It is a BIG weekend for new films hitting theaters. In addition to the week’s major studio release, Disney’s John Carter, there are seven other smaller films opening this weekend in theatres around the city. And there are some really great films in this lineup and some I have really wanted to see for a while now (Rampart, Pariah), so check one (or some) of them this weekend.
In addition to these great new films, a few other events are happening around the city, including the Foburg Music Festival, which is in incorporating film into the event this year. Check down at the bottom of the article for their film event schedule.
Here is a quick rundown of the film’s opening and other events this weekend (You can watch the trailers for each film in the VIDEO box on the left side of the article):
Rampart
Set in 1999 Los Angeles, veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, works to take care of his family, and struggles for his own survival.
Rampart is directed by Oren Moverman (2009’s highly underrated The Messenger), who also co-wrote the screenplay with L.A. crime master writer James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia, Street Kings).
The film stars Wood Harrelson, with Ben Foster, Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Cynthia Nixon, Anne Heche, Brie Larson, and Steve Buscemi.
Premiering at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, the film has been well-received, especially for Harrelson’s phenomenal performance as the “most corrupt cop you’ve ever seen on screen.”
Rampart opens Friday, March 9 at the AMC Elmwood Palace 20 in Harahan and should be coming to Chalmette Movies in a few weeks.
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Pariah
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Pariah is the feature film debut for writer/director Dee Rees. The full-length film is based on her award-winning 2007 short film.
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Pariah also screened at the Toronto and Sarasota film festivals. The film has also won numerous awards, including the John Cassavetes Award at The Independent Spirit Awards and Best Cinematography at Sundance. Pariah has been praised as one of the best indie films of the year.
Pariah will play this weekend at Chalmette Movies starting Fri, MAR 9 at 2:00 and 7:00 pm daily.
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Silent House
Trapped inside her family's lakeside retreat, a young woman finds she is unable to contact the outside world as events become increasingly ominous in and around the house.
Silent House stars Elizabeth Olsen, whose career-making performance in last year’s Martha Marcy May Marlene (one of my favorite films of the year) firmly established Mary-Kate and Ashley’s little sister as a serious young Hollywood talent. Last year’s Sundance Film Festival served as Olsen’s coming out party as both Silent House and MMMM debuted to widespread acclaim.
Silent House is co-directed by Chris Kentis and Lara Lau, the husband-and-wife filmmaking team behind the fairly underrated Open Water (2003) and Grind (1997).
The film is purportedly shot in one continuous, real-time take, with no cuts from start to finish, modeled after Alfred Hitchcock’s infamous experimental film Rope (1948) – which actually contained several cuts but strove to appear seamless. Silent House’s main plot, style, and structure are also based on a 2010 Uruguayan film of the same name.
Silent House opens nationwide and locally this weekend at several theatres, including Chalmette Movies, Hollywood Cinemas 9 in Kenner, and all three local AMC Palace Theatres (Elmwood, Clearview, and Westbank).
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Friends with Kids
Two best friends decide to have a child together while keeping their relationship platonic, so they can avoid the toll kids can take on romantic relationships.
The film is written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also stars in the film alongside Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Edward Burns, and Megan Fox.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to warm reviews. The premise promises both funny and touching moments, plus with a cast like the film is sure to be very entertaining.
Friends with Kids also opens Fri, MAR 9 at the AMC Elmwood Palace 20 in Harahan and at The Theatres at Canal Place in downtown New Orleans..
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Tomboy
A 10-year-old girl, settling into her new neighborhood outside Paris, is mistaken for a boy and has to live up to this new identity since it's too late for the mistake to be clarified.
It focuses in on the significance of gender identity in social interaction from an early age, the difficulties of being transgender and young, and how we navigate these in the background of childhood play and love.
Tomboy is a French film from writer/director Céline Sciamma (2007’s Water Lillies). The film has won numerous awards from various film festivals around the world, including the Berlin Film Festival’s Teddy Jury Award for films with LGBT topics.
Tomboy will screen at Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center for one week, from Friday, MAR 9 through Thursday, MAR 15 at 6:30 pm nightly.
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Michael
A drama focuses on Michael, a mousy insurance agent who lives alone – or so everyone thinks. The film depicts five months in the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.
Michael is written and directed Markus Schleinzer, who has previously worked as casting director for divisive director Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon, The Piano Teacher, Funny Games), so he is no stranger to controversy, clearly. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
In a move that obliterates the established norms of audience empathy towards a central character, he’s the protagonist and antagonist in a movie about an extremely controversial subject, one that will jolt even the most hardened filmgoer.
Michael will also screen at Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center for one week, from Friday, MAR 9 through Thursday, MAR 15 at 8:00 pm nightly.
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Deadline
The murder of an African American youth in rural Alabama has gone unpunished, unsolved and uninvestigated for almost twenty years. But that changes when Nashville Times reporter Matt Harper meets an idealistic blue blood bent on discovering the truth. Harper undertakes the investigation despite the opposition of his publisher, violent threats from mysterious forces, a break-up with his fiancée, and his father's cancer diagnosis.
Deadline is based on the novel by Grievances by Mark Ethridge (who also wrote the script). The film is directed by Curt Hahn and stars Eric Roberts.
Deadline will play this weekend at the AMC Westbank Palace 16 in Harvey.
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The Dessert of Forbidden Art
Risking being denounced as an 'enemy of the people,' Igor Savitsky rescues 40,000 forbidden fellow artists' works and creates in a far desert of Soviet Uzbekistan a museum now worth millions.
Hosted by the Charitable Film Network, the film will screen at Press Street's Antenna Gallery (3161 Burgundy St.) on Sunday, March 11 at 6:00 pm.
This event is FREE and open to the public. Refreshments will also be provided.
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Also this weekend, the Foburg Music Festival will be happening down on Frenchmen Street. In addition to the great music heard every year at the fest, Foburg will also be screening a few local and international films this year as part of the festivities.
Friday, MAR 9:
- Short film series (Mimi's in the Marigny - 8 pm)
- the N.O. punk rock doc Unheard Of (Lost Love Lounge - Midnight)
Saturday, MAR 10:
- RxSM Film Exchange (Austin), NOLA short films, and a feature length Mardi Gras Indians documentary w/ filmmaker Q&A (Lost Love Lounge - 6 pm)
- Bowie 2001: A Space Oddity, David Bowie's 1969 Space Oddity album synced with Stanley Kubrick's seminal 1969 film 2001: A Space Odyssey (520 Frenchmen)
Sunday, MAR 11
- Q&A and screenings from local filmmakers Will Horton, Bmike (Brandan Odmos/2Cent), and Terror Optics Studios (Lost Love Lounge - 6 pm)
foburg.film concentrates on the film portion of foburg, providing a lineup of films that will encompass music, an independent spirit, and visual flair. Festival is produced in association with Timecode:NOLA.
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