Indie Films Make Fine Summer Reading
Part 2
Kenneth Branagh 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? And 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. Heroin 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. It is 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 summer. After you watch the film, you can buy the book -- they're always reissued with jazzy covers with a picture from the film. Good thing there are swimming pools, ocean breezes, and ice cream sundaes.
Stay tuned for more summer movies....
