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The landscape for independent films has changed rapidly. On one hand, the opportunity to build a theatrical release has become increasingly difficult, but on the other hand, digital release has given indies a chance to play to a broad national audience at once. Each week, new indie releases will be profiled and because they might not be playing at a theater near you, one highly recommended film available now a click or two away via VOD (whether a new or not quite new release) will be presented for viewing without leaving your computer.

New releases for April 12th

The Angel’s Share: Ken Loach is a chronicler of down-on-their-luck working class men looking for redemption. In The Angel’s Share, Robbie is out of work and narrowly avoided jail, but when his girlfriend gives birth and he holds his son for the first time, he vows to turn over a new leaf. During his court ordered community service at a distillery, he discovers a hidden talent for whiskey. When another distillery prepares to auction off a rare and expensive cask of whiskey, Robbie and his mates see this as a perfect opportunity for a heist.

Disconnect: A Crash for the digital age, Disconnect is an interconnecting tale of the dangers of our complete dependence on modern technology. Identity theft, cyber-bullying, and the neglect of personal contact as we retreat into our social network are all covered in this ensemble drama with a cast featuring Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Paula Patton, and Alexander Skarsgard.

It’s a Disaster: When Tracy brings her new boyfriend Glenn to a monthly couples brunch with her friends, things are bound to get awkward. There are relationship issues, airing of dirty laundry, betrayal, and that’s before the guy in the hazmat suit shows up and lets them know that the city is under a mysterious attack. Now faced with what may possibly be the end of the world, tensions that were already on edge rise to new heights in this madcap dark comic farce from the Los Angeles based comedy group, The Vacationeers.
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Available at iTunes
Available at Vudu

To the Wonder: After taking seemingly forever to finish The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick is working at a breakneck pace by his standards. To the Wonder opens this week and he already has several other projects in various stages of post production. The film stays true to the Malick formula as an impressionistic story with breathy voiceover and gorgeous cinematography to tell the story of the ups and downs of love through the relationship between native Oklahoman, Neil (Ben Affleck) and a Ukrainian divorcee Marina (Olga Kurylenko)
Available at iTunes
Available at Vudu

VOD Pick of the Week

Easier With Practice
When Davy set out on an impromptu book tour to promote his unpublished work with his brother, he had visions of a Kerouacian road trip. Instead it turns out to be a series of barely populated book readings and nights sleeping in the back of a station wagon or occasionally a motel room if they splurge for the evening. One night the motel room phone rings and when Davy picks up the phone, a stranger is on the line. Her name is Nicole. They engage in phone sex and Davy gives her his cell phone number.

Nicole continues to call during the road trip and their relationship expands as Davy wants some “cuddling” to go along with the phone sex. The problem is that Nicole is extremely secretive. She has a boyfriend and will not give Davy her number. Instead, Davy is forced to wait for her to call. Still, it seems that he connects to Nicole more than he has with anyone in years to the point where real flesh and blood women standing in front of him can’t compare.

Despite being composed of phone conversations to a decent extent, Easier with Practice is riveting. There is the Catfish-esque mystery of who is on the other end of the line. Davy only knows Nicole through the information that she gives him. She never sends a photo. The film is also always compelling due to the performance by Brian Geraghty as Davy. There are stretches of the film that consist of watching him talk on the phone, and Geraghty peels the layers of Davy further through each conversation. Davy is an introvert who connects better with the characters in his book and with a stranger on the phone than he does with a woman at a bar or even his own brother.

Based on a factual story that appeared in GQ Magazine, Easier with Practice is part road movie, part mystery, part romance, yet something in an of itself. Emotionally revealing, it never takes the cheap way out. Though there is humor in the situation, the movie treats its characters with respect and even though the situation is at times ridiculous, it never mocks them. It is also filled with memorable filmic scenes and moments from the first phone call, to the game of two truths and a lie played at a party, to the denouement, and even though it takes in part in the expansive New Mexico geography, it plays well on the small screen as an intimate portrait of a lonely young man looking for a connection.
Available at Amazon
Available at iTunes
Available at Vudu