Two of the best independent films of 2006 (so far) are already out on DVD. First-time filmmaker Rian Johnson's hard-boiled thriller Brick features a cast of baby-faced teens. Veteran director Wim Wenders reteams with Sam Shepard in the funny and thoughtful drama Don't Come Knocking. Also, Yoji Yamada's critically acclaimed samurai drama The Hidden Blade.
1. Brick
Hard-boiled gumshoes, drug kingpins, dames in red dresses--but nobody is old enough to buy a drink. In first-time director Rian Johnson's thriller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a teenage detective trying to solve his ex-girlfriend's mysterious death. Set in the dappled light of a Southern California high school, Brick might be the freshest take on the genre since Reservoir Dogs.
2. Don't Come Knocking
Wim Wender's Don't Come Knocking sneaks up on you slowly. Wenders reteaming with Sam Shepard, returning to the American desert twenty years after Paris, Texas has a made a quiet, wonderful movie. The marevelous cast includes Shepard in the leading role, Jessica Lange, Eva Marie Saint, Sarah Polley, Tim Roth and Fairuza Balk.
3. The Hidden Blade
Set in the mid-19th century, Yoji Yamada's The Hidden Bladefollows Yaichiro, a samurai on a journey away from his family and to Edo, Japan to find work. The Tartan DVD release includes a behind the scenes featurette, footage from the Berlin Film Festival premiere; a Yoji Yamada press conference, and Japanese and US theatrical trailers.
