OPIE GETS LAID – director: James Ricardo; starring: James Ricardo, April Wade, Ute Werner, Jesselynn Desmond

It’s not a surefire formula for success, but independent filmmakers just starting out and low on cash would all be well advised to study the work of other filmmakers dealing with similar conditions. In particular, they should be watching those films that employ a small cast with few locations to see how those stories are told. Some of the best indie films of all time were launched using this equation of small cast and limited locations, the beauty of which being that it works for a host of genres. It worked for George Romero in Night of the Living Dead, Jim Jarmusch in Stranger Than Paradise and Down by Law, Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs, and Kevin Smith in Clerks. Of course, all of these movies had interesting stories to tell, which is the essential ingredient in all films, no matter how big the cast, how many locations, or how much money they have to spend. (more…)

DIARY OF A TIRED BLACK MAN – director: Tim Alexander; starring Jimmy Jean-Louis, Paula Lema

I liked Diary of a Tired Black Man. In fact, I really liked it a lot. This comes as something of a surprise, because to be perfectly frank and honest, it really didn’t look that good to me. And to take that frankness and honesty one step further, the film does have some problems that will likely turn some people off; but that’s neither here nor there, because what this film does have is a raw honesty that is as entertaining as it educational as it is uncompromising. (more…)

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY – director: Lance Rivera; starring: Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Faizon Love, Charlie Murphy, Katt Williams, Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard

There is an undeniable disparity between mainstream films (those films produced for a largely white audience), and those movies produced primarily for an African-American audience. That’s not to say that mainstream movies aren’t insipidly insulting the intelligence of the audience, because Hollywood certainly cranks out more than its fair share of stupid shit. But for every moronic movie catered to a mainstream audience, there are intelligent films to counterbalance the dumb garbage. In terms of holiday fare, for every The Santa Clause 3 there are films like It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street and Die Hard. But when it comes to lighthearted holiday fare targeted towards a black audience, for every steaming turd like The Perfect Holiday you have absolutely nothing. (more…)

CONFUSIONS OF AN UNMARRIED COUPLE - directors Jason and Brett Butler; starring: Brett Butler, Naomi Johnson

There are moments in the Butler Brothers’ Confusions of an Unmarried Couple that are simply painful to watch. Not painful because the film is rough-around-the-edges, or because it looks like it was shot on a budget of about $75 over the course of two days; but because Confusions of an Unmarried Couple is so brutally honest in the way it exposes the insecurities that run rampant in many relationships that it actually hurts to watch the story unfold. This is a no-budget film that often feels like those conversations you have with your best friend who can never seem to get their act together when it comes to relationships. (more…)

QUARTER LIFE CRISIS – director: Kiran Merchant; starring: Maulik Pancholy, Lisa Ray, Russell Peters

Let’s assume for a moment that every story that can be told has already been told, and that there is very little by way of originality floating around out there. If this is the case—and it is—then the problem facing every film out there is how to come across as being original or innovative. And because it is pretty much impossible to be original or innovative, then all a film really can do is fake it; and how well a film fakes it determines, ultimately, how good it is. The problem with Quarter Life Crisis is that it fails to fake it for at least 80 of its 87-minute runtime. (more…)

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND – director: Michel Gondry; starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood

The magic is gone. At least that’s what she tells you. And deep down you know it’s true, because nothing is how it used to be. You used to laugh and talk and lie in each other’s arms all night long. Now all you do is fight. Desire and passion have been replaced by apathy and disdain. Your relationship is over, but the memories linger. The painful reminders of something that made you feel alive is now a crippling disease. If you could just erase all those memories of the person you once loved, your life would be fine.

Or so you think. (more…)

KILLING ZELDA SPARKS – director: Jeff Glickman; starring: Vincent Kartheiser, Geoffrey Arend, Sarah Carter, Krystin Pellerin

You have to give credit to Jeff Glickman, his feature film directorial debut is an ambitious movie that never takes an easy approach. This makes Glickman’s Killing Zelda Sparks an interesting film if for no other reason than it has a strong visual sense and a certain audacity that can’t be denied. At the same time, the film is far from perfect, and the innovative and creative choices that set Killing Zelda Sparks apart from other films also serve as stumbling blocks that trip the movie up from time to time. (more…)

JUMP TOMORROW – director: Joel Hopkins; starring: Tunde Adebimpe, Hippolyte Girardot, Natalia Verbeke

Writer-director Joel Hopkins’ feature debut Jump Tomorrow came and went in early 2001 with little fanfare. By and large it got solid reviews, but it failed to find its audience. And all too quickly, as is apt to happen with some films, it slipped between the cracks, leaving as proof of its existence a handful of filmgoers who had fallen in love with the movie. It would take over two years for the film to finally see the light of day on DVD, and even then it never quite found the audience that it richly deserved. (more…)

POLICE BEAT – director: Robinson Devor; starring: Pape S. Niang

Police Beat is one of those rare films that can be extremely difficult to adequately describe. Having first seen it at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2005, it was hard for me to find the right words to describe it back then, and having seen it three more times since, it’s still hard to find the right words. Rarely does a film come along that seems so innovative and original that you can’t really compare it to anything else. And that’s what Police Beat is—a film so uniquely original and stylish that is stands apart from pretty much anything I recall seeing in recent years. (more…)

CONVENTIONEERS – director: Mora Stephens; starring: Matthew Mabe, Woodwyn Koons

Without the recognizable actors to catch the interest of potential audiences, or the multi-million dollar advertising campaigns afforded by the big studios of Hollywood, there is a horrific fate that awaits most independent films. That fate is the curse of a film going relatively unnoticed and unseen—languishing in obscurity for a variety of reasons that are not a reflection of cinematic quality, but more of a reflection of the entertainment industry’s inability to think outside the box and the audience’s hunger for predictable mediocrity. But it is films like Conventioneers, which run the risk of being marginalized and obscured that, once “discovered,” restore a bit of faith in the art and craft of cinema. (more…)