Indies on Demand

In the Comfort of Home                  

by Mark Dispenza

More and more indies are now available in concert with limited theatrical release, so you no longer have to live in Los Angeles or New York to find art house favorites.  In fact you can view them from the comfort of your own home or even on your iPad.  

Here are notable titles currently available for home download...

LORE - As Nazi Germany collapses around her, a 14-year-old girl must cross a newly occupied and divided nation to bring her younger siblings to the safety of her grandparents.  In the process they come to depend on a newly liberated Jewish traveling companion and discover the lies and atrocities in which their parents were complicit.  More than a coming-of-age tale, Lore is a metaphor for the German people in the closing days of World War II.  The film features a striking performance by young actress Saskia Rosendahl.  Available on iTunes download or Netflix DVD.  

TO THE WONDER - It's Malick again - beautiful cinematography, great actors, poetic voice-overs, recurring scenes of nature. This may be one of his most accessible films.  Ben Affleck plays a disaffected man who can't decide if he wants to be with Olga Kurylenko or Rachel McAdams, while Javier Bardem laments his perceived irrelevance while searching for his true calling as a priest among a largely disaffected flock.  Available for download on iTunes.  

UPSTREAM COLOR - It's been nine years since former MIT philosopher Shane Carruth wowed the indie film world with Primer.  If thought-provoking, controversial films are your thing, you'll probably love this allegorical tale.  Just who is that enigmatic pig farmer anyway? Currently in limited release, this film is also available as a rental download from iTunes.  

ROOM 237 - Judging from the huge response we received after posting about this doc, there are a lot of Kubrick fans among our readers, or people who are just plain intrigued by hidden meanings and symbolism.  There's a lot of that here, as fans of The Shining share what they see or think they see behind Kubrick's elaborate and enigmatic scene constructions. Available as a download from iTunes.  

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK - Never before has mental dysfunction been so empathetic, funny and romantic.  Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence shine as two mentally-challenged lovebirds who work through their problems to a more than merely satisfactory result.  An awards season favorite this year, Silver Linings Playbook is available as an iTunes download or Netflix DVD.  

THE IMPOSSIBLE - Like the family at the center of this drama about the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, this film will cause you to reconsider your life priorities and relationships.  A family separated in the midst of disaster overcome the odds to survive and find one another again. Cringe-inducing, realistic disaster effects and a standout performance by young actor, Tom Holland, makes it worth your while.  Available as an iTunes download or Netflix DVD. 

HOLY MOTORS - In French with English subtitles, this is a chaotic film that is one of the most inspired works of artistic vision vision to hit cinema in a very long time.  Director Leos Carax has painted a mesmerizing canvas around actor Denis Levant that delivers an unsurpassed showcase for a talented actor.  The visual contrast and social commentary that permeates every frame heightened my enjoyment of the film.  Available from Netflix as a download or on DVD.  

BEFORE SUNRISE/ BEFORE SUNSET - Before Midnight, the last of Richard Linklater's acclaimed romantic trilogy, has just hit the USA in limited release.  Before you see it, you can catch up on the early years of Jesse and Celine's story of timeless and tragic love by downloading or ordering the DVD for the two earlier films of the series that began in 1995 with Before Sunrise.  Available on iTunes, Netflix and a number of other platforms.  

Upstream Color

Beneath the Surface                         
by Zac Ryan

As the Hollywood studios ramp up their release schedule of uninspired and unoriginal summer programming, thankfully we can expect something original, albeit a little strange, in the latest film from Shane Carruth.

Carruth first burst onto the scene at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival with his micro-budget film, Primer, which he claims he made for only $7,000, "because that's how much Rodriguez made El Mariachi for." While Primer tackled what may happen in the future with the possibility of time travel, Upstream Color tries to dig deeper into what may have happened in our past to make us feel how we do in this given moment. It is our own actions, or possibly misfortune, that brings us to who we are now.

Sure, it doesn't sound too original, but how it builds is what really allows Carruth to shine as the ultimate multi-hyphenate (he directed, wrote, starred, shot, co-edited, scored and distributed the film). And just like his previous film, he wants to give you enough pieces to give you something to talk about once the end credits start to roll.

Now before I get into what actually happens in the film, I wanted to give a bit of a spoiler warning here. I'm not going to give everything away, but I feel that this film is best experienced knowing as little as possible. I went in without even seeing a trailer or reading a synopsis, and yet I was transfixed from the opening scene until the end, even if the extra large iced tea kept yelling at me to leave the auditorium for a couple of minutes. I couldn't.

Amy Seimetz

When the film first starts, we witness the Thief (Thiago Martins) digging through some blue orchids. Not for the plants themselves, but for the worm-like creatures within the soil. These worm-like creatures have a side-effect when ingested, leaving the person under a spell, a zombie-like trance, allowing the Thief to get them to do mundane tasks, including memorizing and writing down passages of Thoreau's book, "Walden". One night he finds the unsuspecting Kris (Amy Seimetz), drugs her and uses his power of persuasion to drain her of her life savings, leaving her broke and jobless, as she tries to put the pieces of her life back together.

One night she is drawn to a pig farm that is run by The Sampler (Andrew Sensenig), or so it seems. The Sampler easily blends into any group and setting, and spends most of his time in nature recording its sounds. What for? That's part of the mystery of the film. But it is sound that draws Kris to his farm after several unsuccessful attempts to remove the worms from her body with a knife. The Sampler is able to extract the parasite and implants it within one of the pigs on the farm, which he tags "Kris."

Amy Seimetz and Andrew Sensenig

As stated in the opening, this is like nothing you've ever see from one of the major studios (or possibly even one of the many indie distributors), and this is only the first third of the movie. In the last hour of the film, it shifts from the sci-fi set-up to something a little more mundane, a romantic drama. After meeting on a train, Kris finally agrees to have coffee with Jeff (played by Carruth). There's no way to tell how much time has passed, but Kris is on the defensive and attempts to put a stop to any relationship by divulging she has problems which only prescription medicine can help. But this doesn't phase Jeff, as he also has some of his own problems.

The relationship grows, connections are made, and the bigger purpose of the narrative slowly starts to unfold. To go any deeper would be criminal, but to say it all ends up where you believe, you may be shocked in the end. Or maybe I was just entranced while watching the film, slowly manipulated and sucked in by the beautiful cinematography and accompanied score.

If David Cronenberg and Terrence Malick had a child together, it just may have turned out to be Shane Carruth. Let's just hope that we don't have to wait another nine years for his next film. In the meantime, I may just have to watch the film once again to grab the hidden clues that were missed the first time around.

Upstream Color is currently in a limited theatrical run (dates found here) and will be available on most digital platforms starting May 7th.

Posted with Blogsy

Go Indie for the Holidays

Holiday Gift Guide                       
by Mark Dispenza

This is the time of year when you may wonder what kind of holiday gift will light up the eyes of the indie film lover in your life.  The fact is it's not as big a challenge as you may think.  There are an endless variety of gift possibilities to fit every budget and taste.  The following are a few of our top picks.

FILM FESTIVAL PASSES

There are now film festivals in almost every community and country in the world, and it's a sure bet there's one within 50 miles of where you are right now.  You usually do not have to pre-select the films, which leaves selection to the discretion and personal taste of the recipient.  You can buy film packs of as few as 4-6 films for little more than $50 or buy an all-access pass for prices ranging from several hundred to thousands of dollars.  Festival Focus has a database of film festivals that is searchable by title, keyword and country.

HIGH QUALITY DVD & BLU-RAY EDITIONS

The Criterion Collection is an online store that offers high-quality, technically engineered DVD and Blu-ray editions of art house films that span the entire history of cinema, including special masters collections of great filmmakers, such as Akira Kurosawa and Louis Malle.  The site also offers film memorabilia and gift certificates, in case you're not sure what the recipient wants or has already collected.  Kino Lorber and Film Movement also offer great collections of foreign and independent film gift box sets.

VOD SUBSCRIPTIONS

Video on Demand is the fastest growing method of indie film delivery in the current market.  The cinephile can download a selected film and watch it instantly on a desktop, tablet or television screen.  Several major services offer gift subscriptions, including Fandor, Hulu, IndiePix, VOD, and of course, Netflix.

GIFT CERTIFICATES

If you're not sure if your particular cinephile will prefer to use a VOD service or order DVDs for home delivery, there is the option of gift card purchases that can be used to buy DVDs and Blu-rays or download films directly.  Gift certificates may offer more versatility and can be used for things like books and music, as well.  Amazon.com and iTunes are two of the most popular sites offering gift certificates and gift cards.

THEATER GIFT CARDS

For the cinephile who prefers to see movies on the big screen for the pure cinematic experience, most theaters offer gift cards that can be redeemed for movie tickets or concessions.  They range from large chains like Ciinemark to smaller, more local venues like Metropolitan Theatres in California and the Prytania and Canal Place in New Orleans.

Happy Holidays

from 

Indie Film Guru