Summer Indie Film Guide
Summer Indie Film Guide
I don't know if you've noticed this, but as the franchise-based escalation of Hollywood's Summer Movie Season (which, in franchise fashion, has expanded to include a solid six additional weeks that aren't technically calendar summer) has created demand for a yearly variety of indie counterprogramming from studio specialty labels and fully independent houses alike. So on the heels of countless summer movie previews speculating about whether the Enterprise can beat Iron Man to $500 kajillion, here's a more indie-minded summer movie preview.
10. Ain't Them Bodies Saints
It's kind of a shame that TO THE WONDER came out in the spring, as there's something warm and summery about Terrence Malick's recent output. AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS, with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck as a couple with a criminal past, drew comparisons to Malick's BADLANDS at Sundance this year, so it feels like a good fit for August.
Photo Credit: Press Kit Image9. Frances Ha
The distinctive voice of writer-director Noah Baumbach gets snappier again in FRANCES HA, with the help of his co-writer and star Greta Gerwig, charming as a hapless twentysomething. Their dual voices resonate with surprising, funny harmony. It's almost certain to go down as one of the summer's best -- and one of the year's, too.
8. Much Ado About Nothing
An even bigger name director opts for black-and-white as last summer's superhero Joss Whedon tackles Shakespeare in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. The dress is modern but the language is intact, and the Whedon-alum cast delivers it very well. It's particularly fascinating to see Whedon, so dependent on his own verbal humor in his work, wring extra laughs purely from staging someone else's words.
7. The East
The new collaboration between Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling sounds like a companion piece to last year's SOUND OF MY VOICE: instead of journalists infiltrating a cult, it's about a woman from a private intelligence firm infiltrating an anarchist collective. (This time Marling plays the infiltrator rather than the infiltratee). Fox Searchlight seems to have a lot of faith in Batmanglij and Marling; this is the third project of theirs they've released in less than three years.
Photo Credit: Press Kit Image6. Fruitvale Station
Writer-director Ryan Coogler's debut film, based on the true story of an African-American male murdered by cops on New Year's Day, 2009, doesn't offer summer escapism, but it garnered raves and prizes at Sundance this year. The Weinsteins hope to turn star Michael B. Jordan into an awards-season contender for his portrayal of Oscar Grant.
Photo Credit: Press Kit Image5. The Way, Way Back
Steve Carell and Toni Colette had a summer hit with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE seven years back; they've reteamed for this coming-of-age story directed by another duo: Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who co-wrote Alexander Payne's THE DESCENDANTS. Colette plays the mother of a teenager who gets a summer job at a water park. Carell, stepping back from his hangdog-sympathy roles, plays a jerky stepdad figure. Also: Sam Rockwell!
Photo Credit: Press Kit Image4. The Spectacular Now
Shailene Woodley kicks off a Young Adult Fiction tear with a romantic comedy-drama about teenagers pairing Woodley with Miles Teller, who was charming in the FOOTLOOSE remake and impressive in RABBIT HOLE opposite Nicole Kidman.
Photo Credit: Press Kit Image3. The Bling Ring
THE BLING RING teaser bumps with Sleigh Bells songs and music-video imagery, recalling SPRING BREAKERS from a few months ago, but likely to go dreamier and more reflective in the hands of Sofia Coppola. Emma Watson leads a mostly unfamous cast -- the big names in this movie are the stars and semi-stars who this group of real-life hangers-on burglarized.
2. Prince Avalanche
David Gordon Green will be described as returning to his roots for this small-scale indie about two guys (Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch) working a barren stretch of road. But while the lyrical nature shots and testy friendship recall the best moments of Green's ALL THE REAL GIRLS, he also brings his buddy-comedy chops from PINEAPPLE EXPRESS back from studioland; AVALANCHE isn't just beautiful, it's also often hilarious.
Photo Credit: http://www.zozi.com/promo/bear-grylls-100k/kzzm1. Before Midnight
In grand summer movie tradition: an actual franchise! Only Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy's trilogy-for-now has more in common with Michael Apted's 7 UP series than other big summer threequels. Every nine years, the director and his two stars check in with Jesse and Celine, the star-crossed maybe-lovers who met on a train in 1995, walked around Vienna together on a whim, and, well, 2004's BEFORE SUNSET and now 2013's BEFORE MIDNIGHT will take it from there.
Photo Credit: Press Kit Image
