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Past Indie Film Fests

The UFS Indie Film Fests, held each spring and fall since 2003, have brought an impressive selection of quality foreign and limited-released films to the Greenville area.

Limited-release, independent or “indie” films, typically receive far fewer showings and less publicity than their mainstream counterparts. Such films have grown tremendously in popularity due to their emphasis on story and increasing critical acclaim.

Past films featured in the Upstate Film Society’s Indie Film Fests:
(click on a title for a synopsis of the film)

Look up more information on each of these films at The Internet Movie Database or see reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE
A fresh comedy from the new Europe, L’Auberge Espagnole is the story of a young man who, through cosmopolitan adventures and comic tribulations, finds his own unexpected place in a mixed-up, multi-cultural modern world. Rising director CÈdric Klapisch uses a kinetic high-definition digital camera that plays with time, rhythm and space to reflect a year of wild parties, tumultuous love affairs, inspired friendships, sudden heartaches and unexpected connections that add up to a new view of the future. Set against the dynamism of one of Europe’s hippest cities, Barcelona, L’Auberge Espagnole follows the fate of 25-year-old economics student Xavier (Romain Duris) who journeys there as part of the popular inter-European exchange program “Erasmus,” named after the traveling Dutch scholar of the Renaissance.
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DE-LOVELY
Directed by Irwin Winkler, De-Lovely depicts the life of the great American composer Cole Porter (Kevin Kline). Despite his sexual preference for men, Porter found inspiration and virtually unconditional love with Linda Lee (Ashley Judd). Told in flashback as Porter is near death, the film follows the Porters’ fabulous, unconventional relationship from their meeting in Paris to their subsequent moves to Venice, New York, Hollywood, and Williamstown, as well as the many stops along the way. Kline perfectly captures the Porters’ zest for life and seemingly inexhaustible need for love. Classic tunes such as “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love,” “Let’s Misbehave,” and “Anything Goes” take on whole new meanings when considered in the context of Porter and Lee’s life together. Contemporary musical performers, including Alanis Morissette, Natalie Cole, Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, and Sheryl Crow, appear in the film singing Porter standards, a device that works surprisingly well. Judd holds her own as the devoted Linda, who gives her love to Porter and supports his musical ambitions while trying to overlook his homosexual affairs. Historians may debate the details of the Porters’ relationship, but one thing is clear: De-Lovely dazzles with great music, period costumes, and fine performances. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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FOG OF WAR
Documentary expert Errol Morris directs The Fog of War, a captivating look at Robert S. McNamara, who served as the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The movie does not exclusively focus on this part of McNamara’s career, however, and instead gives a broad overview of the man he was, his multitude of roles–a Harvard Business School graduate, a Colonel in the Air Force during WWII, president of Ford Motor Company–and his opinions on a variety of historical topics. Inspired by two books written by McNamara–In Retrospect (1995) and Wilson’s Ghost (2001)–Morris gives McNamara a forum to talk about the decisions he made and the influence he had during his career. At the age of 85, McNamara has gained necessary perspective to do just that. Sharp as a tack, packed with charisma, and generally fascinating, McNamara easily carries the film with his revealing interviews. Meanwhile, Morris’ use of archival footage along with with maps and other effective visual aids add context to McNamara’s commentary. Finally, Philip Glass’s ominous pulsing score gives the film’s important subject matter the gravity it deserves. (synopsis courtesy of RottenTomatoes.com)Top of Page

LOOK AT ME
A talented woman struggles to get out from under the shadow of her father in this comedy. Lolita (Marilou Berry) is the 20-year-old daughter of Etienne Cassard (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a wealthy and well-known editor and writer, and most of the people she meets seem to be more interested in her dad than in her; her zaftig figure doesn’t help her self-esteem much, either. Lolita is a gifted singer and has been studying with a voice coach, Sylvia (AgnËs Jaoui); however, as it turns out, Sylvia has a husband, Pierre (Laurent GrÈvill), who is a novelist and hopes that Cassard might be willing to help him get his new book into print and onto bookstore shelves. The great writer seems to take a cavalier attitude toward nearly everyone around him, though, including his wife, Karine (Virginie Desarnauts). Lolita strikes up a friendship with a young man named Sebastien (Keine Bouhiza) which seems to be leading to romance, but when Lolita learns that Sebastien wants to become a writer, she finds herself wondering if he really wants her, or just an introduction to her dad. Jaoui, who plays Sylvia, also directed Comme une Image (aka Look at Me) and co-wrote the screenplay. (synopsis courtesy of All Movie Guide.)
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THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST
The Man Without a Past delivers a new edge to the story that stirred viewers all around the world in Drifting Clouds. Without sidestepping bitter issues, one could paint an image of a small country in the North in a touching, amusing, and liberating way. At the beginning of this new film, a man (Markku Peltola) has travelled to Helsinki in search of work, gets mugged, loses his memory, and has to start completely anew, from scratch. He discovers love (Kati Outinen), and is forced to discover values with which man will not be ashamed to live. A small story about people who still know how to be gentle, an enormous cinematic experience.
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THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
You wouldn’t think a movie could look like a Vermeer painting, but Girl with a Pearl Earring is filmed with an amazing range of luminous glows that evoke the Dutch artist’s masterworks. Of course, it helps that much of the movie centers on Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Ghost World), whose creamy skin and full lips have a luminosity of their own. Johansson plays Griet, a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Fever Pitch), who finds herself in a web of jealousy, artistic inspiration, and social machinations. Though the pace is slow, Girl with a Pearl Earring genuinely conveys some sense of an artist’s process, as well as offering many chaste yet sensual moments between Firth and Johansson. Also featuring Essie Davis as Vermeer’s bitter wife and Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) as a wealthy patron with eyes for Griet. (synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com)
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JET LAG
Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno play strangers who meet in an airport (via cell phone) when their flights are canceled because of a strike in Daniele Thompson’s romantic French comedy Jet Lag. Binoche is Rose, a woman obsessed with makeup and style, who is seemingly shallow and selfish. Reno, taking a break from playing action heroes in American films (Godzilla, Mission: Impossible), is Felix, a lonely former chef who is now a frozen-food king. Rose is seeking a new life in Mexico, far from her abusive former lover, Sergio (Sergi Lopez), while Felix is heading to Munich to recapture something he has lost. Both have dysfunctional relationships with their parents–Rose with her mother, Felix with his father. As they are stuck in Charles de Gaulle Airport and later in an airport hotel, truths come out that force them to face their uncertain futures.
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THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR
Jeff Bridges demonstrates once again that he is one of the finest actors in film. Ted Cole (Bridges: Seabiscuit, The Big Lebowski), a successful writer/illustrator of children’s books, invites a young student named Eddie (Jon Foster) to be his assistant for a summer. Eddie doesn’t realize he’s being drawn into the middle of a dissolving marriage until Ted’s wife Marion (Kim Basinger: L. A. Confidential) invites him into an affair–which Ted both condones and resents. Slowly, Eddie comes to understand the secrets that are tearing the marriage apart. Bridges never shows off; everything he does seems simple, natural, almost unavoidable, but it’s also utterly watchable. Whether you like the movie will depend on whether you like John Irving (The Door in the Floor is based on part of his novel A Widow for One Year), but Bridges’s performance is undeniable. (synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com)
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THE COMPANY
An elegant portrait of artists in the act of creation, The Company is also a ballet lover’s dream come true. While this intimate study of the onstage and backstage world of dance may appeal to a limited audience with its casually plotless structure, it’s still a unique, accomplished film by one of the greatest American directors. As critic Roger Ebert observed, Robert Altman’s film is also an autobiographical reflection of Altman’s working methods, in which an ensemble (in this case, Neve Campbell and the dancers of Chicago’s celebrated Joffrey Ballet Company) is casually choreographed in an atmosphere of spontaneity that’s both dramatically charged and effortlessly authentic. A classically trained dancer, Campbell also coproduced the film, and stars with James Franco (as her easygoing boyfriend) and Malcolm McDowell as the Joffrey’s delightfully diva-like artistic director. Featuring stellar performances of the Joffrey’s best-known dances, this soothing, hypnotic film is devoid of conventional dialogue, and yet Barbara Turner’s screenplay provides a precise roadmap for Altman’s masterful choreography of dance, music, and human interaction.
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FRIDA
Brilliant colors that bring Frida Kahlo’s Mexico City to vibrant life combine with a captivating performance by Salma Hayek to make director Julie Taymor’s Frida a fascinating film. Starting and ending with Frida on her deathbed, the film spans the famous painter’s life from her teenage years to her death at the young age of 47. From start to finish, Frida is portrayed as a relentlessly energized, self-righteous, headstrong, assertive woman. At the age of 18, Frida was horribly injured in a bus accident. Though she learned to walk again, she lived her life in physical agony, enduring multiple surgeries, and eventually needing a wheelchair. Yet her condition did not stop her from having an exciting, tumultuous life as the wife of famed artist and womanizer Diego Rivera, who mentored her in her own work and encouraged her passions. Frida had liberal views and socialist politics. She was bisexual and promiscuous. She drank, abused painkillers, sang and danced, and fearlessly poured her pain and beauty into her paintings. Taymor has created a lively and dramatically emotive film with Frida, capturing her endearing resiliency with color, music, and, of course, art. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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SUPER SIZE MEWhy are Americans so fat? Find out in Super Size Me, a tongue in-cheek — and burger in hand — look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America’s hunger for fast food. Ominously, 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat and 2 out of every three adults are overweight or obese. Is it our fault for lacking self-control, or are the fast-food corporations to blame? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities, including Houston, the “Fattest City” in America. From Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, cooks to kids, lawmakers to legislators, these authorities shared their research, opinions and “gut feelings” on our ever-expanding girth. During the journey, Spurlock also put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald’s for an entire month with three simple rules: 1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!) 2) No supersizing unless offered 3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who’s ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone. The film explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health. Super Size Me is a satirical jab in the stomach, overstuffed with fat and facts about the billion-dollar industry besieged by doctors, lawyers and nutritionists alike. “Would you like fries with that?” will never sound the same! (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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MURDERBALLThe cutthroat sport of quadriplegic rugby, or “kill the man with the ball,” is the focus of this energetic and riveting documentary by Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry Alex Rubin. The directors followed the young, tattooed jock Mark Zupan, the seasoned coach Joe Soares, and several other players on the U.S. and Canadian teams as they trained for the 2004 Paralympics, in Athens. With graceful editing and a minimal score, Shapiro and Rubin interweave the players’ stories-their families, sex lives, physical achievements-with well-shot scenes of the action. The athletes play with fury, transferring their anger at their disabilities into incredible agility and power. The men seem at a loss when they attempt to fathom their situations, but their pure will allows them to keep moving. (synopsis courtesy of Shauna Lyon, The New Yorker)
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LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
Courting controversy even before it was released, Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World is the hilarious story of what happens when the U.S. Government sends comedian Albert Brooks to India and Pakistan to find out what makes the over 300 million Muslims in the region laugh. Brooks, accompanied by two state department handlers and his trusted assistant, goes on a journey that takes him from a concert stage in New Delhi, to the Taj Mahal, to a secret location in the mountains of Pakistan. Written and directed by Albert Brooks, Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World is a funny and insightful look at some of the issues we are dealing with in a post-9/11 world. (synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com)
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PARADISE NOW
Paradise Now follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together. Granted a night to spend with their families, they go home but are unable to say goodbye for fear of tipping their hand. But perhaps it isn’t time for farewells yet as the two become separated during the mission and must decide on their own whether to continue or bail out. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions. (synopsis courtesy of Netflix and Amazon.com)
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THE WHITE COUNTESS
The White Countess is the story of two lonely people who find hope amid the political turmoil of 1930s Shanghai in this romantic drama. Blinded by a traumatic event that took the lives of his wife and daughter, disenchanted ex-U.S. diplomat Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) dreams of owning a gentleman’s club. But his life changes forever when he crosses paths with an exiled Russian countess (Natasha Richardson) reduced to accepting sordid jobs to support her family. (synopsis courtesy of Netflix)
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BEFORE SUNSET
In 1994, director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life) made Before Sunrise, a gorgeous poem of a movie about two strangers (played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) wandering around Vienna, talking, and falling in love. Ten years later, Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy have returned with Before Sunset, which reunites the same characters after Hawke has written a book about that night. Delpy appears at the final book reading of his European tour; they have less than two hours before Hawke has to catch a flight to New York…and in that time, they walk around Paris, talk, and fall in love all over again. It sounds simple, perhaps dull, but it’s written with such skill and care and acted with such richness that it’s a miracle of filmmaking. On its own, Before Sunset is moving and wonderful; seen right after Before Sunrise, it will break your heart. (synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com)
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A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT
This World War I mystery finds limitless beauty in the nostalgia of loss. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whose whimsical Amelie riveted audiences, A Very Long Engagement also stars Audrey Tautou–the 21st century’s Audrey Hepburn–in the stubbornly emotional role of a widow in denial. Here she is Mathilde, a waifish young woman with a pronounced limp from childhood polio. Living with her quirky aunt and uncle in a farmhouse by the sea, and waiting desperately for her fiance Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) to return from the war, she believes that if he were truly lost she would feel it in her heart. Thus, when the bad news arrives–Manech and five fellow soldiers were exiled to No Man’s Land for shooting off their own fingers in hope of being discharged–Mathilde refuses to believe he is dead. Instead, she begins her own investigation into Manech’s infantry, hiring a private detective and tracking down the wives and girlfriends of each of Manech’s compatriots. Conducting countless interviews, Mathilde pieces together Manech’s war stories–which are told in earthshaking flashbacks involving gruesome explosions, flying guts, and massive suffering. And yet, the all-in-this-together humanity of these awful scenes, and the heartfelt bravery with which Mathilde absorbs the details of each battle, is undeniably moving. Jodie Foster appears as Elodie, one of the widows, in a charismatic yet muted performance and with a flawless accent. However, the most intriguing of the widows is Tina Lombardi (Marion Cotillard), a thrilling dominatrix-assassin bent on avenging her lover. A timeless masterwork that raises the bar for breathtaking camerawork, vivid landscapes, and fantastical storytelling, A Very Long Engagement is adapted from the novel by Sebastien Japriscot.
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LES CHORISTES
1949, post-War France: In a dark, doom-filled school for troubled boys where hope itself is in short supply, a mild-mannered new teacher has just arrived, only to find himself surrounded by prepubescent thieves, inveterate liars, unapologetic rebels and lost souls beyond reach. Or are they? When Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot) introduces these supposedly hard-core delinquents to something they’ve never experienced before–the freedom and joy of music–he discovers there is far more to these children than anyone dared to believe.
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THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
A Vietnamese man looking for a better life embarks on a dangerous and eye-opening voyage to America in this powerful drama set during the late ’60s. Binh (Damien Nguyen) is a man in his early twenties who has never known his parents, though he is clearly of mixed-race parentage, which makes him an outcast in his community. Weary of being treated like an animal, Binh sets out to find his mother, only to discover she works as a servant for a wealthy white family who subject her to constant abuse. When a household accident leads to his mother’s death, Bihn decides to leave Vietnam for America, with his half-brother in tow. Unable to travel to America legally, Binh attempts to smuggle his way into the States aboard a ship; he’s found out, and is sent to a prison camp in Malaysia, where he meets Ling (Bai Ling), a beautiful woman who has been forced into prostitution to support herself. Befriending Ling, Binh eventually arranges for passage to America aboard a refugee ship, though the harrowing voyage claims the life of Binh’s half-brother. Binh and Ling arrive in New York City as illegal aliens, and soon learn that life in America can be just as harrowing as what they left behind; eventually, Binh runs away, hoping to make his way to Texas where he’s learned that his father is living. Produced by Terrence Malick, The Beautiful Country also features supporting performances from Nick Nolte and Tim Roth. (synopsis courtesy of All Movie Guide.)
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BREAKFAST ON PLUTO
A vibrant, picturesque new movie from Neil Jordan, the award winning director of The Crying Game, Interview With A Vampire and The End of the Affair. Set in the 1970s, Breakfast on Pluto follows the exploits of Patrick Braden, an endearing, but deceptively tough young man. Abandoned as a baby in his small Irish hometown and aware from a very early age that he is different, Patrick survives this harsh environment with the aid of his wit and charm, plus a sweet refusal to let anyone and anything change who he is.Jordan weaves a wonderfully surreal and magical tale to bring us this funny, moving and poignant rites of passage account of a young man enduring the trials and tribulations he faces with a smile and unwavering faith in the inherent goodness in us all.
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LEONARD COHEN: I’M YOUR MAN
Leonard Cohen manages to garner fans from the unlikeliest of places despite his distinctly un-rock-&-roll appearance and a set of songs that veer closer to poetry than to their uneasy bedfellows in the pantheon of popular music. But viewers looking for an in-depth analysis of the man behind some of the most deeply introspective music ever recorded should look elsewhere: Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man contains precious little insight from Cohen himself. Instead, director Lian Lunson has pieced together a warm tribute to the Canadian singer, drawing on the words of his many celebrity fans while also sharing generous amounts of footage from a Cohen tribute concert staged in 2005. The concert was filmed in Australia, with the bulk of the celebrity testimonials coming from performers at the show. The eclectic array of artists taking part include Nick Cave, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, and folk legend Linda Thompson, all of whom perform unique interpretations of Cohen-penned classics such as “I’m Your Man” (Cave) and “Chelsea Hotel #2″ (Rufus Wainwright). Lunson intersperses the concert footage with interviews from the stars, the most vocal and effusive praise coming from the Edge and Bono from U2, who are seen backing Cohen on a rendition of “Tower of Song” as the movie closes. Cohen himself is also given some screen time in which he muses on a number of interesting topics, but Lunson’s piece is mostly designed as a straight tribute to a man who has never sat easily in the contemporary music world, much to the delight of his fans.
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TSOTSI
Based on South African playwright Athol Fugard’s only novel, Tsotsi is a thrilling, provocative look at life in the ghettos outside present-day Johannesburg. Presley Chweneyagae stars as the title character, a teenager with a killer stare who lives alone in a ramshackle room in a poor shantytown, where he pulls off petty crimes with the help of three compatriots–Boston (Mothusi Magano), Butcher (Zenzo Ngqobe), and Aap (Kenneth Nkosi). But after they stab a man to death on the subway and Tsotsi (which means “thug” or “gangster”) beats up Boston for trying to find out about his past, Tsotsi runs off to a wealthy section of the city, shoots a woman, and steals her car. Only later does he discover that there is a baby in the back seat–and decides to keep it for himself. As Tsotsi finally does look back at his own childhood, he tries to take care of the infant, carrying it around in a paper bag and forcing a young mother, Miriam (Terry Pheto), to breastfeed it at gunpoint. At this point, writer-director Gavin Hood could have opted for trite sentimentality, but instead he delves deeper into Tsotsi’s psyche, as the young man might have already gone too far to turn back now. Tsotsi is a pulsating, electrifying film propelled by Chweneyagae’s powerful, mesmerizing performance. The pounding soundtrack features popular local Kwaito music by Zola, who also plays crimelord Fela in the film. Winner of the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Tsotsi“will rank as one of the best films ever to come out of South Africa,” as Fugard himself said. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert? Who Killed the Electric Car? chronicles the life and mysterious death of the GM EV1, examining its cultural and economic ripple effects and how they reverberated through the halls of government and big business. The truth behind its demise resembles the climactic outcome of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express: multiple suspects, each taking their turn with the knife. Who Killed the Electric Car? interviews and investigates automakers, legislators, engineers, consumers and car enthusiasts from Los Angeles to Detroit, to work through motives and alibis, and to piece the complex puzzle together. Who Killed the Electric Car? is not just about the EV1. It’s about how this allegory for failure — reflected in today’s oil prices and air quality –can also be a shining symbol of society’s potential to better itself and the world around it. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY
Oscar winning director Sydney Pollack takes a sharp sideways turn with Sketches of Frank Gehry, a documentary about the noted architect. Usually known for making grandiose productions such as The Firm and Out of Africa, Pollock adds a genuine curio to his filmmaking resume with this movie. Although the two men have been friends for years, Pollock thankfully bypasses the opportunity to pay a fawning tribute to Gehry, instead presenting a well-balanced portrait that offers both positive and negative commentators the chance to etch their thoughts into celluloid. But it quickly becomes clear that the biggest naysayer of all is Gehry himself, who is painted as a highly self-critical man, clearly ill-at-ease with fame and his own achievements. Pollock offers some screen time to Gehry’s magnificent creations, but not as much as a less experienced director might have done, instead choosing to focus on the man himself. People such as Gehry’s therapist, Milton Wexler, and garrulous artist/director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat) offer their thoughts, but the real magic occurs when Pollock and Gehry are on screen together. The series of interviews between the two men have the kind of relaxed atmosphere that could only exist after years of friendship, and Gehry comes across as an astonishingly normal and likeable fellow who keeps his ego firmly in check. Shooting mostly with hand-held digital-video cameras also brings a nice intimacy to the proceedings, creating a warm testimony to a great artist who has somehow managed to keep his integrity intact despite the ruthless nature of the industry in which he works. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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LITTLE CHILDREN
Actor-turned-director Todd Field follows up his Oscar-nominated drama, In The Bedroom, with this ambitious adaptation of Tom Perrotta’s celebrated novel. Set in the imploding minefields of modern suburbia, Little Children follows several inhabitants of a small American town as they fumble their way through adulthood. Numb-to-life housewife and mother Sarah Pierce (Kate Winslet) finds an outlet for her yearning in gorgeous househusband Brad Adamson (Patrick Wilson), who is crippled with insecurity over the fact that his perfect wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), is the family breadwinner. When Sarah and Brad meet at the local playground one afternoon, a passionate affair is sparked. In a further attempt to reclaim his youthful fire, Brad joins a night football league with Larry Hedges (Noah Emmerich), a former cop who has begun to harass a convicted sex offender, Ronnie J. McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley). These troubled lives eventually collide, causing each individual to take full responsibility for their not-so-responsible actions. Adapted for the screen by Field and Perrotta and artfully photographed by Antonio Calvache, Little Children is a bitingly funny, and nakedly honest, critique of middle class dysfunction. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)Top of Page

VENUS
Screen legend Peter O’Toole stars in this moving story of an elderly actor and his somewhat questionable relationship with a teenage girl. Maurice (O’Toole) and his friend Ian (Leslie Phillips) are two classy curmudgeons whiling away their hours in coffee shops and at the theater, but their routine is thrown for a loop when Ian’s niece’s daughter Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) is sent from the country to act as his nurse. Jessie shows up on the scene sullen and pouty, immediately drinking all the liquor in the house and slouching her way from room to room. But Maurice befriends her, taking her to museums and getting her a gig as an art model, and along the way he openly expresses the lust she has awakened in him. Jessie’s brash rejections of his affections are at first as amusing as they are awkward. When she starts to allow him small pleasures –like kissing her bare shoulders or caressing her hands — the film enters into some uncomfortable, complicated territory, but it is deftly navigated by Hanif Kureishi’s sharp screenplay, and O’Toole’s heartbreaking performance. Far from just a tale of a May-December romance, Venus is a very raw look at growing old, and the aches and pains, both emotional and physical, that accompany a man near the end of his life. It is an honest, moving portrait of human desire, and how it can both beat us down and lift us up –no matter the age. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED
Passionate cinephiles can be found casting quizzical glances at the erratic and often conflicting decisions made by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as they slap ratings onto movies. So in an attempt to make sense of their working methods –which, until now, have remained shrouded in mystery — one of those cinephiles, Kirby Dick (Twist of Faith), has made this full-length motion picture about the inner workings of the MPAA. Dick begins by examining the MPAA’s set-up as an anonymous group that is exclusively funded by the major Hollywood studios. Fundamentally established to prevent children’s eyes from seeing anything society would consider unsuitable, the MPAA has blossomed into a powerful force, with the difference between an R and an NC-17 rating possibly leading to millions of dollars forfeited at the box office. Actors and directors such as John Waters, Maria Bello, Mary Harron, and Kevin Smith offer their forthright opinions on these decisions, and Dick highlights many of the clips that have fallen foul of the censors. The director also compares and contrasts similar scenes from indie pictures and films produced by major studios, with the latter seemingly allowed far more leniency when it comes to avoiding the dreaded NC-17. In a wonderful twist that adds a strong narrative structure to the film, Dick hires a private detective to hunt down the MPAA’s members, thereby lifting the curtain on who these shadowy figures actually are. But the real cherry on the top of Dick’s movie is his submission of This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated to the MPAA, which helps highlight the appeals process, and reveals the involvement of the Catholic Church and major cinema chains across the country. Entertaining and informative, Dick’s movie is everything a documentary should be. Revelations come thick and fast throughout, and the director skillfully creates a palpable feeling of injustice that will leave many viewers feeling the MPAA is in urgent need of a drastic overhaul. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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SHERRYBABY
Maggie Gyllenhaal is mesmerizing as a recovering addict in writer-director Laurie Collyer’s feature-length fiction-film debut, Sherrybaby. Gyllenhaal stars as Sherry Swanson, a troubled woman who has just been released from prison, where she spent three years for robbery to support her heroin addiction. Determined to regain control of her life, she moves into a halfway house and starts looking for a job, being carefully watched by her tough parole officer (Giancarlo Esposito). At an AA meeting, she is drawn to Dean Walker (Danny Trejo), a gritty older man who befriends her–but his ties to her dangerous past life threaten to pull her back in. Sherry’s main desire is to reestablish a relationship with her young daughter, Alexis (Ryan Simpkins), who is being raised by Sherry’s brother, Bobby (Brad William Henke), and his wife, Lynnette (Bridget Barkan)–but Lynnette doesn’t trust Sherry, wanting to keep Alexis for her own. As Sherry struggles to get back on track, she plays by her own rules, with drugs and a return to prison waiting just around the corner. Gyllenhaal gives a raw, bare, powerful performance as the embattled and desperate Sherry, who will do almost anything to regain her daughter’s love. Loosely based on the story of one of Collyer’s closest childhood friends, Sherrybaby, which got its start in the Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab, is an emotional rollercoaster of a movie, with realistic characters, an excellent cast, and plenty of surprising turns. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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ONCE
The Irish romance Once may be a musical, but it is miles away from the traditional Hollywood idea of people bursting into song. Glen Hansard (frontman for indie rock band The Frames) plays the guy, a street musician who is playing for change when he meets the girl (Marketa Irglova), an immigrant from the Czech Republic. The pair immediately bond over their shared love of music (he is a guitarist, and she plays the piano), and the film chronicles their tentative relationship. Both are weighed down by plenty of baggage: his songs are fueled by a painful breakup, and she is a young mother who left her husband behind in her native country. Like the independent favorite Before Sunrise, Once is a simple, sweet drama that doesn’t rely on an elaborate plot. With its use of digital video and handheld cameras, Once matches its spare visual style to its intimate mood. Each moment feels stolen from real life, and the story is at once familiar and fresh. Driven more by music than by dialogue, Once features a stirring soundtrack of heartfelt indie rock sung by Hansard and Irglova. Before his foray into film, director John Carney (On the Edge) played bass in The Frames, and his passion for music is clear in this modern musical that hits every note perfectly. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)
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PARIS, JE T’AIME
Eighteen different directors and a slew of indie actors come together for Paris, Je T’aime, a cinematic homage to the City of Light. Each director presents his or her own short story set in a different Parisian quarter, each one featuring a different cast of characters. The pieces vary in length, with some of them striving to tell a fully developed tale–no matter how simple the plot–while others are more abstract, content to rely on sparse dialogue and vivid imagery. With directors such as Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne, Wes Craven, and the Coen brothers participating, the tales are as varied and oddball as one might expect. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a lonely actress with a fondness for her hash dealer. Elijah Wood encounters a seductive vampire on a moonlit street. Steve Buscemi is a flustered tourist. Natalie Portman falls for a deaf Frenchmen. Each tale is markedly unique, and specific to the quirky style of its director, and the film is a veritable Who’s Who for indie buffs. The movie can feel mysterious and magical, evoking the romance and longing the city is famous for. (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)Top of Page

MY BEST FRIEND
Francois is a middle-aged antique dealer. He has a stylish apartment and a fabulous life, but at a dinner with a group he considers his dearest acquaintances, he is blindsided by the revelation that none of them actually likes him. He’s arrogant, self-centered and harsh, and they don’t believe he knows the meaning of friendship. His business partner Catherine makes him a bet: if he can produce his best friend, she will let him keep the massive Greek vase he acquired that afternoon on the company tab. If not, it’s hers. Having accepted the wager, Francois naively tears through his address book, trying to shoehorn an increasingly unlikely series of contacts into the all-important role. Moving through Paris, he keeps encountering a trivia-spouting, big-hearted cabbie named Bruno. Bruno’s chatty, lowbrow ways grate against Francois’s designer temperament, but he covets the other man’s easy way with people. He convinces Bruno to teach him how to make friends and sets about learning the “three S’s” - being sociable, smiling and sincere - though they don’t come easy. Ultimately, Francois’s victory will depend on Bruno’s naivete in playing along, but what’s the cost of cheating at friendship? (synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)Top of Page

INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS
The romantically inexperienced Tim (Khan Chittenden) finds himself caught between a controlling mother and his new girlfriend in this emotional coming-of-age film. Jean (Brenda Blethyn), a struggling comedienne, can’t accept that her son is growing up and fears that his budding relationship with Jill will disrupt the family. The conflict comes as Jean tries to revive her comedy career, and Tim’s dad relives his glory days as a one-hit wonder. (synopsis courtesy of Netflix)Top of Page

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