthouse route, starting Friday on just 10 screens.

Papers – This documentary is about the approximately 2 million young people born outside the US and raised in this country without documentation, along with the legal obstacles they face as they reach adulthood.  Papers starts Friday at the Living Room Theater in Portland, OR.

Rembrandt’s J’Accuse – Peter Greenaway (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) returns with this semi-documentary, which claims that a careful examination of Rembrandt’s famous painting “The Night Watch” reveals a real-life murderous conspiracy that was not noticed until now.  Greenaway himself appears in the film, interviewing actors who appear as the characters they play in his companion film Nightwatching (which apparently came out on DVD in the US recently).  Rembrandt’s J’Accuse starts Friday in New York City.

Tim Burton”s The Nightmare Before Christmas – The stop-motion-animated holiday favorite is back in 3D at nearly sixty theaters across the US starting this Friday.

(Untitled) – Get it?  The title of this film – which satirizes the art world in New York City – is…. (Untitled). Adam Goldberg and Marley Shelton star as a composer and curator who find romance in director Jonathan Parker’s film, which starts Friday in six theaters (one in New York City, the other five in the greater Los Angeles area).

The Wedding Song – Karin Albou directed this film, set in Tunisia during World War 2 (when that country was occupied by the Nazis).  The Wedding Song – which is about two long-time friends with different religious beliefs, whose lives take different paths – starts Friday in New York City.

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND – Landmark’s Keystone Arts has added several new limited release titles to their site this week.  Coco Before Chanel and The Messenger are (tentatively) booked for November 13, and An Education is now scheduled to start at that theater on November 20.

Manoranjaninc.com added one new title to their site in the past week, London Dreams – but as of Thursday afternoon, it wasn’t on their page anymore.  This Indian film was scheduled to play at the Georgetown 14 on October 30 and 31; maybe – like Blue – it will show up again later on.  Also, Manoranjaninc now has a date for the Kannada language Indian film Raj the Show Man; it is now listed on their site for one showing at the Georgetown 14, at 3 PM on Saturday, November 14; it may also be at the G14 on October 30 and 31, if I am reading the site correctly.

And The Perfect Gift is supposed to open at the Georgetown 14 on November 6, according to the theater’s weekly email.  It is by the same people who made Clancy, which played at the G14 and other theaters back in March.

In other news, Human Like You: A Bipolar Odyssey – which had been scheduled to open at several Goodrich theaters (including the Hamilton 16 and IMAX in Noblesville) on October 23 – is now scheduled to open at those theaters on October 30.