We’ve all been there. We sit on our couch for minutes on end trying to find something to watch. Heck, one time I was on Netflix looking for something to watch and before I knew it, 40 minutes had passed. Well we here at Way Too Indie recognize this issue and are looking to alleviate any future headaches. Welcome to a new feature where I recommend 4-5 under watched, under-appreciated or just films that I personally love. All the films featured in this column will be available on many of the streaming sites that populate the internet.

Immortals

Indian director Tarsem made his debut feature with the psychological thriller The Cell before stunning audiences worldwide with his two hour moving painting of a film, The Fall. Immortals, his third feature, is an effects heavy “swords and sandals” epic that is heavily inspired (aesthetically) by 300. The story of Theseus (Henry Cavill), a mortal man who is plucked by the almighty god Zeus, to take on King Hyperion who is looking to end humanity as we know it. I’ll be completely honest; the film is utter garbage. I’m recommending it strictly on how gorgeous the film is. Tarsem paints in all the corners of the frame. Everywhere you look there is something sensational to look at. The film is also loaded to the brim with excessive blood and guts as well as some cheesy, groan inducing performances. It will be difficult, however, to find more dazzling beauty than this brutal fantasy flick. – Watch the trailer

Graceland

This thriller from the Philippines will take your soul and in 90 minutes completely crush it. When the chauffeur of a corrupt official in Manila has his own daughter kidnapped instead of the official’s (they’re best friends and together when the kidnapping happens), he tries desperately to get her back from a group of thugs who are holding her for ransom. The film is very intense for the final hour as Marlon frantically flies through the Asian capital doing anything in his power to save his daughter’s life. A word of warning, Graceland does feature some questionable material involving underage children. But the film is easily one of the best thrillers of the year and rightfully deserves a wider audience. – Watch the trailer

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I had heard a lot of good things about David Gelb’s film before watching it. Bored one night I placed my cursor over the film, left-clicked it and threw any doubt under the rug. I think it took me about 10 minutes to fall in love with Gelb’s film. Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a mesmerizing documentary about the life of Jiro Ono, a sushi master, whose restaurant is quietly tucked away underneath Tokyo’s massive subway system. What I loved about the film was how beautiful it looked, how delicate the film was handled (the cinematography and slow motion photography combined with the lush classic music are devastating on the eyes and ears) and the tiny details of Jiro’s life that Gelb features. For foodies, it’s a full 90 minutes of food heaven, while film geeks will get the beautiful story of one man’s life dedication to his art exquisitely captured in high definition. – Watch the trailer

Run Lola Run

We all remember this incredibly fun and inventive German film from the late 1990’s about a young red haired Lola, the undeniably cute Franka Potente (in a breakout role), who only has 20 minutes to deliver 100,000 Deutschmarks to her boyfriend (who owes some nasty thugs) before he robs a supermarket. Tom Tykwer’s film literally never stops for a second as you try to keep up with Lola. Run Lola Run is told 3 different times each with different outcomes. Aided by an electronic score that will pulsate through you, Tykwer’s film is kinetic from beginning to end. Tykwer and Potente would team up again in the even better (yet completely different) The Princess and the Warrior. This is one of the most entertaining movies I think I’ve ever seen. – Watch the trailer

Goon

Goon, I’ll admit, isn’t a great film. It’s barely a good one. But it’s very rare that I have a grin on my face for the entire duration of a film and Goon managed to do just that. Seann William Scott (in easily his best film role to date) plays Doug, a loner who is going nowhere in life. One night he happens to catch the eye of a coach of a semi pro hockey team in Canada when he is seen kicking the crap out of a guy. Doug is terrible at hockey, but he excels at causing mayhem. Picked up essentially be an enforcer on the ice, Doug ends up leading the team to glory against a former hockey pro (Liev Schreiber) who made a career out of being a mercenary on the ice; he as the missing teeth to prove it too. The film contains a lot of great moments that will please both genders. Girls will get a fuzzy romance subplot as guys will get their sports fix. Goon is an under-appreciated sports comedy that is a must see. – Watch the trailer

CAAMFest kicked off with a screening of Evan Jackson Leong’s look into the Jeremy Lin phenomenon, Linsanity, at San Francisco’s Castro Theater, and then moved a few blocks down Market Street to the beautiful Asian Art Museum for the Opening Night Gala. The Museum was transformed into a bustling party room full of excited festival-goers, filmmakers, and slimy press people like me. Well, maybe I was the only slimy one, but nevertheless, everybody was buzzing.

There were lots of local chefs to provide us with delicious food (the chocolates from Socola Chocolatier were my favorite) and frosty alcoholic beverages raised in the air all throughout the building. The San Francisco community came out strong, and the enthusiasm was contagious. When I asked people what their most anticipated films of the festival were, the responses were all over the board, which should be an indicator that this festival’s lineup is going to have a bit for everybody. The party was crazy fun, but now on to the important stuff…the films!

I was a loser and missed the opening night screening of Linsanity, but I had seen it at the press conference for the festival held a few weeks ago. On Friday, I saw Graceland, a thriller from the Philippines, and Someone I Used to Know, an ensemble drama a la Breakfast Club but set on a summer night in Los Angeles.

Linsanity

This is embarrassing, but I’ll admit it: I had almost no clue who Jeremy Lin was going into this movie. I’d heard his name on TV a few times, but that’s about it. Evan Jackson Leong’s documentary follows Lin’s story of hard work and struggle from childhood to worldwide NBA superstar. Some of the footage of Lin playing ball is absolutely astonishing; to see him dominate Kobe Bryant and the Lakers after Kobe Bryant claimed to have never heard of him was a highlight. However, the most enjoyable bits of the film are the moments when we see Lin in an intimate environment, being himself and having fun. Later in the film, when Lin is in the NBA and obviously financially stable, we see him go to Target and get excited over a tacky fountain he found in the novelty aisle. Stuff like this gives his story heart and genuineness.

The success of this movie isn’t simply the chronicling of Lin’s rise to fame; it shows that even through all the craziness on his rise to the top, he remained the same goofy, likable guy throughout. There’s nothing really bad to say about this film, other than that it is a pretty standard sports documentary with an all-too-familiar structure to the story. But man, no matter how much you watch footage of this guy on the court, it still sizzles.

RATING: 7.4

Graceland

A raw, violent hostage thriller from the Philippines, Graceland, by director Ron Morales is rock-solid, though just short of exceptional. Arnold Reyes works as a chauffeur in Manila for a corrupt businessman while also juggling the stresses of his home life; his disobedient daughter and his hospitalized wife weigh on his mind heavily. When kidnappers rip his and the congressman’s daughter away from him as he is driving them home from school, a classic tale of large ransoms, corruption, double-crosses, and violence emerges. The story is executed well, but aside from the uncommon (for this kind of film) setting of Manila, it’s quite derivative. There is not a scene in this movie that I haven’t seen before in some other hostage thriller. There are some scenes from Taken, some from Akira Kurosawa’s incredible High and Low, and even some Die Hard thrown in. Hell, there’s even stuff from Ransom: “Give me back my daughter!” Again, the scenes always work, but there’s nothing new brought to the table here.

The cinematography is a little dark at times, literally; in some scenes, I had to strain my eyes just to make out what the hell I was looking at. But overall, the visuals serve the story well, which is always the goal. Arnold Reyes is very good as the lead, showing just the right amount of emotion when he needs to without overdoing it. A standout role is Dido De La Paz as the classic barking, mean-faced “bad cop.” His imposing physicality and constant irritation are very effective. The twist at the end is unsurprising, predictable, and lacks any punch (I only call it a twist because it is presented as such in the film), but the story leading up to that point has a frenetic pace that never slows down and always entertains.

RATING: 7