Lars Knudsen Movies

The story of Ol' Dirty Bastard is told in this Parts & Labor/Ocean Size Pictures production starring Boardwalk Empire's Michael K. Williams as the titular Wu-Tang rapper. First time helmer Joaquin Baca-Asay directs from a script by Brent Hoff. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

A shocking incident throws a seemingly healthy relationship into crisis in this drama from director Julia Loktev. Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) are a twentysomething couple who have been together for several years and enjoy traveling, taking a certain pride in their willingness to rough it rather than follow the easy path. The pair will soon be married, and to celebrate they've traveled to Eurasia to climb the Caucasus Mountains. After hiring a local guide named Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze), the couple hike through the wilderness en route to the mountains. They spend their time swapping stories and soaking in the rugged beauty of their surroundings in respectful silence, with Dato offering his own curt interjections. However, one day the hikers cross paths with a group of hunters, leading to an incident in which Alex's reaction seems either prudent or cowardly depending on one's perspective. The trio eventually pick themselves up and move on, but nothing seems the same for Alex and Nica after that. The Loneliest Planet received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Ira Sachs offers this intimate portrait of the relationship between New York-based documentary filmmaker Erik Rothman (Thure Lindhardt) and closeted publishing lawyer Paul Lucy (Zachary Booth), tracing their ups and downs as they build a life together on the heels of a whirlwind romance. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Aaron Katz wrote and directed this mumblecore comedy drama in which a guy with more ideas than experience plays private eye. Doug (Cris Lankenau) has long had a passion for classic detective fiction and enrolled in a college in Chicago to study forensic science with an eye toward someday working with the police. But after a few months, Doug's ambition runs out of steam, and he leaves the Midwest to move back to his hometown of Portland. Doug ends up moving in with his older sister, Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn), and taking a variety of odd jobs that won't tax his energy or intelligence. However, Doug unexpectedly gets another shot at becoming a detective when his former girlfriend disappears and he's asked to help track her down. Doug joins forces with his pal Carlos (Raúl Castillo) and starts smoking a pipe so he'll feel more like Sherlock Holmes, but as the search goes on the case becomes more complicated (and potentially dangerous) than expected. Cold Weather received its world premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Ivy (Zoe Kazan of Revolutionary Road) returns home to Brooklyn for her summer break from college. She misses her boyfriend, and calls him frequently, but they can't quite seem to connect. She spends a lot of time with her longtime friend, Al (Mark Rendall of 30 Days of Night). Al clearly has a longstanding crush on Ivy, about which he's never done anything, probably out of some combination of fear and respect for their friendship. His confusion is exacerbated when, due to family circumstances, he's forced to stay with Ivy and her mother (Maryann Urbano) during his break from school. As the summer goes on, Ivy deals with her epilepsy and the slow, painful dissolution of her relationship, while Al starts to look for love in other directions. Bradley Rust Gray wrote and directed The Exploding Girl, while his wife, So Yong Kim, served as a producer. Fans of the Cure will recognize the title as a play on their song "The Exploding Boy," the flip side of "In Between Days," which was the title of Kim's directorial debut, on which Gray served as co-writer and producer. The Exploding Girl had its North American premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where it was shown in the World Narrative Competition. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

A winemaker is coached by a wise spirit in this fantasy set in the early 19th century, based on a novel by Elizabeth Knox. Sobran Jodeau (Jérémie Renier) is a poor but hard-working man who helps the Comte de Vully (Patrice Valota) grow grapes but hopes to someday oversee his own vineyard and make world-class wine. Sobran is also deeply in love with Celeste (Keisha Castle-Hughes), a lovely women whose family has been touched by emotional instability. One night, Sobran is visited by Xas (Gaspard Ulliel), a guardian angel who offers to help him with his dream of becoming a vintner; Xas pledges to visit Sobran one day every year to sample his wine and give him advice. However, Xas warns Sobran that like great art, great wine often is the product of sacrifice and suffering, and with the passage of time Sobran is visited by both kind and cruel fate. Sobran and Celeste are wed, and after the death of the Comte de Vully, his heir, Baroness Aurora de Valday (Vera Farmiga), puts Sobran in charge of the winery. But Sobran's skill alone doesn't produce exceptional wine, and it's not until he's touched by tragedy that he is able to produce a vintage that speaks of a full life. The Vintner's Luck received its world premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn topline the debut of writer/director Nik Fackler in Lovely Still, a whimsical romance tale that follows an elderly grocery-store bagger (Landau) who experiences his first pangs of love in the form of Burstyn. Elizabeth Banks portrays the woman's daughter, while Adam Scott handles the role of the store's owner. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Two young people are brought together by a tragedy that has touched both of their families in this independent drama from writer and director Cruz Angeles. Stephanie (Gleendilys Inoa) is a teenaged girl whose family has moved to Brooklyn shortly after the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, which claimed the life of Stephanie's sister. While Stephanie's family is wracked with grief, her father feels a rage over the loss of his daughter than he can't clearly express or purge from himself, and it's left to his wife to hold the family together. Meanwhile, Lalo (E.J. Bonilla) is the son of a Mexican immigrant who was part of the cleaning crew at the WTC before the attacks; now Lalo's father works sifting through the debris at Ground Zero. Stephanie meets Lalo at a party in a city park, and while she's not sure how she feels about him at first, he's immediately infatuated with her and as he pursues her, they discover how much they have in common and they find themselves falling in love. Don't Let Me Drown received its World Premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Old Joy is writer/director Kelly Reichardt's long-awaited follow-up to her revered but underseen 1994 feature debut, River of Grass. (She directed a couple of shorts in the interim, including Ode, a Super-8 film inspired by the song "Ode to Bill.") Daniel London and cult folksinger Will Oldham star in the film as two old friends who go on a camping trip to a hot springs in the Cascade mountain range of Oregon. London's Mark is the responsible one with the modest house, the wife (who resents his gallivanting off), the dog (who comes along), and the baby on the way. He listens to Air America, and makes all the right liberal noises. Oldham's Kurt is the free-spirit type with the untamed facial hair and the junker car that looks more lived-in than vehicular. Kurt suggests the trip, and they take Mark's car. Kurt has the directions to the place, and they get lost ("I think we're somewhere...in the area") and spend the night at a garbage-strewn campsite, where they discuss their lives, and Kurt laments the apparent dissolution of their friendship. In the morning, they have breakfast in a diner, and Mark apologizes to Tanya (Tanya Smith) over the phone, explaining that he'll be home later than expected. In the daylight, they find the hot springs, and spend the afternoon quietly unwinding. Reichardt co-wrote Old Joy with Jonathan Raymond, adapting his short story, which was originally written as a collaboration with photographer Justine Kurland. It was shot (on Super-16) by Peter Sillen and features a soundtrack by Yo La Tengo. The film was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art for inclusion in the 2006 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi