This Week in Independent Film

Woody Harrelson stars as a male escort for Wahsington D.C.‘s elite who gets caught up in a murder case involving his closest client (Kristin Scott Thomas).  Lauren Bacall, Ned Beatty, Mary Beth Hurt, Lily Tomlin, and Willem Dafoe also star.  The film was written and directed by Paul Schrader who’s penned a few gems in his time including Taxi Driver, The Mosquito Coast, and The Last Temptation of Christ (among others).  The film opens in limited release in select cities on Friday.  Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.

The Walker
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This Week in Independent Film

Think Calendar Girls with a male perspective.  Andy (Jeff Bridges) decides to gather his small town friends together to make a pornographic film.  Written and directed by Michael Traeger the film also stars Ted Danson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Joe Pantoliano, Lauren Graham, and Patrick Fugit.  If you think this sounds familiar, you’d be right.  The film was pulled from release last September and has been sitting on a shelf ever since; it finally opens in select cities in limited release on Friday.  Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.

The Amateurs
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This Week in Independent Film

Writer/director Guy Richie‘s (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) latest flick involves a card shark (Jason Stratham) who agrees to help taked down the gangster (Ray Liotta) who sent him to prison.  Andre Benjamin, Vincent Pastore, Francesca Annis, and Anjela Lauren Smith also star.  Check out the official site.  The film opens in limited release in select cities on Friday.  Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.

Revolver
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Why I Hate Weddings

  • Title: Margot at the Wedding
  • IMDb: link

You know I can handle a chick flick, but Margot at the Wedding is a chick flick on speed, (and not that good of one).

The film is centered on Margot (Nicole Kidman) an overbearing and smothering loudmouth who drags her child (Zane Pais) to her sister Pauline’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding, not to celebrate to to break it up and find some time cheat on her husband (John Turturro) to bone an old school chum (Ciarán Hinds).

Subplots of the film include the averageness of Pauline’s fiancé Malcolm (Jack Black), the cute and seductive neighborhood girl (Halley Feiffer), suggestions of child abuse and incest, and the increasingly odd and crazy argument with the neighbors over the fate of the family’s favorite tree.

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A ‘Wedding’ Worth Attending

  • Title: Margot at the Wedding
  • Rating: 4.5 Stars
  • IMDB: link

The best dramas are the ones that make you fall for the characters, and because of this Margot at the Wedding is one of the best dramas of the year.  Sweet and funny in even some of its darkest moments, it’s a movie that fully exploits character developments and relationships without ever hinting at becoming sappy.

The plot is simple enough – Margot (Nicole Kidman) ventures back home from the big city for the wedding of her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the sporadically depressed but endearing Malcolm (Jack Black).  It might sound like a joyous occasion, but it’s anything but, thanks to the inability of Margot to just shut up and love her family.  Never content with herself or her surroundings, she constantly criticizing everyone within eyeshot, descending from her high throne of a New York socialite, a writer who spends more time analyzing the world than she ought to.  Blithely and sneeringly, she can put down her sister’s confidence, fiancé and pregnancy inside of a single breath.  She’s really a disgusting person, but it’s clear that she’s aware and haunted by her repulsive behavior.

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