Pariah

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  A semi-closeted teenage African-American lesbian comes of age.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, Zabryna Guevara, Kim Sykes

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  You've seen one lesbian coming of age film, you've seen them all.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  I laughed in my head when I realized that I spent the first 10 minutes of the movie trying to decide whether the main characters were women or men.  It was a seriously heated debate in there!

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  Going in I thought this would be this year's Precious.  But it's like a Disney Channel movie in comparison, breaking almost no new ground... Except maybe uncovering how women make themselves look like men.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It won Cinematography at Sundance, which is especially surprising when you consider that all the out of focus shots were the one thing in this film that kept me annoyed throughout... Then again, most of what Sundance likes tends to annoy me, so I don't really know why I'm surprised.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  It is good to see Kim Wayans-- and in a dramatic role, no less!  I worked with her on a sit-com, back in the day, and I always thought she was one of the most under-rated talents I had ever come across.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  The odd choices about where to center the focus in many shots is clearly deliberate and artistic, but it doesn't work.  It's distracting and looks like a mistake.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  For a film getting so much attention, it's surprising how little feels original about it.  I mean, who hasn't already seen at least one movie where the Black husband is a cheater, the teenage girl hates her mother, and the mother is a homophobe?

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A:  Warning: despite the scary title, this is NOT a horror film or a video game.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Pariah Trailer

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Taking Woodstock

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: To avoid going broke, a young man (Demetri Martin) agrees to host the Woodstock Music Festival at his parents' motel, and you all know what happened from there.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Eugene Levy, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Don Fogler, Jonathan Groff, Liev Schreiber, Gabriel Sunday, Mamie Gumer, Kevin Sussman, Adam LeFevre

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Mostly due to a severe lack of period music, you never get lost in that 1960s feeling that was probably the main reason you chose to attend this movie in the first place.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: For all the silly places my sister, my dad, and I used to tell people they'd reached when they called our home, none of our attempts to be funny when we answered the phone were as hilarious as the way in which Demetri Martin answers the phone, in all seriousness, at his parents' motel.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Only if watching people go from flat broke to rich to richer in seconds flat makes you feel sad for your own insurmountable debt.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Considering the amount of nudity in the film, I was amazed to look around the theater at the vast number of blue hairs in the audience. Then it dawned on me, that these old geezers are about the right age to have actually attended this momentous event. And since the Academy is also made up of old farts, I'm going to assume that they too have a nostalgic affinity for smoking dope, dropping acid, and enjoying free love, and therefore, I'm not going to rule out awards consideration quite as fast as I should.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I don't know if you've ever seen Imelda Staunton in a film before, but I've seen her in two. And based on that tiny sampling, I would venture to say that everything she does is genius, and she should be doing a lot more of it. She is the highlight of the film, the source of most of the comedy, and in all seriousness, I would be shocked if she didn't win the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Ang Lee puts his artistic mark on the thing, but the pace is over-indulgent and self-important, at the same time. Also, I blame him for this film's greatest shortcoming-- which is the measly 3 recognizable songs on the soundtrack. You see, we know the problem wasn't that the budget was too low to afford more songs, because they had enough money to hire Ang Lee to direct.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: There is a nice story about family at the center of it all, and a few scenes that are particularly special. But the film starts out slow and never reaches the speed limit. So it's like driving behind an old person, and then having to smell them next to you in the theater... Probably sitting in a better seat than you, because they made you late.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/taking-woodstock/34750/trailers

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Humpday

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Two old friends, one happily married (Mark Duplass) and the other a vagabond (Joshua Leonard), challenge themselves to make an art project for a contest... it will be a porn about two straight men having gay sex. And they will play the straight men.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. If you weren't automatically turned off by what the film is about, you should absolutely see this movie. It's brilliant on all the levels that a true film lover should appreciate. It takes risk after risk and succeeds at all of them. No-name actors, bizarre topic, improvised dialogue, and a low budget look, do not stop this story from being everything an independent film is supposed to be. If you liked Chuck & Buck, Happiness, or Kissing Jessica Stein, you must see this movie. If you've never heard of any of those films, this one's probably not for you either.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Doesn't everyone laugh when they're uncomfortably squirming inside?

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: What happens after the movie is over might, but thankfully, we don't have to watch that part.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance, and if the Spirit Awards don't follow suit they'd be-- well, they'd be the Spirit Awards...

Q: How is the Acting?

A: If you're not familiar with the Mumblecore movement yet, what's taking you so long? The actors speak casually and talk over each other, making you feel as if you were eavesdropping on their lives, as they unfold. In other words, it's like a film version of TV's The Hills, but with a plot and a point.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Lynn Shelton uses the hand-held shaky cam in almost every scene to intensify the feelings of awkwardness and discomfort that arise around two men trying to force themselves to sleep together, despite their complete lack of desire for each other, and the married guy's wife. Shelton's directing is deceptively simple, and without any missteps.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Brilliant. Raw. Never forced. What makes this a great independent film is the writers take a risky topic and tell a story that the studios would be afraid of, but that is still completely (and this is the important part for all you indy filmmakers out there) WORTH TELLING. But ultimately, the movie isn't even about what the premise is about. The premise is just an interesting way for the characters to discover what's really going on in their lives under the surface appearances that they put out to the world.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/humpday/trailers

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