2006 Alternative, Independent and Foreign Films (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

Welcome to the 2006 Alternative, Independent and Foreign films thread.

A very late start, yet not unprecedented, as the very first version of this thread was created in the summer as well, as a counter-point to the big budget releases which dominate theaters this time of year.

The purpose of this thread remains the same, to keep track of the independent and foreign films which might otherwise fly under most radars attuned to the more standard fare.

This post will maintain a list of upcoming movies (in the form of posters) and a review index.

Since the 2006 thread was started this late, I am thinking reviews of theatrical or home video screenings of earlier 2006 releases are fair game.

Suggestions are welcome.



CURRENT & UPCOMING RELEASES

08/11


Half Nelson


House Of Sand


Conversation With Other Women


Poster Boy


08/18


Little Miss Sunshine


Factotum


Trust The Man


My First Wedding


10th & Wolf


Princesas



08/25


The Quiet


Unconscious


Looking For Kitty


09/01


Crank


This Film Is Not Yet Rated (Um... that's the actual title. Not including this. Arrgh. What's this, you ask. Listen, the last word of the title is the first "Rated". Geez).


Nice Bombs


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REVIEW INDEX (Film Name, Name of Reviewer and link to review, Post #)


Brothers of the Head
Jason Seaver (#7)

Half Nelson
Jason Seaver (#7)


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LINKS

Previous Threads
2005
2004
2003

Usual Suspects
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Miramax Films
Focus Features
Lions Gate Films
Sony Pictures Classic



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H

 

[Michael Reuben]

It might be a good idea to put the film title in text beneath the thumbnail. Some of them don't have the title, and others aren't easy to read.

Some additional August titles, and some July titles that should still be around:

7/7:
Heading South

7/14:
Edmond
Time to Leave
Gabrielle

7/21:
Shadowboxer

7/28:
Brothers of the Head

8/4:
The Bridesmaid
My Country My Country
Quinceañera
Boynton Beach Club

8/12:
Conversations with Other Women
Half Nelson
House of Sand

M.

 

[SteveGon]

The cover shots, while nice, really aren't necessary so you could save yourself the trouble as far as I'm concerned. I'd much rather have exact release dates with perhaps a little info on the films themselves.

 

[JohnRice]

I agree with Steve.

BTW, where did you get the info that Unconscious is coming out this month?

 

[teapot2001]

I agree with Steve.

~T

 

[Holadem]

Yeah, I've got to clean that up, I will probably be adopting the weekly format Michael posted. I will try the poster thing for a while because I think they are purty, if it becomes too much I'll drop it.

John, from Rotten Tomatoes for 8/25/2006 http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/unconscious/

Like most films in this thread, the initial release is limited.

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H

 

[Jason Seaver]

Saw these two at the Independent Film Festival of Boston in April; both are pretty darn decent.

Brothers of the Head is an interesting mock rock doc where the subjects are conjoined twins; their father had more or less sold them to an impressario who saw them as a novelty pop act, but they find themselves more drawn to punk.

The directors (Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe) are better known as film documentarians - they did The Hamster Factor and Lost in La Mancha with Terry Gilliam - and they use that expertise to blur the line between fact and fiction. It's based on a book by Brian Aldiss, who appears in the film to comment on the story, as does Ken Russell, whom the film posits tried to adapt Aldiss's book back in the 1970s but had the project cancelled midway through. That lets us actually see the brothers' early life before they are filmed for real, and shakes the style up a little.

I found it to be a neat idea, but a little too grimy for my tastes. It fits the story, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the film, but it just didn't quite connect for me, despite how really phenomenal indentical (but not conjoned) twins Harry and Luke Treadway are as Tom and Barry. Luke, in particular, is arresting as the angrier twin, free to express himself for the first time and doing it explosively.


Half Nelson is based around an impressive performance, too, this one by Ryan Gosling as an inner-city junior high teacher with a serious drug problem. He genuinely wants to be a good teacher, and a good person for that matter, but doesn't seem able to manage it even when he finds the student who, in a more mainstream movie, would be inspired to chase her dreams and eventually go to college and change the world. This isn't that kind of film; it's about just trying to keep one's head above water. Pretty much every moment offers the potential of both teacher and student to backslide into a hole they can't get out of; that the movie seems to instill some amount of hope for the characters' futures in the audience is nothing short of remarkable.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Some links to the films' official websites would be nice as well.

 

[Linda Thompson]

Speaking of Gilliam, I didn't see his TIDELAND in the list yet...I've seen US open dates reported for both August and October...not sure which is correct.

For anyone interested, a few relevant links:

http://www.tidelandthemovie.com/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060811/en_nm/gilliam_dc

http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tidefact.htm

http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tidegill.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tideland_%28film%29

http://www.hollywoodnorthreport.com/...p?Article=3303 (trailer and poster)


Doesn't look like my own cup of tea, but it definitely looks like pure, distilled (and unrestrained) Gilliam. I know a couple of folks in the forum have been waiting / hoping for this one to make it to the US...

P.S. -- Not sure of the proper ettiquette (or "Holadem's Rules" ) for the new thread, and don't want to step on any toes. I assume input and info offerings are welcomed from others besides the OP? If not, I apologize in advance and will gladly remove my post. In either case, thanks for taking the torch from Edwin and keeping it going, Holadem!

 

[Holadem]

Linda, it's all good.

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H

 

[Michael Reuben]

Just a note that Little Miss Sunshine has been in limited release for about a month now, and there's an existing thread on it:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=239248

M.

 

[Holadem]

It opened here today, I will be checking it out next week.

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H

 

[Holadem]

Truman Capote, subject of yet another movie? This has got to be unprecedented, no?

From Warner Independent: http://wip.warnerbros.com/ (can't directly link to the trailer).

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H

 

[Michael Reuben]

This seems the right place to mention the series from Sony Pictures Classics entitled Viva Pedro, which is described on its website as follows:


The series has already kicked off in New York. A list of other cities where it is scheduled to play can be found at the website linked above.

M.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Very frustrating to live in a Spanish speaking country and have no theaters on the release list.

 

[Holadem]

I've only seen Talk to Her, a fine film, but a difficult subject matter.

If these ever come this way, I shall be there for at least All About My Mother.

EDIT: Bah, no showings here .

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H

 

[Jason Seaver]

Wow, I can't believe it's listing Kendall Square here in Boston rather than the Brattle. Usually retrosective series play at the Brattle Theater because, hey, that's what the Brattle does, but Landmark and Sony Pictures Classics seem to have a pretty cozy relationship.

I bet this ticked the rep house's programmer right off.

 

[Haggai]

H, there was an odd situation back in '97/'98, when there were two movies in quick succession about a long-distance runner who died young in the '70s, Steve Prefontaine. One of them was called Prefontaine, and the other one was Without Limits. It's a bit mystifying how even one movie about him got the greenlight, but how those TWO movies got made at the same time is really baffling. Neither of them made any impact at all.

 

[Holadem]

Interesting, Haggai. It's not like 2 Churchill biopics released in the same year, but Prefontaine... A strange case to be sure.

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H

 

[Michael Reuben]

The "Viva Pedro!" series skipped the Landmark theater in New York. Instead, it's playing at two independently owned art cinemas: the Lincoln Plaza and then, after each film concludes its run at the LP, the Quad Cinema downtown.

So far, I've managed to see Women on the Verge, which I hadn't seen in years and was much funnier the second time; Flower of My Secret; and Live Flesh. I had never seen the latter two and really enjoyed them. Law of Desire just opened today, and I'm going to try to fit it in this weekend.

M.