Summer Preview: Anywhere But a Movie Theater
As our theatrical calendar attests, there will be plenty of reasons to leave the house this summer. But for those times when you'd prefer to stay in, there's a wide array of American indies, international hits, and exquisite documentaries right at your fingertips on demand, online or on DVD. Here's what will be coming to your televisions, computer screens, Netflix queues and store shelves from May through July.
On Demand
As always, our sister company IFC Films will release some of the biggest festival favorites from around the world this summer both at theaters and on demand, allowing people to choose what size screen they want to see Johnnie To's actioner "Vengeance" (May 14), Ken Loach's soccer drama "Looking for Eric" (May 21), the Cillian Murphy-Brendan Gleeson gangster tale "Perrier's Bounty" (May 21), Mia Hansen-Løve's French family drama "The Father of My Children" (May 28), "Bronson" director Nicolas Winding Refn's Viking epic "Valhalla Rising" (June 4), the doc "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" (June 11), the incendiary Jessica Alba-Casey Affleck thriller "The Killer Inside Me" (June 18) and Agnès Jaoui's dramedy "Let It Rain" (June 25). Meanwhile, the Sundance Selects label will premiere "Convention," AJ Schnack's documentary about the 2008 Democratic National Convention, on May 12th before a New York run at the IFC Center in June.
Meanwhile, IFC Films will also exclusively debut plenty of international hits via VOD on their Festival Direct label, which will bring home Ryosuke Hashiguchi's drama "All Around Us" (May 5), the British "shockumentary" "The Possession of David O'Reilly" (May 5), "The Celebration" director Thomas Vinterberg's latest comedy "When a Man Comes Home" (May 12), the Joshua Jackson road trip drama "One Week" (May 19), and Caroline Link's follow-up to her Oscar-winning "Nowhere in Africa," the drama "A Year Ago in Winter" (June 11). Magnolia Pictures has also scoured the globe for some of the best films around and will deliver five festival favorites to living rooms across the country a month in advance of their release dates in theaters through their Ultra VOD service. Things kick off with George A. Romero's latest zombie thriller "Survival of the Dead" (May 28), followed by Neil Jordan's "Ondine" (May 7), starring Colin Farrell as a fisherman who believes he hooks a mermaid in this fairy tale; the claustrophobic Spanish horror flick "[REC] 2" (June 4), the sequel to the film that inspired the American horror hit "Quarantine"; "The Extra Man" (June 25), the new comedy from "American Splendor" directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini starring Paul Dano and Kevin Kline; and "Centurion" (July 23), a Roman action epic from "The Descent" director Neil Marshall starring Michael Fassbender and Dominic West, arriving on VOD well before its August 27th release in theaters.
Finally, there's a new kid on the block with Red Flag Releasing, which will be putting out the Sundance-selected doc "8: The Mormon Proposition," about the religious group's influence on the California referendum on same-sex marriages in 2008 (narrated by "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black), on VOD day-and-date with its release in theaters.
Those folks at Cinetic FilmBuff are no fools -- just in time for World Cup season, they picked up the rights to the soccer doc "Pelada," which will debut on VOD on June 7th before being released online through iTunes and Amazon on Demand. Seen through the eyes of two college players who didn't make the pros, the film won raves at SXSW, Sarasota and IFF Boston for its look at the sport's impact throughout the world. It won't be the only sports-themed doc that Cinetic will be releasing this summer -- tennis fans should take note of "Unstrung," a film about seven junior tennis players trying to make it to the next level, which will be released via iTunes and Amazon VOD in June, and Richard Linklater's ode to University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido, "Inning by Inning: Portrait of a Coach," that will arrive on Hulu in July.
Other exciting FilmBuff titles include "Icons Among Us," Michael Rivoira's thorough history of contemporary jazz featuring interviews with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Terence Blanchard to Medeski, Martin and Wood, that will debut on iTunes day-and-date with its DVD release on May 11th, followed by a cable VOD run in June before July, which will give way to the VOD debut of Aleksandr Sokurov's "The Sun" and the iTunes debut of Wong Kar-wai's "Fallen Angels" and "Happy Together." For further updates, you can follow them on Twitter.If you thought the 113 films coming to theaters between May through July is a lot, consider that Gravitas Ventures will release roughly the same amount on VOD during the same amount of time. While you can follow the company on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with all their releases, their summer slate includes the May releases of the Andy Griffith comedy "Play the Game," the Lance Henriksen-Bill Moseley post-apocalyptic action series "Godkiller" (trailer), the acclaimed b-ball drama "American Streetball" and Zeke Zelker's racy romantic thriller "In Search Of."
In June, Gravitas will deliver "American Grindhouse" (June 1) home to VOD, the first place anywhere people will be able to see this history of exploitation films, narrated by Robert Forster, after its world premiere at SXSW. Other films making their VOD premieres in June include the Dave Boyle arrested development comedy "White on Rice" (June 1), the excellent political doc "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story" (June 1), and "Elsewhere" (trailer), a small-town thriller starring "Up in the Air"'s Anna Kendrick. Gravitas also has an exciting July planned with the VOD premieres of "Nightmares in Red White and Blue" (July 1), Andrew Monument's history of American horror films with interviews with genre legends like John Carpenter and Wes Craven, the John Heard-Brendan Sexton III thriller "The Truth" (July 1), Madeleine Sackler's recent Tribeca Film Fest doc selection "The Lottery" (July 8), which takes on New York's education system, and the eagerly awaited American debut of "IP Man" (July 27), the Donnie Yen-starring kung fu quest that took home the 2009 Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film.
You'll notice in our theatrical preview that there's a deluge of films streaming through New York's Tribeca Cinemas in May, but fear not if you don't live in Manhattan -- Tribeca Film launched a VOD program along with their festival in late April that allowed many of their hits to stream directly to your home if you happen to have Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS, Bright House Networks, RCN, and Bresnan Communications for a cable or satellite provider. Through June 20th, you can catch these 2010 Tribeca selections: "Jackass" director Jeff Tremaine's BMX doc "The Birth of Big Air," the Tilda Swinton-narrated global warming doc "Climate of Change," the Omid Djalili culture clash comedy "The Infidel," the animated sci-fier "Metropia," Dev Benegal's drama "Road, Movie," Andy Serkis' Ian Dury biopic "sex & drugs & rock & roll" and the Jay Baruchel comedy "The Trotsky."
Tribeca Film also is releasing past festival favorites on VOD, including the British romcom "My Last Five Girlfriends," David Russo's "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle," Måns Herngren's synchronized swimming comedy "The Swimsuit Issue," Julien Nitzberg's crazed Appalachian-based doc "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" and the Jac Schaeffer comedy "TiMER." And sports fans should take note of the titles Tribeca is making available for free: Jon Frankel's inner city high school football doc "Hellfighters," Spike Lee's "Kobe Doin' Work," Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan's boxing doc "Muhammad and Larry," and the Sebastian Telfair doc "Through the Fire."
Online
IndieFlix will be adding to their considerable library throughout the summer, but with the temperature rising, it's only appropriate that they're shining a light on hot up-and-coming filmmakers by presenting 10 new short films from the American Film Institute (including "Sun (dust)," pictured left) and beginning on May 20th, they will also host the Seattle International Film Festival's online Future Wave competition, where filmmakers 18 years old or younger will vie for a special honor at this year's festival. These films will be available for free via www.indieflix.com/festivalsonline.
SnagFilms, the online destination for documentaries, will continue to premiere new nonfiction films throughout the summer, completely gratis. The latest films to hit the service include "Farewell, Good Brothers," "Earth Days" director Robert Stone's 1992 comic and cosmic film about a group of people who believe they've come into contact with aliens from Venus; "Deadline," Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson's acclaimed portrait of outgoing Illinois Governor George Ryan as he granted clemency to 167 death row inmates in 2002; "3 Points," a look at New York Knicks star Tracy McGrady's life-changing journey of discovery in Darfur; "Fantasyland," Stephen Palgon's all-too-current documentary based on Sam Walker's book about fantasy baseball fanatics; and "Splitting Hairs," F. Stone Roberts's Silverdocs-selected comic gem about two hirsute Americans preparing to head to Germany for the World Beard and Moustache Championship.
May 11
"Malice in Wonderland" - Maggie Grace stars in this modern-day update of the Lewis Carroll classic by way of the London underground scene.
"50 Ways of Saying Fabulous" - A Toronto Film Fest selection back in 2005, Stewart Main's coming-of-age story concerns a 12-year-old who grapples with his sexuality through flights of fantasy as he tends to his father's farm.
"Better The Devil You Know" - Greg Augustine's dramedy asks the question what would you do if your deceased pal from high school came to you in a dream and told you the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were coming after you?
"Divine Souls" - A 2007 selection of AFI Dallas, James McDonald's drama centers on a nurse (Nancy Chartier) who works in an AIDS clinic and becomes involved in the lives of her patients.
"Fire From Below" - Kevin Sorbo stars in this action thriller directed by former Franchise Films exec Andrew Stevens about one man's efforts to stop an environmental disaster when a corporation poisons the earth with lithium that threatens to bubble up to the surface.
"Goth" - Well Go is releasing Gen Takahashi's J-horror adaptation of Otsuichi's thriller about two teens who are outcasts at school and find comfort in a spate of local serial killings.
"The Grail" - Kurt Volkan's 2002 low-budget multi-stranded drama revolves around the drug scene in North Carolina where a lowly convenience store employee aspires to greater things by selling coke in his spare time.
"Herpers" - If you recognize the title, you already know what Dãv Kaufman's doc is about - the subculture of reptile collectors who keep the scaly critters in their home.
"Homeland" - An audience award winner at Jacksonville in 2008, Michael Eldridge's drama focuses on a recently dispatched Israeli Defense soldier who arrives in New York en route to South America, but falls for a Palestinean while in the big city, changing his plans.
"How I Got Lost" - Aaron Stanford, Jacob Fishel and Rosemarie DeWitt star in this festival fave about two friends who have hit dead ends in their lives and hit the road from New York to Philadelphia after the death of one of their fathers.
"Jermal" - IndiePix is releasing this Indonesian drama from Ravi L. Bharwani and Rayya Makarim about a father and son who struggle to make ends meet after the death of the boy's mother while working as fishermen in the middle of the ocean.
"Legend of the Tsunami Warrior" - No other studio seems to be as into Thai action films as Magnet Releasing who is bringing this large-scale, high seas adventure Stateside, centering on three queens who must defend their kingdom against pirates.
"The Mini" - Ron Beck's low-budget comedy picked up awards from the Bluegrass and Temecula Valley Film Festivals back in 2007 for this underdog tale of a futon salesman who sees an opportunity to raise business if he competes in a mini-marathon.
"Pulling John" - After premiering at SXSW in 2009, Vassiliki Khonsari's award-winning documentary about world armwrestling champ John Brzenk and Russian upstart Alexey Voevoda is coming to DVD. For a taste, see when Brzenk armwrestled passerbys on the streets of Austin as the filmmakers tangled with our own Alison Willmore.
"S.E.R.E." Angus Fletcher's psychological thriller centers on a U.S. air crew who don't know who to trust when their mission is aborted and they're arrested and tortured by an ex-Marine in a Saudi prison.
"Supermen of Malegaon" - A Silverdocs selection in 2009, Faiza Ahmad Khan's documentary chronicles the adventures of Indian filmmaker Shaikh Nasir, who attempts to make a superhero film in the midst of the humble textile community of Malegaon with a dedicated cast and crew.
"Tidal Wave" - Retitled from its original South Korean title "Haeundae," this disaster film was insanely popular in its native country and follows the Roland Emmerich formula of two former lovers brought back together by the onset of a tsunami.
"Tornado Valley" - According to early reviews, expect this to be a far less ambitious version of the above "Tidal Wave" starring "Dawson's Creek" star Meredith Monroe as part of an estranged married couple who band together when a tornado comes their way.
"Tsunami Beach Club" - Schlock extraordinaire Anthony Fankhauser (a line producer on the infamous "Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus") directs this thriller about a claims adjuster whose investigation into a series of deaths in Los Angeles leads to the uncovering of a secret organization that could spell trouble for him.
"Westbrick Murders" - A pair of attention-hungry serial killers meet an ambitious rookie cop in Danish writer/director Shaun Rana's action thriller that involves Eric Roberts in a supporting role.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "Daybreakers," "North Face," "Play the Game," the ultra-gory Japanese flick "Samurai Princess," Masoud Raouf's documentary "The Tree That Remembers"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: 1946's Cornel Wilde take on Robin Hood "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" and 1948's "Prince of Thieves," 1950's "Rogues of Sherwood Forest," "Sword of Sherwood Forest," the 1983 Isabelle Adjani thriller "One Deadly Summer," Pavel Chukhrai's 1997 Oscar-nominated Russian drama "The Thief," José Joffily's 1996 Portuguese drama "Who Killed Pixote?"
New to Blu-ray: the Alec Baldwin/Anthony Hopkins' adventure "The Edge," "Edge of Darkness," Clint Eastwood's "Hang 'Em High," Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety," "History of the World, Part I," "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" (individually available), "The Karate Kid I & II," "Legion," Fritz Lang's "M" (Criterion), "The Man in the Iron Mask," Steven Seagal's "Marked for Death," "Rock 'n' Roll High School"
May 18
"The New Daughter" - A seriously under-the-radar one-week run in Los Angeles around Christmas not withstanding, Kevin Costner will see the direct-to-DVD bin for the first time with this horror thriller from "[REC]" co-writer Luis Berdejo about a father whose daughter (Ivana Baquero) begins to undergo a disturbing transformation when he moves to South Carolina following a divorce.
"And Then Came Lola" - Inspired by "Run Lola Run," Ellen Seidler and Megan Siler's romantic comedy revolves around a woman who must choose between her career and her girlfriend when she has an important meeting to get to.
"Disappeared" - Harry Treadaway stars in this British thriller from Johnny Kervorkian about a young man who starts seeing the ghost of his long-ago missing eight-year-old brother and attempts to solve the mystery of who was responsible for his disappearance.
"Enemies Among Us" - Any box cover that can pack Billy Zane, Robin Givens, Eric Roberts and Steven Bauer is all but assured a healthy shelf life at Blockbuster, which bodes well for Dan Garcia's thriller about a Louisiana governor (Zane) tipped to become a vice presidential candidate until his days of being in the trenches of the National Security Agency put him in harm's way.
"Everyman's War" - Based on the true story of his father, Thad Smith's World War II-set drama about one sergeant's decision to risk his life to warn his men and the townspeople of a small German village of potential attack during the Battle of the Bulge.
"Gunfight at La Mesa" - Walker Haynes stars as a gunslinger who trots back into his hometown to take vengeance upon the man who killed his parents in this western from Chris Fickley.
"Iscariot" - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" star Michael Nyqvist co-stars with Gustaf Skarsgård is this Swedish thriller about a drug deal gone horribly awry.
"Misconceptions" - Orlando Jones and David Moscow play a gay couple who are about to become parents via an Evangelical Christian woman (A.J. Cook) who believes God has ordered her to carry their child in this culture clash comedy from Ron Satlof.
"Mutant Vampire Zombies from the Hood!" It's got C. Thomas Howell with the tagline, "It's the end of the world, yo!" What else do you want to know?
"Night Dragon" - Brit director Tim Biddiscombe's thriller centers around a group of criminals who set out to blackmail an attorney, but their plan falls apart when one of the cons becomes romantically entangled with their mark.
"Poliwood" - After debuting at last year's Tribeca Film Festival, Barry Levinson's light-hearted documentary about the intersection between politics and Hollywood as a cabal of celebrities descend upon the 2008 Republican and Democratic national conventions is arriving on DVD.
"The Race" - Colm Meaney and Susan Lynch star in this Irish children's film about an 11-year-old girl who aspires to become a racecar driver even as her family begins to fall apart.
"Sometimes in Life" - Anthony Vallone's dramedy involves a career-minded woman (Sara Stepnicka) who unexpectedly bonds with an unemployed slacker (Eric Morrison) whose father has just passed away.
"Southern Gothic" - William Forsythe brings out his fangs as a "vampire preacher" in this horror film from Mark Young that concerns a strip club bouncer (Yul Vasquez) who faces off with the bloodsucker when a daughter of one of the dancers is kidnapped.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: Andre Techine's "The Girl on the Train," "The Messenger," "Outlander," "When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors," the Stacey Dash-starring "Murder in Fashion," "A Touch of Spice," the gay drama "Watercolors"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: Criterion Eclipse Series 21: "Oshima's Outlaw Sixties," the 1966 Mamie Van Doren schlock "The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters," "Tokyo Gore Police 1.5"
New to Blu-ray: Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs," "Carlito's Way," "Extraordinary Measures," "Invictus," "The Spy Next Door," "Valentine's Day," Nicolas Roeg's "Walkabout" (Criterion)
May 25
"Tell Tale " - After surviving a premiere at Tribeca where someone suffered from a fainting spell during its climax, this thriller directed by "L.I.E." director Michael Cuesta's thriller makes its way to DVD, starring Josh Lucas as the recipient of a heart transplant who can't help but search for the murderer who killed the donor.
"7 Adventures of Sinbad" - Patrick Muldoon and Bo Svenson star in this "Prince of Persia" knockoff. If the box art is to be believed, this will be the first adaptation of the classic story to involve machine guns.
"Aisha & Rahul" - Mukesh Asopa co-directs and stars in this Bollywood production by way of Canada where the western-weaned Aisha helps the Indian-born Rahul learn to love Canadian culture and perhaps her as well in the process.
"All My Friends Are Funeral Singers" - With a song called "Buñuel" on their latest album, it was only a matter of time before Califone lead singer Tim Rutili would bring his work to the big screen. The folk act's cinematic companion piece features "May" star Angela Bettis as a psychic living amongst a house of panicked ghosts in the this low-budget feature shot in 11 days in Indiana. For more, Brandon Kim did an interview with Rutili on the eve of its premiere at Sundance.
"Babysitter Wanted" - "Kyle XY" star Matt Dallas stars with Sarah Thompson and Bill Moseley in this horror flick about a girl whose decision to make a few bucks by babysitting at a small farm in the middle of nowhere turns out to be the wrong one.
"Butterfly Dreaming" - Rufus Williams' thriller stars Andrew Bowen as a math professor haunted by his late wife's memory after she dies in a car accident. Missy Crider and James McDaniel co-star.
"Costa Rican Summer" - Pamela Anderson and David Chokachi go back to the beach in this comedy about a surfer (Brock Kelly) who heads to Costa Rica in search of waves and his idol (Peter Dante).
"Death Kappa" - From the producers of "Tokyo Gore Police," director Tomoo Haraguchi will unleash the water goblins in this horror thriller about an experiment involving amphibious super soldiers that has gone awry.
"Finale" - John Michael Elfer's horror flick ratches up the suspense in a small town where everyone seems to be committing suicide and it's up to one mother (Carolyn von Hauck) to kill off the demon who may be responsible for the craziness that led to her son's death and her growing insanity.
"Godkiller" - Also available on VOD, this animated outgrowth of Matt Pizzolo's graphic novel features the voices of Lance Henriksen and Tiffany Shepis about a group of humans who fall prey to fallen gods.
"The Hanged Man" - Osiris Entertainment is bringing out Neil H. Weiss's ghost story about a group of six societal outcasts who plan a group suicide online, only to discover that an apparition may be willing to do the job for them when they meet in an abandoned barn.
"The Landlord" - Oh how it sucks literally and figuratively to be the titular character in Emil Hyde's horror comedy about the super in an apartment building where demons are the tenants.
"Most Distant Course" - A Critics' Week Award winner at the Venice Film Festival in 2007, Lin Jing-Jie's 2007 drama centers around a man whose tries to save his relationship by recording tapes of nature for his girlfriend but discovers while he's out in the wild that she's moved out of their apartment building and another woman who has moved in her stead is intrigued by the recordings she receives.
"My Dog" - A selection of Sedona and the Heartland Film Festivals last year, Mark St. Germain interviews a variety of canine-loving artsts from Glenn Close to Isaac Mizrahi about their relationships to their dogs.
"Obscene: Portrait of Barney Rosset & Grove Press" - Arthouse Films is releasing this doc about legendary Grove Press publisher Rosset who fought against bans on "Tropic of Cancer" and "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in addition to being the first in America to recognize the literary potential of Samuel Beckett, Malcolm X and Tom Stoppard.
"Rain Fall" - Gary Oldman gets top billing with Kippei Shiina in this Japanese thriller about an assassin whose loyalties are torn when he falls for a woman who he learns is on a CIA hit list.
"The Shadow Within" - The death of one twin leads to a window into the afterlife for the other in this supernatural thriller starring Kate Winslet's sister, Beth.
"Someone's Knocking at the Door" - A self-proclaimed "genre-defying grindhouse throwback," Chad Ferrin's horror flick has Noah Segan leading a group of medical students who fall into the clutches of a couple of serial murderers and rapists.
"Sunsets" - Giant Robot publisher Eric Nakamura co-directed this 1997 drama about three friends who spend the summer after graduating from high school in their small town raising a little hell and contemplating what life will be like when they go their separate ways.
"White Wall" - After a lethal virus has wiped out much of the world, a martial arts master (James Boss), residing with a group of city dwellers quarantined between a group of white walls, plans to take action against the militia that has trained him when they threaten his peaceful way of life in this sci-fi action flick.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "Mystery Team," "Owl and the Sparrow," "The Road," "Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman," "Phyllis & Harold," the doc "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: "By Brakhage: An Anthology: Volume 2" (Criterion), Sergio Corbucci's "Minnesota Clay," "No Orchids for Miss Blandish," the John Payne western "Silver Lode," Serge Bergon's "Joy," Jacques Saurel's "Joy & Joan," "Kamikaze Hearts," "What's Underground About Marshmallows," the 1992 drama "Bottom Land," the 1991 Giallo "Submission of a Woman," Volker Schlöndorff's "Voyager"
New to Blu-ray: "By Brakhage: An Anthology" (Criterion), "Dear John," Sergio Corbucci's "Django," Daniel Craig drama "Flashbacks of a Fool," Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords," Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus," John Ford's "Stagecoach" (Criterion), "Surf Nazis Must Die," Lucio Fulci's "City of the Living Dead"
June 1
"Small Town Saturday Night" - "Star Trek" star Chris Pine stars as an aspiring country singer who must choose between leaving for Nashville or sticking around to spend his life with the woman he loves (Bre Blair). John Hawkes, Lin Shaye and Muse Watson co-star in Ryan Craig's directorial debut.
"Cornered!" - Steve Guttenberg is a beer delivery man who gets, yes, cornered (!) in a convenience store by a serial killer that has been targeting Circle Ks and 7-Elevens in the area, as a group of unlikely vigilantes consider taking up arms in Daniel Maze's gory horror comedy.
"For My Father" - Film Movement brings over Dror Zahavi's much acclaimed drama about a Palestinean terrorist bomber (Shredi Jabarin) who gets a second lease on life when a technical glitch causes him to abandon his plans to kill himself in Tel Aviv and meets a woman (Hili Yalon) who he quickly falls for, though they must evade the men who sent him to the city in the first place.
"Killer Swarm" - Who knew Europe had a killer bee problem? They do in German helmer Michael Karen's disaster movie where a hive of them invade Mallorca and threaten the young and old enjoying a vacation on the island's shores.
"Rampage" - Some consider Uwe Boll's latest about a serial killing teen who terrorizes a small town to be actually good, but not so said our own Matt Singer when he saw it at last year's Fantastic Fest.
https://www.ifc.com/news/2009/10/fantastic-fest2.php
"Undisputed III: Redemption" - Pardon the pun, but the second direct-to-DVD sequel to the Wesley Snipes-Ving Rhames boxing drama recently was the undisputed winner of the inaugural ActionFest in North Carolina, where CHUD's Devin Faraci said, "I have seen the future of low budget action filmmaking, and it is Undisputed III: Redemption." Scott Adkins and "Mirageman" star Marko Zaror are just two of the ass-kickers in an underground tournament.
"Wild Things: Foursome" - There definitely has been a come down since those heady days of Neve Campbell and Denise Richards with the fourth installment of "Wild Things," which stars former boy bander Ashley Parker Angel as a privileged kid whose wild partying ends abruptly when he's killed in a speed boat accident, leading to an investigation that once again plumbs the depths of the Florida coastline.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "The Red Baron," Aleksandr Sokurov's "The Sun," "Tony Manero," "Hannah Free"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: "Bare Knuckles"
New to Blu-ray: Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," Clint Eastwood Collection (including new to Blu films "Absolute Power." "Kelly's Heroes" and "Where Eagles Dare"), "Bad Boys," "The Man With No Name Trilogy," "War of the Worlds," "The Wolfman"
June 8
"The Cry of the Owl" - Longtime Brit music video director Jamie Thraves directs his first feature in nine years with this adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel about a man (Paddy Considine) whose recent divorce leads him towards stalking a woman (Julia Stiles) who is oddly drawn to him as well until her ex-boyfriend turns up dead and fingers are pointed. Claude Chabrol took his own shot at the thriller in 1987.
"180° South" - Surfer-turned-director Chris Malloy wades deep into Patagonia with Jeff Johnson to follow in the footsteps of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins's 1968 surfing odyssey.
" The 41 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It" - Director Craig Moss follows up his 1998 short "Saving Ryan's Privates" with a spoof of Judd Apatow's greatest hits with a little "Twilight" and the Verizon Wireless guy thrown in for good measure.
"Animation Express" - Image Entertainment is releasing this compilation of 26 animated shorts from the National Film Board of Canada (with 13 bonus shorts exclusive to its Blu-ray release) that range from classics clips to experimental wonders.
"Banana Leaves" - This Nollywood thriller from director Lanre Sarumi concerns three twentysomethings whose experimentation with the titular drug results in their past coming back to haunt them, literally.
"Coach" - Stephen Frears's son Will makes his feature debut on this romantic comedy starring Hugh Dancy as a rich kid who, after a painful breakup, finds his passion as a middle school soccer coach. "Community"'s Gillian Jacobs, Liane Balaban and Mamie Gummer co-star.
"Cross Burning in Willacoochee" - Roy Kirkland and Doug Sebastian directed this documentary based on their own experience of being threatened by the locals for being a gay couple in Georgia during the early '90s.
"Drunk in Public" - This award-winning documentary profiles Mark David Allen, a man whose arrest record for public intoxication numbers well into the hundreds.
"Goatsucker" - Steve Hudgins wrote and directed this ultra low-budget horror flick about a group of hikers who fall prey to the elusive El Chupacabra.
"Holyman Undercover" - John Schneider stars as the devil in David A.R. White's religious-themed comedy about an Amish missionary who heads to Hollywood and becomes a celebrity, though he must escape the clutches of an ambitious producer (Fred Willard).
"L.A. Proper" Barry Canty's ensemble culture clash comedy centers on six friends living in Los Angeles who grapple with dating and starting careers as the encroachment of gentrification threatens to take away the uniqueness of the area they live in.
"Modern Boy" - Ji-woo Jung's romantic drama is set in 1937 Seoul where a civil servant's love of a Korean independence activist could undermine his decadent lifestyle.
"Power Kids" - Produced by "Ong Bak" director Prachya Pinkaew, the latest Muay Thai masterpiece, courtesy of Magnet Releasing, involves a quartet of ass-kicking kids who must upend a terrorist takeover of a hospital in order to save one of their younger brothers who has a heart condition.
"Squatterpunk" - A festival hit, Khavn De La Cruz's documentary chronicles the adventures of an eight-year-old slum king in Manila.
"War Boys" - "Raising Victor Vargas" star Victor Rasuk and Peter Gallagher headline Ron Daniels's drama about three friends from high school who reunite one year after graduation to hatch a scheme where they fence black market televisions but realize the cargo they carry in the back of the truck they steal puts their lives in far more danger.
"Widow" - From Big Biting Pig, the same low-budget horror label behind "Goatsucker," comes this supernatural thriller about a recent widow and her sister who share dreams about her dead husband, leading them to believe he's trying to communicate with them from beyond the grave.
"Word is Out" - Although it broke new ground in 1977 as the first feature-length documentary made by gay filmmakers about their lives, it's never been available on home video before the Outfest Legacy Project and the UCLA Film & Television Archive restored it for this Oscilloscope release.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: Jackie Chan's "Shinjuku Incident," Emily Abt's "Toe to Toe"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: "Return of the One-Armed Swordsman"
New to Blu-ray: "Shutter Island," "Caddyshack," "Crossing Over," "From Paris with Love," Wong Kar-wai's "Happy Together"
June 15
"Unthinkable" - Samuel L. Jackson stars as a dogged federal interrogator who, along with an FBI agent (Carrie-Anne Moss), is on the trail of a terrorist (Michael Sheen) who claims to have planted nuclear devices in three major U.S. cities, leaving it up to Jackson to find them out before the bombs go off. "The Informers" helmer Gregor Jordan is in the director's chair for this thriller.
"Adopted" - After "Pauly Shore is Dead," the "Son in law" star is once again going the mockumentary route for this comedy where he heads to Africa to adopt a child a la Angelina and Brad with the hopes of giving his career a boost.
"Animals" - Naveen Andrews and Nicki Aycox star in this horror flick as a couple who thrive on a steady diet of human blood and sex before a chance encounter in a bar leads to a lovers' quadrangle where no one may leave alive. Marc Blucas and Eva Amurri co-star.
"Antarctica" - Yair Hochner's gay romantic drama finds an unlucky-in-love librarian who suddenly finds himself caught between the affections of two men on the eve of his 30th birthday.
"Autopilot" - "24" star Gregory Itzin stars in writer/director Alex Knudsen's debut about a man trying to reclaim his life after accidentally killing his mother and being committed to a mental institution.
"Born Into Shit" - Marcel Bystroň's Czech darkly comic thriller reverses the premise of most coming out films where a 13-year-old boy believes that his father is gay and panics, bedding his girlfriend and making her pregnant, which leads to a series of misunderstandings that involve his assassin dad and his deeply religious mother.
"Boston Girls" - Gabriel Bologna, the son of longtime Borscht Belt staples Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna, directs this thriller about two women who go on a murderous rampage, targeting men who have cheated on their significant others. Let's just hope co-star Danny Trejo isn't one of them.
"Buffalo Bushido" - Peter McGennis' drama chronicles the coming home of an ex-convict who tries to keep his personal demons at bay by embracing the way of the samurai. Jesse L. Martin, Leila Arcieri, and John Savage co-star.
"Circle of Pain" - MMA sensation Kimbo Slice stars with Dean Cain and Bai Ling about a retired fighter who is called back into the octagon for one last fight.
"Control Alt Delete" - "Reaper" star Tyler Labine stars in his brother Cameron's dramedy about a man who after being dumped by his girlfriend starts to get a little too close with his computer.
"The Curse of Father Cardona" - "Avatar"'s Zoe Saldana shows off her Spanish in this 2005 romantic comedy from the Dominican Republic about a priest (Anthony Alvarez) who arrives in a small town to investigate some bizarre behavior and engages in some strange activity of his own when he meets Saldana's wild child.
"The Horseman" - Think "Ransom" except if Mel Gibson's kid had been killed for this widely acclaimed Australian thriller about a businessman (Peter Marshall) who grieves for his late teenage daughter by getting even with her killer.
"Reunion" - Although Dominque (Carolyn Owens) is reluctant to go to her family reunion, she must if she wants to convince her sister CeCe (Trisha Mann) to help her with a kidney transplant in this dramedy from writer/director Sheila Norman.
"The Roommate" - Hisaaki Nagaoka's J-horror thriller centers on two best friends who share an apartment and would love nothing more than to be left alone, but have no such luck when they're haunted by a spirit.
"Sister's Keeper" - An assassin (Kent Faulcon) gets the unlikely assignment of hunting down an English teacher (Denise Boutté) and gets close to her by pretending he's her long-lost brother, but when he finds himself drawn to her and her family he starts to questions the orders he's been given by his boss (Eric Roberts).
"Something Like a Business" - Kevin Hart stars as a would-be pimp who inherits his uncle's escort service. David Alan Grier, Keith David and Tasha Smith co-star.
"Terror Inside" - Corey Feldman stars as an oil driller who comes across a toxic substance that eventually infects his girlfriend and it's up to him to find a cure before she and everyone else is town is killed.
"War Child" - The 2008 Tribeca Film Fest Audience Award winner, Christian Karim Chrobog's documentary follows hip-hop heavyweight Emmanuel Jal as he ventures back to his homeland of Sudan where he was once a child soldier.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "Burma VJ," "Collapse," "Everlasting Moments" (Criterion), the Demi Moore-Parker Posey comedy "Happy Tears," "Mary and Max," "Sex Positive"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" (Criterion), the '60s Japanese actioner "The Blind Menace," 1973's "Horror Hospital," Christopher Walken's 1989 sci-fier "Communion"
New to Blu-ray: Sam Raimi's "Darkman," "Flash Gordon," the original Terry O'Quinn version of "The Stepfather," "When in Rome" "Showgirls," "Puppet Master," "The Book of Eli"
June 22
"Thirst" - Lacey Chabert stars in this thriller about a couples' retreat into the desert that feels like a descent into hell after their car gets stuck in a ravine and must survive on their wits and the meager supplies at hand.
"The Children's War" - Cinema Libre is releasing Andrew Krakower's documentary about the human rights atrocities committed in Uganda from the children who have been victimized or have escaped.
"Hard Four" - Ed Asner, Ed Begley Jr., Dabney Coleman, Paula Prentiss and Bryan Cranston are just a few of the actors who show up in first-time director Charles Dennis' comedy about two friends who enter a world of trouble when they have a mere 24 hours to recover the body of their deceased grandfather in Las Vegas and bring him back to New Jersey.
"Rock Slyde" - Patrick Warburton stars as the titular private detective whose life turns upside down when he takes the case of a sultry Rena Sofer who wants him to track down the person she believes is following her and winds up uncovering a whole lot more. Andy Dick also stars in this noir spoof.
"Wolf Moon" - Dana Mennie's werewolf flick stars Max Ryan, Chris Mulkey and Sid Haig as the residents of a small town under siege from a family that has been cursed to live a double life as lycanthropes.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: Catherine Breillat's "Bluebeard," Josh Tickell's doc "Fuel," "The Good Guy," "The Last Station," Sebastian Silva's "The Maid," "TiMER," Robert Pattinson's "Remember Me"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: Paul Mazursky's "Alex in Wonderland," Abbas Kiarostami's "Close-Up" (Criterion), Carol Reed's "Night Train to Munich" (Criterion), Michelangelo Antonioni's "Red Desert" (Criterion), "Communism Was No Party Joke/Shoe," "Invisible Adversaries," "Krik Krak: Tales of a Nightmare," "Reich," "Stall on Salvador," the Roger Corman double bill of "Death Sport/Battle Truck," Alain Cavalier's underseen 1962 New Wave noir "Le Combat Dans L'Ile"
New to Blu-ray: Paul Bartel's "Death Race 2000," Judy Garland's "A Star is Born," "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief"
June 29
"Pretty Bird" - When I asked Paul Schneider what happened to his directorial debut when he was promoting "Bright Star," he had no idea. Hopefully, he does now as Paramount picked up the home video rights to his comedy starring Billy Crudup as an inventor of a rocket-powered belt who can't get it off the ground without the help of pals Paul Giamatti and Kristen Wiig.
"Airline Disaster" - Somehow, I never would've guessed this Z-level thriller would feature the long-awaited "Family Ties" reunion of Meredith Baxter and Scott Valentine, but so it is with this potboiler about an airplane hijacked by terrorists that puts the president (Baxter) in the unlikely position of deciding whether her brother, who is piloting the plane, lives or dies. Special shout-out to "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" alum Lindsey McKeon, who presumably plays an air marshal.
"Alice Neel" A Slamdance premiere that ironically has played the Sundance Channel for months, Andrew Neel's portrait of his mother is finally arriving on DVD, appropriate since as a painter, she was responsible for many of the 20th century's greatest portraits of fellow artists.
"Bass Ackwards" - A hit at Sundance, Linas Phillips wrote, directed and stars in this road trip drama about a man who comes across many colorful characters as he drives through the U.S. in his VW van.
"Beautiful" - Hugh Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness gets a star turn all her own in this Aussie drama from writer/director Dean O'Flaherty about a suburban community rocked by the disappearance of some of the neighborhood children. Peta Wilson and Sebastian Gregory co-star.
"Blood on the Highway" - It's good "Buffy" alum Nicholas Brendon is onhand for Barak Epstein and Blair Rowan's horror comedy about a trio of twentysomethings who realize they've taken a pit stop into the wrong town when they are faced with the threat of vampires.
"Crazy" - Ali Larter and Katherine McPhee play the women in the life of country guitar player Hank Garland, a studio musician for the likes of Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley during the 1950s in Nashville before he gave into his personal demons.
"The Devil Within" - Sarah Harrison stars in this horror film about a Hollywood Hills party that comes under fire literally from an uninvited guest.
"Homeland" - The usually comic actor Fran Kranz ("The TV Set") takes a turn for the dramatic in Christopher C. Young's tale of a soldier who comes home from Iraq disillusioned by the friends and family who now surround him.
"Living Room Cinema: Films From Home Movie Day 1" - A compilation from the Portland, Oregon theater's Home Movie Days where people from around the globe have contributed the amateur films of their personal experience.
"Pagan Queen" - Around the time Lance Daly's gritty Irish drama "Kisses" hits theaters, this fantasy epic that he co-wrote with director Constantin Werner will be released on DVD, about Libuse, a queen with supernatural powers that inspires men to fight over her and her comely two sisters as they rule over an empire.
"Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect" - Markus Heidingsfelder and Min Tesch build this documentary about the famed architect responsible for the Dutch Embassy in Berlin and the Guggenheim Heritage Museum in Las Vegas.
"The Season" - Adam Edward Brooks' horror flick centers around a pissed off, excommunicated Amish family in Iowa who take advantage of the passerbys to procreate, leading to some horrific results.
"String Theory" - Many different personalities collide in Josh Milrad and Jacob Freydont-Attie's drama about an abandoned church that brings out a mute, bookies, a prostitute, a city councilman, a television evangelist and a lawyer to seek out the deed.
"Suicide Girls Must Die" - The alternative softcore site extends their brand with this horror film shot with their models vérité-style about a calendar shoot in the woods that goes terribly off-course.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "Don McKay," "The Eclipse," the Jon Hamm/Josh Lucas starrer "Stolen," the Jet Li epic "The Warlords," Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon," "Once More With Feeling," "A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory," the Doors documentary "When You're Strange"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: The Broderick Crawford noir "New York Confidential," Ringo Lam's "Burning Paradise," 1971's "Say Hello to Yesterday," Jesús Franco's "Lorna, the Exorcist," Maximilian Schell's "First Love," 1966's "Evening Primrose," the early Mark Ruffalo comedy "The Last Big Thing," the '70s cult titles "Bonnie's Kids" and "Teenage Hitchhikers," the 1963 Michael Redgrave adaptation of "Uncle Vanya"
New to Blu-ray: Luchino Visconti's "The Leopard" (Criterion Collection), William Lustig's "Uncle Sam: I Want You Dead," "Hot Tub Time Machine"
July 6
"Eyeborgs" - Richard Clabaugh's sci-fi satire takes place in an America that has become a police state with roaming surveillance robots, the Eyeborgs, and it's up to Adrian Paul, Megan Blake, Luke Eberl and Danny Trejo to preserve our freedom.
"Hustle" - Charlie Murphy plays an exterminator who gets in over his head when he gets involved in a robbery that he later learns involves the Chinese mob. Things only get worse in this crime comedy that also stars David Alan Grier, Tamala Jones, John Witherspoon, Tiny Lister and Bai Ling.
"Sixgun" - Lionsgate is releasing this western from Scott Perry stars Tommy Hill as a bounty hunter lured into one last job when his ranch is up for foreclosure.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Tom Ford's "A Single Man"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: Sony Film Noir Classics, Vol. 2, "Gamera Vs. Barugon"
New to Blu-ray: double features of "The Last Boy Scout/Last Man Standing," "Practical Magic/The Witches of Eastwick," "Funny Farm/Spies Like Us," Buster Keaton's "Steamboat Bill, Jr.," "Jimmy Hollywood," "Ladybugs," the Brittany Murphy comedy "Love and Other Disasters"
July 13
"Parasomnia" - "House on Haunted Hill" director William Malone helms this horror thriller about a man who falls for a hospital patient who spends more time asleep than awake, which poses a problem since the serial killer in the room next door has the power to invade her nightmares.
"Fagbug" - When Erin Davies became the victim of a hate crime, thanks to a rainbow bumper sticker on her VW bug, she decided to turn a negative into a positive by turning the car into the "fagbug" and drove it across the U.S. and getting the testimony of other hate crime victims in this documentary.
"God's Office" - This 2008 French dramedy stars Nathalie Baye, Nicole Garcia, Isabelle Carré, and Béatrice Dalle as a group of employees at a Parisian family planning clinic who help give advice and counseling to others in compromising situations while they seek out each other's advice during smoke breaks.
"Holly" - Dubbed "The K-11 Project" during its 2007 festival run with stops at Edinburgh and the Hamptons, Ron Livingston and Udo Kier star in Guy Moshe's drama about a 12-year-old Vietnamese sex worker whose plight sparks the interest of an art trafficker (Livingston) that tries to rescue her from Cambodia.
"How to Make Love to a Woman" Recently dubbed one of the favorite up-and-coming actors of the IFC podcast, Krysten Ritter stars in this romantic comedy as a woman whose boyfriend (Josh Meyers) goes to great lengths to help her achieve an orgasm. Pron stars Jenna Jameson and Jessica Jaymes are onhand to offer sex tips, Ken Jeong and Ian Somerhalder are there to provide comic relief.
"Middle of Nowhere" Real-life mother and daughter Susan Sarandon and Eva Amurri transfer their relationship over to this dramedy directed by "Blue Crush" helmer John Stockwell about a debt-ridden mom whose poor credit history prevents her eldest from ditching their small-town life for college. Anton Yelchin and Justin Chatwin co-star.
"My Year Without Sex" Strand is handling the Stateside release of the sophomore live-action feature from Aussie director/animator Sarah Watt ("Look Both Ways") about a family of four whose lives are turned upside down when the matriarch suffers a brain aneurysm.
"Vivere" - Angelina Maccarone's German Christmas Eve-set drama stars legendary actress Hannelore Eisner as a suicidal woman who finds something to live for when she is befriended by a young woman who's looking for her younger sister.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: The Carey Mulligan tearjerker "The Greatest," the Ben Stiller dramedy "Greenberg," "Here & There," "Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger," "Our Family Wedding," Steve Buscemi's "Saint John of Las Vegas," Mike Roth and John Henning's doc "Saving Marriage," "Terribly Happy," Tom Huang's comedy "Why Am I Doing This?"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: "Mystery Science Theater 3000 XVIII," Warner Bros. "Film Noir Collection: Vol. 5" (including "Cornered," "Desperate," "The Phenix City Story," "Deadline at Dawn," "Armored Car Robbery," "Crime in the Streets," "Dial 1119" and "Backfire"), Ozu's "The Only Son/There Was a Father" (Criterion)
New to Blu-ray: "In Bruges"
July 20
"Elvis and Anabelle" - Blake Lively stars as a dead beauty pageant queen who is brought back to life by the kiss of a embalmer's son (Max Minghella) in this supernatural romance that premiered at SXSW in 2007.
"2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams" - The follow-up to Tim Sullivan's 2005 horror flick brings back genre staples Lin Shaye and Christa Campbell and adds Bill Moseley to the mix to fill in for Robert Englund when the cannibals of Pleasant Valley hit the road and meet up with some reality TV producers willing to depict their eating habits.
"The Collective" - Kelly Overton co-writes and co-directs (with Judson Pearce Morgan) and stars in this thriller about a concerned woman who travels to New York to find her younger sister and discovers she's been taken in by a mysterious cult.
"Just Another Day" - "The Wire"'s Wood Harris and Jamie Hector reunite for this drama set in the hip hop world where a young rapper (Hector) aspires to get his demo in the hands of Harris' star MC, though once accomplished, things don't go according to plan.
"Tenderloin" - Director Michael Anderson's drama concerns an Iraq war vet trying to reclaim his life with the help of his young son, a couple of drag queens, fellow vets and an alluring young woman who can help him out of his stupor in the ramshackle Tenderloin District of San Francisco.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "A Town Called Panic," Abdellatif Kechiche's "The Secret of the Grain" (Criterion), Bong Joon-ho's "Mother"
New to Blu-ray: "Cats & Dogs," Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's "Black Narcissus" and "The Red Shoes" (Criterion)
July 27
"Accidents Happen" - Geena Davis stars as the matriarch of the Conway clan, a family seemingly under a curse that has extended to their 15-year-old son whose childish prank leads to tragedy in this coming-of-age dramedy from Aussie director Andrew Lancaster.
"Don't Look Up" - "Dumplings" auteur Fruit Chan makes his English-language debut starring Henry Thomas, Kevin Corrigan and Eli Roth in this horror flick about a filmmaker whose plans to make his latest in Transylvania is upset by a supernatural entity that integrates itself into film stock unleashes the full force of evil upon the cast and crew.
"The Uninvited" Marguerite Moreau stars as an agoraphobic who thinks she's cured until she discovers her new home in the country may be haunted by ghosts in a horror thriller debut of the appropriately named Bob Badway.
"The Snake" After first debuting on VOD after a successful playdate at SXSW 2009, this wicked little comedy presented by Patton Oswalt stars co-director Adam Goldstein as a slithery sleazebag who weasels his way into a women's support group in order to prey on those that have issues for dates.
"Tricks of a Woman" - Carlos Leon, Vincent Pastore and Natasha Lyonne help fill out the supporting cast in this romantic dramedy about an immigrant working at a fish market who is discovered by a famous photographer, only to discover that she is part of a bet with a rival photographer to see if she can be transformed from a plain Jane into a supermodel.
Other indies that played theaters, but you might have missed: "The Art of the Steal," the Isabelle Huppert drama "Home," Marco Bellochio's "Vincere"
Oldies But Goodies Resurfacing or Appearing for the First Time on DVD: The animated "G.I. Joe: The Movie," Facets' "Best of the Fest," "Colors of Curacao: Ava & Gabriel Love Story, "Loos Ornamental," "Memory of Water," "Viva Castro," "Youth of Chopin," the 1950 noirs "Appointment With Danger" with Alan Ladd and the Charlton Heston-Lizabeth Scott starrer "Dark City"
New to Blu-ray: "Fanboys"