This Week in Independent Film

/ / Film News & Trailers

Director Milos Forman (Hair, Man on the Moon, Amadeus) travels to Spain to present the story of the muse (Natalie Portman) of the famous painter Fransisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) who is accused of atheism and imprisoned and tortured.  Randy Quaid, Blanca Portillo, and Jose Luis Gomez 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.

Goya’s Ghosts
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This Week in Film

/ / Film News & Trailers

And the worst idea for a film award goes to…  Adam Sandler and Kevin James play heterosexual firemen who pretend to be gay in order to get health benefits.  The film also stars the beautiful bad movie queen Jessica Biel (the curse continues?).  Check out the official site.  This film walks the plank, I mean aisle, in theaters everywhere on Friday and we’ll have the review!  Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
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You Kill Me

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: You Kill Me
  • IMDb: link

“My drinking is interfering with my work.  That’s why I’m here, so I can get sober and go back to killing people full time.”
 

you-kill-me-poster

After botching an important assignment Frank Falenczyk (Ben Kingsley) is shipped out of Buffalo to sunny San Francisco to get control of his drinking problem which is interfering with his work – killing people for the Polish mob.

After arriving in San Fransisco Frank is put up in an apartment and given a job in a funeral home by a friend of his bosses back home (Bill Pullman).  He begins to attend AA meetings, finds a friend and a sponsor (Luke Wilson) and meets and falls for a lonely woman (Tea Leoni).  For the first time Frank takes an honest look at his life and realizes he needs to get better so he can return to Buffalo and get back to the work he is so good at – killing people.

Much like The Matador (read that review) the film balances the issues of killing and death with a certain amount of whimsy and some fairly dark humor.  The AA scenes are some of the best in the film, especially when Frank decides to come clean with everyone about what it is he does.

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Odd Duck

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Joshua
  • IMDb: link

Joshua

What if your child had always been a little odd, and you eventually began wondering if he wasn’t evil?  Joshua asks this question, and the result is a mixed, though memorable, result that, although I can’t recommend, is still better than expected.

To the causual observer the Cairn’s are your typical upper-middle class family.  Brad (Sam Rockwell) works too hard in an investment company, Abby (an almost unrecognizable Vera Farmiga) stays home and takes care of their son Joshua (Jacob Kogan) and thier newborn daughter Lily.  Scratch the surface however and you’ll find plenty of troubles in the Cairn home.

To begin with Abby has a history of mental problems and increasing anxiety over not being able to care for her new baby.  And then there’s Joshua who, to put it politely, is a little off.  When the family begins to spiral out of control Brad begins to suspect that everything can be traced to one cause – his son.  Is this young nine-year-old responsible for it all?

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Nintendo, it’s Wii-tastic!

/ / Gaming News & Reviews 

During their press conference at E3 Nintendo unveiled both the Wii Zapper and the new Wii Wheel, both of which should send Wii owners into nerdtastic ecstasy induced wii-gasms (and yes, until I get a Wii, I continue to hate you all!).  The Zapper [$19.99] will be available for use with the upcoming releases of “Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles” (Seriously?  That’s your title?  I think this series has gone on long enough…) and “Ghost Squad.”  The Wii Wheel will be packaged with “Mario Kart Wii.”  Also of interest, and need given the health of many gamers, is the new “WiiFit,” a balance board and interactive software which combines various methods of exercising including both yoga and aerobics to keep you in shape when you aren’t playing “Super Mario Galaxy” (set to be released by Thanksgiving), and will keep track of a player’s progress over time.  Pretty damn cool, if you ask us!  For more on this, and other news from E3, check out the good folks at G4 bringing you near round the clock coverage straight from the floor.

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