Wide Variety of Limited Releases
December 2, 2005
Limited releases run the gamut this week in terms of stories told, quality of the telling, and even of the geological location of the openings. The best bet is the recent Independent Spirit Awards nominee, Transamerica, but those in Seattle might want to check out Be Here to Love Me, since it is not often that a limited release opens there.
The same can be said about The Boys of Baraka and Boston.
All That I Need - Reviews
Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes van Zandt - Reviews
The Boys of Baraka - Reviews
Far Side of the Moon - Reviews
First Decent - Reviews
Transamerica - Reviews
A pyramid scheme starts to pay off for a group of friends until greed and paranoia start to affect their friendship. This Mockumentary is getting one of the wider releases this week, opening in more than two-dozen theatres in Southern California, but it unlikely to generate much box office success.
A documentary look at country / folk singer / songwriter Townes Van Zandt, who influenced many other artists, but avoided commercial success for himself.
Earning perfect reviews so far, this film should appeal to music fans in general, but especially to fans of the genre. Be Here to Love Me opens tonight in the Angelika Film Center in New York City and the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle, Washington.
A coming of age story about a group of "at risk" kids taken from Baltimore and put in a boarding school in Kenya.
The story has been described as inspirational, but as a documentary the filmmaker's point of view gets in the way a bit.
The Boys of Baraka opened on Wednesday at Film Forum in New York City and expands to the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston tonight.
Writer / director Richard Lepage plays two brothers fighting over their mother's possessions after she dies.
It is based on a play, which is also written by Richard Lepage, and its origins is obvious by how the film looks and feels.
This is a Canadian film and has already had a reasonably successful run in Quebec, but is unlikely to repeat that success Stateside.
Far Side of the Moon opens tonight at the Angelika Film Center in New York City.
The widest limited release of the week, but it is only earning middling reviews.
The film is a documentary about snowboarding, which is an amazingly exhilarating sport, but the movie does a poor job at capturing that feeling.
It is simply too repetitive to be effective.
First Decent opens in over 200 theatres in select cities, but that is probably as wide as it will go.
Nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, the film stars Felicity Huffman as Bree Osbourne, a transsexual who is about to take the final step to becoming a woman when she finds out that she fathered a son 17 years ago.
The unusual subject matter will likely prevent it from earning a wide release, but it should do well enough to make the studio happy.
The film opens in two theatres tonght, including the IFC Center in New York City.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Transamerica, First Descent, The Boys of Baraka, La face cachée de la lune, Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes van Zandt, All That I Need