Lynn Shelton is an undeniably accomplished writer, editor, and director; her first film “We Go Way Back” won the grand prize at Slamdance in 2006. Since then she has distinguished herself through her astute observations of human relationships in all their weirdness and confusion. 2009's “Humpday” focused on two male friends considering making a gay porn film together, and led to a remake being done in France. Her 2011

Sean Dunne's new documentary “Oxyana” was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the last Tribeca Film Festival, and it's easy to see why. Capitalizing on the current rage over oddball slice-of-life docs (see “The Queen of Versailles,”etc.), Dunne's straightforward portrait of a desolate West Virginia mining town ravaged by prescription drug abuse (Oceana, West Virginia, nicknamed “Oxyana” because of its Oxycontin problem) hits the right notes to ensure big indie success. He chooses a provocative topic, adeptly balances

Nikolaj Arcel's sweeping costume drama “A Royal Affair”—Denmark's Oscar entry—follows the struggles of young Queen Caroline (Alicia Vikander) as she tries to adapt to her new role as wife of Denmark's obviously insane King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard). The year is 1766, and Caroline, a native Brit, is forced to make do with her unpredictable husband and strange new surroundings with hardly any friendship or encouragement

Director Bart Layton produced and directed several episodes of the T.V. series “Locked Up Abroad,” an experience which prepared him, in all likelihood, for the filming of “The Imposter,” a new documentary full of mistaken identity plots and international intrigue. Nothing could have nevertheless prepared him—or us—for the powerfully bizarre tale he recounted, through interviews and expertly deployed reenactments, of a man who successfully

Director Tanya Wexler is no stranger to Hollywood: as Darryl Hannah’s younger half-sister she spent some of her formative years on the set of “Blade Runner” and soon saw filmmaking as a viable career choice. Fortunately for us it's the road she took, her new feature film “Hysteria” marking Wexler’s major debut. The premise is enough to incite giggles among the biggest cynics: an idealistic young physician (Mortimer Granville, played by Hugh

“Nancy, Please” as a character study that reliably builds up […]

Oscar-winning director Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda," "Reservation Road," "The Shore") isn't known for light-hearted comedies. His latest effort, "Whole lotta sole," however, rests convincingly between "Snatch" and "Notting Hill." The story follows several different sets of characters, among them a young father (Martin McCann), a ruthless crime lord (David O'Hara), a grizzled cop (Colm Meaney), and a hapless American (Brendan Fraser), who runs

Downeast is about what at first sounds like the most boring possible cinematic subject: rebuilding a destitute fish cannery. And yet it's anything but. Filmmaker David Redmon and Ashley Sabin manage to pack politics, economics, and a large dollop of human interest into their seventy-six minute film. Though it's not without its significant problems, Downeast brings light to the desperate economic situation this country is still in via a corner

Writer-actor-director Tom O'Brien is not from Massachusetts, that much is clear. With his perfect diction and skin unweathered by sea spray it's a little hard (this from someone who grew up on the coast of Maine) to imagine him as the protagonist of Fairhaven, a buddy dramedy that premiered this week at the Tribeca Film Festival. O'Brien plays John, an aimless bachelor still living in his hometown and working on a fishing trawler. We learn early that he wants

Director Ti West's feature debut, “The House of the Devil” (2009), was a deftly executed homage to both classic haunted house flicks and the great female-centered horror films of the sixties and seventies (particularly Rosemary's Baby, 1968). Fanatically aware of the conventions of the genre, its titles were ever lovingly rendered in a classic seventies burnt-orange which matched the nostalgia expressed through its