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The landscape for independent films has changed rapidly. On one hand, the opportunity to build a theatrical release has become increasingly difficult, but on the other hand digital release has given indies a chance to play to a broad national audience. Each week, new indie releases will be profiled and because they might not be playing at a theater near you, one highly recommended film available now a click or two away via VOD (whether a new or not quite new release) will be presented for viewing without leaving your computer.

New releases for March 29th

Blancanieves: Spain’s official submission to the Academy Awards, Blancanieves is a black-and-white silent film based on the Snow White fairy tale. While The Artist was a tribute to the silent films of Hollywood, Blancanieves is an homage to the 1920s European silent films.

The Place Beyond the Pines: Derek Cianfrance went 12 years between his debut feature, Brother Tied, and his follow-up, Blue Valentine, but he’s already back with his third feature. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper are two new fathers on opposite sides of the law. Their separate paths lead them on a collision course that will create consequences that will reverberate into the next generation.

Mental: When his wife is sent off to a mental institution, local politician Barry is left to manage a family of five daughters who are all convinced they suffer from various mental illnesses. Unable to cope, Barry enlists a mysterious hitchhiker named Shaz, played by Toni Collette, as sort of a Mary Poppins from Hell. The film is the latest from Australian filmmaker PJ Hogan, the director of Muriel’s Wedding and My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Available at Vudu
Available at iTunes

Room 237: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining was released in the summer of 1980 and to many it is a great horror movie with a memorable performance by Jack Nicholson. To others it is a film full of secret messages and hidden meanings addressing a range of issues and conspiracies. Room 237 presents many of these theories in a documentary that seemed unreleasable due to the extensive use of clips from The Shining, but IFC is giving it a release this weekend.

Welcome to the Punch: Produced by Ridley Scott and featuring high-octane action, Welcome to the Punch seems like the type of movie that would be getting a wide release if it wasn’t all so British. James McAvoy plays Max, a detective who has been chasing after master criminal Jacob (Mark Strong) for many years. When Jacob’s son is injured in a heist, Max sees the chance to lure Jacob into his sights for one last chance to apprehend him.

VOD Pick of the Week

Wrong
Quentin Dupieux made a splash with his serial killer car tire movie Rubber, and he continues in an absurdist vein with Wrong. While Rubber seemed to aspire to some deeper aspirations, like commenting on the movie/viewer interaction and horror movie tropes, Wrong is more of a straight ahead deadpan absurdist farce. In the film, Dolph Springer awakes one day to find out that his beloved dog Paul has gone missing. And then things get weird.

What follows is not a whole lot of plot, but instead a series of sight gags, non-sequiturs, and increasingly strange situations. From a dog telepathy expert to an amorous woman from the new pizza delivery place and from an investigator who has surprising ways to gather information from dog poop to a randy gardener, Dolph’s search for his dog leads him in contact with many outrageous characters.

Avoiding spoilers is less about not giving away what happens than it is about giving away punchlines. The gags come along so frequently that even if only a percentage of them find their mark, the movie provides for more than its share of laughs. It does take a certain sense of humor to enjoy Wrong, but if find comedy in absurd situations and what the hell moments, Wrong is sure to be the right movie to tickle your funny bone.

Available at Amazon
Available at iTunes