Thinking Outside the Multiplex: National Edition (April 9-23, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
Hear ye, hear ye- there are big changes afoot in Thinking Outside the Multiplex-land. As hinted at in last week’s column- and as sharp-eyed reader’s will have guessed from the change in title- Thinking Outside the Multiplex is now two columns. The “Indiana Edition” will cover limited release films, festivals, and special movie programming in Indianapolis and around Indiana, while the “National Edition” will cover limited release films opening in theaters around the country. The “Indiana Edition” will continue to appear weekly on Fridays. The “National Edition” will appear bi-monthly (or so) and appear on (or around) Wednesdays. For the inaugural edition of the “National Edition,” read on below…. Read more 
DVD of the Week – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
by HELEN GEIB
It was inevitable that Heath Ledger’s death during the filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus would overshadow the film itself. While that wouldn’t much matter if we were talking about The Brothers Grimm, in this case, both the film and Ledger’s performance deserve greater attention. Read more
Movie Review – Kick-Ass (2010) [Helen Geib]
by HELEN GEIB
Kick-Ass is the “superhero” alter-ego of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson). Dave is pretty much your average American teenager. His background is urban lower-middle class. He lives in an old city neighborhood with a troublingly high crime rate and goes to a typical big city public high school where security guards man metal detectors at the entrance. He’s a good kid who stays out of trouble. He has two close friends and the three of them hang out together a lot at the local comic book/snack shop. He’s a little bit geeky, but nothing out of the ordinary, and less so than his comic-relief buddies. He has the rail thinness of teenage boy growth spurt and exuberant curly brown hair. He has a crush on a beautiful, popular classmate named Katie. Read more
Movie Review – Kick-Ass (2010) [Nir Shalev]
by NIR SHALEV
Kick-Ass plays like an inappropriately disgusting joke; some will like it and some will hate it. There’s no middle ground and that’s due to the fact that it partly takes place in an alternate, fantastic universe, is filled with pop-cultural pomp, has cartoonish characters and is filled with slightly realistically gory violence. It is being described as “Kill Bill meets Superbad” and that’s a very accurate description. That’s also where it mostly fails. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (April 23, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo finally opens in Indiana, as does an Academy-Award nominee- and an Academy Award winner is on the way. With all that, and a number of cool film festivals and other events going on around the state, what’s not to like about the next few weeks in Indiana? Read more
Movie Review – Date Night (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
I saw Date Night last weekend. Normally I write my new-releases reviews the same weekend as I see the movie, but in this case, the time that I would ordinarily have given to review-writing was instead given to doing my taxes. Coincidentally, the film’s hero is a tax lawyer. None of this is particularly germane to my review, but I thought I’d throw it out there.
That’s kind of the way the movie feels too, which isn’t to say I didn’t laugh an awful lot while I was watching it. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex (April 16, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
The return of actual art movies to the Keystone Art Cinema continues apace this week, and there’s more good news in the future too- and some cool-looking Hindi-language films have been booked at the Georgetown 14. For all of that good news and more, read on below…. Read more
DVD of the Week – Death and Taxes
by HELEN GEIB
The annual day of reckoning is almost here. Soon we Americans will be released from the prolonged agony that inevitably precedes every April 15. In recognition of Tax Day, I’ve decided to devote this week’s DVD of the Week post to movies about death and taxes.* The spotlight shines on three films that revolve around the two great inescapables. To set the stage and for the edification of my lucky readers who do not have to prepare their own tax returns, I’ve also included a few representative tidbits from the 2009 Form 1040 and accompanying 100-plus page Forms and Instructions.
42 Exemptions. If line 38 is $125,000 or less and you did not provide housing to a Midwestern displaced individual, multiply $3,650 by the number on line 6d. Otherwise, see page 37.
The Untouchables
Thinking Outside the Multiplex – ”Opening Elsewhere” Supplement
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
So you’re planning on seeing both Clash of the Titans and Chloe in theaters on the same day- but you can’t help thinking that your personal celebration of “Liam Neeson Day” would be ever-so-much better if you could see a third theatrical feature on the same day. Well, you may be in luck, since a third film with Liam Neeson in its cast opened on Friday, April 9. You’ll have to go elsewhere for your Neeson-fest, however- Chicago is the nearest city to Indiana in which you can find all three movies on theater screens. As for the other movies listed below, I would bet good money- if I had any- that The Square is the only one of them with a decent shot at getting a theatrical release in Indiana. Read more
DVD of the Week – Review of Defendor (2009)
by NIR SHALEV
Woody Harrelson is an actor of many talents. Just a few months back I’d praised his powerful and naturalistic performance in my review for the film The Messenger (2009) and lo and behold, he was nominated for an Oscar for it. Here, he plays Arthur Poppington, construction worker by day and crime fighter by night. And let me get this off my chest right now: this is one of Harrelson’s most endearing and human performances. Read more