For Your Consideration - Korean Western Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

It's been a while since we've had an FYC, but we're going to try to slowly bring them back. The week lacks much verbal recommendation, as we'll let these trailers stand for themselves. All we can say is - Korean cinema is a guaranteed good time.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD


PAPER MAN

For Your Consideration - Flyin' High in Awards Season

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week brings us one of the supposed forerunners in the Oscar race - Up In The Air. Also debuting this week are Oscar hopefuls Brothers, The Last Station, and odd longshot Everybody's Fine. We're entering the final month of awards season releases, so there should be something at the theater for everyone this week.

Everything

UP IN THE AIR


THE LAST STATION


BROTHERS


EVERYBODY'S FINE


TRANSYLMANIA


SERIOUS MOONLIGHT


ARMORED

For Your Consideration - Happy Thanksgiving!

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week, we have a handful of new releases to be thankful for: the limited release of Disney's return to 2-D animation in The Princess and the Frog, Zac Efron's effort to prove he's more than a High School Musical heartthrob in Me and Orson Welles, stunning Robyn Wright Penn in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, and a film about surviving after the end of the world in The Road. All we know for sure is, if anyone in your family insists on celebrating the holiday by seeing Old Dogs, you should probably turn them down. The trailers for those, and a few others, are available below.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Everything

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG


ME AND ORSON WELLES


THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE


THE ROAD


NINJA ASSASSIN


OLD DOGS

For Your Consideration - Fresh Blood Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week is headlined by a bunch of auteurs authoring very uninspiring things. Pedro Almodovar has opted to go with the greatest hits approach for his latest offering, Broken Embraces. Early reviews are positive, but not stunning so it’s probably not a great entry point, but if you like him, it’ll be worth a gander. Meanwhile, Werner Herzog decides to film a resequelmakespinoff of Bad Lieutnenant to prove once and for all that not even Abel Ferarra is crazier than him. Long-time Swedish art-house director Lukas Moodysson’s English-language debut Mammoth is being hailed as a ‘career killer’ and ‘a film that speaks only in an Esperanto-like mixture of the bad-humanism from Babel and Crash’. And, let’s not forget to mention The Fantastically Banal Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson’s latest retread that opened last week. The animated nature of the film exposes all of Anderson’s weaknesses. Visually, Wes Anderson's strength has always been his unerring dedication to mise en scene - he fastidiously controls every aspect of production design to create a heightened reality for his specifically dressed characters to interact in. In a way, what makes him so unique in film is the way he blends an animator's sense of aesthetic control to live-action film – a medium that has been trended towards realism for years. Unfortunately his theatricality isn't a novelty in animation, it's a necessity. Mr. Fox is simply him taking an animator's eye to animation, and the results are mundane. So with all of the old guard striking out, what do we have to look forward to this week? Why the debut feature of Scott Teems of course – That Evening Sun.

THAT EVENING SUN

What: The first feature film from newcomer Scott Teems, That Evening Sun is the story of an aging Tennessee farmer who just wants to enjoy his final days. When he returns to the family farm after staying in a nursing home for years, he learns that his son has leased the farm to his nemesis, who refuses to leave. Hal Holbrook shines as the old man in a film that won numerous festival awards.

Where: LA - Sunset 5, Playhouse 7, NY - City Cinemas 1, 2, 3

Why: A story of an aging man that decides to push back against a world that wishes he would just fade away. This premise caught my eye as something interesting and unique with last year’s Gran Torino. Unfortunately, Clint Eastwood’s predilections for melodrama and blunt messaging left me cold. Luckily, the premise is the only common thread between That Evening Sun and Gran Torino; where Gran Torino was blunt, That Evening Sun is subtle. Where Clint Eastwood was little more than an aged Dirty Harry, Hal Halbrook is an emotionally rounded man that just wants the world to give a damn. Where Gran Torino was a racist film about tolerance, That Evening Sun is multi-dimensional look at a region of the country that is often off-handedly labeled as being a zone of racists. If nothing else, this film is worth seeing for what will almost certainly be the final time for the always phenomenal Hal Holbrook to shine in a leading role.

Everything Else

THE MESSENGER


WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE


DEFAMATION


BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS


BROKEN EMBRACES


FIX


MAMMOTH


THE MISSING PERSON


THE WAR ON KIDS

For Your Consideration - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blew (up)

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week conjures up that grand old feeling of deja vu all over again. It's the first week of November and that means we get to be treated to a couple of November film traditions: the family friendly Christmas film and the self-ennobling Oscar bait tearjerker. That means you can choose between watching the Uncanny Valley stage a presentation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL or you can can go warm yourself up with PRECIOUS, a nice serious (read: SERIOUS) film carefully calculated to show that although things can get tough the human spirit will conquer all, dagnabit! If you're burnt out on watching these films go through the same motions that all of their cinematic ancestors have gone through you can watch a humble little film about the military killing the shit out of goats using telekinesis - starring George Clooney. Yes, starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges and goats.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

What: Based on the true stories of the US military attempting to use paranormal abilities in wartime, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is tipped off by ex-Special Forces operator Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims he can kill goats by simply staring at them. When Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), the leader of this supposed unit, goes missing, Cassady and Wilton set off to find him.

Where: Wide Release

Why: George Clooney kills a goat. with. his. mind.

Everything Else

PRECIOUS



COLLAPSE




SPLINTERHEADS




THAT EVENING SUN

For Your Consideration - A Little Bit for Everyone But Us Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

Welcome to a weekend filled with a little something for everyone, except for us here at Calanander. Looking for some tried-and-true-and-is-this-stuff-still-around torture porn? Then look no further than Saw VI. Want something a bit less convoluted? Hit up the still going strong micro-budget "Iz Can Be Filmmaeker Now, Plees?" stylings of Paranormal Activity. But maybe neither of those are enough for you, perhaps you don't have a soft spot for cinema verite-y horror, and the bloody soap-opera aesthetics of Saw VI are just too hackneyed for you. If that's the case, check out Lars Von Triers love-it-or-hate-it-he's-still-the-self-professed-greatest-director-alive's latest effort: Antichrist. We personally fall on the hate it side of it's spectrum, but if you enjoy what he does, then you're going to hit this up anyway. If nothing else, check out the haunting trailer and try to pretend the film isn't wildly reported to be a master class in misogyny.

Don't want horror? Need a little action? There's an Ong Bak for that. Ong Bak 2 to be exact. Tony Jaa punches elephants in this one - and they no doubt cut to 4 different camera angle replays of it. Pumped? Yeh, us neither.

Does none of that sound appealing? Do you just want award season to start already? Well, then may I introduce Ms. Swank's latest entry into her never ending quest to not only out Oscar Meryl Streep, but teach her the glorious power of win percentages: Amelia. Unfortunately, early reviews confirm the suspicions set forth by the trailer; this film is little more than a by-the-numbers period bit of Oscar bait completely devoid of any spark or jazz. On a positive note, the film's refusal to use much CGI is said to grant a certain beauty to the aerial scenes.

Unfortunately if you're looking for something different, something more - something character based, but not heavy handed or cliche - then you'll unfortunately have to wait another week or two or just catch up on other films currently in theatres.

And those are all the films worth noting, but not recommending. You'll find the trailers for them and the other films not even worth noting below.

Everything & Everything Else

SAW VI


ANTICHRIST


ONG BAK 2


AMELIA


UNTITLED

For Your Consideration - Yup That Came Out Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

Here's a recap of the films coming out this weekend.
Black Dynamite: Ugh
New York, I Love You: Really?
The Maid: Uh-huh
Adventures of Power: Could be funny...

See ya next week!

Everything Else

BLACK DYNAMITE


NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU


THE MAID


ADVENTURES OF POWER

For Your Consideration - Writers FTW Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week is a rarity in film as our two recommended films are both being marketed on the strength of their writers. How whacky is that? Oh, and they're also both English, heavily character-based - kind of a given considering the two previous points - and period films. An Education is set in the early 60s right before the Beatles and the Rolling Stones changed England youth culture forever, and The Damned United is set in 1974, where England was desperate to regain its national pride following a failed bid to make the World Cup. Other films worth noting, but not receiving a full recommendation this week, include Bronson - another British character piece - and Good Hair - perhaps worth seeing just to avoid an Angloverdose.

AN EDUCATION

What: The second English-language film from Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), An Education tells the story of a 16-year-old girl named Jenny (Carey Mulligan) in pre-Beatles England desperate to escape her conservative working class roots and become a sophisticated woman. David (Peter Sarsgaard) - a 30-year-old man - seems to be her ticket to the life she's always fantasized about, but dreams rarely live up to their promises.

Where: LA - The Landmark, Arclight Hollywood; NY - Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Union Square 14

Why: Marketed on the pedigree of its writer Nick Hornby, all early reviews give equal praise to the performance of Carey Mulligan and the even direction of Lone Scherfig. Both commercially and artistically appealing, the film is certainly a lock for some Oscar action, and if not just for the performances, it's worth recommending solely to support a coming-of-age story told from a female point-of-view.

THE DAMNED UNITED

What: The second feature film from acclaimed TV director Tom Hooper ("John Adams"), The Damned United tells the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), who as a soccer coach, was once one of the most recognizable figures in sports.

Where: LA - The Landmark, Town Center 5, Laemmle Playhouse 7; NY - Lincoln Square 12, Union Square 14

Why: Another tour-de-force performance by Michael Sheen is a pretty solid reason, but more than that, what really makes this film interesting is that it's a sports flick that subverts the standard sports movie formula - instead of showcasing a coach leading a spry bunch of underdog's victories culminating in some grand championship, it highlights that wants to straighten up a group of bullies-turned-champions, but in doing so hopelessly causes their descent into chaos. It serves as a kind of realistic epilogue/rebuttal to the common sports film.

Everything Else

BRONSON



GOOD HAIR

For Your Consideration - Truth and Consequence Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week marks the beginning of the Oscar season rush in the independent film world, so look for more packed FYCs like this one. The two recommendations this week both revolve around looking for the truth. A Serious Man follows a man desperately seeking for some small bit of existential truth, while the alternate-reality comedy The Invention of Lying follows a man who realizes he can perfectly bend the truth. The rest of this week's major releases are courteous enough to divide themselves into two categories: the could-be-good-if-not-too-derivative and you-already-know-if-this-interests-you-or-not. Zombieland looks like it'll be original and spunky enough to step out of Shaun of the Dead's zomcom shadow, but Afterschool, being heralded as the arrival of a fresh new voice in American cinema, is really going to have to wow when it looks like a blatant tone-to-theme rip-off of the work of Michael Hanneke. Meanwhile Whip It! and Chelsea On The Rocks sit expectantly at Camp Foregone Conclusion.

A SERIOUS MAN

What: The umpteenth film from the venerable fraternal pair of Joel and Ethan Cohen, A Serious Man is the story of a Jewish professor living in a midwestern suburb in the late 60s, yearning to come to terms with his religion and his life in increasingly difficult, and bizarre modern times.

Where: LA - The Landmark, Arclight Hollywood, NY - Landmark Sunshine Cinema, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas

Why: A Serious Man is a welcome return to the more realistic vein of comedy after several slapstick affairs (see: Intolerable Cruelty, Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers). I could go on about how this is the most personal film they've every made or how refreshing it is to see a film populated completely with non-'name' characters actors, but it's the Coens, if you're not a believer of them yet, this definitely isn't the film that's going to convert you.

THE INVENTION OF LYING

What: The first feature film directed by Ricky Gervais (co-creator and star of "The Office", and "Extras"), The Invention of Lying is about a world that is seemingly the same as ours, except for the fact that the concept of lying doesn't exist. That is until one day, when Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) suddenly discovers the ability to lie and then proceeds to use it for his own personal gain.

Where: Wide release

Why: Although at first glance The Invention of Lying seems to be little more than a by-the-numbers magic man comedy (see: Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, Click, etc.), early reviews suggest that it's actually a rather subversive deconstruction of the genre - which isn't too surprising given Ricky Gervais' involvement behind the camera.

Everything Else

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

MORE THAN A GAME

THE HORSE BOY


AFTERSCHOOL


CHELSEA ON THE ROCKS

For Your Consideration - Catch-Up Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week is a shame, because none of the disparate limited releases are intriguing enough to rise above their middling brethren, and you no doubt already know if you're interested in watching the umpteenth remake of Fame or the latest film in which Bruce Willis plays a cop challenging the system. With nothing worth recommending, we at FYC have decided to shine a spotlight on a release from last week that unfortunately fell on our vacation week.

THE INFORMANT!

What: The fourth feature from Steven Soderbergh since December 2008 (Traffic, Che, the Ocean trilogy), The Informant! tells the true story of Mark Whitacre, a VP of a giant agribusiness corporation turned informant, that decided to blow the whistle on a worldwide price-fixing racket.

Where: Wide release

Why: Soderbergh is the most under-appreciated director working today. I know that may seem an odd statement, especially considering he possesses an Oscar and numerous other acclimations, but his eclectic nature and lack of flashy visual signatures keeps him from achieving cult director status (see: Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, etc.) and the fact that he'd rather push the boundaries of cinema and tackle off-beat issues than make films that always function on a primal, thoughtless level means he'll never be part of the artistic faction of Hollywood directors (see: David Fincher, J.J. Abrams). After exploring the dichotomy between myth and reality with his Che diptych and dissection of relationships in The Girlfriend Experience, The Informant! finds Soderbergh seemingly approaching the populist realm of his Ocean franchise, and while The Informant! is by far one of the funniest films of the year, it also is a deft examination of the way in which an audience relates to a protagonist. I'll delve into all the spoilery details of what makes this film so brilliant later as part of the new Have You Seen Me series, but for now, I can only highly recommend a film that is both hilarious and deeply thoughtful. This film is a "must see"(TM)

Everything Else

THE BLUE TOOTH VIRGIN

COCO BEFORE CHANEL

THE BOYS ARE BACK


BLIND DATE


BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN


SURROGATES


PANDORUM

For Your Consideration - A Work in Progress

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

For Your Consideration is currently under construction for this week.

For Your Consideration - Haha Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

It's all about avoiding Steve this week at theaters. Luckily the guaranteed-to-be-mercifully-forgotten-quickly-disaster of It's All About Steve is counterbalanced nicely by the Mike Judge's latest also-likely-to-be-forgotten-but-undersevingly-so effort. The rest of this week's releases include another group of immigrant tales, multi-generational family dramas, and indie horror films that, according to all reviews, do nothing to separate them from the pack.

EXTRACT

What: The fourth feature from Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butthead", Office Space) Extract follows Joel, the sexually frustred owner of a flavor extract company, as he tries to struggle his way through a mid-life crisis while dealing with obstacles from all around.

Where: NY - Angelika Film Center, Empire 25, AMC 34th Street 14, City Cinema 123, LA - The Landmark, Century City 15, Monica 4-Plex, Arclight Sherman Oaks, Arclight Hollywood

Why: I'm just going to go ahead and say it - Mike Judge is a master of realism. Sure, Idiocracy and Beavis and Butthead will never be mentioned in the same breath as the works of Krzysztof Kieślowski or the Dardenne brothers, but when it comes to capturing the subtle nuances of a relationship or analyzing and perfectly representing the archetypes of any environment, very few can match up against Mike Judge. He is also a genius at drawing great performances from every actor he works with. Although it feels wrong to single out any particular actor, Ben Affleck and David Koechner deserve special mention. Often miscast as a leading man, Affleck shines in the film, stealing every scene he appears in with his criminally under-appreciated comedic timing and Koechner finally plays against type to marvelous effect. Ignore the lackluster trailer (posted below anyway) - this is the comedy of the summer, and you should do everything you can to make sure it doesn't follow the all-too-familiar path of box office poison to DVD superstar that marks the rest of Mike Judge's oeuvre, because if this one is successful, we might not have to wait 4 more years for his next sleeper hit.

Everything Else

STILL WALKING

TICKLING LEO

AMREEKA

For Your Consideration - Top and Bottom Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week's FYC stretches from the bottom to the top. From the tale of the near religious devotion of a football fan to a documentary exploring an almost god-like figurehead of a $300 billion dollar industry.

BIG FAN

What: Big Fan marks the directorial debut of Robert D. Siegel, the screenwriter of The Wrestler and former editor-in-chief of The Onion. The film follows a die-hard New York Giants fan that finds his faith in the Giants questioned after he is severely beaten by one of the team's linebackers.

Where: NY - Angelika Film Center; LA - Opens 9/11 at the Nuart

Why: Debuting at this year's Sundance, Big Fan received a bit of a mixed reaction, but luckily the majority of the negative reviews stemmed from the expectation that a Patton Oswalt-star vehicle would be a lot more light-hearted. With The Wrestler, Siegel proved he could craft an excellent character study in the sports world, but at the end of the day, it was just another story of an underdog in a genre bursting at the seams with them. Big Fan is refreshing, in that, instead of being another tale of the select few champions, it focuses on the fans - the overwhelming masses whose unwavering enthusiasm allow for sports to exist. It's great to see Siegel taking what could've so easily been a comedy considering the material and his pedigree and making it a compelling drama, and any fear of stunt casting should be put aside as Patton Oswalt is receiving rave reviews for his balanced portrayal of the titular fan.

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE

What: The third film from R.J. Cutler, The September Issue is an insider's view of the world of fashion. The documentary centers on Anna Wintour, Vogue's editor-in-chief for twenty years, and how she and the magazine have shaped the creative, entertaining and emotionally demanding fashion world. Cutler uses his unprecedented behind the scenes access to capture all of the moments that go into creating Vogue's September issue - also known as the "fashion bible."

Where: NY - Landmark Sunshine Cinema, AMC Loews Lincoln Center 13, Empire 25, Cinema 123, LA - 9/11 Playhouse 7

Why: Ad copy predictably hails it as "the real Devil Wears Prada", but instead of a schmaltzy story of the delicate art of balancing love with work, The September Issue presents an unprecedented look at the struggles of being consistent and secure in an industry that is all about the next big thing.

Everything Else

TAKING WOODSTOCK

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

For Your Consideration - Best Laid Plans... Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week's recommendations are all about people's life dreams and the way the world loves to flatly ignore them. World's Greatest Dad is the tale of an aspiring writer turned middle-aged school teacher/father of the worst kid on the planet, while Fifty Dead Men Walking chronicles an unambitious hoodlum's evolution into a spy. Yup - fair trades all around.

WORLD'S GREATEST DAD

What: The fourth feature film from comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, World's Greatest Dad is the tale of Lance Clayton, a doormat of a man whose dreams and aspirations have shrunken smaller than the attendance rate of his poetry class at the local high school. His only living family member is his perverted 16-year-old son who is more interested in watching people felch on the internet than socializing and, to make matters worse, Lance's 'girlfriend' doesn't want anyone to know they are even dating. His life is completely unbearable until a freak occurrence presents him with an ethically dubious path to salvation.

Where: NY - Landmark Sunshine Cinema; LA - Opens 8/28 at the Sunset 5, Playhouse 7, and the Landmark.

Why: World's Greatest Dad is a pitch black, comedic parable that isn't for everyone. While far from a perfect film, it's refreshing to see a director competently combine gross-out comedy with a genuine examination of some of the less talked about aspects of the human condition, especially after Funny People's try-hard, bloated, and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at the same thing. It also features what would be a career-reviving performance from Robin Williams if more than five people actually see it.

FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING

What: The latest feature from prolific, but relatively unsung, Canadian director Kari Skogland, Fifty Dead Men Walking, is a loose adaptation of the memoirs of Martin McGartland. Set in 1980s Northern Ireland, the film follows a local Belfast hood named Marty as he becomes an spy within the IRA at the behest of the British government. Naturally, his life becomes more and more imperiled the deeper and deeper he gets. The film's odd title comes from the real Marty McGartland's claim that his undercover work saved at least fifty lives.

Where: NY - Quad Cinema, AMC Empire 25; LA - Next Week

Why: Although on the surface it may appear to be just another traditional spy movie, early buzz is praising it for its moral complexity and the even-handed way that it portrays such a polarizing topic. Also, it's always nice to see Ben Kingsley take a break from his busy schedule of phoning in performances to every B movie being released these days and Jim Sturgess is receiving rave reviews for his wide-ranging performance that shows him sliding between cocksure swagger and immense vulnerability.

Everything Else

MY ONE & ONLY

ART & COPY

FIVE MINUTES IN HEAVEN

THE BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX

For Your Consideration - Nothing To Get Excited About Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

This week's FYC will hopefully be looked back upon by future generations as something of a rarity. 10 limited releases arrive in either LA, NY, or both this weekend, but none of them are interesting enough to warrant a full entry. Narrowly missing recommendation this week are It Might Get Loud and Yasukuni. Helmed by Davis Guggenheim, It Might Get Loud will no doubt be a competent little love letter to the electric guitar, but it is only receiving a lukewarm response from non-enthusiasts. Yasukuni, the story of a controversial war shrine in Japan, would've easily earned a recommendation for its nuanced approach towards a symbol of the complicated nature of separating heroes from criminals in something as fuzzy as war if not for its heavily biased third act that sits in stark contrast to the evenhanded approach of the rest of the film. As for everything else, there isn't much of note. Voy A Explotar is just another film unabashedly imitating scenes from the French New Wave without bring anything new to the table. Whenever I've seen Grace's trailer in theatres, it's been greeted with rounds of snickering, and Taxidermia, well, it's something you'll know if you're interested in or not once you see the trailer.

Everything Else

YASUKUNI


IT MIGHT GET LOUD


I'M GONNA EXPLODE


GRACE


TAXIDERMIA


EARTH DAYS


CAPTAIN ABU RAED

For Your Consideration - Soul Mate Edition

For Your Consideration is a weekly round-up of upcoming indie limited releases. The idea is to either expose you to or remind you of films that can't afford to plaster their posters on the sides of buildings or accompany your Happy Meal in toy form.

Are you feeling lost this week? Looking for a cinematic getaway this weekend that is a little more metaphysical than the latest action movie based around a toyline? Perhaps you're just afraid that you won't be able to afford the new cooking hobby/addiction you'll no doubt pick-up if you see the hulking tidal wave of charm presented by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep's latest pairing? Then perhaps this week's FYC can help. This week's stunningly similar recommendations are both Sundance darlings, both star actors playing themselves, and both involve said actors-turned-subjects traveling great distances to uncover answers about two of life's greatest mysteries - does true love exist and where on Earth is Paul Giamatti's soul?

PAPER HEART

What: The first feature film from Nick Jasenovec, Paper Heart chronicles comedienne Charlyne Yi and a problem that has been nagging her for a while - she doesn't believe in love. She decides to scour the country with her director friend Nick interviewing friends, strangers, experts, bikers, psychics, and couples to learn more about the nebulous nature of love. Things become complicated when she begins falling for Michael Cera shortly after filming commences on their project. Will the invasive chronicling of their interactions as part of her documentary shed light on what it means to be in love or sink their burgeoning relationship before it can find its footing?

Where: LA - The Landmark, Arclight Hollywood, Playhouse 7, NY - AMC Empire 25, AMC Loews Lincoln Square

Why: A documentary mashed together with large chunks of traditional narrative storytelling and fantasy - but not nearly as pretentious as all of that makes it sound - Paper Heart is a refreshingly unique take on the romantic comedy. Paper Heart may seem to have all of the ironic and detached trappings of Hipsterdom attached to it, but it's actually a relentlessly sincere film that revels in spotlighting humanity at its best - a bit of chicken soup for these cynical Bruno times. It's an engaging film that eschews formula and examines not just love, but also the nature of the love story, but be warned, the more cynical among you may walk away annoyed by its preciously upbeat world view.

COLD SOULS

What: The first film from writer/director Sophie Barthes, Cold Souls is a surreal comedy starring Paul Giamatti as an actor named Paul Giamatti. Gripped with existential fear after reading Anton Checkov's Uncle Vanya, he finds himself unable to do anything but sit around and mope all day. Luckily, the New Yorker comes to the rescue with an article detailing a company that will deep-freeze and store your soul until you're ready to deal with it. After experiencing a shift in his personality, Paul goes back to retrieve his soul only to find himself the victim of "soul-trafficking," which sets him off an existential adventure to find who now owns his soul.

Where: LA - The Landmark, Playhouse 7, Arclight Sherman Oaks; NY - Landmark Sunshine Cinema, Lincoln Plaza Cinema

Why: At its Sundance premiere, Cold Souls drew a lot comparisons to the work of Charlie Kaufman - unsurprising considering it is a reflective tale centered around a member of show-business peppered with a large dose of magical realism, but most early reviews show that, despite these superficial similarities, the film manages to stand on its own thematically and structurally, and isn't that what's important? Let us not forget, that many derided Charlie Kaufman as little more than a Woody Allen knock-off early in his career. I could continue defending this film, but derivative-or-not, it looks darn enjoyable.

Everything Else

BEESWAX

BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA

No Trailer Available.

Told from the point-of-view of the Obama Campaign, By the People: The Election of Barack Obama is the most in-depth behind-the-scenes documentary on the 2004 presidential race. Spending the first third of the film on the underdog battle to win the Iowa caucus and following through the the battle for the Democratic nomination and ending at the White House, the film is a rare, first-hand look at the rigors of running for the Oval Office.