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"Humpday" at Kendall Square

"The Hurt Locker" at the Harvard Film Archive

Blast from the past

"Home" at the ICA

House of Horrors

Consumerism Docs at the MFA

The Surreal Life

Out of stop-motion animation, disfigured dolls, weird wind-up toys, and a few wires, the Brothers Quay make magic of a most peculiar kind. The Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline, 617.734.2500) is honoring the identical twin filmmakers with their annual Coolidge Award and a slew of events and screenings

Beyond the Blockbuster

Before the invention of a popcorn size beyond jumbo, summer movies meant more than two hours of explosions bookended by trailers and credits. Luckily, May boasts a handful of smaller films that your eardrums and mind will thank you for experiencing.

So you think you can Sundance?

THE RETURN OF BOSTON'S BIGGEST INDIE FILM FEST

In just seven short years, the Independent Film Festival of Boston (www.iffboston.org) has grown to become an indie-cinema juggernaut. For the 2009 installment, which runs April 22–28, IFFB’s organizers have pulled together a program that includes nearly 60 feature-length films, plus events all over town. If this all sounds a bit daunting to you, don’t be overwhelmed — the IFFB has a little something for everyone, whether you’re looking to scope out the latest Rachel Weisz/Adrien Brody film (The Brothers Bloom), get some face time with rising indie talent, or schmooze with fellow cinephiles. We chatted with managing directors Nancy Campbell and Brian Tamm to get the skinny on this year’s fest.

What films will be getting their official premiere at the 2009 IFFB?
Nancy Campbell: There’s a number of premieres, especially local premieres, like the cheerleading documentary Blood, Sweat & Cheers. Brian Tamm: And we have a couple world premieres. We just try to find the best films and bring them to people in Boston who might not have had a chance to see them. We try to bring a lot of music docs in. We have a Johnny Cash doc [Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison]; that’s local.
NC: We also have The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice, about Wanda Jackson, which I think is extremely exciting, because she’s being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [on April 4]. It’s really cool, because it has all these celebrity testimonials in it, and she influenced a lot of people that range from, like, Bruce Springsteen to Lemmy [of Motörhead].

I still can’t believe that the IFFB is so young. You feel like such an institution at this point.
NC: There’s definitely a thirst for it in this town. It’s a cultural hunger.
BT: People come from all over the country and all over the world to really see what a great place Boston is. And when they come, they see the Brattle and the Coolidge and the Somerville, and what beautiful theaters they are. And this year, we’ve got the ICA, which is obviously breathtaking.
NC: We’re working all year long, and doing it just because we felt like this city deserved it. We love Boston — especially in springtime.

This fest really is at the perfect time of year.
NC: Exactly. I think that people are really tired of the hibernation. I think what’s also part of the excitement is that we really do come right at the right time of year, where everybody’s ready to go out and do this thing.
BT: It’s about going out and interacting with people.

Do you have any director appearances lined up?
BT: We have a few definites that are confirmed. Our opening-night film is The Brothers Bloom, and the director, Rian Johnson [Brick], is coming out. Our closing-night film is World’s Greatest Dad, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. He’s going to be here.

In addition to the screenings, do you guys have other events that are going on as part of the IFFB?
NC: We have a number of parties. Our opening-night party is at Orleans in Davis. Friday and Saturday, we have parties at the Liberty Hotel.
BT: Some of the filmmakers put on their own parties. The people doing the Johnny Cash doc are doing a thing at Johnny D’s. So yeah, it’s definitely a full experience — it’s movies, it’s panels, it’s parties. It’s a real festival.

Outtake: Organ grindhouse

For the uninitiated, the rock musical Repo! The Genetic Opera might come as a shock — less for its gory storyline than for its surprisingly catchy soundtrack and, most flabbergasting of all, a strangely awesome performance from Paris Hilton. Then again, her role’s not too much of a reach: she plays a spoiled, plastic-surgery-obsessed heiress from the all-powerful Largo clan, which has a lockdown on the lucrative organ-rental market. Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Anthony ead is the Repo Man called in to (fatally) remove those organs from any renters who fail to pay. Though he tries to conceal his identity from his restless teen daughter Shilo (Alexa Vega), his web of lies starts to unravel, with tragic consequences. Since its 2008 release, Repo! has amassed a rabid, Rocky Horror–like cult following. Catch the midnight screening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline, 617.734.2500) on Saturday, April 18. For more info, call the theatre or check out www.coolidge.org.

Jockumentaries

The sweat, the sinew, the roaring crowds. Considering the imagery the sports world has to offer, there’s little wonder why filmmakers have been training their lenses on athletes since the dawn of cinema. For their “Sports on Film” series, the Museum of Fine Arts (465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 617.267.9300) eschews the typical schmaltz and bottom-of-the- ninth-bases-loaded suspense that normally plague the genre, opting for style instead. Here’s the starting line-up.

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006) | APRIL 8–18
Bend It Like Beckham this ain’t. Few films are as conceptually stripped-down as Zidane: using 17 cameras, filmmakers Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno track every movement of now-retired soccer star Zinedine Zidane throughout a
2005 Madrid stadium match. No narrative or offthe-field biographical backstory distracts from the footballer’s elegant footwork in this intense study of solitude.

The Great Ecstasy of Sculptor Steiner (1974) | APRIL 9–12
In this profile of Walter Steiner and his quest to break the world’s ski-jumping record, director Werner Herzog follows Steiner behind the scenes and off the slopes while also exploring the eccentric Swiss skier’s other obsession — carving odd wooden sculptures, which he leaves on mountainsides for hikers to find. Awkward and gangly on terra firma, Steiner’s “great ecstasy” comes in his graceful, jaw-dropping leaps.

Yeah Right! (2003) | APRIL 10–23
After unleashing such reality-blurring pictures as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, Spike Jonze released a skateboarding film like none other. No mere documentary, Yeah Right! offers a fisheyed look at skater luminaries, combined with digitally aided, physics-defying stunts (invisible boards, impossible jumps, and a dreamlike zombie-board sequence), plus a peek at an affable Owen Wilson talking a little trash and showing off his rail-sliding steez.

On Any Sunday (1971) | APRIL 18
The Jane Goodall of adrenaline junkies, Bruce Brown explored the world of motorcycle racing — including ice racing, off-roading, and rough-and-tumble dirt-track racing — for this Oscarnominated feature. Overlook the dorky narration and twangy country-western soundtrack, and you’ll reap a bounty of breathtaking action shots, courtesy of a pack of daredevils unfazed by broken noses, limbs, and even spines.

All films screen in the Remis Auditorium at the MFA. For times and ticket information, call 617.369.3306 or visit www.mfa.org.

Animation Block Party

Once upon a time, you spent hours engrossed in the utopia conjured by cartoons — princesses and superheroes and zany talking animals always won in the end, or at least walked away from a fracas unscathed. Then you discovered MTV’s Perfectland, where cartoon personalities perpetrate crooked deeds, raise ruckuses, slack off, and gross out. And you haven’t been able to stop watching since. Animation Block Party, New York’s grandest animated festival, can rarely be found beyond the boroughs, but it showcases the best from its archives — including special episodes of Perfectland and never-before-seen films from ABP alums — at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on March 27 and 28. Shows are at midnight, of course, and tickets are $7.75. Visit www.coolidge.org for details.

Virtual vacations on the small screen

Tight budgets mean you’re probably not jetting off to Europe anytime soon, but you can still indulge your world-travel aspirations with these upcoming films.

BOSTON TURKISH FILM FESTIVAL
Who knows wanderlust better than carnies? In the Boston Turkish Film Festival’s A Fairground Attraction, two star-crossed lovers — a bewitching carnival performer and a construction worker — try to make romance bloom amid the popcorn-strewn dust of the midway. Other festival highlights include the taut thriller Three Monkeys and the historical drama LIsten to the Ney. The fest runs from March 27 to April 5 at the Museum of Fine Arts (465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 17.267.9300); get tickets and a full lineup at 617.369.3907 or www.mfa.org.

L’ELISIR D’AMORE
No outing is more cultured than a trip to the opera, and no trip to the opera is more affordable than a Divas in the Dark showing at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline, 617.734.2500). The upcoming installment of the opera-inspired film series will feature L’Elisir d’Amore (1996), a tale in which a peasant woos the woman of his dreams with a special “love potion.” It’s actually just wine, but his drunken antics turn out to be the kickstart this romance needs. Travel across the ocean and back in time to 1920s rural Italy for this commedia classic. It screens on April 5 at 11 a.m.; tickets are $9.75. For more info, call the theatre or visit www.coolidge.org.

SIN NOMBRE
“A psychic once told me you’ll make it to the USA — not in God’s hands, but in the hands of the devil,” the young Honduran protagonist of Sin Nombre tells her her friend, a Mexican teen trying to shed his violent gangland past, as they risk their lives to cross the border. A film that will doubtless renew your appreciation for being grounded in los Estados Unidos, Sin Nombre made a splash at Sundance 2009. Catch it at the Kendall Square Cinema (1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, 617.499.1996), starting March 27. Call or visit www.landmarktheatres.com for details.

TOKYO!
Many movies are love letters to filmmakers’ favorite cities, but few are as gleefully unhinged as Tokyo! In the spirit of Paris, je t’aime or New York Stories, Tokyo! is a triptych of short films from directors Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Leos Carax (The Lovers on the Bridge), and Bong Joonho (The Host). Together, these three vignettes — a surreal study of starving artists, a tale of a mutant sewer-dweller gone rogue, and a love story between a recluse and a pizza-delivery girl — hit the Kendall Square Cinema on April 10.

Oscar de la Rentals

Cinema that walks the catwalk

Straight from the runway to your living room, these are four fashion-minded films that deserve a space in your DVD closet.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Based on Lauren Weisberger’s not-sothinly-veiled account of her stint as Anna “Nuclear” Wintour’s personal assistant, The Devil Wears Prada casts Anne Hathaway as the bewildered gofer for frosty fashionmag editrix Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Boasting an estimated $1 million in frockery, this film shattered records with the most costly costume budget in Hollywood history.

Screens: Hollywood comes out of hibernation

After a long wintry slumber at the box office, it looks like things are starting to warm up — just take a gander at these three new releases, all due out on the first day of spring (Friday, March 20).

The Great Buck Howard
Packing a massive ensemble cast, The Great Buck Howard follows the careers of washed-up Z-list celebrity hypnotist Buck Howard (played by a deliciously condescending John Malkovich) and his new lackey, law-school dropout Troy (Colin Hanks, Tom Hanks’s son). After spending his post–Tonight Show years gigging at backwater auditoriums, Buck pulls off a stunt that thrusts him back into the limelight and hoists Troy out of loserdom. If early buzz is any indication, this film just may prove as mesmerizing as its main character.

Sunshine Cleaning
Nothing says funny and feel-good like a corpsestrewn murder site, right? In the vein of similarly stellar dysfunctional-family flick Little Miss Sunshine, this quirky comedy zooms in on Rose (Amy Adams), a former star cheerleader now trying to make ends meet as a thirtysomething single mom, her slacker sister (Emily Blunt), and their get-rich-quick-scheming dad (Alan Arkin) as they start up their own crime-scene cleanup business. Tears will be shed, hearts will be warmed, and blood-stained mattresses will be handled very gingerly.

Duplicity
Bourne trilogy writer Tony Gilroy comes out swinging with another tale of dirty deeds in big business as a follow-up to his directorial debut, the agonizingly taut suspense thriller Michael Clayton. Duplicity promises to be equally pulse-pounding — but for reasons that have more to do with the romantic chemistry between leads Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. As a pair of corporate spies out to double-cross two rival companies and rake in huge profits, these two find themselves entangled in a cat-andmouse game of beguilement and deceit.