Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (September 17, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
So for various reasons that aren’t worth going into, I was more than a little bit late finishing this week’s column. The only good aspect to this is that I found out just today that one of the two limited-release films opening in Indiana today is not a documentary at all (necessitating a little bit of rewriting of both this intro and the first entry below- and thus causing even more delays….). If I’m Still Here had been a doc, by the way, then all (well, both) of the non-wide-release movies starting in Indiana today would have fallen into that category- not a frequent occurrence, I’m guessing. For all the news on documentaries (real and otherwise) and limited-release non-docs showing across Indiana this week, read on below…. Read more 
DVD of the Week – The Pirates of Penzance (1983)
by HELEN GEIB
Another movie drops off the “why isn’t that on DVD yet?!” list with today’s long-overdue release of the 1983 film version of The Pirates of Penzance. I just love this movie. Transposed from a successful Broadway staging, it’s a thoroughly delightful rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic operetta. The deliberate, overt theatricality only adds to its charm. Read more
Movie Review – The American (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
George Clooney plays a hired killer with no past and an uncertain future in The American. The movie is well-shot and Clooney’s performance hits the target, but the script misses the mark. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (September 10, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
Art films (or at least limited release films) once again are in the majority at the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianapolis this week, as the Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom (opening one week earlier than scheduled) and the Australian non-crime drama Mao’s Last Dancer both start at the KAC. Meanwhile, the wrestling drama Legendary opens at the two Republic Theatres in the state, while Rob Reiner’s Flipped expands to so many screens (seven in and around Indianapolis, and at least ten more around the state) that it is now beyond the scope of this column. For all of the details- and news on what’s holding over, and where- read on below…. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex: National Edition (August 19 – September 1, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
So here we go, we’re back with a new format for this feature. We’ve tried to break down the movies in a more user-friendly way here, so let us know what you think. As you can see, films are listed first by release date, then by category, and then alphabetically.
I’ll try to have a Frequently Asked Questions page posted soon, but for now, I’ll just note that this week’s column covers all of the movies I know of that came out in limited release in the US (outside Indiana) during the period August 19-September 1. If you know of any other movies that were first released during that time, please let me know by adding a comment. Read more
Movie Review – Machete (2010)
by NIR SHALEV
In 2007, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed a couple of schlocky, fake exploitation films in the vein of 1970s low budget, ultra-violent, and sex filled romps. They’re Planet Terror, a gory, inventive, and hilarious zombie film and Death Proof, a film in which a homicidal maniac/Hollywood stunt man likes to murder women with his car. Before and in between the two films played a few fake trailers: Edgar Wright’s Don’t, Rob Zombie’s Werewolf Women of the SS, Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, and Rodriguez’s own Machete. Now Rodriguez brings us a full length film version of the fake trailer and it’s as schlocky, as gory, and as over the top and heavily stylized as we’d expected. At least it was for me. Read more
DVD of the Week – A Miner’s Life in Film
by HELEN GEIB
Come and listen you fellows, so young and so fine,
And seek not your fortune in the dark, dreary mines.
It will form as a habit and seep in your soul,
‘Til the stream of your blood is as black as the coal.
CHORUS:
It’s dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
It’s dark as a dungeon way down in the mine. Read more
Rewind: Films of the 60s, 70s, 80s – Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
by RICHARD WINTERS
Director Frank Perry may not be a name one throws out when mentioning some of the top directors, but his early work in collaboration with his screenwriter wife Eleanor was definitely a forerunner of the independent film movement and ahead of its time. Read more
Movie Review – Takers (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
Takers shows that writer-director John Luessenhop and some or all of his three co-writers are in thrall to their filmmaking influences. Additionally, some of those influences are incompatible. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (September 3, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
Bollywood remakes Stepmon (or at least it sure sounds like it), and American independent filmmakers do a variation on It’s a Wonderful Life (or at least it sure sounds like it). Those are the two movies opening in limited release in Indiana this week- proving, if nothing else, that it’s not just the big-budget Hollywood stuff that could use a little boost in the imagination department. For all the details, keep reading below…. Read more
