As part of Way Too Indie’s ongoing festival coverage, I recently had the opportunity to screen Chuck Norris vs. Communism, a Hot Docs 2015 entry. The excellent documentary focuses on actual events that took place in 1980s Romania. Screening at the 2015 Toronto Jewish Film Festival comes another Romania-set film with historical significance—only this time it’s a dramatization of history, not a documentation of it, and the timeline shifts from the 1980s to the late 1950s. The film is Nae Caranfil’s Closer to the Moon.

During World War II, Jews in Romania joined the anti-Nazi resistance organized by the Communist Party with the expectation that they would enjoy freedom once the Nazis were defeated. After the war, Communism, not freedom spread, and while some members of the resistance went on to become influential members of Romanian society, even that would be temporary. Closer to the Moon, based on a true story, looks at a collection of friends who joined the resistance and went on to bigger things. Then they decided to rob a bank.

That gang is led by Max (Mark Strong), a high-ranking police official, and includes history professor Iorgu (Christian McKay), journalist Razvan (Joe Armstrong), and scientist Dumi (Tim Plester). Rounding out the group is Alice (Vera Farmiga), the lone female and a political science expert.

Their heist, cleverly disguised as a film shoot, is witnessed by a crowd of mesmerized passers-by, including Virgil (Harry Lloyd), a waiter at a nearby restaurant. Virgil becomes so enamored by the film shoot that he goes into the Romanian motion picture business. A year later, his first directorial gig is a propaganda film that opens with the sentencing of the gang he thought was filming a fake robbery, not actually committing a real one. The gang is sentenced to death. Virgil is then charged with filming a complete recreation of the robbery—starring the actual gang—but one that falsifies most of what happened in the name of pushing the Communist agenda. In the process, Virgil befriends Alice, and their relationship becomes key to much more.

Director Caranfil, who also wrote the screenplay, chooses to present Closer to the Moon as a dark comedy, and there are times this approach works well. The gang display excellent chemistry when they’re together, from high-minded debates to carousing with prostitutes, it’s all done with political discourse. With an alpha male, a smart and sexy dame, high-quality supporting members, a well-planned caper, and always a good time, they’re not resistance veterans, they’re the Shabbat Pack. Filming the robbery reenactment, a notion so preposterous that it could only be based in reality, is also perfect for a comedic take. All of this is fantastic.

The film struggles, though, when it expands beyond the gang. A recurring gag involving the drunkenness of a legendary Romanian film director (Allan Corduner) is tired from the first flat joke, and the inclusion of Virgil’s landlords, an old Jewish couple with levity to their parts, seems to be set up from the first scene to serve as a key moment at the end of the film. There are also forced threads (to call them subplots would be to give them too much credit) involving Max’s wife and her brother. A pair of romances and unexpected melodrama involving Alice also serve as convenient plot points that distract from the overall story.

These things not only hinder the better parts of the film, they prevent an interesting conceit from finding life. Amidst the politics and propaganda, one Communist official, Holban (Anton Lesser), yearns to know why the gang stole the money. No one else cares about this. They stole something they didn’t need, knowing the possible result, and the not knowing the motive behind it gnaws at Holban. He even reaches the point where his obsession jeopardizes the film he has been charged with producing. This story could have been a great counterbalance to the gang’s antics, and Lesser is marvelous in the role, but it gets lost in the noise of the filmmaker’s other dalliances.

In addition to Lesser, performance standouts include Lloyd and Farmiga, but the film is carried on the shoulders of Strong, who is more than up to the task of playing the rebel-turned-cop-turned-criminal, with a motivation to risk his life that he makes you want to get in line to support.

Part heist flick and part history lesson, Closer to the Moon is best viewed as an entertaining, albeit flawed, entry in the sub-sub-genre of films about the aftermath of WWII.

Starting tonight, October 3rd and going through October 13th, the 36th Mill Valley Film Festival will be rolling out the red carpet for local Bay Area filmmakers, movie stars, and acclaimed directors from around the world in the gorgeous surroundings of Marin County. From a costume-friendly screening of Return of the Jedi, to live music performances, to screenings of some of the most buzz-worthy films in the cinemasphere, the festival has got a little something for everybody.

Way Too Indie will be there to give you updates on the myriad events and screenings going down at the festival, with photos galore, reviews, interviews, and more.

Here are some of the guests, screenings and events you can expect to see at the festival:

Alexander Payne’s highly-anticipated new film, Nebraska, will be opening up the festival, with stars Will Forte and Bruce Dern in attendance. A father-son Midwestern odyssey from Montana to Nebraska, the movie earned Dern a best actor award at Cannes.

Splitting opening night honors with Payne is Brian Percival, with his beautiful Nazi Germany-set drama, The Book Thief, starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and newcomer Sophie Nelisse, playing a young girl who discovers the power of storytelling.

At Middleton, a middle-aged romance between parents of college hopefuls set entirely during a campus tour, is director Adam Rodger’s feature debut and stars two seasoned, excellent actors in Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga. The film is making its premiere at the festival, and Rodgers and Garcia will be in attendance.Also making its premiere is Beside Still Waters, but writer-director Chris Lowell, who will be on hand to introduce the film.

One of the most highly-anticipated films of the year (especially for us) is Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film, following a free black man in 1841 who is stripped of everything when he’s sold as a slave, is undoubtedly one of the major highlights of the festival.

And that’s just scratching the surface. There will be screenings of Palme d’Or winner Blue is the Warmest Color, John Wells’ August: Osage County, the Matthew McConaughey breakthrough piece Dallas Buyers Club, Jan Troell’s The Last Sentence, the heartfelt Matt Shepard documentary Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, Asghar Farhadi’s The Past, a children’s film program, and much, much more.

There will also be a closing night tribute Ben Stiller, who’s bringing with him his new film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Also receiving festival spotlights are actors Jared Leto (Dallas Buyer’s Club) and Dakota Fanning (Effie Gray), and legendary auteur Costa Garvas (Capital, Z, State of Siege).

Stay tuned to Way Too Indie for updates on all the action going down in Mill Valley! For more info, visit mvff.com

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

Source Code is the sophomore feature of director Duncan Jones. It borrows the sci-fi aspect of his first film, Moon, and throws in a puzzle plot in this techno-thriller. The film was well-crafted, with only a slight plot-hole near the end, about a man who is in the same 8 minute time-loop trying to figure out who planted a bomb on a train. If The Matrix and Groundhog Day had a baby, Source Code would be it.

The film jumps right in with Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) waking up on a train, clearly confused by his surroundings. The woman (Michelle Monaghan) sitting across from him is in mid conversation with him. Adding to the confusion she insists that she knows him and repeatedly calls him Sean. In a desperate move to figure out what is going on, he goes to the bathroom only to find a face in the mirror that is not his, but rather Sean’s.

The opening 8 minutes of the film is one of the most intriguing first 8 minutes of recent film memory. The viewer is in the same boat, or in this case train, as the main character. We have no clue who Sean is, why he is all of a sudden on a train or who the women sitting across from him is. Well played.

As soon as Colter’s time on the train hits 8 minutes, the bomb goes off and the train explodes into flames. He awakes strapped inside some kind of metal capsule in a secret U.S. military experiment. In front of him are computer screens with a women named Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) instruction him what to do.

Goodwin expresses how time is not on their side for this experiment but she does finally explain what exactly is going on. The commuter train explosion was caused by a bomb placed by someone on the train. Goodwin’s team was able to gain access into the brain of one of the passengers and able to re-create the last 8 minutes of his life before the bomb went off. From that they were able to build a simulation world that consists of those 8 minutes, they call it Source Code. It has The Matrix similarities abound, the most obvious is the alternate-simulation-world but also Goodwin basically being “the operator”.

His mission is to go back for the 8 minutes to try to locate the bomb and figure out who planted it. With this information they can capture the bomber to prevent an even larger attack that could destroy Chicago. Colter can go back multiple times but still only has the same time limit of 8 minutes. So needs to learn from each visit, Groundhog Day style, piecing the puzzle together.

A human element of emotions comes into play as Colter begins to form a relationship with some of the other passengers, most notably Christina, who we meet at the beginning of each new initialization of Source Code. Which means his mission just got expanded.

Just like in his first film, Moon, Duncan Jones relies heavily on one central character to do most of the heavy lifting. But to be fair, Gyllenhaal had a little more help than Sam Rockwell did. Gyllenhaal was a fantastic choice, he was solid in his role. Monaghan was maybe a little more replaceable, but that was more because of her role than her performance. Farmiga made a role that would normally be overlooked and played it very well.

The first two acts of Source Code far surpassed the relatively weak third act. The ending was safe and too Hollywood friendly, which is a bit of a shame because I do not think it needed to be. For the most part, the film remains a fast paced thriller with at least one bone-chilling turn-of-event scene. It is not as mind blowing as Inception, but that does not mean it is not worth a watch or two.

Up In The Air has an all-star cast which received three Oscar nominations of the six total for the film, including Best Picture. Often times humorous and other times emotional, it features quick and witty dialogue with a unique storyline. That being said, it also does have its flaws.

Ryan Bingham’s (George Clooney) life is air travel and because of it, it is very orderly and systematic. Ryan’s job is to fly around the country to inform people that they are fired. He is very much alright with flying 270 days a year, in fact, he enjoys traveling in airports and different cities more than being at home.

Ryan meets Alex (Vera Farmiga) in an airport bar and the two first meet by quickly exchanging the differences between car rental companies as an attempt to impress one another. Then the two compare credit card reward cards before admitting they are two people that get turned on by elite status. They agree to meet each other in a couple weeks when they will be traveling closer to each other in another state.

Ryan returns home from his trip and does not forget to remind you that he does not particularly like being home. He is informed the next day at work that the company has decided to no longer fly workers around the country to fire people. Instead, he will be doing his job via video chat, thus grounding him at home and in his mind grounding his life. Not to mention shutting him down from the date he had just lined up.

So to no one’s surprise Ryan speaks out again this to his boss. It quickly involves the person who came up with the new plan, Natalie (Anna Kendrick). Natalie is a newly hired hard worker efficiency expert. She is very set on her way and lives life on deadlines both on and off work hours. She is a go getter and a planner and she blatantly says she does not mind being married to her career. She is not ashamed of it but does not want to settle in life.

Ryan convinces his boss into showing Natalie what he does on the road and tries to make his case that it cannot be done over the internet. She then travels with him to see what he does in person. He is trying to save what he believes his life is while at the same time she is trying to save the company’s efficiency.

Up In The Air finally reaches its most important part of the film when he is at his sister’s wedding. The groom gets cold feet and he is sent to deal with it. He talks people out of commitment and now has the task of talking the groom into commitment. Which is something he knows little about and you could say he is being a hypocrite because he has not subscribed to that way of thinking.

It was right about then he realizes that commitment is not as daunting and he thought. He has such a way with words; he more or less talks himself into it. Ryan realizes that perhaps he is ready to settle down with Alex after all. The only question left is has Alex turned over a new leaf as well?

Interestingly, the majority of the people we see getting fired at the beginning of Up In The Air are not actors (but obviously Zach Galifianakis is) but actual people who were recently laid off. The filmmakers put ads out and instructed people to treat the camera as if were like the person who fired them. I think that is a nice and creative touch to make it seem more believable.

After watching the film, I began to wonder if Natalie’s storyline even mattered. I believe they could have without her part. Although Anna Kendrick does a good job with this role, I don’t think it ultimately played any role of importance in the film.

The main idea behind the film is loyalty. The word was frequently in the background on airline advertisements. The airline, credit card and car rental places all have membership clubs that reward loyal customers. Both Ryan and Natalie are loyal to their jobs both have different views on what it means to be loyal in a relationship.

Up In The Air has an unique premise and good dialogue with acting that is beyond average but ultimately the storyline is a little bumpy. I am not sure if it is some ironic play on Ryan’s philosophy of empty backpacks and pointlessness but nearly every other character in the film besides himself is pointless. It was a well done film that should have been tied in together a little more.