Ah, early January. It’s the perfect time of year for snowstorms, hockey, and a curious combination of Award-caliber films, teen flicks, and a bunch of crap that studios don’t much want you to see but are contractually obligated to give a wide theatrical release. Savor these times, friends. Savor these times.
Birdwatchers
Director: Marcho Bechis
Personal Interest Factor: 6
Instead of writing out a summary, and since IFC has decided they don’t care about promoting the film in any meaningful way, I’ll just direct you to the Facets page for the film. Sounds sort of interesting, and I really ought to make it to Facets more than I do.
Metacritic: not listed
Daybreakers (trailer)
Directors: The Spierig Brothers
Personal Interest Factor: 4
This may actually be a cut above the usual early-winter studio dumps, but I have to be honest and say that I don’t really care.
Metacritic: 60
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (trailer)
Director: Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brothers Grimm, Tideland)
Personal Interest Factor: 8
Nice to see Gilliam with a movie that actually a) gets finished, and b) has a distributor who wants to show the film. It’s the first time in over a decade that both of these things have happened for him (Tideland didn’t even play in Dallas somehow). Obviously interest in this one is propelled by the presence of Heath Ledger, who died during filming. But it looks like something worth seeing anyway, as Gilliam’s films usually are.
Metacritic: 66
Killing Kasztner (trailer)
Director: Gaylen Ross
Personal Interest Factor: 5
Documentary examining the circumstances around the death of Reszo Kasztner, a Hungarian Jew who rescued thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, yet was later convicted in Israel of being a collaborator and assassinated.
Metacritic: 46
Leap Year (trailer)
Director: Anand Tucker (Hillary and Jackie, Shopgirl, When Did You Last See Your Father?)
Personal Interest Factor: 3
Amy Adams, having finally distinguished herself from Isla Fisher in the eyes of the international moviegoing public, now finds herself in a romantic comedy that looks pretty stupid, but not really all that stupid relative to the current standards of the genre.
Metacritic: 30
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (trailer)
Director: Jodie Markell
Personal Interest Factor: 5
An unproduced script by Tennessee Williams, starring Bryce Dallas Howard. I honestly am at a loss for anything to add to that.
Metacritic: 51
The Sun
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov (Mother and Son, Russian Ark, Alexandra)
Personal Interest Factor: 9
This film is actually a few years old, having been first released internationally in 2005. It was made before Alexandra, which played here in 2008. It is Sokurov’s portrait of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito during World War II, and is in the top 20 of IndieWire’s Critics Survery for 2009.
Metacritic: 81
Until the Light Takes Us (trailer)
Director: Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell
Personal Interest Factor: 2
Documentary about, of all things, the Norwegian black metal scene.
Metacritic: 59
Wild River
Director: Elia Kazan (Gentleman’s Agreement, Panic in the Streets, A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront)
Personal Interest Factor: 10
One of Kazan’s lesser-known films gets a re-issue amidst a larger Kazan retrospective at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Somewhat surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to be available on DVD at all here in the US.
Metacritic: not listed
Youth in Revolt (trailer)
Director: Miguel Arteta (Star Maps, Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl)
Personal Interest Factor: 6.5
I usually give a 6 to a movie that I would see if I were bored and had nothing else to do. A 7 usually means that it’s not a terribly high priority but I’ll try to make time for it. I kind of like Michael Cera, but am I missing anything if I skip one of his movies? Probably not, and there’s usually another one coming around anyway, right?
Metacritic: 63
