Last week, the Independent Film Festival of Boston announced its official lineup for its 8th festival, happening April 21-28. Though our pre-break predictions and hopes were only slightly fulfilled ("Winter's Bone," 2010 is the only film that will actually be screening off of our previous list), the lineup still has some incredibly exciting picks that we can't wait to get in there and cover.
"The Killer Inside Me" (2010): Michael Winterbottom's newest film has gotten some incredible buzz off of the festival circuit — even though not all of it has been good. Many have complained that the ultra-violence on the part of Casey Affleck's character is too gratuitous, and both Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson are grievously miscast as Southern belles. Not that we care; anything pressing the envelope, we're there to see.
"Tiny Furniture" (2010): This "tiny" film won the prize for Feature Narrative at the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, beating out bigger competition like Sundance winner "Winter's Bone." The film's director, Lena Dunham, stars alongside members of her family in the film about a young woman having an early-life crisis. Dunham is one of many female filmmakers showing their films at the festival, as they follow the momentum of Kathryn Bigelow to show that women can step behind the camera too.
"Marwencol" (2010): Another winner at SXSW, "Marwencol" is a documentary about how the human spirit triumphs in the face of abuse. Mark Hogencamp, a man who has suffered severe beatings causing brain damage, builds a miniature World War II-era town in his backyard to cope.
"Teenage Paparazzo" (2010): Actor Adrian Grenier explores how celebrities and paparazzi mix. Grenier befriends a 13-year-old boy who snaps a picture of him to sell to the tabloids, recording the process of their friendship as each comes to understand the other's job and life.
"Cyrus" (2010): A late addition to the festival, this film has already acquired a distribution contract after being shown at Sundance. Jonah Hill stars as Cyrus, a grown man-boy fighting with John (John C. Reilly) over Cyrus's mother Molly (Marisa Tomei). Though it got mixed reviews, anything with Hill is bound to be somewhat amusing, and it's nice to see comedy amongst predominantly dramatic films.
