The Keeping Room is the second feature-length film from Daniel Barber, director of the disappointing Harry Brown and Oscar-nominated short film The Tonto Woman. What’s frustrating is that, despite some glimpses of great work found in the film, we’re ultimately left with a disappointing experience similar to Barber’s previous efforts.

Taking place at the end of the Civil War, The Keeping Room starts out with a bang as two rogue Union soldiers and kill a group of women and a man unfortunate enough to cross their paths. But just as quickly as the film steps on the gas, it eases up as the story transitions to a small Southern family’s farm that only houses sisters Augusta (Brit Marling) and Louise (Hailee Steinfeld) along with their slave Mad (Muna Otaru). Any interesting dynamics or tension that could be expected from this situation are pretty much glossed over in the first half of the film, and largely go unexplored. Later, Augusta goes into town to get medicine for Louise and runs into the rogue soldiers Moses (Sam Worthington) and Henry (Kyle Soller) seen at the beginning. This triggers a cat-and-mouse game that continues throughout the rest of the film, as the three women attempt to survive the murderous Moses and Henry.

Guiding the film through a shaky first half are two great performances; Otaru with her endlessly expressive eyes, and Worthington’s menacing presence. And the rest of the cast turn in mostly admirable efforts. Brit Marling is solid in the lead role, but unfortunately her character is also the most uninteresting of the main cast. Hailee Steinfeld is strong at times but severely underwritten, and Kyle Soller does what he can with his thankless role.

Barber makes great use of space and locations, but his direction is a constant source of frustration. He consistently lets the film meander longer than needed, mishandling sequences that should be thrilling and intense. Cinematographer Martin Ruhe does solid work, bringing a cold sense of dread to the film that makes up for some of the unnecessary and ineffective handheld shots. The feminist leanings of Julia Hart’s screenplay are a welcome addition to this bloody western, but the story is overly simple to a fault and only gets interesting in the final minutes. And that’s the ultimate problem with the film; outside of a rambunctious opening and promising conclusion, it not only fails to engage but seems fairly uninterested in doing so.

While the acting helps the film stay afloat and some intriguing ideas are brought up (and then immediately dropped), the film has very little to offer and doesn’t even provide some of the B-Movie thrills that the equally disappointing Harry Brown managed to pull off. So while The Keeping Room isn’t the worst way to spend 90 minutes, there are certainly better ways to fill one’s time.

If early reports on Friday afternoon had turned out to be completely accurate, it would have been a much different weekend. Thankfully, Harrison Ford remains in stable condition after the crash of his small plane on a California golf course. As if we needed it, the events on Friday reminded us all that all of our idols will eventually pass. But for now, the man who brought so many beloved, badass characters to the cinema will live on in both body and spirit. Here are the top news items you may have missed over the past week:

Legendary Documentarian, Albert Maysles, Dies at 88

There are few filmmakers that have shaped the modern documentary as much as Albert Maysles. Often working with his brother, David Maysels, Albert made 49 feature and short documentaries, many are among the best personal profiles ever made. Among his credits include Gimme Shelter, the landmark profile of the Rolling Stones and the tragedy at their Altamont concert, following a door-to-door salesman in Salesman, and the best film ever made about Muhammad Ali, When We Were Kings. His most notable film, Grey Gardens, received a re-release in New York City this weekend before it expands to more cities. His last film, In Transit, is set to premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Check out the Dissolve for Keith Phipps’s beautiful tribute.

True/False Film Festival Wraps

The small film festival that takes place each year in college town Columbia, Missouri, has built itself into one of the best destinations to see documentary film. The 2015 festival took place this past weekend and highlights included the director’s cut of The Act of Killing, Oppenheimer’s follow-up The Look of Silence, Kartemquin Film’s (the studio behind Ebert documentary Life Itself) Almost There, Morgan Neville’s Best of Enemies, Gibney Scientology sendoff Going Clear, and Sundance standout (T)Error.

Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij Netflix Show

Marling and Batmanglij burst onto the indie film scene at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with the very interesting cult thriller The Sound of My Voice (Marling’s Another Earth also premiered at the festival that year). The duo reunited in 2013 with The East, a more than solid follow-up. According to Deadline, their next venture will be The OA, an eight-episode series that was greenlit for Netflix. Plot details for the series aren’t yet known, but given the talent involved, we can expect it to be original, tense and dark.

The End of the Tour Release Dates Announced

A Sundance darling from this year’s festival, The End of the Tour, has received a July 31 limited release date. Released by A24, the film stars Jesse Eisenberg as a Rolling Stone writer who builds a relationship with author David Foster Wallace just before his untimely death. Wallace is portrayed by Jason Segel, who received raves out of Sundance, with some even speculating year-end awards buzz. For more information on the decision to give the indie Oscar hopeful a summer release, Anne Thompson has the scoop at her blog.

Wild Tales Director Damian Szifron Readying English Language Debut

On the heels of his bold anthology dark comedy, Damian Szifron is signed up for his first English language release. First reported by Deadline, the untitled thriller will be written, directed and produced by Szifron and released by TriStar. As for Wild Tales, the Oscar nominee expanded to 28 screens this past weekend and will hopefully show up at a theater near you.

Trailer of the Week: The Connection

Following his Best Actor win for The Artist, Jean Dujardin’s next starring role sees him trying to take down the biggest drug ring in France. The Connection (titled La French in France), debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and is up for a limited release in May. Check out the violent red-band trailer below.

According to IMDb and as of this writing, Abraham Lincoln has been (or will be) portrayed in movies and on TV over 350 times, from 1911 (His First Commission) to 2015 (The Gettysburg Address), and by the likes of everyone from Henry Fonda (1939’s Young Mr. Lincoln) to Louis C.K. (during the 2012 season of Saturday Night Live). Joining these actors and others is a young man making his onscreen debut, Braydon Denney, in a 2014 film from a first-time director.

The Better Angels is the story of a very young Abraham Lincoln. The film takes place in Indiana the early 1800s, when Lincoln was about eight-years-old. The future president lives off the land with his strong-but-silent father, Tom (Jason Clarke); his doting mother, Nancy (Brit Marling); as well as a sister and a cousin. The times are lean, the work is hard, and the fun is sparing, but through it all young Abe gains wisdom that can only be amassed through life experiences. One of those experiences is the death of his mother, with whom he was very close. Another is the later introduction of his father’s new wife, Sarah (Diane Kruger), with whom he becomes just as close.

Because we live in the era of superhero movies, it’s only fitting for one of America’s greatest heroes to get a proper origin story. Abraham Lincoln gets one in The Better Angels and it’s superb. What makes it so great is how the story is told.

So many depictions of our 16th president – now matter how good – are loaded with facts, details, and recitations of historic speeches and quotes and conversations. All of this is fine, but it’s all been done. The Better Angels writer/director A.J. Edwards prefers showing Lincoln’s story as opposed to just telling it.

The story is visualized through a stark, at points bleak, black-and-white lens, making good times look bearable and bad times look desperate. But there’s also a beauty to it, a rich texture to the nature-heavy settings photographed by cinematographer Matthew J. Lloyd. The wood is old and strong and the fruitful earth is at times stubborn, but the water runs cold and the sun shines no less brightly than it does in color. It’s not exactly an Ansel Adams piece, but the efforts to be one are noticeable.

Edwards’ script is as bare as the winter fields of Indiana, with an efficiency of dialogue that is fitting for a family of five living in harsh conditions in the early 19th century. Children are seen, not heard, and anything worth talking about among the adults might get in the way of working the land. Even punishments are dealt – and received – in silence.

While told along a chronological timeline, the film is more a collection of moments in young Lincoln’s life than it is a story about those moments. This collection is the genius of the film.

Combined with the sparse dialogue and the stark black-and-white imagery, the moments collected in the film, shot loosely (sometimes too much so) with a handheld camera, are presented like clips from a home movie that had been edited together on one reel and found in an attic decades later. The subject is now a known quantity, but with this “home movie,” how those moments from the subject’s past then shaped the subject into today’s known quantity become brilliantly clear in hindsight. Through these moments in the film, the viewer will learn about Abe’s honesty, his stoicism, his intelligence, his work ethic, his first exposure to slavery, and the driving force behind his considerable compassion.

There are also moments when others recognize Abe is different. He’s smarter than the other kids (and many adults) and by a considerable distance. His mothers know it and both make efforts to get him a proper education. It’s when Abe is in school that his teacher, Mr. Crawford (Wes Bentley), notices the same. It takes Abe’s father longer to come around because that’s how men were in the early 19th century: learn a trade, not a lesson. Thankfully, both mothers won that fight.

The title The Better Angels has a dual meaning. One is a direct reference to the closing statements of Lincoln’s first inaugural address:

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

The other would be the better angels of Lincoln’s childhood: his two mothers. His bond with his birthmother is undeniable, and a devastating quote from his step-mother solidifies her meaning in his life:

“I’ll never take your mother’s place. But I’ll love you as she did. If you choose to love me less, I’ll still love you the same.”

A.J. Edwards has studied at the foot of director (and this film’s producer) Terrence Malick, and that influence shows in Edwards directorial style. This is not a bad thing, as even a mediocre film made by someone inspired by Malick is worth a look. Fortunately, this film is far above mediocre and somewhere closer to masterful.

Set in the American South in 1865, two rogue Union soldiers (Sam Worthington and Kyle Soller) scout and pillage everything in their path as the Union army lags behind them. Setting the tone early, The Keeping Room opens with them brutally murdering two innocent women, as well as setting a horse-drawn coach on fire with yet another victim at the helm. Their next stop is a small farm-house belonging to two sisters and their African-American slave (Muna Otaru). With their parents gone, it’s up to Augusta (Brit Marling) and her sister Louise (Hailee Steinfeld) to protect their property, and more significantly themselves, at all costs.

Based on the screenplay featured in 2012’s Black List, Daniel Barber gives a rare perspective of the Civil War era, telling it from a female point of view. A time when woman were often left alone as the men fought. The Keeping Room is a disturbing but powerful watch at times, especially as the women’s experiences get more and more horrific during this old-fashioned home invasion. The film’s biggest names, Marling and Stenifeld, are both serviceable, if not a touch middling, in their performances, but it’s Otaru that impresses the most with her courageous and cheerful performance. The Keeping Room walks a fine line between unpredictable and questionable moments, ones that only tend to happen in movies, but its unique focal point makes for an intriguing watch nonetheless.

Noah Cowan has only been San Francisco Film Society Executive Director for about ten weeks, but in that short stay his presence has lit a fire under an already lively film community. Last night, at the Closing Night screening of Alex of Venice at the Castro Theatre, Cowan addressed the crowd from the same podium he did when festival began two weeks ago, thanking Programming Director Rachel Rosen and her team for putting together a fantastic lineup of films, thanking the festival staff and volunteers for their hard work, and thanking the audience for partaking in the festivities. His enthusiasm for the future of the festival and SFFS–community building, educational programs, the fall Cinema By The Bay series–was echoed by the buzzing crowd. The future looks bright for the longest running film festival in the Americas.

Rosen then took the stage to introduce the night’s guest of honor, actor Chris Messina (The Mindy Project), whose directorial debut Alex of Venice would close out the festival. Also in attendance were stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Don Johnson, and Katie Nehra (who also co-wrote the screenplay), and producer Jamie Patricof. A soul-searcher family drama, the film follows Winstead’s Alex, an environmentalist attorney so preoccupied with work that her husband (Messina), feeling neglected and trapped as a stay-at-home dad, takes a sabbatical from the family, leaving Alex to take care of her aging actor dad (Johnson) and ten-year-old son (Skylar Gaertner).

Winstead is given a lot to work with in the role of Alex, as the material requires her to explore myriad colors of emotion as a mother overwhelmed by a sense of abandonment, isolation, a scattered home life, and a hefty workload. She rises to the occasion and emerges as the film’s greatest asset. Johnson, who’s been enjoying a second wind career-wise as of late, is on the money as usual, but it would have been nice to have seen a few more layers of texture added to his character in the unpolished script, which gets hung up on family drama tropes every time it starts to build a bit of momentum. Messina shows major promise as a director, and with a couple more films under his belt could be great.

Also screening on the last night of the festival across town at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas was Kelly Reichardt’s latest, Night Moves. Jesse Eisenberg (in his second festival appearance, the first being The Double) and Dakota Fanning play Josh and Dena, a pair of environmental activists who, with the help of an ex-Marine accomplice named Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard), blow up a dam in Oregon, and then wade through the dark world of paranoia, guilt, and suspicion that descends upon them following their extreme, costly actions.

Reichardt, lauded for minimalist, meditative pictures like Meek’s Cutoff and Wendy and Lucy, has fashioned a dark psychological thriller in Night Moves, her most accessible film to date. She still gives her actors a football field’s worth of emotional ground to cover with understated, revealing long takes and deceptively deep dialogue, but compared to how hushed her previous efforts were, this film seems to move along briskly. Some of the night time photography is bone-chillingly gorgeous, and this may be Reichardt’s most visually refined film to date, but the script slips off the edge in its third act, providing little food for thought. Still, we’re still left with the thick, atmospheric imagery and fine performances to chew on, which is more than enough to warrant a watch.

I Origins the latest effort from Another Earth director Mike Cahill, takes an excellent, heady sci-fi premise and mucks up the execution, resulting in a disappointingly half-hearted picture. We follow Dr. Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), a young scientist with an obsessive  fascination with eyes and their origins. His life’s work is to end the debate between scientists and religion by proving that eyes are a product of evolutionary development, not Intelligent Design. He takes close-up photos of people’s eyes regularly, and meets the love of his life (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) at a party while using the eye-photo line as an icebreaker. She’s a spiritual soul, though, and isn’t on the same page when it comes to his work in the lab, unlike his lab assistant (Brit Marling), who with Ian unlocks a mystery that could change the world.

Far-fetched isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it comes to sci-fi; unbelievable plots can work as long as the drama is convincing and the filmmaker convinces us to invest in the characters’ plight. Cahill falls short in this regard, beating the spirituality vs. pragmatism drum too loudly stretching the one-dimensional characters so thin you begin to wonder where the story is going with all the scientific jibber-jabber and rudimentary existential debates. After the film’s predictable, overwrought, dud of an ending, it’s unclear what exactly the film is trying to say. What’s the big idea? There’s some poignant statement or metaphor buried underneath the piles of pseudoscience jargon and fleeting moments of serendipity, but Cahill fails to mine it.

Mike Cahill’s I Origins landed on my radar from the moment the film was announced. Mainly because the last time Cahill and Brit Marling teamed up together they knocked it out of the park with Another Earth. Adding to my anticipation was the flood of positive reactions from its Sundance debut earlier in the year.

The film stirs the debate between faith and science when a molecular biologist (played by Michael Pitt) uncovers a scientific discovery that could have a major impact on both science and society. This first trailer may give too many details away, but I Origins looks to be another captivating indie sci-fi from Cahill and Marling.

I Origins will be released on July 18th.

Watch I Origins trailer

I’ll admit that the main reason I was interested in The East was due to it starring Ellen Page, though the story did also appeal to me. I had not seen Zal Batmanglij’s previous thriller, Sound of My Voice, so I went in blind in regards to his style. However, I was thoroughly impressed. The East is Batmanglij’s second Sundance release and I’d recommend almost everyone to see it, but don’t go expecting epicness as you may be disappointed, instead acknowledge that it’s a morally complex ‘we are the revolution’, gripping and profound film featuring an tremendously talented and convincing cast.

Sarah Moss (Brit Marling) is a private intelligence operative hired by a firm titled Hiller Brood. Her first big mission set by her power hungry boss (Patricia Clarkson), requires her to infiltrate an anarchist group called The East. Her main objective is to convince the members she is a genuine supporter of their movement in order to extract names, locations and their personal agendas in order to shut them down before the FBI gets involved.

To me this was a very different take on the ‘undercover special ops’ typical plot that I’ve seen previously in films – you believed Sarah’s intentions were innocent and that she was there to stop these individuals from being sent to prison, rather than exposing the group as hardened criminals. The way in which Batmanglij approached this was to study Freeganism (the practice of reclaiming and eating food that has been discarded) alongside co-writer and actress Marling as to further understand and deepen the actors that portray the anarchist’s, commitment to an anti-consumerist lifestyle. By doing so, you get a real sense of truth and dedication from the cast towards their cause, which brings to light the difficult moral choices Sarah and the audience have to make throughout the film.

Benji (Alexander Skarsgard) who is the founder of The East is very hesitant to give Sarah responsibility in the tasks that they set themselves (referred to in the film as ‘jams’). Initially, Benji does not believe Sarah is as free as they need her to be in respect to how she lives her life, and that her reasons for being around is not to support their movement. One thing leads to another and Sarah is asked by Izzy (Ellen Page – Benji’s second in command) to perform duties to help secure the successful completion of a major jam – one close to the members hearts. In order to play a part in this mission however, she is not allowed to know the details about what they will be doing, only that she has to distract a certain man. When the night is over the group commend her for her efforts. As they begin to trust Sarah they end up explaining to her what they do and why they do it.

Throughout the film The East demonstrates an outstanding ability to take you on several different emotional journeys and intense adventures. There may be a few flaws within the narrative structure, where there seem to be missing sections of information in certain scenes. In some cases this is a good thing, but here it made the film feel a little off balance. Overall, The East did not disappoint my expectations and actually exceeded my expectations on almost all accounts. I left the cinema with a thousand things to talk about and nearly all were very positive. Also, the soundtrack was amazing, something I should have mentioned earlier, but I’m saying it now!

The East trailer:

Reading the synopsis from Sundance Film Festival had one thinking that the second feature film from Zal Batmanglij, The East, sounded a lot like his previous film, which also featured and was co-written by Brit Marling. The film is about a person who looks to infiltrate an anarchist group, but ends up falling for its leader. That is shockingly close to the premise of Sound of My Voice, essentially swamping a cult group for an anarchist one. But an official trailer of the film was released today and judging from what is shown, The East appears to be more different than it sounds.

The cast of The East includes; Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgård, and Brit Marling. The estimated budget of the film is 6.5 million. The film premiered yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Watch the official trailer for The East:

Nicholas Jarecki’s Arbitrage is a riveting thriller that works without being wholly original, instead it relies on a solid script backed by a fantastic lead performance by Richard Gere. Similar to what Margin Call was last year, the film is economically relevant, featuring a corrupt business leader, a ‘1%er’, who does whatever it takes to prevent his company from tanking. From the very beginning to the end, Arbitrage is gripping film that uses its runtime effectively, making the runtime fly-by.

Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is a high profile CEO of Miller Capital. The opening sequence has him landing from his corporate jet and entering his luxury penthouse. A bellhop greets him with presents for the children that accompany his birthday party, which he pretends to be surprised about. Even though Robert is a CEO, he is a very likeable guy, one that you proudly stand behind when working underneath him. We find out that his daughter, Brooke Miller (Brit Marling), works as the Chief Financial Officer for the company and that her father had just decided to sell the company earlier that day. She playfully, but with a serious tone, asks him why he would want to sell a company that is doing so well. He brushes it off as just being at a point in his life where he is ready to let go of the company, but there is a strong sense of an ulterior motive.

Robert leaves his birthday party telling his wife, Ellen Miller (Susan Sarandon) that he needs to go to his office to finish up some of the paper work. He enters his limo but his destination is not his office. Instead he visits the residence of a woman who he clearly has an attachment with. The two exchange a few words then passionately begin to make love. He is a charmer who hides behind his friendly smile to live a double life.

Things take a drastic turn when Robert and his mistress (Laetitia Casta) are on their way out of the city one night. Robert falls asleep behind the wheel and crashes into the median causing the vehicle to flip. He walks away with just a few scratches, but unfortunately his mistress is dead in the passenger seat. Naturally, his first instinct is to call 911, but he refrains from doing so after thinking about what the implications would be for both his career and personal life.

The script in Arbitrage is sharp and concise, nearly to a fault. Most of the supporting characters were not developed because of the film’s concentration of the main plot. Supporting characters have heavily implied backstories, but the film never went beyond the surface on any of them. So I appreciated the script for the most part but having such a tight focus does have its trade-offs.

Having said that about the supporting characters, Marling was alright but did not have a particularly memorable role. Susan Sarandon laid low for most of the film, until the very end where she made a grand finale performance. But the true star of the film is of course Richard Gere (the role felt written for him though apparently it was originally for Al Pacino). Gere delivers a performance that may be his best to date, or at the very least, the best in a long while. He is a flawed character but one you find yourself rooting for even though you probably should not be.

Arbitrage is not a terribly original story, a prolific man gets into trouble and attempts to sweep it all under the rug while seeking pity from both his family and the audience, but it is one that is well crafted. It is an effective thriller with some minor faults that act more like speed bumps than showstoppers. Arbitrage is a pleasure to watch and keeps you entertained the whole way through.

Writer/actress Zoe Kazan stars in Ruby Sparks as the title character that is created out of Calvin’s (Paul Dano) mind as he is writing his latest novel. In addition to Kazan, Way Too Indie outlines our other favorite “Indie Film Pin-Up Girls” that include; Brit Marling, Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Olsen, Miranda July and more.

Brit Marling

Unofficially dubbed the Sundance Darling a couple years back, this blonde-haired beauty has written and starred in two sci-fi-esque Fox Searchlight films: Sound of My Voice and Another Earth. In the latter, she stars as Rhoda Williams, a young girl whose entire life is thrown for a loop when she crosses paths with a composer in a tragic accident. In Sound of My Voice, she portrays the mysterious Maggie, a cult leader who claims to be from the future. Now, she’s working on her latest outing with Voice director Zal Batmanglij, The East, which stars Marling alongside Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgard and Patricia Clarkson.

Every life is death, and most deaths are suicides. Some are just more gradual than others. — Maggie

Miranda July

If Brit Marling is to indie than Miranda July would be to arthouse. She portrays herself (as she stars/directs/writes) in her directorial debut masterpiece Me and You and Everyone We Know; a quirky but creative artist who often struggles to fit in. July’s second film The Future is another prime example of her adorable yet slightly flawed character.

If you really love me, let’s make a vow – right here, together… right now. — Christine

Zooey Deschanel

It is impossible to have a indie pin-up girl feature without including everyone’s favorite, Zooey Deschanel. Zooey turned heads when she starred in the hit romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer alongside Joseph Gordon–Levitt as Summer, a girl not sold on true love. The bright-eyed comic talent is now starring in the popular sitcom New Girl on Fox as another quirky and offbeat chick with a sense of humor trying to figure out life in her early thirties.

You weren’t wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me. — Summer

Elizabeth Olsen

The other Olsen sister has been busy making a name for herself with smaller, critically acclaimed films, like the tense and dramatic Martha Marcy May Marlene. In the film, Olsen plays Martha, a traumatized ex-member of an abusive cult trying to separate her past’s memories from her current day-to-day. Olsen has several films in the works including Theresa Raquin and Very Good Girls.

I am a teacher and a leader. — Martha

Parker Posey

Deemed the “Queen of Indies” in the 90’s by none other than ‘Time’ magazine, Parker Posey certainly deserves to be mentioned on this list. Even though she has been doing independent films for a while now, she still is as busy as ever appearing on TV Shows (recently on New Girl with Zooey Deschanel) as well as several films.

I watch soap operas. I bake brownies. Normalcy is coursing through my veins. — Jackie-O

Jessica Chastain

2011 was the year of Jessica Chastain as she starred in seven films, including The Help, The Debt and The Tree of Life. In The Tree of Life, Chastain stars opposite Brad Pitt as Mrs. O’Brien the matriarch of a family in Texas in 1956. Told through the eyes of her eldest son, Jack, the story revolves around the family’s struggles and hardships that leave lasting impressions on their children. Chastain has not slowed down since last year and can be seen in next year’s Mama and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.

Grace doesn’t try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries. — Mrs. O’Brien

Zoe Kazan

The granddaughter of famed filmmaker Elia Kazan, Zoe Kazan had movie making in her blood at a young age. After acting in several movies like It’s Complicated and Happythankyoumoreplease, Kazan wrote her first feature film this year with Ruby Sparks. Kazan also stars as the title character in the movie that tells the story of famed writer Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) as he creates the love of his life on paper, and she miraculously comes appears in his apartment. Kazan has several films in the works that she stars in, including the newest from Joss Whedon – In Your Eyes.

Just don’t tell me how it ends, okay? — Ruby

Debuting on Blu-ray and DVD Oct. 30
From the directors of Little Miss Sunshine comes a “charming and delightful” (Marshall Fine,Huffingtonpost.com) romantic comedy starring Paul Dano and writer-actress Zoe Kazan. Struggling with writer’s block and a lackluster love life, once-famous novelist Calvin (Dano) creates a beautiful fictitious character named Ruby (Kazan) who inspires him. But not only does this bring his work to life- it also brings Ruby to life- literally! Face-to-face with an actual relationship with his once virtual girlfriend, Calvin must now decide whether to pen this love story or let it write itself. Also starring Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas and Elliott Gould, Ruby Sparks is a smart coming-of-age story that proves true love can be remarkably magical.

Sound of My Voice an intelligent slow burning indie drama that somehow fell off many people’s radar despite a relatively warm reception at Sundance. The logical answer would be that it may have been slightly overshadowed by lead Brit Marling’s other indie drama during the same year, Another Earth. It is one of the most captivating opening ten minutes that I have seen in years and it does not lose your attention once during the film.

The beginning of Sound of My Voice starts with an appropriately named title card of “One”. Two characters pull up into a garage with their car with further instructions pending their arrival. A man comes into the garage and pats the man and woman down to make sure they are not carrying any weapons. They are handed a change of clothes and instructed to “be thorough with the soap” as they shower before changing into their white scrubs. The two are then blindfolded before they are loaded into a van with several others heading to a discreet location.

Everyone is gathered in a circle all wearing the same white scrubs in some unknown basement. An older man with long gray haired man and oval glasses introduces the two main characters Peter Aitken (Christopher Denham) and his girlfriend Lorna Michaelson (Nicole Vicius) to the rest of the group. The man explains that Peter and Lorna are in for an unforgettable experience as newcomers but are not permitted to ask questions or make any sudden movements. The man then calls Maggie (Brit Marling) to the room. She slowly strolls in with an oxygen tank in hand.

Maggie goes on to explain her story of how she woke up in a bath tub in a motel one day but is still to this day not sure how she ended up there to begin with. She left the motel only remembering her name and her birthday but nothing else. She had no money or memories so she ended up on the streets until one day the man with the long gray hair, who we first saw in the basement, picked her up off the streets. She also explains that the tattoo of an anchor on her ankle means that she is a traveler and the number 54 next to it represents the year 2054 because that is where she comes from.

In chapter “Two” Peter and Lorna are leaving the cult location and reveal the true purpose of them being there. He explains that he wants to expose her because she is a con-artist who claims to be traveling back in time to save the people she loves. This bleeds into the third chapter that begins with Peter swallowing a transmitter which will record video of Maggie. The footage will be part of the documentary that the two plan to make on cults.

Just as he was about to expose Maggie as the fraud that he thought she was something crazy happened. She seeks him out and begins to describe his past well enough that he angers him before eventually he breaks down into tears. So maybe she is not con-artist he thought she was? Even though he denies later to Lorna that the emotions he showed were faked, it is hard to believe him. The ensuing chapters make it even harder to tell if Peter is continuing with the investigative journalism or if he has actually started to believe in Maggie.

2011 was a breakout year for Brit Marling. This is because not only did she star, co-produce, and co-write Sound of My Voice but also did the same for Another Earth. Both which were considered Sundance hits the same year. In both of these roles, she plays a compelling otherworldly character that is absolutely convincing and powerful.

However, perhaps even more impressive than the fantastic acting, is that the film was done by a first time filmmaker. Zal Batmanglij bypasses many of the pitfalls of similar films with thought-provoking scenes in a seemingly effortless manner. That is because the film does not clutter up the plot; it is simple yet highly effective. These are feats that are often not overcome by first time directors.

Sound of My Voice has the cult concept from Martha Marcy May Marlene and the lo-fi drama feel of Brit Marling’s previous film, Another Earth. As much as I enjoyed both of those films, I found myself mesmerized the whole time during Sound of My Voice and could not wait to see what happened next. If you thought the ending of Another Earth was intriguing, wait to you see this. There is no doubt some will fault the ending and some of the minor hiccups it had along the way but for me the positives vastly exceeded the negatives.

Fox Home Entertainment just gave a street date of October 2nd for Zal Batmanglij’s Sound of My Voice on Blu-ray and DVD. Along with the release date they gave some details on what the special features will contain as well as full specs on the film.

Synopsis:

Brit Marling is “intoxicating” (The Huffington Post) and “stirring” (PEOPLE) in the year’s most talked-about psychological thriller. A filmmaker (Christopher Denham) and his girlfriend (Nicole Vicius) set out to expose the beautiful leader of a cult (Marling), who claims to be from the future. But the more they explore, the more danger they face in this “intricate and taut thriller” (Claudia Puig, USA Today) from writer-actress Marling and writer-director Zal Batmanglij.

Special Features:
DVD:

• The Making of The Sound of My Voice
• Maggie Featurettes
• Theatrical Trailer

BD – all of the above plus:

• The Making of The Sound of My Voice
• Fox Movie Channel Presents: Direct Effect Zal Batmanglij
• Fox Movie Channel Presents: Writer s Draft Brit Marling

Specs:
Sound of My Voice Blu-ray & DVD
Street Date: October 2, 2012
Screen Format: 16:9 (2.35:1)
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD-MA
French 5.1 DD
Spanish 5.1 DD
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
U.S. Rating: R
Total Run Time: 01:53:57 / 01:44:18 (DVD)
Closed Captioned: Yes

After watching the excellent trailer for Sound of My Voice two things came to mind, the first was how much I am looking forward to watching this film. The second was how closely it resembled Martha Marcy May Marlene. The latter is interesting as Fox Searchlight picked up both of these films for distribution.

The film made the Official Selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and stars Brit Marling. Brit Marling was considered a “Sundance standout” in 2011 as she not only starred, co-wrote and co-produced Sound of My Voice but in the same year had the same credentials for Another Earth (which was fantastic). The film also stars Christopher Denham (Shutter Island and Nicole Vicius ((500) Days of Summer).

Sound of My Voice theater release date is: April 27th. You can, however, watch the first 12 minutes of Sound of My Voice on their official website, www.soundofmyvoicemovie.com.

Official trailer for Sound of My Voice:

Fresh off the independent film festival circuit is Mike Cahill‘s first feature film entitled Another Earth. Reciting the synopsis of the film, a discovery of another planet that is incredibly similar to ours that it is labeled Earth 2, may sound like your standard science fiction film. But I am here to tell you that Another Earth contains more than just the standard fare.

Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling) is 17 and just got an acceptance letter from MIT. After a night of celebrating the good news, she makes the decision to drive home under the influence. Instead of paying attention to the road, she is gazing at the newly discovered Earth 2 when she slams head-on to a car instantly killing the people inside.

Because she was a minor, she spends the next four years in prison before being released. As you would probably expect, this tragedy has left here emotionally scarred. This is most evident when she is looking for work when she tells the job placement representative that she does not want to be around people or do much talking. She is depressed and it is not hard to understand why.

Another Earth does a good job of constantly filling you in, a little bit at a time, about Earth 2 through different media channels. The news on TV when Rhoda is signing her release papers from prison. The radio from time to time keeps us up to date such as when it is the anniversary of the discovery. The voice on the radio asks its listeners if they remember where they were at when it was first discovered, Rhoda cannot forget even if she tried. In the film, Earth 2 represents hope that in a parallel world the same mistakes you make could be erased, forgiven, or possibly not even ever happened in the first place.

After walking around near where the accident took place, she notices a man in a truck pull up and place a children’s toy near the intersection. It is then that she realizes the possibly that someone could have actually survived the accident. After performing a Google search she discovers that while two people died in the car accident, the driver eventually awoke from a coma. Naturally, she becomes more curious about what impact she had on this man’s life and tries to figure out if there is a way she could show her respects.

Cahill shows a wide range of skills as he not only directed the film but he was also the editor, producer, cinematographer and co-wrote the film. The film lays all of its cards on the table at the very beginning, however, Cahill keeps the audience engaged with trying to figure out what the end result will be. Brit Marling also took on more than just one responsibility; she played the lead role as well as co-wrote the screenplay. Marling was excellent in her role which mostly consisted of being depressed, but at times showed her character showed ambition and happiness. Marling has great potential for a promising acting career if she continues with performances like this.

Another Earth achieved more than the indie budget typically allows. Even though there may not have been very many special effects, it was impressive what Cahill was able to pull off. The cinematography was artfully done and the poetic storyline was thought-provoking. The final scene is both haunting and mesmerizing at the same time; goosebumps will likely to appear.