Indie Films Make Fine Summer Reading
Summer means different things to different people. Hollywood thinks it understands summer movies: action, special effects, comedy. There is a formula to summer blockbusters; Step I: turn off the brain. Fart jokes are immensely popular, as is vomiting, burping, and characters that fall down. Independent film fans know better. We know that escaping to an air-conditioned theater, eating popcorn, icy sodas is more than mere indulgence. We keep on thinking twelve months a year, and we expect a lot from our films. As always.
Good news. This summer, independent movies are based on books. Good books. Not John Grisham, but the English major's delight-- literary fiction, plus William Shakespeare, wrapped up into enticing ninety minute packages.
American Zoetrope kicks off the indie summer season with Sofia Coppola's feature film debut The Virgin Suicides opens nationally on May 5. The film, based on the critically acclaimed first novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is the story of five beautiful, blond sisters, who one by one, take their own lives. In addition to a strong story, the film also features a winning cast, including: Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Danny Devito, and Giovanni Ribisi.
Next up: the Bard. Miramx Pictures present Hamlet, opening in New York and Los Angeles on May 12. So you read the play in college? Saw the movie? Once, maybe twice, first with Mel Gibson, then Kenneth Branaugh? Think again. This summer's Hamlet is the hipster's version. A modern day retelling set in contemporary New York starring Ethan Hawke as Hamlet (moving up the intellectual ladder from Pip in Dicken's Great Expectations). Teen star Julia Stiles plays love interest Ophelia, the hilarious Bill Murray does Polonius, and actor/playwright Sam Shepard shows up as Hamlet's father. Not a bad cast. Too bad Miramax didn't pick a play we didn't know inside and out, but nonetheless, this appears to be excellent summer fare.
Artistic
License's Luminous Motion
opens on May 19. Scott Bradford wrote the screenplay for the film, adapted
from his novel The History of Luminous Motion. Bette Gordon directs.
Expect a strange ride from this stunning film. The film starts with a mother
(Debrah Unger, The Game) who gets herself and her 10-year-old son across
the country by selling her body...until the car breaks down.
Then take a week at the beach. Summer's only just starting, and you've already got in two book and a play in less than a month. You need to rest, and then, yes, it's time for some more Shakespeare.
Kenneth Branaugh simply cannot help himself. June 9 marks the NY/LA release day for Miramax's second Shakespeare release of the summer, Branugh's Love's Labour's Lost. (Shakespeare in Love did pretty well after all.) Do you have the stomach for it? What if I tell you it's a musical? That it's starring Kenneth Branaugh himself, the saccharine Nathan Lane, and past her prime Alicia Silverstone. This film isn't for the faint-hearted.
Lion's Gate Films releases Jesus' Son on June 16 in New York and Los Angeles based on the short story collection by Denis Johnson. Heroine addicts make for great literary fiction and indie film. (Jim Carrol's book turned film The Basketball Diaries, the instant indie classic Trainspotting). Truth be known, I don't much go for drug films and flinch at the site of needles, but this is one film you don't miss. Directed by the immensely talented Alison Maclean (Crush). The cast, too, is exceptional. Billy Crudrup (Waking The Dead, Inventing the Abbotts), currently hailed as the next, breaking indie star and one of my favorite actresses Samantha Morton (Sweet and Lowdown). IndieWIRE praises the film for its surprising levity and grace that "zeroes in on the rich veins of dark and goofy humor in Johnson's stories."
Expect rich, well developed films this so summer. After you watch the film, you can buy the book. There are always jazzy book covers with a picture from the film. Good thing there are swimming pools, ocean breezes, ice cream sundaes.
Stay tuned for more summer movies.
photo courtesy of Artistic License
