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….

Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award Winner The Secret in Their Eyes opens out of state this week- and it’s one of two titles below (the other being Exit Through the Gift Shop) with an Indiana theatrical booking in the offing. As for the others, I wouldn’t be surprised if City of Your Final Destination got some theatrical play in Indiana, while Handsome Harry and No One Knows About Persian Cats have at least a small chance of making it to at least one Indiana theater as well. The other movies mentioned below, however, will most likely have to wait for DVD, VOD, and etc. in IN.

Aakhari Decision- Arjun was raised by a gangster, Victor, who turned Arjun into a friendless assassin. But one day, Arjun manages to meet Mansi- and falls head over heels in love with her. Although he wants to reform himself and get out of the underworld for Mansi’s sake, Arjun also still feels a certain degree of loyalty to Victor… and Victor is very determined to retain the services of his top hit man. Although this film is in both Hindi and English, it is apparently an American production (and was shot in both the US and India- all of this according to the ever-reliable IMDb). Whatever its origins, this action drama started on Friday, April 23, at four US theaters (two in California, and one each in New Jersey and Washington state). I couldn’t find a website for the film, but a youtube trailer can be found here, and its (not very informative) wikipedia page is here.

Anything for You- An American woman really wants to get back together with her ex, an Indian-American doctor. The doctor still has feelings for the woman- but at the same time he is very much in love with his wife. This romantic drama started Friday, April 23, at five theaters (two in New Jersey, and one each in California, Illinois, and Michigan).

Babe, I Love You- Niccolo “Nico” Veneracion has a successful career as a professor, and may be in line for a position as a Vice Dean at his college. Nico desperately wants the job, because he thinks that landing this spot would lead his mother to forgive him for the peripheral role he played in his father’s death. But then Nico meets Sasa, a young woman with a very different background, and falls helplessly in love- even though he knows that his mother (and his colleagues at the college, possibly) will not approve of the relationship. Will Nico continue to rebuild his life- and will Nico and Sasa’s romance surmount all of the obstacles placed in its way? Babe, I Love You opened on Friday, April 16 on five screens in the US (three in California, and one each in Nevada and Washington state).

Beautiful Losers- Art world outsiders who were influenced (per the film’s official site) by “the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti” became “one of the most influential cultural movements of a generation,” and have had a major impact on popular culture and art. The leaders of this movement- and their lives and art- are the subject of this documentary, which opened (with Handmade Nation; see below) on Friday, April 23, at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles.

Behind the Burly Q- Leslie Zemeckis wrote and directed this documentary about the old days of burlesque and vaudeville (as opposed to the more recent burlesque revival movement). A number of veterans of the burlesque world are interviewed in this film, along with… Alan Alda! (No, he didn’t work in burlesque himself- but his father, Robert Alda, apparently was a vaudeville/burlesque comic for a while.) Behind the Burly Q opened on Friday, April 23, at the Quad Cinema in New York City.

Best Worst Movie- If you missed this fun documentary about the movie Troll 2 when it played at the Indianapolis International Film Festival last year, the good news is that Best Worst Movie is getting a US theatrical release, starting Friday, April 23, at the Alamo South Lamar in Austin, Texas. The bad news is that there isn’t an Indiana play date on the film’s official site as of yet- but we can hope…. (And yes, I would see it again if it opened at a theater in the Indy area. I don’t see that many movies twice- but for this one, I’d make an exception.)

Boogie Woogie- This satire set in the art world has a pretty decent cast (Gillian Anderson, Alan Cumming, Heather Graham, Danny Huston, Christopher Lee, Joanna Lumley, Simon McBurney, Charlotte Rampling, Amanda Seyfried, and Stellan Skarsgård), but it didn’t get much love from either critics or audiences when it opened at the IFC Center in New York on April 23. The plot involves a painting that many self-serving types want to get their hands on- although the owner actually values it more for its artistry, and doesn’t want to sell.

The Cartel- This documentary about problems in the American educational system seems to be strongly in favor of charter schools and home schooling- and not so favorably inclined towards unions and school officials (the so-called “cartel”) who attempt to block these options. According to its official site, The Cartel “takes us beyond the statistics, generalizations, and abstractions that typically frame our debates about education” and puts “a human face on the harm done by the educational cartel.” The Cartel opened back in early October at several theaters in New Jersey- but I didn’t hear about the movie until it started Friday, April 16, at the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood and the Quad Cinema in New York City.

City of Your Final Destination- As amusing as it may be to contemplate an entry in the Final Destination franchise written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and directed by James Ivory, this is not that film. Oh, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala did write City of Your Final Destination, and James Ivory did direct- but this film has nothing to do with Death ruthlessly eliminating an interchangeable bunch of teens/young adults. Instead, City of Your Final Destination is about Omar, a graduate student who must write an authorized biography of late writer Jules Gund in order to receive the financial assistance he needs to stay in school. When Gund’s estate gives Omar the thumbs-down, he travels to the Gunds’ property in Uruguay in order to get their approval. Omar finds that the Gunds are an odd lot- and his unexpected arrival throws their lives and relationships even more off balance then they were before. Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexandra Maria Lara and Norma Aleandro star in City of Your Final Destination, which is described on its official site as “a finely-tuned comedy of modern manners” and “a film romance that is actually romantic.” It opened on Friday, April 16, at the Paris Theater in New York City.

Dark Crossing- In order to save his younger sister, Mexican teenager Emilio tries to cross the border into the US- but just before he makes it to America, a drug runner captures him, and forces him to work as a slave in the smuggling tunnels that run under the border region. An outsider eventually manages to help Emilio, but the young man will face death yet again before the story is over…. Dark Crossing started on Friday, April 23, at three theaters in the greater Los Angeles area.

Exit Through the Gift Shop- So once upon a time, a Los Angeles-based French shopkeeper, would-be filmmaker and wannabe street artist, Thierry Guetta, decided to make a movie about street art, and those who practice it- including Banksy, the internationally known graffiti artist who makes great efforts to remain anonymous (and who is especially keen not to be photographed), in order to avoid being arrested. Guetta’s plans go awry, however, and Banksy instead winds up taking over the movie- and makes Guetta its subject. Or at least that’s what the film’s site says it’s about- some critics suspect that Guetta is a fiction, and that the entire film is (on some level) basically a prank… but prank or not, many of these critics have given Exit Through the Gift Shop very positive reviews. Rhys Ifans narrates this (semi? psuedo? not-at-all-a?) documentary whatsit, which opened on Friday, April 16, at eight theaters (six in California, and two in New York City). And amazingly enough, this self-proclaimed “world’s first street art disaster movie” will open at the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianapolis on Friday, May 7, according to both the film’s site and the KAC’s web page.

Ghost Town- Although you have probably heard and read a great deal about China’s recent prosperity as a nation, this three-part documentary focuses on a poor, isolated village in the southwestern part of China that has not been able to share in the economic boom. Part one concerns a pair of preachers- father and son- who disagree about the fate of their church; the second part is about a young couple whose romance may be doomed by the lack of economic opportunities; the third segment is about a pre-teen boy who must find his own food after his parents leave him behind. Ghost Town started on Monday, March 15, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City- although I wasn’t aware that it had been released until I read about its April 9-15 run at Facets Multimedia in Chicago.

The Good, the Bad, and the Weird- Hmmmmmm… I wonder what inspired the title…. Anyhow, this well-reviewed Korean comedy/action-adventure film from 2008 is about a train robber, a bounty hunter, and bandit chief who meet on a train speeding through the Manchurian desert in the 1930s (or maybe the 1940s- sources vary). The three men each want to get possession of a map that the train robber found on board- but they must also contend with both other bandits and the Japanese army, who want the map for themselves. The Good, the Bad, and the Weird started Friday, April 23, at the IFC Center in New York City.

Gravity’s Clowns- In this 2009 film from Japan, an unknown person (or persons) leave(s) puzzling graffiti messages at the site of arson fires. Two young brothers decide to tackle the case- little realizing the potential implications for their own family. Gravity’s Clowns (a.k.a. A Pierrot- also the title of the novel on which the film is based) started Friday, April 16, at the VIZ Cinema in San Franciso. (And since the film’s official site- linked in the title above- doesn’t seem to have much English on it, here is a link to the page for the VIZ, since it has some more English-language info about the film- although you’ll have to scroll about two-thirds of the way down the page to get to all that.)

Handmade Nation- The American crafting community might not be the first subject some might choose for a documentary film- but Handmade Nation isn’t about old-school, fuddy-duddy crafters, according to the official site for the book on which the film is based. Instead, the book and film focus on the “emerging artists, crafters, and designers working in traditional and non-traditional media” who have “united in the new wave of craft”- which is defined as “a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the d.i.y. ethos.” Handmade Nation opened on Friday, April 23, at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles.

Handsome Harry- Jamey Sheridan stars as the title character, a Vietnam veteran in his fifties, who receives a message from fellow vet Tom (Steve Buscemi). Harry and Tom haven’t seen each other for decades, but now that Tom is dying- and haunted by thoughts of going to Hell- he wants Harry to seek out David, a fellow vet they betrayed many years ago, and ask that Danny forgive Tom. Harry would rather forget about the past, however, and is initially reluctant- but eventually he gives in, and goes on a road trip in order to talk to some other vets about their crime. Campbell Scott, Aidan Quinn, John Savage, and Titus Welliver round out the cast of this film, which is described on its official site as “a psychological mystery about lost love, forgiveness, and the stifling effect the ‘code of silence’ has over men and their relationships.” Handsome Harry started on Friday, April 16, at five theaters (two in Florida, and one each in California, New York, and Connecticut).

Have You Heard from Johannesburg?- This documentary follows the history of the struggle for freedom in South Africa from the dawn of the apartheid era through Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. It consists of seven episodes, running from just under an hour to ninety minutes, for a total running time of over eight and a half hours- although for its initial theatrical engagement in the US, the seven episodes segments of Have You Heard from Johannesburg? have been repackaged into three parts, each of them running anywhere from a little over two and a half hours to slightly over three hours. Have You Heard from Johannesburg? opened on Wednesday, April 14, at the Film Forum in New York City.

Hijoshi Zukan- According to the website for the 4-Star Theater in San Francisco- where this Japanese anthology feature started on Friday, April 23- each part of Hijoshi Zukan “features a unique female protagonist in an unexpected situation.” There isn’t much in English at the film’s official site (linked in the title above), as far as I can tell- but the trailer on the site does feature some English-language narration. Also, this site has plot summaries for the film’s various segments- and you don’t need to know Japanese to make sense of it.

The Human Experience- A group of young men journey around the globe, seeking to find out who they are, why they are looking for meaning in their lives, and what makes humans human. Per the film’s official site, the “one on one interviews and real life encounters” depicted in the film show the young men “the beauty of the human person and the resilience of the human spirit.” The Human Experience started Friday, April 9, at five theaters (three in or near Phoenix, Arizona; one near Fort Worth, Texas; and one near Denver, Colorado).

I’m Not Like That No More- Felipe Esparza and Paul Rodriguez star in this comedy about Felipe, a thirty-year-old slacker who lives with his extended family, but realizes that he wants something more out of life. After he runs into Jill, who used to go to the same high-school as Felipe, he might finally have the motivation he needs to get his life into gear…. I’m Not Like That No More opened on Friday, April 23, at nine theaters (six in California, and one each in Georgia, Florida, and New Jersey).

In My Sleep- Marcus is a sleepwalker who awakens with bloody hands- and a knife right beside him. Of course, that’s bad enough, but then Marcus finds out that someone he knows has been murdered…. with a knife. Marcus tries to discover if he could be the killer, or if someone else set him up- but the police may get to him first…. Lacey Chabert, Abigail Spencer, Beth Grant, Philip Winchester, Kelly Overton, Michael Badalucco and Tony Hale are all in the cast of this thriller, which started Friday, April 23, at the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

Last Train Home- Chinese New Year brings a mass migration of factory workers back home to their small villages from the big cities where they have found work. This documentary from Chinese-Candian filmmaker Lixin Fan is about the Zhangs, who became migrant workers sixteen years ago, moving to the city for high-wage jobs. The Zhangs hoped to use the money they made to provide better lives for their children, even though this meant that they had to leave the children behind in the village. Now, however, they learn that their daughter Qin has felt so angry over her parents leaving her behind that she has become rebellious, and has dropped out of school- meaning that she, too, will become a migrant worker. Now, the Zhangs do what they can to change their daughter’s mind…. Last Train Home started Friday, April 16, at the Claremont 5 in Claremont, CA.

Nayakan- This Malayalam-language film from India is about an artist who becomes a criminal in order to get vengeance on the bad guys who murdered his family; it opened on Friday, April 23, at the FunAsia Irving in Irving, TX. As far as I can remember, this is the only Indian film with visuals that made me think of a Mexican wrestling film; I’m guessing that this was not intentional, but who knows?

Nobody’s Perfect- Director Niko von Glasow was born with deformities which were a side-effect of the drug Thalidomide. Von Glasow is on a quest to find eleven of his fellow “Thalidomiders” who are willing to pose nude for a book; he interviews German Thalidomiders from all walks of life about both his book project, and the challenges they faced while growing up. Nobody’s Perfect opened on Friday, April 16, at the Cinema Village in New York City. (By the way- the page for the film on the site of its US distributor is linked in the title above… although there isn’t a great deal of information there. The film’s official site in Germany has more info, in English; you can find it here.)

No One Knows About Persian Cats- Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses; Turtles Can Fly) directed this drama about two young musicians who have spent time in prison for performing their “underground” music. They are determined to get out of Iran and make it to Europe; first, however, they want to put on one last concert in Iran…. No One Knows About Persian Cats- which supposedly was shot on the sly, and which was co-written by reporter Roxana Saberi (who spent some time in an Iranian prison herself)- started on Friday, April 16, at the IFC CENTER in New York City.

Paathshaala- Shahid Kapoor stars as Rahul Udyavar, a new English teacher at a school located in suburban Mumbai. Rahul easily connects with both his students and his fellow teachers, but thinks that the school’s administrators are going way too far in their efforts to wring more money out of parents- and he resents the way that students are forced to take part in various promotional activities (such as a TV reality show) while also being pressured to get better grades. Even though Rahul unites the school’s teachers against these policies, the school’s administrators don’t give in… and the escalating situation eventually puts the school in the national spotlight. According to its official site, Paathshaala probes whether the education system in India has “succumbed to modernization… commercialization and consumerism,” while shining a light on “the shortcomings and wrong doings in today’s schools”- so it is certainly an interesting coincidence that both this and The Cartel were released on the same day. Paathshaala started Friday, April 16 at least seven theaters- three in California, two in Texas, and one each in North Carolina and New Jersey.

Paper Man- Richard is a middle-aged, unsuccessful writer who still has an imaginary friend, Captain Excellent. When his wife suggests that he move to a house by the beach for the winter so that he can get over his writer’s block, Richard agrees. While living in the house, Richard meets and befriends a seventeen-year-old girl named Abby. As it turns out, Abby is another damaged soul, and their friendship may help both Richard and Abby move on in life…. Jeff Daniels, Lisa Kudrow, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone star in Paper Man, which opened on Friday, April 23, at The Landmark in Los Angeles, the Edwards University Town Center 6 in Irvine, CA, and the Angelika Film Center in New York City.

Phoonk 2- I would love to see an Indian horror movie on the big screen, but the only theater in the US showing this one (as far as I know) is the Bollywood 6 in Houston, where Phoonk 2 started on Friday, April 16. Apparently, the first Phoonk was about a woman named Madhu and the evil spell she cast on Raksha, daughter of Rajiv. This did not end well for Madhu- and in Phoonk 2, her ghost wants vengeance on Raksha, Rajiv, and family, who have moved to a new house. Raksha and her brother find a doll when they are looking around the nearby forest- and this opens the door to the family’s torment from beyond the grave. (The official synopsis for this one makes it sound pretty grim, by the way- I wonder how, or if, they work in musical numbers and/or comedy relief….)

Pornography: A Thriller- Three stories- one set in New York City in 1995, the other two set in 2010 NYC and Los Angeles- all revolve around the puzzling disappearance of a gay porn star. Pornography: A Thriller (which sounds like it may be closer to a horror film with supernatural elements than a “thriller,” according to the plot synopses of the three individual stories on the film’s site) started Friday, April 16, at the Cinema Village in New York City.

Prasthanam- Sometimes, the synopsis/plot summary from a film’s official site is just impossible to paraphrase, and I feel obligated to cut and paste the whole thing, in order to show you something special. In that spirit, here’s what I found on the site for this Telugu-language film from India the other day (and be sure to read all the way through to the last sentence): “Prasthanam is a poetic and intense character drama enacted by Sharwanand, Sai Kumar and Sundeep Kishan. The movie is set in Vijayawada with a contemporary political back drop. Though it has a bit of political colour, the movie is purely about human nature with an existential treatment and an explosive plot-line. The look and making of the movie is highly stylized with a broach structure that organically makes the movie a full-meal with a perfect blend of entertainment and soul.” Sooooooo, there you go- Prasthanam has an existential treatment, political color, an “explosive plot-line” and even a broach structure (whatever that is)- a “full meal” indeed. Actually, I found a review online that said that this one is about Lokanatham Naidu, an assistant to a politician, who marries a woman with ties to a local crime boss; he adopts her children, and eventually, the couple have a child of their own. Years later, the misbehavior of Lokanatham Naidu’s son threatens his own career in politics…. Prasthanam opened on Friday, April 16, in at least seven US theaters (two in California, and one each in Texas, New Jersey, Virginia, Michigan and Illinois).

Prisoner of Her Past- Sonia Reich, the mother of Chicago Tribune reporter and music critic Howard Reich, does not have any sort of dementia- but early in 2001, she began to re-live the Holocaust-related events of her childhood; she ran out of her house, and was certain that someone was trying to shoot her in the head. Howard Reich believes his mother is suffering from a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that occurs years after the initial stressful experiences, and has noted similar symptoms among survivors of Hurricane Katrina. This documentary is based on Howard Reich’s book, The First and Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich, and includes footage of his journeys to Poland and the Ukraine to find out more about his mother’s nightmarish childhood experiences. Prisoner of Her Past opened Friday, April 9, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago.

Raam- The title character of this Kannada-language romantic comedy from India saves the lovely Pooja from a would-be husband she doesn’t love. Raam and Pooja fall for each other, but before she can marry, she must get the approval of her two uncles. In order to do so, Raam comes up with the brilliant idea of pretending to be the son of one of two characters he has made up. (Seriously, does anyone ever really try goofball schemes like this, outside of the movies? And if so, do these plans ever work, in the long run?) Raam opened at the Towne 3 in San Jose on Friday, April 16. I couldn’t find an official site for the film, but a youtube trailer is here.

The Red Birds- Brigitte Cornand directed this film, which interviews a number of Cornand’s female artist friends- but while the audience listens to interviews with the artists, we don’t see them. Instead, each is represented on-screen by footage of a different bird. According to the director, she carefully matched each artist with the bird who represents her; overall, per Cornand, birds represent “a symbol of freedom, independence, and beauty” and provide “the ultimate metaphor for what an artist is and does.” The Red Birds started at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City on Wednesday, April 21.

The Secret in Their Eyes- Retired criminal court worker Benjamin Esposito decides to use his new-found free time to write a book. Following the maxim “write what you know,” Benjamin bases his novel on a 1974 murder case which he tried to help solve at the time. But Benjamin lived in Buenos Aires, and the Argentina of 1974 can be a dangerous, violent place- so his investigation puts him and the friends who are helping him in peril. As the present-day Benjamin writes his novel, his memories of the past- especially the mistakes he made, and the opportunities he lost- threaten to overwhelm him…. The Secret in Their Eyes- which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film a few weeks ago- opened on Friday, April 16, at ten theaters- four in the Washington, D.C., area, and two each in or near Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. According to both the film’s official US site and the theater’s home page, it will open at the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianapolis on Friday, May 14.

A Shine of Rainbows- Connie Nielsen and Aidan Quinn star in this drama about an Irish couple who adopt a young orphan, Tomas. While Maire instantly bonds with the boy, her husband Alec is put off by Tomas’ shyness- and that makes Tomas even more uncertain about whether he really belongs in the family. After a tragic turn of events, Tomas finds that he must undertake a dangerous quest in order to hold on to what he loves. A Shine of Rainbows opened on Friday, April 23, at four theaters in the Chicago area; it is scheduled to start on Friday, April 30, at the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianapolis.

A Small Act- Harvard graduate Chris Mburu is a lawyer who works for the United Nations, specializing in human rights cases. However, Chris was once a poverty-stricken student in Kenya, who stayed in his primary school thanks in large part to the sponsorship provided by a woman named Hilde Back. Chris now wants to thank Hilde by founding a scholarship fund for other poor Kenyan students, and naming it after Hilde. But when the Kenyan public school system begins to collapse, and the country suffers election-year violence rooted in ethnic differences, Chris has to decide how to adjust his plans for the fund…. A Small Act started Friday, April 16, at the Town Center 5 in Encino, and the Coliseum Cinemas in New York City.

12th & Delaware- That intersection in Fort Pierce, FL, is the site of an abortion clinic- and, on the other side of the street, a pro-life group that wants the clinic to close. Jesus Camp co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are behind this documentary, which (according to its official site, at least) uses “skillful cinema-vérité observation” of the people in both the abortion clinic and the pro-life group- which “allows us to draw our own conclusions.” 12th & Delaware started Friday, April 16, at the Town Center 5 in Encino, and the Coliseum Cinemas in New York City.