IMDb Picks: September Indie Picks
We turn a spotlight on five specialty releases that are on our radar this month.
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- DirectorChris KellyStarsJesse PlemonsMolly ShannonBradley WhitfordA struggling comedy writer, fresh off a breakup and in the midst of the worst year of his life, returns to Sacramento to care for his dying mother.Messy, complicated, and sometimes uncomfortable family relationships are certainly nothing new. But this intriguing drama, which premiered to great acclaim at Sundance this past winter, seems to find new nooks and crannies to fill with both equal measures of gloom and laughter. TV veteran Jesse Plemons stars as David, a heavy-with-baggage son who moves home to tend to his terminally mother (Molly Shannon) and come to terms with his life. Critical responses for both acting performances have been notable, but the strongest buzz centers around 14-year-old J.J. Totah's brief but catching on-screen turns as the highly theatrical younger brother of one of David's friends. — Bret
Enters limited release on Friday, Sept. 9 - DirectorKirsten JohnsonStarsKirsten JohnsonAisha BukarEric W. DavisExposing her role behind the camera, Kirsten Johnson reaches into the vast trove of footage she has shot over decades around the world. What emerges is a visually bold memoir and a revelatory interrogation of the power of the camera.Politically focused cinematographer Kirsten Johnson turns the camera inward for a praised documentary that exists to involve its audience, and I want to be a part of this crowd. — Arno
Enters limited release on Friday, Sept. 9 - DirectorJulia HartStarsLily RabeTimothée ChalametLili ReinhartA heart-broken teacher chaperones a group of high schoolers to a state drama competition.There's an undercurrent of potential ick running through this movie's trailer — one that finds Miss Lily Rabe potentially getting too close to her student, who is played by Timothy Chalame — but I understand the true tones of the movie are more concerned with illustrating the complexity of boundaries instead of just pushing them for shock value. — Arno
Enters limited release on Friday, Sept. 16 - DirectorJason CohenStarsRod CanionJim HarrisBill MurtoThree friends dream up the Compaq portable computer at a Texas diner in 1981, and soon find themselves battling mighty IBM for PC supremacy. Their improbable journey altered the future of computing and shaped the world we now know.Living in San Francisco, I could use a reminder that the personal computing revolution was started by truly pioneering nerds who were out to dethrone giant, and this documentary goes back to a beginning of sorts: the PC boom of the 1980s.
— Arno
Enters limited release on Friday, Sept. 16 - DirectorAndrew NeelStarsBen SchnetzerNick JonasGus HalperReeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there in the name of "brotherhood" tests him and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.Based on Brad Land's grim memoir of the same name, Goat chronicles one 19-year-old's difficult transition to college life, framed by a harsh fraternity initiation process that serves up a constant cocktail of violence, hazing, and harassment. Ben Schnetzer plays Brad, a young man who, still recovering from a traumatic incident, is compelled to join his older brother Brett (Nick Jonas) in Phi Sigma Mu. The decision sets in motion a series of events that seem to reel out of control. While Jonas received plenty of attention at Sundance, where the movie debuted, I'm looking forward to seeing Schnetzer's performance,which has been lauded widely. In an age where fraternities and sororities are increasingly seen as anachronistic, I'm eager to see how this film informs and complicates that discussion. — Bret
Enters limited release on Friday, Sept. 23