Movie Trailer Round Up: Indie Edition

Dear Phil,

Last night, Silentkillerica and I went to see Midnight in Paris at Angelika, and I have basically three thoughts...

1.  I can't imagine any writer not being obsessed with the idea of this movie.  Who hasn't imagined sitting on the porch with Gabriel Garcia Marquez as he marks up your manuscript with helpful suggestions and pats you on the arm in a grandfatherly way?

2.  Adrian Brody as Salvador Dali was killing me.

3.  If there's a more beautiful woman in this world than Marion Cotillard I don't who it is (except maybe that designer on the current season of Project Runway who used to be a Miss Universe contestant).

As we were leaving, Silentkillerica said that Woody Allen's movies are sort of hit or miss for her; I said I thought pretty much everyone feels that way.  I don't think I've ever met anyone who loves ALL of his movies -- usually people are like, "Oh, I love Annie Hall and Manhattan, but Match Point sucks" or "Crimes and Misdemeanors is the best movie ever, but everything else he's done is terrible."  There's something intriguing about that to me, as if when you are so prolific as an artist, everyone has a different combination of your work that speaks to them.  Ideally, one day I'll have written enough books to garner such diverse reactions.

All that said, sometimes the most exciting part of going to see a movie at Angelika isn't the movie itself, but rather the fact that I'm treated to a veritable Christmas morning of indie movie trailers cued up before my feature presentation.  It's especially thrilling as the summer draws to a close and ushers in the first round of little-movies-that-could from Sundance and Cannes hoping to start a slow burn that will eventually blaze a trail all the way to the Oscars.

Here are last night's highlights...

1.  Martha Marcy May Marlene.  I don't really need to go into my oft discussed love for the family Olsen do I?

via vanityfair.com

While it's tough to imagine any Olsen(s) inspiring in me the same affection that I have for Mary Kate and Ashley, Elizabeth Olsen certainly comes close.  She's ethereally beautiful and almost creepily talented in that Maggie Gyllenhaal way.  Plus, she's always walking the red carpet in designs from The Row as if to say, "Yes, we are a family both attractive and skilled.  No need to gush." 

Listen Olsens, it's time we became friends.  It's obviously meant to be.

The truth is, even after watching the trailer, I can't totally tell you what Martha Marcy May Marlene (a title that I both love and hate since it is simultaneously intriguing and hard to say) is about, and yet, I am mesmerized by this preview.  Also, John Hawkes is like the king of the indie movie prom these days, no?  Get it JH.   

2.  Gun Hill Road.  This is the kind of movie that you watch the trailer for and think, "Oh! That looks so good...and also so terrible."

And by "terrible," I mean it will mangle my fragile heart to such a degree that it will likely take me days to recover.  Check out this trailer, and tell me I'm wrong.

3.  Brighton Rock.  For reasons unknown, I kept referring to this movie as "Broken Road" for most of the night (a mistake which led to a comedy of errors in which Silentkillerica thought I was talking about the aforementioned Gun Hill Road).  

Title confusion aside, the marketing of this movie is deeply impressive to me.  I saw the poster in the lobby and was already talking Silentkillerica's ear off about it by the time we got to our seats.  Then, the trailer was so -- I'll just say it -- gripping.  I've never actually heard of Sam Riley before this moment, but I think I may love him (not in the way I love say, Jay Hernandez necessarily, but more in the way that I love Kevin Spacey or Elijah Wood -- he's just interesting to watch onscreen).  Also, you know I can't resist an adaptation, right?  I'm totally putting a copy of Graham Greene's novel on hold at the library to prep for the movie.

4.  Project Nim.  When I was a kid I used to have this memory match game with pictures of baby animals on the cards.  The baby chimp was wearing a diaper and for some reason it was my favorite -- perhaps because it was so sweet and affectionate looking compared to the chimps at the zoo that screamed and hurled their own feces.  The point is this poster reminded me of the memory match game chimp...

 
The trailer for Project Nim is actually slightly less intriguing to me than the poster despite the fact that the trailer shows several shots of Nim wearing what is undeniably a diaper.

5.  Higher Ground.  If it was possible for Patricia Arquette and Claire Forlani to procreate together, I feel like their kid would look exactly like Vera Farmiga...

Watching the trailer, I'm not totally sold on this movie yet.  I can't decide if it's going to be awesome or kind of disappointing in that way that so many movies that try to tackle the subject of religion often are.  However, I will say that I think Vera Farmiga gives consistently great performances, and I strongly suspect that she will give an even more amazing performance on a project that she is so invested in creatively (i.e. a movie she directed).  I love the idea of movies that investigate the complicated nature of the collective religious experience vs. the personal one.  My concern is so few movies have succeeded at making that investigation interesting and nuanced, but I'm holding out hope that Higher Ground will give it a try. 

Get ready, people.  Oscar season is coming.

xo,
Lindy