July 10, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

There are quite a few indie films coming to retail in August, which include the following:

• Indie darlings Zooey Deschanel and Paul Dano fall in love in the offbeat romantic comedy Gigantic, which streets Aug. 11 (prebook July 14) from Vivendi. The DVD ($26.99) includes interviews, an alternate ending, deleted scenes and commentary.

• Horror film Nature’s Grave, which streets Aug. 4 (prebook now), stars James Caviezel and Claudia Karvan as a couple who encounter Mother Nature’s dark side during a camping trip. Screen Media’s DVD, distributed by Universal, is priced at $24.98.

• Russian cul...Read More

June 29, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Winner of three awards at the South by Southwest Film Festival, including the Audience Award, the limited-release drama Explicit Ills (Peace Arch, Street: July 21) marks the debut feature film from actor Mark Webber, who also wrote the script. Set in Philadelphia, the film follows four interconnecting stories about love, drugs and poverty and features a star turn by Ro...Read More

May 11, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Critically praised and Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Waltz With Bashir (Sony, street: June 23) is a visually stunning animated film about the 1982 Israeli incursion into Lebanon and the massacre of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camps. The film centers on director Ari Folman’s attempt to reconstruct his memories of his time in service, discovering the truth about the war and himself in the process. While in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards ceremony, Folman spoke to Video Business about Waltz With Bashir, which was Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

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April 20, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Here’s the second half of our interview with Thora Birch regarding her role in Monterey’s Winter of Frozen Dreams (street: May 5) as Barbara Hoffman, the real-life biochemist and prostitute who was convicted of two murders in 1978. Hoffman never admitted her guilt and remains in prison to this day.

VB: Barbara doesn’t give interviews and refuses to go before a parole board, so how did you embody the character without input from Barbara herself?
Birch: I think she was very clear in what she was doing. I don’t think she was very clear in why she was doing some of the things. And I think that confusion was maybe part of her internal struggle. It was a difficult time for someone who was that intelligent in a way because there are not as many opportunities for w...Read More

April 17, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

Best known for her roles as angst-ridden teenagers in American Beauty and Ghost World, 27-year-old Thora Birch has taken on a different role—this time as a prostitute-turned-murderer in Winter of Frozen Dreams (Monterey, street date: May 5). The film follows the true-life story of Barbara Hoffman, a biochemist and prostitute who is convicted of two murders. Birch recently spent some time talking to Video Business about her upcoming film.

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