HAL & HARPER (no network):  Cooper Raiff launched his career as an actor-writer-director with Shithouse, which won the Narrative Grand Jury Award at SXSW.  He parlayed that into Cha Cha Real Smooth, which was less well-regarded but nevertheless bought by Apple for $15M out of Sundance.  Like many indie filmmakers, he’s now shifted into television, […]

  OMAHA (no distrib):  A tiny tragedy that doesn’t reveal the true depths of its sadness until the very end.  One morning, a widowed father (John Magaro) hurries his children, 9-year old Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and 6-year old Charlie (Wyatt Solis), out of their house as it’s being foreclosed, and tells them to pack […]

  LOVE, BROOKLYN (no distrib):  Roger (Andre Holland) is a successful magazine writer who’s hung up on his latest piece, because it requires him to come to grips about how he feels regarding the Brooklyn bourgeoisie of which he’s a part, and the gentrification that’s taking increasing hold of the borough.  Is disruptive change something to […]

  PLAINCLOTHES (no distrib):  A coming-out story laced with paranoia.  It’s 1997 in upstate New York, and the cops are running undercover operations in public restrooms to lead gay men into indecent exposure charges.  For Lucas (Tom Blyth), this is a particularly difficult assignment, because his own desires are deeply in the closet, not just […]

  ATROPIA (no distrib):  A setting in search of a movie.  The US military operates training camps in remote locations around the country that are designed to give soldiers the most accurate possible preparation for time in a location where they may have to serve, including actors portraying innocent citizens or dangerous insurgents, dummy munitions […]

  TRAIN DREAMS (Netflix – TBD):  Train Dreams was one of only two films acquired for wide distribution during Sundance, and while Netflix clearly regards it as an awards contender, barring overwhelming critical support 9 months from now, it’s hard to see Clint Bentley’s quiet historical saga achieving a major impact among the mountains of […]

  THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND (Focus/Universal – March 28):  A low-key British charmer.  A decade ago, Herb (Tom Basden) had a successful run as part of a folk duo with Nell (Carey Mulligan), which ended when they broke up both personally and professionally.  Now, Herb is still trying to establish himself as a solo […]

  THE WEDDING BANQUET (Bleecker Street – April 18):  Ang Lee’s 1993 comedy needed to be rethought before it could be remade, since its plot turned on a woman marrying her gay landlord so that she could get a green card and he could placate his parents, since same-sex marriage was illegal.  Since that’s no […]