Declare Your Independents — Vol. 26
GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome back to Declare Your Independents, our series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film.
This week…
AFI Directing Workshop for Women Launches Episodic Directing Program
Does Love Is Strange Really Deserve An R Rating?
What Hollywood Lost When The Communists Were Purged
Bill Murray Will Attend Bill Murray Day At TIFF
Scott and I encourage any of you who go to see an independent movie to post your reactions to the film in these posts. Good, bad, indifferent, whatever. If there’s a film you want to recommend, do it. Use your words to inspire readers to transport themselves into a local cinema.
INDIE SPOTLIGHT: MOVIES TO SEE IN THEATERS THIS WEEK
OPENING FRIDAY (8/22)
A committed gay couple find their fledgling marriage challenged by a series of unexpected developments in this compassionate drama from writer/director Ira Sachs (Married Life, Keep the Lights On). Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) have been together for nearly 40 years. When gay marriage becomes legal in New York, the happy couple decide that it’s finally time to tie the knot, and declare their love for one another in front of family and friends. Although the ceremony is everything Ben and George ever could have hoped for, the happy couple’s newlywed bliss is sadly short-lived when the diocese receives word of the wedding, and George is fired from his job as a music teacher at a local Catholic school. As a result, the pair are no longer able to afford the rent on the New York City apartment they’ve shared for two decades. In order to remain in the city while searching for a job, George moves in with his sympathetic neighbors, a pair of gay policemen (Manny Perez and Cheyenne Jackson). Meanwhile, Ben attempts to make the best of the situation by moving in with his nephew’s family in Brooklyn. Now, as the big event that should have brought Ben and George closer together leads only to loneliness and frustration, everyone involved finds their once-comfortable lives in a hopeless state of flux. Marisa Tomei, Darren E. Burrows, and Charlie Tahan co-star.
Watch an interview with the film’s director and co-writer Ira Sachs here.
Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) are a married couple on the brink of separation. At the urging of their therapist, they escape to a beautiful vacation house for a weekend getaway in an attempt to salvage what’s left of their relationship. What starts off as a relaxing and tranquil retreat soon spirals into a dizzyingly bizarre experience that forces the couple to reflect upon the complexities of their troubled partnership. Over the course of a few days, Ethan and Sophie work diligently to rediscover their better selves and embrace the unexpected as everything they once thought was real becomes more and more surreal.
Watch an interview with Justin Lader, the film’s writer, here.
From outer space to Capitol Hill, from the silver screen to YouTube, the legendary George Takei has blazed his own trail while conquering new frontiers with a beaming trademark grin. This documentary is a hilarious, entertaining, and moving look at the many roles played by eclectic 77-year-old actor/activist George Takei. His wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and internet phenomenon.
Watch an interview with the film’s director, Jennifer M. Kroot, here.
Inspired by a true story, When the Game Stands Tall brings to life the incredible winning streak of the De La Salle High School football team: 151 straight victories over 12 years. All along the way, as Coach Bob Ladouceur builds his seemingly invincible national powerhouse, he has emphasized purpose and significance rather than streaks and titles. But when real-life adversity leaves the team reeling, the Spartans must decide if the sacrifice, commitment, and teamwork they have always trusted in can rebuild what is now disintegrating around them.
When Steve Dallas, a womanizing local weatherman, hears that his off-the-grid best friend Ben Baker has lost his estranged father, the two return to Ben’s childhood home to discover Ben has inherited the family fortune leaving the ill-equipped duo to battle Ben’s formidable sister (Amy Poehler) and deal with his father’s gorgeous 25-year-old widow.
Watch an interview with the film’s writer/director (and Mad Men creator) Matthew Weiner here.
Virgil First Raise wakes in a ditch on the hardscrabble plains of Montana, hungover and badly beaten. He sees a shocking vision: his father, ten years dead, lying frozen at his feet. Shaken, Virgil returns home to his ranch on the Reservation, only to find that his wife, Agnes, has left him. Worse, she’s taken his beloved rifle.
Virgil sets out to town find her — or perhaps just the gun — beginning a hi-line odyssey of inebriated and improbable intrigues with the mysterious Airplane Man, his beautiful accomplice, Malvina, and two dangerous Men in Suits. Virgil’s quest also brings him face-to-face with childhood memories, traumas and visions of his long lost brother Mose. Virgil, bloodied and broken by his quest, realizes that he must look inward for the strength he needs to survive. In the mountains, he seeks out Yellow Calf — an old blind man, who helps him grasp the truth of his origins. By embracing — and no longer fleeing — his memories, Virgil is finally able to thaw the ice in his veins.
Nobleman Jinyiwei Qinglong (Donnie Yen) must fight his former allies after they swear allegiance to evil eunuch Jia (Law Kar Ying), who has seized control of the Imperial Court. Now, in order to restore the rightful Emperor to his throne, Qinglong must use his blades to defeat the very assassins he once fought alongside. Vicky Zhao, Wu Chun, and Sammo Hung co-star.
NOW IN THEATERS
Michael Winterbottom’s largely improvised 2010 film, The Trip, took comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon — or semifictionalized versions thereof — on a restaurant tour around northern England. In this witty and incisive follow-up, Winterbottom reunites the pair for a new culinary road trip, retracing the steps of the Romantic poets’ grand tour of Italy and indulging in some sparkling banter and impersonation-offs. Rewhetting our palates from the earlier film, the characters enjoy mouthwatering meals in gorgeous settings from Liguria to Capri while riffing on subjects as varied as Batman’s vocal register, the artistic merits of “Jagged Little Pill,” and, of course, the virtue of sequels.
Watch Sundance’s Q&A with the film’s director and cast here.
Frank is a comedy about a young wannabe musician, Jon, who discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins a band of eccentric pop musicians led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank and his terrifying sidekick, Clara. Frank’s uniqueness lies in the fact that he makes music purely for the joy of creating and because he wears a giant fake head. After a rocky start, Jon ingratiates himself with the band, and they retreat to a cabin in the woods to record an album. As his influence waxes, creative tensions mount and the band’s entire raison d’être is called into question.
Watch an interview with the film’s writers, Jon Ronson & Peter Straughan, here.
What If is the story of medical school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), who’s been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan (Adam Driver) seems to be finding the perfect partner (Mackenzie Davis), Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan) an animator who lives with her longtime boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall). Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. Still, there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder, what if the love of your life is actually your best friend? The ensemble romantic comedy costars Megan Park and Oona Chaplin.
Watch TIFF’s interview with writer Elan Mastai here.
Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest, driven by spiritual integrity. One day in confession, an unseen man tells James that he’s going to kill him precisely because he’s done nothing wrong. Given a week to make his peace with God, James ministers to sundry lost souls — visits that double as a guided tour of suspects. His preparation for death is further complicated by the arrival of his daughter, who has recently attempted suicide.
Watch an interview with writer/director John Michael McDonagh here.
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years. Boyhood is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.
Watch a 30-minute interview with director Richard Linklater here.
The late Philip Seymour Hoffman gives his final screen performance in this taut yet labyrinthine adaptation of John le Carré’s 2008 spy novel. In the years immediately following 9/11, Gunter Bachmann (Hoffman) is a counterterrorist expert based in Hamburg who operates as a rogue agent, independently of the Grenzschutzgruppe 9 der Bundespolizei (GSG-9). He specializes in bringing down jihadists, and as the story opens, he begins to fixate on a Chechen immigrant named Issa Karpov, newly arrived in town. Issa’s motivations are initially unknown, but he befriends an American social worker (Rachel McAdams) who grows convinced of his harmlessness and sets about persuading Gunter of the same. Meanwhile, Gunter becomes aware of a palpable and imminent threat to national security that involves future jihad activity, and devises an ingenious plan that he hopes will both extinguish the threat and provide amnesty for Issa. The Americans and the GSG-9, however, learn of Gunter’s plot and express both impatience and a general skepticism about the scheme’s effectiveness. A Most Wanted Man premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Read CraveOnline’s interview with director Anton Corbijn here.
Many thanks to Wendy for today’s post. Remember to Declare Your Independents by going to a theater or use V.O.D. to watch an indie feature this weekend.
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