Commentary Track

by MIKE MACCOLLUM

Danish filmmaker/provocateur Lars von Trier and musician Dave Matthews might not have a lot in common most of the time, but they do this week: both have movies opening in Indiana for one week only.  Yup, if you want to see either von Trier’s latest, Antichrist, or Larger Than Life - the 3D concert film featuring Matthews, Ben Harper, and Gogol Bordello – in a theater, you have just one week to do so.  For more on both films – and updated information about films holding over in Indiana and opening elsewhere around the country – read on below….

LIMITED RELEASE THEATRICAL FILMS OPENING IN INDIANA THIS WEEK

Antichrist – Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star in this controversial movie about a couple mourning the death of their young child.  They head off to their cabin in the woods, looking for recuperation and recovery – but things don’t go as they were hoping, to say the least…. Lars von Trier’s latest film seems to have evenly divided the critics, although even Antichrist’s supporters note that this movie will offend and annoy a number of viewers.  Antichrist starts Friday at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis, for what the theater’s web page says will be a one-week-only run.

Larger Than Life in 3D – This 3D concert film featuring performances by the Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper and Relentless 7, and Gogol Bordello starts Friday, December 11, at the Castleton Square 14 in Indianapolis, the Metropolis 18 in Plainfield, the Hamilton 16 and IMAX in Noblesville, the Portage 16 and IMAX in Portage, the Showplace Cinema East in Evansville, the Encore Park 14 in Elkhart, and the Carmike 20 and Jefferson Pointe 18 in Fort Wayne.  Most (if not all) of these theaters have only two or three showings per day (usually in the evening).  According to the film’s official site, it will be in theaters for one week only.

Pazhassi Raaja – The title character of this Malayalam-language epic/biopic was a king of the Kottayam royal family who fought a guerilla war against the British in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  According to the manoranjaninc.com site, Pazhassi Raja is currently scheduled to play at the Georgetown 14 twice this week – at 5 PM on Sunday, December 13, and at 7:30 PM on Monday, December 14.  The manoranjan site also makes it look like this film (which apparently has a running time of over three hours) does not have English subtitles.

Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year – Ranbir Kapoor stars as a young man who is looking to start a career after graduating with less than stellar results on his examinations.  He still dreams of an exciting job, however, and he thinks he has found one in the sales area.  This sounds like a comedy with a possibly bittersweet edge (especially as the main character finds out more about both the demands of his job and his fellow salesmen and women); it is currently scheduled to play twice daily at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis from Friday, December 11, through Sunday, December 13.  Go to the manoranjaninc.com site (see link at right of page) for show time information.  (Rocket Singh will also be opening at fifty-one other theaters across the US, fwiw.)

THEATRICAL HOLDOVERS, FILM FESTIVALS, REVIVAL SCREENINGS, AND OTHER SPECIAL SHOWINGS IN INDIANA THIS WEEK

Black Dynamite – Plays from Friday, December 11, through Monday, December 14, at the Cinema Center @ Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne; go to the Cinema Center site for show times.

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day – Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery, Julie Benz, Peter Fonda, Judd Nelson, and Billy Connolly  star in Troy Duffy’s sequel to his 1999 crime drama The Boondock Saints; it holds over this week at the Regal Village Park 17 in Carmel, the ShowPlace 16 and IMAX in Indianapolis, the Shiloh Crossing 18 in Avon, the Greenwood Park 14, the Eastside 9 in Lafayette, the ShowPlace 7 in Muncie, the Honey Creek West 8 in Terre Haute, the ShowPlace East 11 in Bloomington, the Carmike 20 in Fort Wayne, the ShowPlace 16 in South Bend, the ShowPlace 16 in Schererville, the Encore Park 14 in Elkhart, and the Stadium 16 in Evansville.  The Boondock Saints II also starts this Friday at the ShowPlace 12 in Kokomo, the ShowPlace 12 in Marion, the ShowPlace 12 in Columbus, the ShowPlace 11 in Richmond, and the ShowPlace 8 in Vincennes.

Capitalism: A Love Story – Holds over at the Cinemark Washington Market for two shows a day (at 1:15 and 4:00 PM), and at the Cinemark Greenwood Corners for one show a day (at 1:20 PM).

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas/Olivia: Winter Wonderland – This double-feature for children will be shown at 1 PM and 2:40 daily this week at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis, and at 11:10 AM daily at the Showplace Cinemeas East in Evansville; there will also be 1 and 3:30 PM showings on Saturday and Sunday at the Studio 10 in Shelbyville, and 11:40 AM showings on Saturday and Sunday at the Jefferson Pointe 18 in Fort Wayne.

Dinosaurs Alive 3D! – Showing only at 10 AM on Friday, December 11, at the IMAX Theatre at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis.

An Education – Continues for another week at the Keystone Arts in Indianapolis, albeit for only two shows per day (at 2:00 and 7:30 PM); also continues for another week at the Cinema Center in Fort Wayne- and An Education will also be shown at 6:30 and 9:30 PM on both Friday, December 11, and Saturday, December 12, at the University of Notre Dame’s Browning Cinema in South Bend.

Fellini – Satyricon – Federico Fellini’s 1969 film was based on a book believed to have been written in the first century AD.  However, the book survives today only in fragments, and this is reflected in Fellini’s film, which apparently features an episodic plot detailing the various adventures of a young man in Rome during the time of the Caesars.  Fellini – Satyricon will be shown in the Jewish Community Center’s Laikin Auditorium at 7 PM on Tuesday, December 15; it is part of the Indiana Film Society’s “Time Capsule 1969” series.  Admission is free.

Good Hair – Chris Rock’s documentary holds over for another week at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis.

Hermie & Friends: A Fruitcake Christmas – Tim Conway and Don Knotts provide two of the voices for this 2005 children’s film, which will be shown at 11 AM on Saturday and Sunday at the Showplace Cinemas East in Evansville.

It Might Get Loud – Plays from Friday, December 11, through Monday, December 14, at the Cinema Center @ Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne; go to the Cinema Center site (see link at right of page) for show times.

Lewis and Clark: The Great Journey West­ – Showing only at 10 AM on Wednesday, December 16, at the IMAX Theatre at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis.

Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders – The medical relief group Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is the subject of a documentary about its international field operations.  Four doctors are the focus of the film, as they try to maintain their idealism while facing challenging situations in the Congo and Liberia.  Elizabeth Vargas of 20/20 will introduce the film, and the screening will be followed by a live town hall panel discusssion with Dr. Tom Krueger (who is featured in the documentary) and Sebastian Junger (author of The Perfect Storm), among others.  This event will start at 7:30 PM on Monday, December 14, at the Castleton Square 14, ShowPlace 16 with IMAX and Galaxy 14 in Indianapolis, along with the Hamilton 16 with IMAX in Noblesville, and eleven other theaters across the state.

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.

Omer Fast: The Casting – This fourteen minute, four channel video installation continues at the Indianapolis Museum of Art through February 21, 2010. 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.

Paa – According to manoranjaninc.com, this Indian film will have one showing at the Georgetown 14 this week, on Saturday, December 12, at 5:30 PM.

Pirate Radio – Holds over for another week at the ShowPlace 7 in Muncie.

RiffTrax Live!: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza!­ – Some of the former cast members of Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot) – are back as RiffTrax, and this time they, along with special guest star “Weird Al” Yankovic, are making fun of strange Christmas-related short subjects and commercials.  The live version of this event will be shown at 8 PM on Wednesday, December 16, at the Castleton Square 14, ShowPlace 16 with IMAX and Galaxy 14 in Indianapolis, along with the Hamilton 16 with IMAX in Noblesville, and eleven other theaters across the state.  There is also an encore showing at 8 PM on Thursday, December 17th at the Castleton Square 14 and Showplace with IMAX in Indianapolis, along with the Hamilton 16 with IMAX in Noblesville, and ten other theaters across the state.  For more details, visit the Fathom Events website (see link at right of page).

The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Showing at 10 PM again this Saturday at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis (presumably – there was nothing about the showing in the Georgetown’s weekly email, but the poster was up for it when I was there a few days ago).

The September Issue – Starts Friday at the Cinema Center in Fort Wayne.

A Serious Man – Holds over for another week at the ShowPlace East 11 in Bloomington and the Stadium 16 in Evansville.

Star Wars: In Concert – According to its official site, this “[m]assive multi-media event features stunning visuals, a live orchestra, choir and narration, plus an exclusive exhibit of Star Wars costumes, props and production artwork;” it takes place at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 PM.  Anthony Daniels (who played C3PO) narrates (live and in person, apparently) while footage from the Star Wars films plays on a big (three stories tall) screen – and all of this is synchronized to musical accompaniment from ” a full symphony orchestra and choir.”  It looks like tickets cost anywhere from $35 to $65.

35 Shots of Rum – The Ryder Magazine and Film series is behind what are likely to be the only big screen showings in Indiana of Claire Denis’ drama, which continue this week in Bloomington.  Go to The Ryder’s site for show time and movie information.

Turandot – Puccini’s opera – as performed by the Metropolitan Opera – will be shown at 1 PM on Friday, December 11, at the University of Notre Dame’s Browning Cinema in South Bend.

Two Million Minutes – A documentary about education in China, Two Million Minutes is being screened by the Center for Inquiry in downtown Indianapolis on Friday at 7 PM. The screening will be followed by a discussion.

West Side Story – Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris head the cast of this film, which won 10 Academy Awards; it will be shown at 3 PM on Saturday, December 12, at the University of Notre Dame’s Browning Cinema in South Bend.

White Christmas- Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera- Ellen and Dean Jagger star in this 1954 film, which will be shown at the historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin on Friday, December 11, and Saturday, December 12, at 2 and 7:30 PM.

OPENING ELSEWHERE – As per usual, few of these films have much if any chance of playing theatrically in Indiana. This week’s exceptions are The Lovely Bones, which is set to open in wide release in January, and A Single Man, which is receiving praise – and minor Oscar buzz – for Colin Firth’s performance.

According to Greta – Hilary Duff is the star of this film, which from the description on the official site works in drama, comedy, romance and suicide. It starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica.

The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer – This is a Peruvian/Italian/German 3D Computer-animated film picked up for release in the US by 20th-Century Fox; it was based on the best-selling book by Sergio Bambaren.  According to its official site, this film is about “the magic journey of a teenager dolphin named Daniel who abandons the safety of his pod and adventures into the unknown in quest of a dream: to discover the true purpose of life.”  The Dolphin starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Fallbrook 7 in Canoga Park, CA.

Katha – This Telegu-language film – which starts Friday at several theaters in the Phoenix Adlabs chain – looks like a light-hearted musical comedy, from this trailer – but it also looks like it may take a turn towards suspense/thriller at some point, if this other trailer is any guide.  I couldn’t find out much about this one – especially since the “synopsis” link on the film’s official site says “coming soon” when you click on it – so your guess is as good as mine at this point.

Kings of the Evening – Tyson Beckford, Lynn Whitfield and Glynn Turman head the cast of this drama about a black man who is released from jail during the Great Depression; he eventually discovers a neighborhood fashion contest which offers some hope of escaping from the grim reality of the times, even if only for a short while.  Apparently, this played at the Gene Siskel Theater in Chicago from November 28 to December 4, but I didn’t know about it at the time, so I didn’t include this movie on that week’s list.  However, Kings of the Evening does start Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Town Center 5 in Encino, CA; it will then apparently open in wider release next February, to coincide with Black History Month.

The Lovely Bones – Peter Jackson directed and co-wrote this adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best seller about a murdered young girl who watches over both her parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz) and her killer from heaven.  Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci co-star in this film, which starts Friday at three theaters (two in Los Angeles, and one in New York City).  The release expands on December 25, and the film goes into wide release on January 15, 2010.

The Misfortunates – A 13-year old boy has a father and uncles who like to party (to put it mildly), so everyone seems to think that the young man will follow in their footsteps – or will he?  This Belgian film is that country’s official entry in the Motion Picture Academy’s Foreign Language Film Category – which is why it starts Friday, December 11, for a one-week Academy-Award-qualifying run at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles.

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done – Werner Herzog directs his second theatrical release in the space of a month; unlike his Bad Lieutenant do-over, this one was co-executive produced by David Lynch, and apparently is being released by Lynch’s own company.  The always-good Michael Shannon plays a young man who may or may not have murdered his mother (Grace Zabriskie); Willem Dafoe (as a cop on the case), Udo Kier and Chloe Sevigny are also in the cast of this film, which starts Friday at the IFC Film Center in New York City.

Saleem – This is a Telegu-language film; it starts Friday at several theaters in the Phoenix Adlabs chain.  I haven’t been able to find out much about the movie so far, but these trailers make it look like a love story/action film (with some comedy relief and musical numbers).

Simon & Malou – Opposites (in this case a disorganized Danish novelist and a maybe-too-organized Swedish lawyer) attract yet again in this romantic comedy from Scandinavia, which starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Fallbrook 7 in Canoga Park, CA.  The US distributor may be getting this into US theatrical release for Academy-Award-qualifying purposes, since I haven’t been able to find a US site for the film – but if you want to check out an unsubtitled trailer, then here you go.

A Single Man – Colin Firth stars as a closeted gay British professor living in Los Angeles in 1962 who is struggling to come to terms with life following the death of his long-time lover.  Julianne Moore co-stars in this film, which was based on the book of the same name by Christopher Isherwood.  A Single Man starts Friday at two theaters in New York City, two in Los Angeles, and one in San Francisco.

The Slammin’ Salmon – The latest film from the Broken Lizard comedy group is also the first not to be helmed by Jay Chandrasekhar; instead, Kevin Heffernan takes over as director for this one.  The Slammin’ Salmon is about a former heavyweight champion boxer (Michael Clarke Duncan) who has opened a seafood restaurant in Miami, and treats his employees (most of them played by members of Broken Lizard) with a bare minimum of kindness, compassion and understanding.  When the former champ has to pay off a huge gambling debt to the mob, he sets his staff against each other in a no-holds-barred contest to sell the most food; the winner gets a nice cash prize, but the loser gets punched in the gut – hard.  The Slammin’ Salmon starts Friday in eleven theaters (two in New York City, and one each in Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, Portland, and Washington, DC).

Tenderness­ – Jon Foster, Russell Crowe and Laura Dern head the cast of this thriller, which has been sitting on the shelf since 2006, and will be released on only one screen (at the Quad Cinema in New York City) on Friday.  Foster plays Eric, a young man who viciously kills his parents after suffering for years under their strict control.  Several years later, after Eric’s release from juvenile detention, a young woman with parent issues of her own wants to track down Eric.  This alarms the detective (Crowe) who was assigned to Eric’s case, since he thinks Eric may be thinking about continuing his killing spree….  John Polson (Swimfan, Hide and Seek) directed this film, which apparently won’t be getting any further theatrical exposure, according to some who have spoken with employees of distributor Lionsgate.  That may explain why I couldn’t find an official US site for the film – although I did find this trailer, along with some information on the film on Lionsgate’s UK site.

A Town Called Panic – This looks very odd, and supercool.  It is based on an animated TV show from Belgium, and features the strange adventures of plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian, and Horse.  The film’s official site says it is something like a “Gallic Monty Python crossed with Art Clokey on acid.”  I would love to see this one in a theater, but even if I have to settle for DVD, it sounds like a must-see.  A Town Called Panic (the US version of which is “entirely appropriate for children,” according to the official site) starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Fallbrook 7 in Canoga Park, CA.

2 Dareh – I wasn’t able to find an official site for this film, although according to one of the two trailers I did find online, it is a “fresh comedy.” That wording is taken from an English-language intertitle (?) that appears in one of the trailers; otherwise, I don’t want to hazard a guess about the plot of the movie, since most of the dialogue in both trailers is in a language I don’t speak (and there aren’t any English subtitles).  If you’re curious, you might want to check out this trailer on youtube – along with this other trailer on youtube; both provide a few clues, as do the images on the film’s Facebook page.  Whatever it is, 2 Dareh starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Town Center 5 in Encino, CA.

The Vicious Kind – In this drama, a young man who is bitter about women following a rough break-up with his ex finds that he is increasingly attracted to his brother’s new girlfriend.  Brittany Snow, Adam Scott, J.K. Simmons, and Alex Frost head the cast of The Vicious Kind, which starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

Yesterday Was a Lie – Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson and Peter Mayhew star in this noirish new film about a smart young woman whose search for an intellectual recluse takes some unexpectedly surreal and metaphysical turns.  Yesterday Was a Lie starts Friday, December 11, at the Laemmle Theatres Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND

The Keystone Arts’ page now says that Me and Orson Welles and The Road are the only two films scheduled to open there on December 18; The Young Victoria is the only limited-release film set to open at that theater on December 25, per the page.

The Bollywood comedy (or comedy/drama, from the look of the second trailer I’ve seen) 3 Idiots is now scheduled to open at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis on December 23, according to the manoranjaninc.com site.  This was the only “news” on the site this week, but on a recent visit to the G14, I saw a trailer for a film called Hide & Seek, which looked like an Indian slasher/horror film.  I haven’t found a site for the film yet, but this poster does a pretty good job of representing what was in the trailer (although the trailer said the movie would be out in January, not December).  Again, there isn’t anything on the manoranjan site about this one yet – but at least one site that I found claims this will be released on January 8 in India.