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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.

VOD Pick of the Week

Weekend

There is something quite effective about putting a time limit on a romantic movie. Defining a definitive end point places an urgency on the relationship by forcing the characters to make decisions on a schedule that they wouldn’t normally be held to. Weekend explores the 48-hour relationship between Russell and Glen, two gay men in a mid-sized British town.

Russell is a reserved lifeguard who seems a bit uncomfortable in his own skin. He is out to his closest friends, but keeps a low profile among his other acquaintances. One night after a party, he heads to a gay club where he catches eyes with Glen. Since this is the gay version of the movie, the sex comes first and the talking comes later, and Russell brings Glen home to his flat where they wake up in bed together the next morning. Glen is an outspoken aspiring artist who is preparing a project on gay sex. They exchange numbers and get together that afternoon, and when it looks as if this may be more than just a one night stand, Glen informs Russell that he is leaving in a day to study for two years in the US.

As they spend that time together hanging out, having sex, talking, doing drugs, and partying, they begin to possibly fall in love even as they know such a new relationship would have little chance surviving the trans-Atlantic distance. Their conversations include many topics that any couple would be likely to discuss, but they often veer into the territory of what it means to be gay in modern society. There is the obligatory same sex marriage discussion, but also talk about the price of normalization on the gay identity.

While there is sociological debate and the film does have a a bit of a gay studies aspect, it is still at its heart a love story. Stars Tom Cullen and Chris New give performances that more than admirably handle the load of bringing the romance to life. While the smart script helps, you can’t write chemistry and Cullen and New supply that in spades, making their relationship feel honest and real. While trying to avoid hyperbole, Weekend is one of the best gay films ever made and deserves a place as a landmark film in gay cinema.

Available at Amazon
Available at iTunes
Available to stream at Netflix

New releases for June 21st

The Attack: Dr. Amin Jaafari is a Palestinian surgeon working in Tel Aviv. Despite his heritage he is accepted and celebrated in Israel to the extent that he receives a prestigious medical award. When a suicide bombing rocks the city, Amin’s life is thrown into turmoil as it turns out that the bomber was his wife. Israel officials become convinced that Amin must have had something to do with the attack, and when he returns to the West Bank to find answers about what turned his wife into a radical who is suspected of being a spy.

Downloaded: Who would have thunk that Bill and Ted would turn out to be documentary filmmakers? Last year Keanu Reeves produced Side By Side about digital filmmaking technology, and now Alex Winters has directed Downloaded, about the rise and fall of Napster. While much of the Napster story is familiar, Downloaded is a definitive chronicle of the file-sharing phenomenon, at least from Napster creators Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker’s point of view, as the film does consist mainly of their side of the story.

A Hijacking: Tom Hanks will star later this year in Captain Phillips, a sure to be Oscar bait film about a Somali pirate hijacking of an American cargo ship, but in the meantime you can catch this Danish import with similar subject matter. When Somali pirates hijack a Danish ship and demand a ransom of millions of dollars, they become locked in tense negotiations with the CEO of the shipping company who is forced to put a price tag on the lives of crew of the ship.

Maniac: The Evil Dead isn’t the only low-budget horror movie to get the reboot treatment this year as the 1980 cult horror classic Maniac is remade with Elijah Wood in the title role. The original film is a seminal horror film that was criticized upon release for taking the violence and gore too far. The remake doesn’t shy away from the gore and sticks to the original story of a schizophrenic killer who murders and scalps woman, bringing the scalps home to slap on mannequins that he then has conversations with. The remake utilizes the stylistic device of having the film shot from the point of view of the killer to bring you into the eyes of the sadistic madman.