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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

Renoir
When the expected French submission to the Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category (and predicted frontrunner for the Oscar trophy), Blue is the Warmest Color was ruled ineligible due to its release date, it opened the field for France’s official submission. That spot was filled by Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir. The contenders for the foreign film Oscar are usually largely an unseen mystery; Renoir is available for easy viewing on a variety of platforms.

The film takes place in the summer of 1915 on the French Riviera. Famed artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir is reaching the twilight of his life; he is wheelchair bound and suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis that often leaves him in agonizing pain. Despite his debilitating condition he still paints regularly, and when a new model, Andree, shows up he seems to have a fresh burst of inspiration. Andree serves as his current muse, but in what was apparently true even in the early days of cinema she is using her modeling career towards her real goal of becoming an actress.

Renoir is revered. At his estate he is surrounded by a gaggle of caretakers and servants, all female and apparently at least mostly his former models, who refer to him as “boss.” Renoir is further invigorated when his middle son, Jean, returns to convalesce after being injured fighting in The Great War. There is great mutual admiration between father and son and there is a bit of suggestion that Jean may have always been his favorite, but there is also a healthy rivalry between the two men as Jean wants to return to the fight when he heals while his father feels like he’s done his part and doesn’t want to see his son sacrifice to such a pointless exercise as war.

Jean is also attracted to his father’s new model, and he begins an affair with Andree. Their relationship is largely a matter of opposites attracting. Jean is more buttoned up and duty bound while Andree is more fiery and rebellious. They also share an interest in the movies and there are glimmers of Jean Renoir’s future legendary career as a director that include films such as the Rules of the Game and The Grand Illusion.

As a film about a great painter should be, Renoir is visually sumptuous. The film is brilliantly lensed with bright colors and contains frame after frame of gorgeous images that could stand as canvasses themselves. Bourdos along with cinematographer Ping Bin Lee have made a film that is the equivalent of walking through a gallery, but the film is also an examination of artistic inspiration and the bond between father and son.

Available at Amazon
Available at iTunes
Available at Vudu

New releases for December 6th

Inside Llewyn Davis: The latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen follows struggling folk musician Llewyn Davis as he tries to make his way in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene. Oscar Isaac plays the title character in what should be a breakout starring performance after standing out in supporting turns in Drive, The Bourne Legacy, and the indie 10 Years. The film also features Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, and John Goodman.

The Last Days on Mars: On the last day of the first manned mission to Mars, a crew member makes a discovery of fossilized evidence of bacterial life on the red planet. When he disappears while pursuing that discovery, the rest of the crew sets out to find him. As the crew begins to disappear one by one, they begin to suspect that there is something more sinister going on at that the life-form that they have discovered may not be dead yet in this sci-fi thriller.

Available at Amazon
Available at iTunes
Available at Vudu

Swerve: A Down Under neo-noir thriller, Swerve follows the trouble an honest man finds himself in when he tries to do the right thing. Driving across Australia for a job interview, Colin comes across a car accident and stops to aid one of the accident victims, an attractive woman named Jina. He also finds that the accident was fatal to the driver of the other car, a double crossing drug dealer, and a suitcase full of cash. He turns the money over to a local cop, who turns out to be crooked and Jina’s husband and finds him embroiled in a game of survival set against the Australian Outback.

White Reindeer: Suzanne seems to have everything going her way in this Yuletide tale. She is a successful real estate agent married to a local TV weatherman, and her favorite holiday is approaching. Her life is thrown into upheaval when her husband is killed and that there was another woman, a stripper named Fantasia. Fueled by curiosity about the side of her husband she didn’t know existed, Suzanne meets and becomes friends with Fantasia, who becomes her guide into another world of club hopping, stripping, shoplifting, and drugs in this darkly satirical Christmastime movie.