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A handful of summer’s favorite theatrical releases head up this week’s list of titles now available to own on DVD and Blu-ray – take a look and see which of these titles you’ll be adding to your home movie library:

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Johnny dons the braided wig and sets out on the high seas once again.

Bad Teacher – Cameron Diaz, Jason Segal and Justin Timberlake headline this comedy that makes you wonder what exactly *your* teachers did in their free time.

Red State – Kevin Smith’s self-distributes his horror flick centering on small-town fundamentalists.

 

Check out our DVD & Blu-ray section for a more detailed look at all the films being released to for purchase this week.

When Walt Disney Studios opted not to make any major presentations at the San Diego Comic-Con this year, all eyes turned towards The D23 Expo, which is essentially Comic-Con for Disney fans. Held this weekend in Anaheim, Ca., D23 featured a large convention floor full of Disney-related displays, props, and activities, though the main event occurred off the floor this morning. In a nearly three-hour long presentation, Disney unveiled footage from nearly a dozen of their upcoming movies, including The Avengers, John Carter, Brave and The Muppets.

The most-anticipated event was clearly The Avengers presentation, which was not-surprisingly held until the very end of the event. Things kicked off with a montage of clips from the first five Avengers movies, then Marvel producer Kevin Feige came out on stage to introduce the brand-new Avengers footage. It opened with a lengthy scene featuring Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) speaking to Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who appeared to have been captured and quarantined by The Avengers. During this clip we got a glance at most of the other Avengers, including a good look at Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and the first shot of Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill.

The montage of action shots that followed the initial clip was lengthier and much different than the teaser trailer currently being shown after Captain America: The First Avenger. There are a handful of distinct battles, including one on a bridge with Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and one that appeared to pit Captain America (Chris Evans) against Thor (Chris Hemsworth). The end of the clip features Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) giving his assessment of the team (assassins, a demigod, and a living legend, he says) to Loki, who responds “I have an army.” Not missing a beat, Stark replies “We have a Hulk.” That’s immediately followed by a shot of the Hulk roaring, and then the now-familiar Avengers logo.

After the clip, Feige brought Hiddleston, Smulders, Renner, Johansson, Hemsworth and Downey to the stage (the rest of the cast and crew are shooting in Cleveland). Downey said some brief words, then let them play the clip again. From the footage that was shown, it looks like The Avengers is shaping up quite nicely, and should have no problem kicking off next Summer in a big way.

While The Avengers was the centerpiece of Disney’s presentation, there was tons of other interesting footage on display. The event actually got kicked off with an hour-long Disney Animation segment MCed by chief creative officer John Lasseter (wearing a Cars 2 Hawaiian shirt). A brief teaser from Cars spin-off Planes was shown first. Jon Cryer voices the main character, a cropduster aptly named Dusty, and he briefly came out on stage to discuss his involvement with the project. Planes is headed straight-to-video in Spring 2013.

Wreck-It Ralph, about a video game bad guy who yearns to be good, was up next. The first four-and-a-half minutes of the movie was shown in a mix of storyboards and pre-visualization animation, and included John C. Reilly voicing the title character and Jack McBrayer as his nemesis Fix-It Felix. The highlight was a final clip that showed Ralph at an Alcoholics Anonymous-style meeting called BAD-ANON (Bad Guys Anonymous) that amusingly featured the ghost from Pacman along with some less immediately recognizable villains. There was also a clip of Jane Lynch recording for her character, who is a military officer in a Halo-like game, and McBrayer and Sarah Silverman (also in the cast) made in-person appearances.

Wreck-It Ralph was followed by the Pixar portion of the presentation, which began with next Summer’s Brave. A behind-the-scenes video with some clips and story details was shown, and cast members Kelly Macdonald and Kevin McKidd came out on stage. The presentation wrapped up by showing an entire scene set at an archery contest. While the animation wasn’t complete, the clip gave off the impression that Brave is at least a step in the right direction for Pixar following Cars 2 (which even Lasseter doesn’t seem too excited about anymore).

 

The next presentation was for Monsters University, a prequel showing how Monsters, Inc.’s Mike and Sully became friends in college. Tons of initial artwork indicate that the animators are going to have a great time “monsterizing” the college experience, and it’s nice to know that Billy Crystal, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi are all returning. Speaking of Crystal and Goodman, after a brief video introduction Crystal literally stepped out of the video and on to the stage in what appeared to be a surprise visit to D23. The crowd went crazy, and Crystal said a few words about why he believes Monsters University will be a worthwhile follow-up.

Finally, Lasseter brought out the directors of Pixar’s next two movies, which are arriving in Fall 2013 and Summer 2014, to reveal what exactly their projects are about. The first, directed by Bob Peterson (co-director of Up) is about what would happen if the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs missed Earth, and is currently titled The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs. The second, directed by Pete Docter (Monsters Inc., Up) is called The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind, and its setting is, you guessed it, inside the mind. That project in particular feels like the sort of creatively innovative material that you’d expect from Pixar. Here’s hoping it doesn’t share too many qualities with fellow inside-the-body animated movie Osmosis Jones.

Lasseter had the whole Pixar team come back out on stage, then Toy Story‘s Woody and Buzz wheeled out a cake to celebrate Pixar’s 25th Anniversary. Not wanting to leave the crowd out, convention employees handed out cupcakes (I heard it was at least 4,000 of them). As people tore in to these cupcakes, a clip reel from Pixar’s first 12 movies played.

After the Disney Animation presentation was over, it was time for John Carter. Director Andrew Stanton and cast members Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe brought a handful of work-in-progress footage, though the majority of the effects looked like they were nearly finished. The best clips showed Carter (Kitsch) meeting the Tharks for the first time, and then Carter and Tars Tarkas (Dafoe) fending off a giant beast in a Thark arena. That final clip was oddly reminiscent of the arena battle in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones; hopefully the movie doesn’t err too close to this comparison.

Tim Burton’s black-and-white stop-motion animated Frankenweenie was up next. The fact that an animated movie was presented outside of the animation segment was probably confusing to the majority of the audience, but the inside baseball explanation wouldn’t have made for a very exciting event. Burton wasn’t on hand, but there was a lengthy behind-the-scenes video at least. Producer Don Hahn then brought out a model of one of the main characters and described it as “four inches tall and made of silicon, kind of like that girl from ‘Jersey Shore‘.” Well done, Mr. Hahn, well done.

A brief presentation for The Odd Life of Timothy Green followed, and a very enthusiastic Jennifer Garner introduced the teaser trailer that debuted online a few weeks ago. Wizard of Oz prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful was up next, though unfortunately the cast and crew were busy filming in Detroit and were therefore unable to attend D23. A behind-the-scenes video showcased plenty of interesting art along with James Franco and Zach Braff in costume on set. It’s hard to tell so far if this is going to be a worthwhile addition to the Oz universe, but with director Sam Raimi and the art director and producer from Alice in Wonderland, it should at least be a visually impressive movie.

Kermit the Frog and Jason Segel came on stage next to present some footage from The Muppets. Miss Piggy arrived late in the sidecar of a motorcycle, and was quite upset when she found out that she wasn’t included in either of the clips. The first scene showed Segel, Amy Adams and their puppet friend Walter trying to get in to Kermit’s Bel Air home. After an unfortunate encounter with an electric fence, they meet Kermit and go inside his house, where they discover he has a robot that hasn’t moved on from the 80s. The second clip is a hilarious montage of the Muppets cleaning up the Muppet Theater, all set to Starship’s “We Built This City.”

Finally, prior to The Avengers they showed the first trailer for Disneynature’s next movie called Chimpanzee. It looks cute enough, and is set for release on Earth Day 2012.

Ray Subers, editor at Box Office Mojo, covered the D23 presentations for IMDb.

One of the best films on the 2011 Sundance roster is winding down its festival run and gearing up for the Best Foreign Language Oscar competition. Incendies, Denis Villeneuve‘s drama (adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s play) brings a young woman’s past hell into the present day, while a sister and brother are compelled to learn their recently deceased mother’s personal history.

As twins Jeanne and Simon Marwan (Mélissa Désormeaux Poulin and Maxim Gaudette) learn the specifics of the will prepared by their mother, Nawal (Lubna Azabal), they are handed two envelopes by Lebel (Rémy Girard), a notary, family friend, and Nawal’s long-time employer. One envelope is for the father they presumed to be dead, the other is to be handed to the brother they didn’t know existed. Once delivered, Nawal can have a proper burial; until then, she is to be interred naked, face down, away from the sun. Jeanne drafts herself into the mystery, soon landing in an unnamed Middle Eastern country — though the play is inspired by a woman’s experiences during the Lebanese Civil War.

From here, the story is broken into chapters and Nawal’s past alternates with her daughter’s series of discoveries at her mother’s village (from which Nawal was banished by her grandmother for disgracing the family name) and at the university where she began to involve herself in the war. Jeanne learns that Nawal’s activism intensified; she became a French tutor in a political leader’s house, then assassinated him in his backyard. She was sent to a notorious prison where her ability to endure physical and psychological torment became one of the war’s best-known legends.

As Nawal’s history is being re-threaded, both Simon and Lebel travel to be with Jeanne. It’s the brother’s turn to puzzle together the true family history. One day he’s sulking at home in Canada; the next, he’s hoping for an audience with a warlord – the man who hands him the final piece. It’s a devastating revelation for the children and for Lebel. It connects to the present, where Nawal fell into a catatonic state while at a public pool with her children. Soon she was gone, the will was read, Jeanne was on a plane, et cetera. Jeanne and Simon’s existence is tied to incredible examples of fate and valor.

Incendies is not as easy sit because of its realistic depiction of violence in war and against women. The indecencies committed against Nawal are formidable. Children are not just caught in the crossfire; they’re targeted for death. There’s a scene aboard a bus that is quite difficult to endure. While Nawal is imprisoned, mostly the sounds of torture and mental deterioration are heard, and it’s plenty brutal. Then perhaps Villeneuve’s most welcome skill as a filmmaker is the fact that his work is remarkably entertaining; there is a girl-detective sensibility in Jeanne’s passages and dark comedy bits salted throughout. It’s a demonstration of assuredness that I haven’t seen in many war films, and I do love the genre unequivocally.

I’ve seen a handful of films at Sundance this year that are indelicate and thematically over-worked; Incendies is a gracious nod to Wajdi Mouawad and the woman who inspired his play. It is a fine example of filmmaking on a global scale, a story that looks at a region’s horror and finds human perseverance.

Becoming Chaz: I sense that Chaz Bono has been a cool guy all of his life; he just needed to survive his spotlighted childhood and then, like everyone else, figure out who he is and work from there to be a happy person. Yes, Chaz was born female, but he acknowledges, in the solid documentary that bares his name, that he felt alien in his body since he was little. As an adult transitioning from one gender to another, Chaz lets cameras into his home, and they also follow him to the various clinics, hospitals, and agencies that aid in his process. I feel as though Chaz enabled the documentary not to further his fame, but to create a document that might help people who feel they too were born in the wrong body — a specialized companion piece to the It Gets Better project, if you will. Grounded, humble, and kind of a dink when shot up with testosterone, Chaz undergoes top surgery (breast removal) and begins to acclimate to his new life as a boyfriend to his steadfast companion (he loves her because she is a bit crazy) and mentor to gender-questioning youth. And by youth I mean: under 10 years old. This is perhaps the doc’s most eye-opening aspect – the fact that there are now places that help families with young children struggling with their gender identity. I feel like on-camera Chaz was happiest when he was in the role of friend and mentor to these kids, and I hope it’s one of many things that helps him find peace.

Take Shelter: Michael Shannon — prophet or schizophrenic? Director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories) angles toward the former idea in his reunion with Shannon for a story centered on blue-collar family man Curtis LaForche, whose increasingly unnerving visions might not be as delusional as everyone — including Curtis himself — thinks.

Like a typical real-world family, the LaForches must contend with acute financial stresses, but Curtis’ work is steady and caring wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain) pitches in by working local craft bazaars. Curtis’ insurance is generous, too — so much so that a cochlear implant implant surgery for their deaf daughter will be covered. There’s even a beach vacation on the proverbial horizon, but what Curtis begins to see from his backyard are storm clouds, tornadoes, and oil falling from the sky. Elsewhere, his visions find his daughter abducted, and his wife, his best friend — even his dog — turning against him. The narrative expands to reveal a history of schizophrenia in Curtis’ family and, in a welcome bit of characterization, he works to understand and take control of his situation. But why is it that the therapy and medication don’t seem to rid him of these nightmares?

You can sense the coming dramas. Problems at home lead to his feeling increasingly isolated. Underperforming at work threatens the security of the entire family, as well as hope for his daughter’s surgery. While Curtis slips deeper into a state that might require institutionalization, he takes out a risky loan on their home to build out the tornado shelter in the backyard. He borrows equipment from work for the project — a huge liability and no-no that … you can guess what happens to him next. And it keeps coming until Curtis is broken, suffering, and spending most of his time in his subterranean refuge.

Shannon imbues his character many shifts in mood, and fans of his will appreciate the inevitable Shannon Freakout Moment. Nichols’s aesthetic (aided by visual effects from the Strause Brothers) is on par with better known directors, but for me his screenplay tackles too many issues with a capital I. Though I admire him for making a drama with science fiction elements, I was just getting interested in the fate of the family when the film came to an end. Now I can’t rid my head of the vision of a clairvoyant Michael Shannon leading his family to safety in the wake of a supernatural disaster. I’m still thinking about Take Shelter, but mostly as a preamble to a potentially better film.

All Your Dead Ones: Just shy of 90 minutes in length, Carlos Moreno’s allegory of Colombia’s ongoing civil war is murderously paced but quite handsomely photographed. The story opens and closes with scenes of farmer Salvador (Alvaro Rodriguez), his wife (Martha Marquez), and their morning-sex ritual. In between, there’s a tense mystery involving Salvador’s discovery of a pile of dead bodies arranged in the middle of his cornfield. Initially unable to get anyone take interest (it’s election day, and Salvador is somewhat of a second-class citizen) he brings a town official and two soldiers to the scene, where a lax investigation begins. Salvador’s wife and son are implicated and made to stand and wait within arm’s reach of the bodies while the politico tries to figure out whom he can blame for the crime and what to do with the corpses. The sun burns down, everyone grows agitated, and the dead seem to flicker back to life now and then.

The family fears for their lives, but I didn’t get the sense the story would take that turn; it suggests the event is more of an annoying problem than a tragic occurrence. When Salvador’s wife recognizes one of the bodies as a local guy, she thinks that his body should be returned to his mother. Here, she’s more principled than emotional, and I think that’s the point of the film: even in a desensitized society, one should know basic rights from wrongs. And when you’ve seen so many disappear or die, your emotional side hardens.

The film’s final scene is harsh but predictable, though the violence is always implied and never shown (in particular, the pile of bodies is spotless). Bizarrely, the entire cast (yes, including the corpses) and crew assemble for a collective bow — one of the most whatever endings in recent memory.

Excellent:

Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times: With news-room pacing and rousing accounts from reporter David Carr (he’s the Anthony Bourdain of the the Times), this window into journalism’s fight for thee Rs (readers, revenue, relevancy) in the age of Facebook and Daily Kos makes The Social Network seem passé.

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975: An American social movement captured by Swedish journalists… It’s stupefying to learn that the footage was almost lost to the ages until recovered by documentarian Goran Hugo Olsson. I don’t really know if the commentary from Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and other modern-dayers was necessary, but the recovered 16mm reels should be projected on bare walls or billboards across the country.

The Interrupters: A trouble community receives support and conflict mediation from a group of people who graduated from gang life to youth advocacy. It’s Steve James (Hoop Dreams). It’s Chicago-set. So you know it’s great.

Meek’s Cutoff: Kelly Reichardt heads out on the Oregon Trail in her fourth film, her most praiseworthy work thus far. May she and Michelle Williams grow old together, creatively.

Good:

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest: I went in rooting for the sorta-reunited hip-hop troupe, but left disliking a one-time favorite, Q-Tip. It also lacked for early footage of the rappers in their ascent. Still — good job, director Michael Rappaport.

Knuckle: A documentary on a generations-old feud between Irish Traveller families that results in loosely organized bare-knuckle boxing matches plays like a Sam Peckinpah screenplay devoid of meaty inner conflict. It could serve as ace material for Method actors, but it takes the director a little too long to realize he’s mostly fetishizing violence. I also feel as though this will be turned into an action-drama starring Jason Statham. Hey, I am sort-of right.

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles: Who has been tiling cities in North and South America since the early 1980s with messages espousing the entwined philosophies of British historian Arnold Toynbee and filmmaker Stanley Kubrick? Three guys, in Lone Gunmen mode, look to puzzle it all together in this solid documentary that could play well outside festivals.

Submarine: All this young outcast wants, after he gets over himself early in the first act, is for his mum and dad to stay together, and for his mildly sadistic new girlfriend to open up a tad. A romantic heartbeat and heaps of style make this the perfect indie date movie.

Not So Much:

Another Earth: Short on action or visual effects (which was surprisingly welcome), this plaintive, what-if, redemption drama has a series of good thoughts worked into its screenplay, but many of the narratives devices are clumsy. A semi-summation: We just made love, and on our next encounter, I will finally let you know that I am the young woman who killed your wife, son, and unborn daughter four years ago in that auto accident. But, hey, take a look at Earth II up there in the sky tonight. So pretty! And I get to go there…

The Cinema Hold Up: Mexico City has never seemed so boring to me before. This tale of misfit teens who decide to rob their local movie theater lacks purpose.

Circumstance: All show, little tell. A look at Iranian youth culture and the consequences of being female and not necessarily heterosexual. With the circumstances facing Jafar Panahi, I was the mood for something more unique and revolutionary. This isn’t a bad picture, especially for a debut. It just wasn’t the right timing for me.

Excellent:

Pariah: Vibrant, raw and alive opening night film from new discovery writer/director Dee Rees

Little Birds: Writer/director Elgin James brings this tale of a very troubled girl (an excellent performance by Juno Temple) and her sweet-natured best friend (an excellent performance by Kay Pannabaker) as they leave their dreary home in the Salton Sea and head to L.A. Strains of realism, sympathy and humor are strung together

Good:
The Guard: Writer/director John Michael McDonagh starts out unsure but eventually provides a crackerjack spaghetti Western set in Ireland and starring Brendan Gleeson, as a unconventional cop.

Le Vendeur (The Salesman): A heartbreaking, beautiful, measured film by writer/director Sebastien Pilote, with a standout performance by Gilbert Sicotte, as a successful car salesman living in a depressed town.

Terri: John C. Reilly has a great supporting role in this outcast coming-of-age film which has nice ladles of truth poured over it. I heartily disliked Azael Jacobs last film, Momma’s Man, so this was an unexpected surprise.

Perfect Sense: That’s a less than perfect title for this intense but ultimately meaningful film. Eva Green is a scientist who meets a chef, played by Ewan McGregor, on the eve of a plague that prompts paroxysms of emotions followed by the deadening of one of the five senses. Director David Mackenzie continues to make difficult films that stick with you.

Shut Up, Little Man: Doc. about two roommates in the late ’80s whose epic verbal assaults on one another were recorded by their neighbors whereupon the tapes became an underground sensation.

Being Elmo: About Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind the popular Muppet

Reagan: Eugene Jareki said he “came at [this subject] with an axe, expecting to do a hatchet job” and mostly provides a balanced account of the great strengths and great flaws of the popular 40th President

The Troll Hunter: Trolls do exist in this half-Blair Witch, half Scooby-Doo flick but it’s generally entertaining

Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel: The famous, avuncular maker of cheesy, low-budget films gets his due.

These Amazing Shadows: Enjoyable but flat doc. about the National Film Registry and the films that comprise it.

Meh:

Homework: Freddie Highmore has grown up quite nicely and Emma Roberts is going to continue to just get bigger but this film by newcomer Gavin Wiesen provides nothing new. Highmore’s character describes himself as “obnoxious,” which he is, but everyone else in the film seems to think he’s just peachy.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Elizabeth Olsen in an impressive debut by writer/director Sean Durkin in a depressing, but well-crafted film.

Salvation Boulevard: A fine cast and some interesting twists can’t save Salvation from being a cliche-ridden comedy about the pastor of a mega-church, played by Pierce Brosnan, who has a fateful meeting with a Richard Dawkins/Christopher Hitchens-like character (Ed Harris) and one of his saved parishioners, played by the always reliable Greg Kinnear, leading to a shooting, a cover-up and a scapegoat; let’s see from this brief synopsis if you can figure out who does what to whom and what happens. The contempt for Christianity fairly seethes off of the screen until a final hypocritical ending further shows this feeble effort doesn’t even have the courage of its own convictions.

The Ledge: Screed against personal faith (not just organized religion) starring Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, and Liv Tyler made by well-meaning writer/director Matthew Chapman

Pass: I Melt with You: Migraine-inducing suicide pact movie with two remarkable things. 1) A few nice moments with Thomas Jane and Jeremy Piven and 2) the most walk-outs I’ve seen at this festival!

Letters From the Big Man: Interminable movie about a hydrologist and Bigfoot.That angle was what intrigued me but Christopher Munch’s movie, though it catches the beauty of the Northwest, is inert and silly.

Red State: Reported but widely reported

There’s a throughline between the documentaries The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 and The Interrupters that connects an inspiring historical narrative with the present day, where groups of African Americans continue to fight for the betterment of their communities.

Stokely Carmichael from The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Mixtape fascinates. In 1967, a group of Swedish journalists, some 14 strong, traveled to the United States to follow the evolution of the Black Power Movement. Their unprecedented footage wound up languishing in the basement of Swedish Television for 3 decades, until Göran Hugo Olsson found the 16mm reels. Shaped by Olsson and his crew, the reels were reborn with the help of contemporary activists and musicians. The completed work is a resounding wake-up call in an era where social activism is more likely to transpire on Facebook than in the streets.

Though familiar the Black Power Movement’s leaders, events, and legacy, I was less aware of Swedish interest the U.S. civil-rights movement. I knew Swedish society as whole vehemently opposed the Vietnam War, but I had no prior knowledge of this sponsored program that resulted in Mixtape‘s filmmakers becoming the Movement’s uncredited videographers. The access they earned is staggering. Watching Stokely Carmichael interview his mother reminded me of the first time I read Richard Wright’s memoir, Black Boy. Listening to Angela Davis comment on her being, among many things during the 1960s and ’70s, on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List were the most riveting passages in a documentary, that should be made freely available for anyone who would like to see it.

Mixtape is a dense, necessary work and I could go on for paragraphs, though for fear of losing my main intention, I assert the following: the documentary’s most devastating reveal is the withering of the Movement as it is weakened by internal conflicts and dismantled by external forces. The assassination of Black Panthers’ Fred Hampton and Mark Clark is part of a roll call that includes Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. I left the theater a changed person, for sure, yet I couldn’t find a sense of hope for the African American communities of today.

A day later, I saw The Interrupters, the newest work by Steve James (Hoop Dreams). James offers a one-year chronicle of violence that plagues the Chicago community of Englewood. It’s a marathon of a documentary with a runtime of just under 3 hours.

Ameena Matthews in The Interrupters

James follows the organization CeaseFire, a self-described public health strategy and part of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention. Its staff, mostly people who came of age in Chicago gangs, are known as “interrupters”; they put themselves in between people in conflict as mediators. Staff members Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams, and Eddie Bocanegra are the main subjects, and they’re all too familiar with the realities of life on the streets of Englewood. A daughter of one of Chicago’s top gangsters, Ameena Matthews becomes a focus because of her readiness for action and her way with a phrase – two traits that neutralize a series of heated confrontations caught by James’ camera. Williams and Bocanegra are admirable examples of the strength it takes to be a man and an ethnic minority in today’s America.

The documentary brings the struggles of a few memorable young people to the forefront. They lack role models. Violence surrounds them. They’re fearful and have little trace of any self-worth. If they live to see the age of 30, it’ll probably be from behind bars. It’s a situation that’s moved beyond American cities and into the suburbs, small towns. Englewood is one of the most violent communities in the country; the murder of high-school student Derrion Albert, which broke on YouTube, occurs while The Interrupters is being filmed.

In Mixtape, I witnessed how the U.S. government took on the Black Panthers and others and won. Regarding Englewood, thought has been given to bringing the National Guard into what the media labels a war zone. Can the President do anything to encourage reform? Would Congress be able to agree on an initiative? I also considered what could be done with a fraction of the money spent on conflicts abroad, and if Chicago could ever structure its budget so that CeaseFire’s allotment would increase year over year until perhaps the program was no longer needed.

The connection between these two documentaries is simple and powerful: the African-American struggle has seen gains and losses since the Movement began. The Black Power Mixtape presents the beginning of the campaign and the personalities who fostered it; The Interrupters reveals how the efforts continue, and how the will of the individual cannot be broken, especially when your fellow woman or man is there, illustrating how the Movement has remained immutable.

I saw a pair of festival-circuit veterans — one assured debut, the other an experienced director’s most challenging and rewarding fourth film. Both pictures arrived at Sundance with distribution in place, and hopefully each of them will be well received out there on the open plains during their respective theatrical releases.

Craig Roberts in Submarine

First up was Submarine, a debut by director Richard Ayoade, who already has a cult audience for his work in front of the TV camera (“The IT Crowd”) and behind it (“The Mighty Boosh”). The Weinstein Company has its paws on it. Despite cribbing from a number of overt influences, Submarine‘s focus on a transitional month in the life of adolescent Oliver Tate is nevertheless unique, featuring a handful of well-tuned performances, resonant cinematography/shooting locations, and immersive set decoration (I love it when a room subtly shades the narrative – when a disillusioned teenager has more than a Joy Division poster on their walls).

Oliver, played by a perfectly downbeat Craig Roberts, doesn’t fit in at school (too intelligent), doesn’t quite know if his parents are happy (they aren’t), and desperately would like to lose his virginity (good luck, kid). He’s one-third Harold, one-third Max Fischer, and the rest of him, by my own estimation, is a Belle & Sebastian record, but Submarine‘s great conceit is: Oliver wants to fit into the world and lays out a detailed plan to do so; he has little interest in wasting time lamenting the cruelties around him — aside from a dryly funny early bit where he imagines all of Wales mourning his death. Immediately I was pulled into his plan to get the girl and keep his family together.

Sally Hawkins plays Oliver’s mum, Jill, a former beauty who now wears full-length blouses and skirts, who seems to have lost her connection with her marine biologist husband, handled by Noah Taylor and styled to look like Nick Cave with a soggy PhD. Paddy Considine is Graham, a cheesy mystic and new neighbor who happens to be an old flame of Jill’s. Hawkins, of course, knows exactly what to do in this supporting role, as do Taylor and Considine. They all conspire to create a world in which an intelligent, sensitive teenager realizes he’s not observing healthy adult behaviors. Further complicating his situation is his choice of potential sex partners, classmate Jordana, a dark-eyed, anti-romantic rendered wonderfully by Yasmin Paige, another discovery.

Remember how Columbus compiled his 32 rules for survival in Zombieland? Oliver Tate’s world necessitates the same kind of principled ingenuity, and no matter how many times he has to spy on his parents or get his leg hair burned by his seemingly dispassionate new girlfriend, he’s determination never wavers. In fact, the greatest moment in the story is when Oliver learns the consequence of sacrifice for a greater good.

Oof, speaking of sacrifice? Kelly Reichardt‘s western, Meek’s Cutoff, harshly and accurately depicts the suffering endured by three pioneer families on the Oregon Trail circa 1845. Anyone who loves Old Joy or Wendy and Lucy should (quietly) revel in her decision to make a period piece with her emerging signatures: a handmade aesthetic, long takes, longer periods of silence, and a love of open, unresolved endings. It’s the kind of filmmaking that makes people give up halfway through, while others laugh or stare at one another blankly as the credits roll. Personally, it’s the exact sort of film I crave and happily devour when it’s in front of me. Michelle Williams ostensibly is the star, though since Meek‘s mostly is a man’s world, her character emerges in the third act. Naturally, her performance is vital.

Michelle Williams in Meek’s Cutoff

As the film opens, the three families have ventured off on their own under the guidance of Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood, a tangle of hair and beard), though immediately we know something is amiss. Water is low, faces are haggard and dirty, both the animals and the covered wagons are groaning, and there’s a deep sense of mistrust beginning to form about Meek — is he evil, simply lost, perhaps in collusion with any one of the regional Native American tribes? The men (Will Patton, Paul Dano, Neal Huff) privately discuss their increasingly bleak situation while the wives (Williams, Shirley Henderson, Zoe Kazan) try to suss out the far-off conversations as they gather firewood, make fires, sew, strike tents, etc. The weight of labor is never far from the center of the film.

Nearing a decision to oust Meek, the guide redeems himself in a way by capturing the Native American (Rod Rondeaux) who has been trailing them, even presenting himself to Williams’s Emily Tetherow. It’s here where Williams and her character begin to emerge; as the sense of despair reaches a crescendo, Emily’s faith persists. Her reaching out to the captive arguably is the picture’s first sign of morality. Emily’s inevitable confrontation with Meek is rousing, though the story soon eases back into its otherwise measured pacing. With a musket on her shoulder, Emily dictates the remaining course of action, fully aware there’s no guarantee that they’ll reach the ‘fabled’ Willamette Valley.

Labeling the film a Feminist Western or Bush Allegory is kind of a snooze. And also as transparent as your typical Hollywood ending. It’s a Kelly Reichardt picture, plain as day, and she’s one of the best American filmmakers creating today. I’m excited to see the degree to which it’s embraced this April when Oscilloscope Laboratories releases it.

Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy Mae MarleneAfter the triumph of Pariah it seem inevitable that we would get to the “Meh” films at Sundance, the ones in competition that elicit a response of neither disapproval nor of approval but that are damned by indifference. “I just saw [fill in name of movie].” “How was it?” “Meh.”

Martha Marcy May Marlene completes the alliteration as a “Meh” movie. It stars Elizabeth Olsen in an impressive debut by writer/director Sean Durkin in a depressing, but well-crafted film. Olsen is the eponymous character who is taken in by her sister after fleeing from a small but dangerous cult. John Hawkes uses his mesmerizing looks to great effect as Patrick the Svengali-like leader of a group of newly-minted hippies who live in New York’s Catskill Mountains (you can see the farm in this short by the same director). Young Martha drifts into this idyllic setting and their initially welcoming sphere.

The ugly side of the commune is shown quickly, however, as Martha is raped by Patrick and then becomes a concubine for the group, along with several other women. Though the dystopia intends to be self-sustaining they really get by on local home invasions in high-end vacation houses. An underbelly of violence and fear keeps them together.

Martha bolts from her new “family” one morning and calls Lucy (Sarah Paulson), her married sister who takes her in.

Perhaps the hardest part of the film to swallow is Martha’s complete mental breakdown in her sister’s home. Though she was only with the cult for two years she has become wildly irrational and hyper-sexualized, particularly around Lucy’s husband Ted (Hugh Dancy).  Martha seems to have no borders any longer and it just doesn’t wash. Just because you’ve been in a cult doesn’t mean you’ve completely forgotten propriety to the point where you strip naked to swim in front of your brother-in-law or crawl into his bed as he’s performing coitus with your sister. It pushes us away from Martha and her struggle to the point of not caring.

One theme that will permeate Sundance this year will likely be the “attack on religion.” Kevin Smith‘s Red State imagines a Hostel-like scenario that’s driven by ultra-fundamentalism. It’s also served up by The Ledge, a well-meaning screed about the destructive nature of faith.  It starts with Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) crawling out on a ledge with a promise to jump by noon. A police officer, well played (as always) by Terrence Howard, tries to talk Gavin out of it even as he struggles with damaging revelations of his own: his two kids aren’t his as he’s found out that morning that he’s been sterile all his life.

Gavin is on the ledge because he’s fallen in love with a married woman named Shaena, played by Liv Tyler.  Her husband, Joe, played by Patrick Wilson, is a fundamentalist Christian who tries to “save” Gavin and his roommate when he mistakenly thinks Gavin is gay.

Joe is a caricature, a straw man who espouses the absolute worst of right-wing theology because he’s a frightened, repentant, mean-spirited man. He’s given a sop of sitting with ill children in a hospital but we know he doesn’t really want to do it and we wait for him to crack, which he does.

The film also attacks the very idea, not of organized religion (which can always deserve an upbraiding), but of personal faith. But it’s not an atheistic movie, it’s a rebellious one. Writer/director Matthew Chapman revealed in a post-screening interview that his dedication in the film was to his gay uncle and his partner; two men that had fallen in love in the late ’50s and were still together. The prejudice they faced from people espousing religious views and quoting the Bible left a serious, understandable scar on Chapman and left him with a serious beef against God. He works it out in his movie and on us. But Chapman ultimately betrays himself and his message and demolishes his own argument, because he shows Liv Tyler topless, proving that there is a benevolent deity and that He loves us.