It takes less than a minute for Addicted to Fresno to state its intentions. This is a story about sisters, but it’s not one about sisterly love. Instead, it’s a story about how sisters “sink each other,” and the image of one of the main characters in a prisoner’s outfit means things aren’t going to go well for at least one of these women. Yet Addicted to Fresno, Jamie Babbit’s (But I’m a Cheerleader) latest dark comedy, isn’t about a sisterly relationship falling apart. It’s more about the impact a poisonous family relationship can have, and how sibling support can harm and help both parties. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. Addicted to Fresno is, first and foremost, a very silly and sometimes mean-spirited comedy that can get a little too goofy for its own good.

After the brief tease at its beginning, the film flashes back to two years earlier when Shannon (Judy Greer) starts her life over after getting out of sex rehab. Her sister Martha (Natasha Lyonne, whose reunion with Babbit will hopefully continue from here on out), a hotel maid, gets Shannon a job so they can work together. Ever since their parents died Martha feels obligated to take care of Shannon, and it’s implied that this isn’t the first time she’s bailed her sister out of a bad situation. Shannon meanwhile is an obnoxiously sardonic type, complaining about how terrible life in Fresno is and taking no responsibility for her faults. Martha’s in the midst of a sort-of-breakup with a girl at her gym, and Shannon is covering up that she was in fact kicked out of sex rehab for sleeping with her therapist (Ron Livingston).

It takes almost no time for Shannon and Martha to fall into a routine of arguing with one other, but this time Shannon screws up significantly. Martha catches her sleeping with a disgusting hotel guest (Jon Daly, a sleazy highlight for his brief time on-screen), and in the ensuing scuffle he winds up dead. In an attempt to appease her sister, Shannon claims she was being raped but insists they don’t call the cops since as a sex addict they aren’t likely to believe her. Martha agrees to help dispose of the body, leading to a failed attempt to convince a couple pet cemetery owners (Fred Armisen & Allison Tolman) that they want to cremate a really big dog. The owners, desperate for cash, blackmail Shannon & Martha into giving them $25,000 in three days or else they go to the police.

Babbit attempts to make a sort of madcap, screwball comedy out of the entire situation, with Shannon and Martha carting their corpse around the city in a bin while resorting to desperate measures for cash. The whole thing feels frantic; within a short span of time the film wildly veers from a botched heist to a cheap “kickass” montage to a dramatic fight, and the constant changes in tone are jarring. It also doesn’t help that Karey Dornetto’s screenplay seems inclined to pick up and throw away character or story beats without any sense of purpose or resolution. A second heist attempt is thrown in and then tapers off, while the revolving door of supporting characters (including Molly Shannon, Jessica St. Clair, and Aubrey Plaza to name a few) provide light laughs, but make little to no impact. A teen’s attempt to launch his hip-hop career at his bar mitzvah is among the basest of the jokes presented.

But Addicted to Fresno is a funny film, for the most part, largely due to its game cast. Lyonne and Greer are both brilliantly cast against type here, with Lyonne taking the role of the cheery optimist and Greer diving into the chance to play a morose, bitchy character. Their performances wind up becoming the saving grace of the film since their wide range and great chemistry together sells the more sincere and dramatic moments in the final act. The ensemble does most of the film’s heavy lifting, since the unevenness of the script impacts Babbit’s direction as well (it’s surprising to see how lackluster her direction can be at times, considering her excellent work on television over the years). The sisterly bond at the center winds up resonating the most, but it seems problematic when the most memorable parts of a comedy are the unfunny parts.

Addicted to Fresno is available via VOD platforms September 1 and in theaters October 2, 2015.

Go through the massive list of stars that appear in Joe Swanberg’s Digging for Fire and it might be easy to claim that one of the most prolific names in modern indie has “gone mainstream.” But actually watch Digging for Fire (or Happy Christmas or Drinking Buddies), and it’s clear that the mainstream has actually come knocking on Swanberg’s door. This is the same low-key, character-based storytelling Swanberg has been honing for years, only now with a plethora of talent and established names thrown into the mix. And, if anything, Digging for Fire shows Swanberg as a filmmaker in total control, using his ensemble and skills at creating a casual, inviting tone to make a subtle and fascinating exploration of commitment, aging and marriage.

Taking place in Los Angeles, the film opens with married couple Lee (Rosemarie Dewitt) and Tim (Jake Johnson, who co-wrote with Swanberg) taking their son Jude (Swanberg’s own son, stealing every scene he’s in) to house-sit for one of Lee’s wealthy clients. While Lee goes off working as a yoga instructor, Tim—a public school teacher—stays at home during the summer break. Soon after arriving, Tim starts poking around the house and discovers a bone and an old gun buried in a yard behind the house. Tim wants to keep digging, but Lee doesn’t want him messing up her client’s property, and a host of other small disagreements between the two (including Tim’s refusal to put Jude in a private school) leads to Lee taking Jude to spend the weekend with her parents (Sam Elliott and Judith Light).

Tim takes the opportunity to invite some of his old buddies over (Sam Rockwell, Chris Messina, Mike Birbiglia and Kent Osborne, to name a few), and before long he’s convincing all of them to help dig up whatever else might be hiding underneath the property. At this point the film forks off into two narrative strands, one profiling Tim’s weekend with his friends, and the other following Lee trying to have a girl’s night out with her sister (Melanie Lynskey). Both Lee and Tim wind up finding themselves conflicted when they each encounter an opportunity to cheat; Lee meets a British restaurant owner (Orlando Bloom), and Tim makes nice with the young, carefree Max (Brie Larson).

Anyone familiar with Swanberg’s previous work won’t be surprised to learn the film’s central mystery is a nonstarter. It’s more of an excuse for getting characters together to casually chat about the themes Swanberg and Johnson really want to explore. “When did you feel like you got back to yourself?” Lee asks her mom at one point, wondering if marriage and motherhood have removed her ability to live her own life, and Tim admits to Max that he feels like he’s not maturing, he’s just getting older. Their brief exchanges with friends, family and strangers around them reveal that both Lee and Max have hesitations about staying in for the long haul of their marriage, with the hypothetical idea of something “better” existing out there tempting them into seeking individuality over partnership.

What makes Digging for Fire such an enjoyable yet fleeting experience is how Swanberg lets these ideas flow organically into the film through his terrific cast and tight editing. Narrative doesn’t mean much here, as it’s more about how Lee and Tim’s actions reflect their concerns. Dewitt and Johnson anchor the film nicely, and there isn’t a single weak spot in a cast that’s as sprawling as LA itself. Shooting on 35mm with cinematographer Ben Richardson (who also shot Drinking Buddies and, most famously, Beasts of the Southern Wild), the film’s keen eye for composition helps give it a cinematic feel that comes across as a surprise given its dialogue-heavy approach. Swanberg has made films for over a decade now, and at a pretty quick pace too (remember when he directed six films in 2011?), but in some ways Digging for Fire feels like the start of a newer, more refined era for him. It’s exciting to watch Swanberg in complete domination of his craft, but it’ll be more exciting to see what he does next.

The quirky indie comedy, what was once a unique and unfiltered genre, has started to grasp onto the same devices, making for predictable whimsy. The Pretty One, the first full length feature from AFI grad Jenée LeMarque from her Black List darling script, seems to have fallen into a few of these indie comedy traps, with it’s subtlety and filtered reality, but was no less enjoyable to view, and sweet in it’s presentation.

The film features Zoe Kazan playing both roles of identical twin sisters Laurel and Audrey, who predictably are nothing alike. Laurel has never left home, doting on her widowed father (John Carroll Lynch) and painting horrible replicas of famous artwork. Audrey is in LA, flourishing as a successful real estate agent. When Audrey comes home to visit her sister to celebrate their shared birthday she sees Laurel’s life, spent living in her dead mother’s clothes, caring for their father and pining away for the barely legal boy next door. Audrey decides Laurel needs to get away from home once and for all. She tells her father that she’s going to take Laurel home with her to LA and she whisks Laurel off for a makeover. With her hair cut short, suddenly the two really are identical sisters. But tragedy strikes, and the two get into a horrific car accident before they ever reach home or can begin a new life for Laurel together.

When Laurel wakes she can hardly fathom what has happened and is even more confused when her father informs her that “Laurel” didn’t make it out of the accident. It isn’t until she’s home and her memory comes flooding back that she realizes the mistake and that she is Laurel and it’s Audrey who actually died. She is about to inform her father and his girlfriend of their mistake when the world’s true opinions come clean. That perhaps it was better this way, Laurel wouldn’t have been able to handle the loss of Audrey, best it was Audrey that lived. Shocked at this insight into how the world viewed her, especially when no one has a thing to say on her behalf at the funeral, Laurel decides to run away from them all and assume the life Audrey has created. A chance to start fresh as her better half.

There are plenty of laughs as Laurel tries to assume her sister’s identity. Faking familiarity with people she’s never met. Trying to sell a house for the first time. Realizing her sister’s boyfriend isn’t all that great, but that the boy next door, whom her sister hated, seems to be just right. The boy next door being Basel, played by Jake Johnson who’s been perfecting quirky comedy on New Girl for a few years now. As Audrey née Laurel begins a romance with the confused but delighted Basel, she loses some of her shell and starts to find the confidence her sister always had. In the meantime Audrey’s best friend grows more and more suspicious of this impostor’s behavior.

The film’s romance is charming, Zoe Kazan’s fringe-framed large eyes always reflecting Laurel’s naiveté and eagerness to be loved. However, The Pretty One doesn’t ever seem to find a good balance between the deep pain of Audrey’s death and the light and indie-romantic love blossoming between Laurel and Basel. Kazan plays both equally well, but at points the film feels too divided and it makes it hard to invest in either story. Granted if LeMarque had tried something more straight forward, the humor would have been lost. Instead I almost wish she had embraced darker comedy, allowing Audrey’s death to be exactly what it was: a plot device for Laurel to start living her own life and understanding herself.

For a first feature, LeMarque already shows a knack for clean writing and a well-paced story. Her characters fit into a pretty and clean cut world, but one that draws from the same emotions we all use and is therefore accessible. The style of the indie rom-com is wearing thin, and I hope someone comes along to shake it up a bit soon, but Kazan, who was picture-perfect in the similarly quirky Ruby Sparks, continues to find interesting and unique women to play and is someone I’ll always keep an eye out for. It may not be able to find it’s feet exactly, fluctuating between loss and love instead of embracing the way the two emotions often go hand in hand, but The Pretty One is still a cute and enjoyable film.

The Pretty One trailer

Joe Swanberg is a well-known independent director who is notorious for his no budget, no script approach to filmmaking. The results tend to be very personal (he acts in most of his films) and highly realistic since the actors are not confined to reading lines off a script. Drinking Buddies is somewhat of a crossover from micro-indie films into a larger budget film for Joe Swanberg; it contains a well-known cast (Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick) and much higher production values (having a dedicated director of photography, etc.) than his previous 14 films. The Duplass brothers proved it is possible to make a big budget film still feel small and intimate a few years back with Cyrus, Swanberg solidifies the transition can be achieved with Drinking Buddies.

Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) are co-workers at a craft brewery in Chicago who get along with each other well enough that at times it would be easy to mistake them as a couple. However, they both are in existing relationships despite their personalities being much more aligned with each other than the ones that they are actually dating. In both cases, their significant others are much more grounded and would prefer to settle down. Luke has been dating Jill (Anna Kendrick) for long enough that the marriage conversation has already been brought up, though nothing has been finalized. Kate has only been seeing Chris (Ron Livingston) a short while and their relationship seems more sexually based than anything.

Blink and you will miss the conversation where the two couples agree to a weekend retreat at a lakeside cabin. Almost immediately after they arrive, the cabin acts like a pressure cooker for each of the relationships, creating drama when they divide after Kate and Luke opt to play drinking games together while their significant others both prefer to hike through the woods. So in case you did not catch the subtle hints in the beginning, the time at the cabin makes it completely obvious that the two couples seem much more comfortable with the opposite significant other. For the first time the couples are realizing the gravity of the situation as well. Sexual tensions begin to boil, yielding the perfect recipe for a relationship explosion.

The best part about Drinking Buddies is how well the unspoken tension and jealously of circumstances are articulated without directly announcing them. This means through body language and situational awareness you get a sense of what the characters are thinking without them having to verbally say it. For example, it is evident that Luke gets jealous after he gets injured while helping Kate move into her new place when she is forced to have another guy come help with the move. His first reaction is to call her out on it, but you can tell his head is spinning as he realizes there is no justification for him to do so because of his relationship with Jill.

One major element that Swanberg re-uses from his early Mumblecore films is working with a vague outline versus a detailed script. He puts a lot of trust in his cast to improvise much of the dialog in any given scene to provide a natural feeling environment. The gamble pays off in spades when the loose script works as well as it does in Drinking Buddies. The performances for some (Wilde in particular) end up being some of the best to date. Chemistry between Johnson and Wilde appears effortless, as if they have been close friends for years. Kendrick and Livingston provide the right about of counterbalance to make the equation work.

A common mistake for a film to make that is based on improvised dialog is allowing scenes to drag on and get off topic. Thankfully, this is not the case in Drinking Buddies, which is comprised of a light and breezy pace due to the magnificently concise editing. What was most gratifying about Drinking Buddies was the portrayal of emotion and inclination without coming right out and talking about them. Some people feared that a more accessible film would diminish the passion and genuine feel that often are associated with Swanberg’s work, but rest assured that the only thing he changes is how many people will see the film.

Drinking Buddies trailer

A brand spanking new teaser trailer has been released for the upcoming James Wan directed Horror film, The Conjuring. And boy does it look to have some promise. While details are a little foggy at the moment, we do have some information on the plot. Family moves into an old farm house in the New England country side and it seems to be housing some old spirits. Judging from this trailer these spirits like to play games.

While the trailer doesn’t show them, the film stars Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and Ron Livingston. Wilson is of course a Wan veteran having starred in his previous effort Insidious. The trailer itself features the greatly under appreciated Lili Taylor and her kids playing a fun little game in the old house that is marred by some devilish fiends.

Wan is probably most famous for directing the first entry in the Saw series. His other gigs have included Dead Silence, Death Sentence and the aforementioned Insidious (which I’m now seeing is getting a sequel). The film was written by twin screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes, who together have written White Out, House of Wax remake and The Reaping.

Watch the official trailer for The Conjuring