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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

Detropia
The bankruptcy of Detroit has been a long time in the making. The once thriving city was at one time the fastest growing city in the world, but now is the fastest shrinking city in the United States. City services are being cut way back, there are tens of thousands of abandoned properties, and unemployment is rampant. Heavily dependent on the auto industry, Detroit was hit especially hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs as those jobs were relocated to foreign countries. Detroit may be the hardest hit, but the loss of these jobs has occurred all across the United States.

Detropia provides enough facts and statistics to provide context, but largely focuses on examining Detroit’s plight through several residents who still have hope for their home city. There is the video blogger who likes to imagine the vibrant past of the decaying vacant buildings she tours, the president of the United Auto Workers Local Union who is powerless to stop the flow of jobs from the city, and the retired teacher who owns a blues bar.

The situation seems insurmountable. New mayor David Bing identifies at least one major problem – as the population shrank, the size of the city did not and the city cannot afford to provide services across such a wide area. (A member of the mayor’s task force presents a graphic that shows how Boston, Manhattan, and San Francisco combined can fit in the area occupied by Detroit with plenty of room left over). He proposes a radical plan of a massive relocation within the city from the more sparsely populated neighborhoods and to use that land for urban farming.

The film does try to find a bright spot in the dire statistics. According to the latest census, even with Detroit’s population drop, it shows a growth of young residents moving to downtown Detroit. A big reason for that is Detroit’s highly depressed real estate market, which attracts young artists who can live a lifestyle there that would not be possible in other more expensive cities. Whether that is something that can help drive a comeback remains to be seen, as the biggest industry in Detroit seems to be scrap metal recovery from abandoned buildings.

Detropia is a great entry point into understanding Detroit’s current dire situation. Instead of presenting it as a dry policy discussion, it shows you the city’s predicament through the eyes of the people who live in and still love the Motor City.

Available at Amazon
Available at iTunes
Available at Vudu
Available at Netflix

New releases for July 26th

Blue Jasmine: As usual, Woody Allen has assembled an impressive cast for his latest film. Cate Blanchett plays Jasmine, a New York socialite who, now penniless, moves in with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), in San Francisco. Tensions rise as Jasmine has always looked down on her lower class sister, but now she has to deal with being one of the have-nots herself.

Drug War: Prolific Hong Kong action director Johnnie To returns with his first action film shot in mainland China. To regular Louis Koo plays Timmy Choi, a drug manufacturer who winds up in the custody of Captain Zhang (Sun Honglei) an undercover anti-drug cop. Zhang offers Choi the opportunity to avoid the death penalty he would receive under China’s strict drug laws by joining his squad to help take down the drug kingpins.

Tiny Times 1.0: China’s big summer box office sensation has been Tiny Times 1.0, a sort of twenty-something Sex and the City minus the sex due to China’s censorship laws. Four young female friends try to make it in the high fashion world of Shanghai with an emphasis on designer labels and a fancy lifestyle. The films has created controversy in China as some complain that the film glorifies materialism while others insist that this is the new China, so deal with it. The debate has not slowed the box office take, and the film has been so successful that its sequel, which was scheduled for December, has been moved up to August to take advantage of the publicity.