THE NEXT FIVE WEEKS IN FILM

After a slump of no-good films that came out after the Oscars, I've been eagerly awaiting the spring independents to come to Boston. I had some free time yesterday, so I did a check of what's coming up. Boy, was I surprised! Starting this weekend, there will be a new film on my "Must See of 2008-2009" list screening every weekend! Never has a Boston spring been this full of good films. So here we go:

Friday, March 27th - HUNGER @ The Kendall (For one week only)

Hunger blew people away last year at European festivals and now it's coming to the United States. Told in three movements, the film follows the 1981 hunger strikes performed by IRA prisoners after they were stripped of their POW status. It looks incredible. Directed by Steve McQueen (no, not that Steve McQueen).

Friday, April 3rd - EXAMINED LIFE @ The Brattle

A documentary with extended interviews from some of the most influential modern philosophers, including Peter Singer and Slavoj Zizek. Directed by Astra Taylor, who is married to Jeff Magnum of Neutral Milk Hotel. I believe he also contributed some music to the film.

Friday, April 10th - THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON) @ The MFA

As much as I enjoyed Man on Wire, and thought it deserved the Oscar for Best Documentary, I think Ellen Kuras' film should have gotten the recognition for relevance to current events. Shot over the course of about 20 years, The Betrayal follows a Laotian family's move to the United States after Vietnam. It looks beautiful.

Sunday, April 19th - TULPAN @ The Harvard Film Archive

I'm planning on seeing Tulpan after a glowing review by Michael Tully on Hammer to Nail. I guess that's all I can really say about it. If you want to learn more just read the review here, and I'm sure it'll convince you to see it too. Directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy.

April 21st - 28th - THE INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON

For the past two years I've been going to the IFFB and I think it's a really solid festival. They do a good job of getting directors to come and speak and there is always a good line-up of films coming right off the SXSW buzz. Here's are some of the features that I want to see this year:

BEESWAX by Andrew Bujalski
CHILDREN OF INVENTION by Tze Chun
THE BROTHERS BLOOM by Rian Johnson
and of course 500 DAYS OF SUMMER because I have a major crush on Zooey Deschanel.

The rest of their 2009 lineup can be found here. Happy movie-going!

BUJALSKI IN BERLIN WITH BEESWAX

I though I'd share a tidbit from a recent press release by the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival about Andrew Bujalski's new film.

"Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax is in many ways symptomatic of the search for a new autonomy of narrative. Using the gestures, manner of speaking, and props of everyday life, Bujalski discovers small dramatic episodes of an astonishing cinematographic quality. His laconicism and intimacy can be considered the marks of a trend; a special genre term has, in fact, already been coined to reflect the way the actors, mostly non-professionals, speak in his films: “mumblecore”. This term can also be seen as an indication that the mumbling of everyday life all too often transmits the clearest signs of life."

Says nothing we don't already know, but hey, three cheers!