Welcome to the Indie Spotlight, our weekly roundup of the limited-release films opening outside the multiplexes all over this great land of ours. There are quite a few indie films debuting today, and while it's especially good news for movie buffs in New York City, the rest of us can make a note of the ones that look good and keep an eye out for when they come to our neck of the woods (wherever that neck may be).

Today we have, in alphabetical order: Ashes of Time Redux, Billy: The Early Years, Breakfast with Scot, Choose Connor, Fraude: Mexico 2006, Good Dick, Happy-Go-Lucky, Nights and Weekends, and Talento de Barrio. Here's the scoop on each of them, from widest opening to smallest.

Billy: The Early Years
What it is: A friendly, faithful biopic about the Rev. Billy Graham.
What they're saying: Nothing so far. If I had to guess, I'd reckon fans of the good reverend will find it pleasant, while those unfamiliar with or uninterested in him will find it boring. That's if I had to guess.
Where it's playing: About 300 locations throughout the southeastern quadrant of the United States, below the Mason-Dixon line and east of Amarillo.
More info: Here's the official site.

Talento de Barrio
What it is: Puerto Rican drama starring Daddy Yankee as a drug dealer who falls in love and becomes a reggaeton singer. I guess it's like a Puerto Rican Hustle & Flow.
What they're saying: The only two reviews available so far are very, very negative.
Where it's playing: About 20 screens in the greater New York City and Los Angeles areas.
More info: The official site lists the theaters it's playing in.

Women loved him, men wanted to be him, and now Steven Soderbergh wants to tell us all about him. (One of those claims may actually be false.) According to Variety, Soderbergh is developing a biopic of the flamboyant pianist for Warner Bros -- naturally, he'll be directing, and the busiest pen in Hollywood, Richard LaGravanese, is writing the script.

More interesting than that is the casting -- Soderbergh says he's actually drafted his old Traffic star Michael Douglas to play the man of a thousand candlelabras. He's also in talks with Matt Damon to play Scott Thorson, the man who sued Liberace for palimony, claiming they had been in a relationship for five years. To this day, apparently no one really knows what Liberace's sexual orientation was -- even Alice Cooper couldn't figure it out upon meeting him. (Thanks, Soderbergh! I learned something already.)

Despite everything being in place, this won't actually be the film Soderbergh follows Che up with -- which is a shame, because nothing should follow up Che but a man who exudes capitalism. Apparently, we're two Soderbergh projects away from getting this biopic, so don't get too wound up! You'll have forgotten all about it by the time it films, and it will be a pleasant surprise. There's not much to attract my personal interest, except the thought of Douglas donning those fabulous costumes. I can already predict an Oscar nod for a costume designer in this project's future.

Look, I don't want to make it sound like an either/or thing. You can see wide-release films AND art-house indies. I'm just saying that on this particular weekend, the only wide release is something starring Nicolas Cage in a mullet, and it wasn't screened for critics. So if it were an either/or thing, this would be a good time to become an art-house fanatic, and the Indie Spotlight is here to let you know what your options are.
Seven films are opening in limited release today: August Evening, Everybody Wants to Be Italian, Mister Foe, Ping Pong Playa, Save Me, A Secret, and Surfer, Dude. Here's the scoop on each of them.

Everybody Wants to Be Italian
What it is: A romantic comedy about a man and woman who both pretend to be Italian because they think the other is. OK, maybe this doesn't actually sound any better than the Nicolas Cage/mullet thing.
What they're saying: At Rotten Tomatoes, all of the reviews so far are giving it a big ol' kick in the meatballs.
Where it's playing: A few dozen theaters all over New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and ... Salt Lake City? Well, OK.
More info: The official site has a handy list of theaters where it's playing.

Ping Pong Playa
What it is: A light, clean comedy about an Asian-American kid who has to step in when his family's ping pong championship is threatened.
What they're saying: Cinematical's Monika Bartyzel found it simply adorable last year at Toronto, saying it's predictable but charming. The reviews at Rotten Tomatoes are mixed so far -- it's either sweet and likable, or an annoying Napoleon Dynamite retread.
Where it's playing: New York City, plus the California cities of San Francisco, Alhambra, Berkeley, Glendale, Hollywood, Irvine, and San Jose.
More info: The official site has upcoming playdates, too.

(If the version above doesn't work, here's the proper Quicktime link.)

To paraphrase an IM conversation I just had with a friend regarding the trailer for Gus van Sant's forthcoming biopic, Milk: he thought the trailer was "incredible", whereas I felt it painted openly gay elected official Harvey Milk in a bit too saintly a light, at least within those two-and-a-half minutes, much to his chagrin.

I'm not saying that the real-life Milk wasn't a key figure in the fight for gay rights; I'm not saying that he deserved to be assassinated by Dan White (Josh Brolin); I'm not saying that Sean Penn doesn't look or sound just like the guy (that, I cannot speak for) and won't turn in an impressive performance. All I can speak for is the trailer itself and how I felt towards it.

So, as I go to put the 1984 Oscar-winning doc The Trials of Harvey Milk in my Netflix Queue, in the name of knowing better, would any of you care to attest for both the accuracy and anticipation behind this project?

Jim and Ewan sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N..well, you get the idea. Thanks to Jim Carrey Online, we now have our first official look at the happy couple in the black comedy, I Love You Phillip Morris. Elisabeth brought us a behind the scenes photo back in May, but in spite of the thrill of seeing Jim Carrey and Rodrigo Santoro dripping with sun-tan oil and Versace, I was a little disappointed that my favorite Scot was nowhere to be seen -- until now.

Morris was written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who are also the guys responsible for the raunchy holiday offering Bad Santa. The script was based on the book by the same name from the Houston Chronicle crime reporter, Steve McVicker. Carrey stars as Steven Russell, a happily married con-man who finds himself falling in love with his cell-mate, Phillip Morris (as played by McGregor). Russell spent years defying the judicial system, and also spent most of his criminal career hopping in and out of prison through a variety of elaborate schemes. Russell even posed as his Morris' lawyer to get him switched to a closer prison. But it all came crashing down when in 1988, Russell was sentenced to 144 years in prison. Leslie Mann joined the cast back in April as Carrey's abandoned wife, and Santoro also stars as another of Carrey's paramours.

Even though plenty of actors still struggle with playing characters in same-sex relationships, without 'wimping' out all together (yes, I'm looking at you Will Smith). But like always, I think that McGregor will pull through just fine. As for Carrey? Now that's another question all together...what do you think?

I Love You Phillip Morris is scheduled to arrive in theaters in Spring, 2009

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

Another day, another George Lucas related kerfluffle. There's an, um, interesting new character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars named Zero Ziro the Hutt. He's purple, covered in sky blue tattoos, sports a peacock feather behind his squashy head, and really digs Cher.

Ok, I made that last one up, but only just barely. Because according to MTV, Jabba's uncle, Ziro the Hutt "is a gay stereotype that makes what Jar Jar Binks represented to the island of Jamaica look subtle by comparison." It's not his look, design, or movements that push him into iffy waters, but the voice: Ziro speaks like Truman Capote.

Why? Because Lucas insisted on it. Director Dave Filoni was one of many among the crew that was caught off guard by the request. "Ziro, Jabba's uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said 'I want him to sound like Truman Capote.' He actually said that and we were like 'Wow!' It's a hybrid of it but the inspiration is definitely there on Capote. It's one of those things that takes him from being an interesting character and I think really does put him over the top and does something. He's a favorite among the crew here."

The other day, a blog entry from the cinetrix about "The Rule" evoked a flood of memories from my love-movies-hate-the-patriarchy college days. In 1989, my then-roommate's then-girlfriend showed me a comic strip from the series Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. The strip was called "The Rule" and it was about a character who explained that she only went to movies that met three criteria:

1. Two of the characters had to be women --
2. Who talked with each other --
3. About something other than a man.

Read the original strip for yourself. At the time, "The Rule" had a big impact on my life -- it explained a lot about what I found lacking in movies. I wanted to watch strong action heroines, but I also wanted to see movies with women who talked about ordinary stuff that didn't involve boyfriends or husbands.

Some might question whether Brideshead Revisited, the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh, needed to be revisited in a film adaptation; the novel, after all, has been adapted once before in a lengthy and well-beloved British television serial. Fortunately for fans of Waugh's work, this film version of Brideshead, directed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane) off a screenplay written by Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies, is beautifully shot, painstakingly directed, and well worth watching. For the most part, the filmmakers avoid mutilating Waugh's work, although the end result does place a greater emphasis on certain aspects (romance) and limit or eliminate others altogether (the brilliantly written discourses on religion and love that permeate the book).

The film is shot in Castle Howard, also the setting for the miniseries version, and Brideshead itself is a majestic, imposing character that looms over all who encounter it. The screenplay is rather a masterful adaptation; the film handles the compression of years through the storyline with a bit of book-ended time-jumping to both introduce us to the lead characters and close out the story, and Brock and Davies do an able job of whittling the story down to meet the needs of a cinematic experience without losing the feel of Waugh's novel in the process.

The 26th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which is also known as Outfest 2008, is wrapping up today, but the cinematic winners of this year's fest have already been announced during an awards ceremony last night in Hollywood. In the list of winners, there are some familiar names, plus some other films that might be worth keeping an eye out for.

The awards were led by Were the World Mine, which won Outstanding US Dramatic Feature. The film focuses on an all-boys school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (and for those Twin Peaks fans out there, the crazy Nadine, Wendy Robie, pops up). On the international side of things is the excellent XXY, which I reviewed from TIFF last year. It is no surprise that this film nabbed the Best International Dramatic Feature prize, to add to its ever-growing list of nominations and wins. It's really, really worth your time.

Other winners include Hamlet 2, Sex Positive, Dream Boy, and Countertransference. To check out more of the winners, head to The Hollywood Reporter for a run-down.

I concede that it's possible you might already have a film in mind to see this weekend. I understand that there's a highly anticipated major release hitting theaters today that's expected to draw huge crowds. But enough about Space Chimps. This is the Indie Spotlight, a weekly round-up of films opening in limited release that you can see now (if you live in the right city) or put on your list of Movies to Watch Out For.

So what's opening beyond the multiplexes today? These nine films: Before I Forget, The Doorman, Felon, Lou Reed's Berlin, Mad Detective, A Man Named Pearl, Take, Transsiberian, and A Very British Gangster. Here's the lowdown:

Transsiberian
What it is: A thriller about an American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer) who gets tangled up in murder, drugs, and intrigue while on a train from China to Moscow. Directed and co-writer by Brad Anderson (The Machinist).
What they're saying: Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson raves about it here, and also interviewed the director and Mortimer. The consensus is pretty positive at Rotten Tomatoes, too. Looks like Brad Anderson has another winner.
Where it's playing: New York City's Angelika Film Center and Paris Theatre.
Official site: None.

Lou Reed's Berlin
What it is: A concert film, directed by Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), in which Lou Reed re-performs his 1973 album Berlin. Shot over five nights in 2006.
What they're saying: Cinematical's Christopher Campbell liked it overall, which just a few qualms about Schnabel's methods. At Rotten Tomatoes, about two-thirds of the reviews are positive. One suspects that, as usual with concert films, those with no interest in the music itself probably won't be converted by the movie.
Where it's playing: NYC's Film Forum; L.A.'s Nuart Theatre.
Official site: Berlin the Film.

Well, assuming you live in New York, L.A., or Fort Lauderdale, that is. Those are the cities that will get TLA Releasing's mini-fest this summer, with six gay-themed features playing for one week in each location. You can see a somewhat NSFW trailer for the fest at TLA's YouTube page, but here's a brief rundown of what's happening:

First you got your Bangkok Love Story, a thriller about a hitman who falls for his victim. Then there's Chuecatown (Boystown), a comedy involving bathhouses and murders (I'm thinking of that scene in Eastern Promises, but gayer). Next: I Dreamt Under Water, which TLA's press release describes as "graphically sexual" and involving a young man's search for love. Dog Tags is a romantic drama about a soldier who does a bit of asking and telling, if you know what I mean; 3-Day Weekend has eight fellas bonding and bed-hopping over a getaway weekend; and Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon is a documentary about 1970s porn icon Jack Wrangler.

Though all six films are about gay men and their sex lives, there is some notable diversity as well, in that three of them are foreign (Thai, Spanish, and French), and one's a documentary. So you can feel like you're being cultured, too, while watching the randy movies about pretty people.

A bit of math tells me that after this weekend, 2008 will be halfway over. But here at The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar, we prefer to think that 2008 has only halfway begun. There are still six months left to participate in the many cool film-related events that happen every week outside the nation's multiplexes! If you know of something coming up -- special screenings, retrospectives, mini-festivals, etc. -- send me a link! My e-mail is Eric.Snider (at) Weblogsinc (dot) com.

This week, even if WALL-E is what you've always Wanted, try to make room in your life for these...

INDIE THEATRICAL RELEASES

• Gunnin' for That #1 Spot is a doc about the nation's top high school basketball players competing in a tournament -- and the film was directed by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, so you know it's hip. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg gave it a rave review at Tribeca. It opens today in places where basketball is big, just in time for the NBA draft: New York, L.A., Phoenix, Portland, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.

• Finding Amanda stars Matthew Broderick as a TV producer who goes to Las Vegas to convince his niece (Brittany Snow) to enter rehab. Our Erik Davis tried to find something nice to say about it at Tribeca but was unsuccessful. Opens today in NYC, L.A., Chicago, Boston, Philly, D.C., San Francisco, and Palm Desert, Calif.

After the jump, more indie theatrical releases, plus the city-by-city list of special events....

Well, this is a bit of a bummer. I've been waiting, it seems like forever, to see when Jack and Diane, Bradley Rust Gray's endlessly gestating "lesbian werewolf" movie that Ellen Page was supposed to star in, would finally go into production. As I wrote waaaaaaay back in September, the film is supposed to be about:

"Jack and Diane, two teenage lesbians, meet in New York City and spend the night kissing ferociously. Diane's charming innocence quickly begins to open Jack's tough skinned heart. But, when Jack discovers that Diane is leaving the country in a week she tries to push her away. Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire occasionally turns her into a werewolf."

As proclaimed by then-president Clinton, June is Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Pride festivities and parades are gearing up across the world with a flurry of color and rainbows, but lately, it's been about more than just extravagant celebration. Gay marriage is now legal in California, and more people are coming out, like the indirectly out Jodie Foster. Yet, as a new article by Reuters reports, these advancements are not doing anything for the LGBT box office take.

Sure, they're talking about a lot of indie films no one has heard of, but it's not like all of those films are worth just small whispers of existence (where the only people who have heard of it worked on it). The article specifically mentions C.R.A.Z.Y., the 2005 film from Jean-Marc Vallee.

It's June, which means the countdown is on until the cute little rugrats and tempestuous teens get released from school to wreak havoc in the home and on the streets. That means that there is not much time left to make use of the long nights of studying, the friendly sleepovers, and the hours at school. In some places, school's already out, and the mayhem has already begun!

So, tonight's double feature is all about getting a night of sweet silence and cinematic sexiness with your partner of choice. There will be no Mulholland Drive, because a few moments of supreme sexiness don't make up for the overall feel. Instead, this is about movies that have more than one saucy scene, and should get you in the mood for post-film shenanigans. Obviously, it's pretty much impossible to pick the best of, because there are so very many good examples -- Bliss, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Nine 1/2 Weeks, The Story of O, Basic Instinct, Dangerous Liaisons, Crash, Like Water for Chocolate...

But I'm going to go with a little bit of bondage, and a little bit of literature. I give you: Secretary and Henry & June.

And this is your obvious warning: What follows has sexual and adult content and language.