Norman (Dir. Jonathan Segal)
A wise-ass high schooler, Norman (Dan Byrd) has reason to be snarky; his mother died in a car accident and his father (the pitch-perfect Richard Jenkins) is succumbing to cancer. In a grand screw-you to the world, Norman claims that he is the terminal case in question and luxuriates in the sudden burst of compassion from his classmates and teacher (Adam Goldberg). A sweet-sour trifle elevated by wonderful performances.
*Some Dogs Bite (Dir. Marc Munden)
A trio of British halfbrothers—one an infant, one with a mental impairment, and the third consumed with rage—escapes a welfare system that has separated them. They head to Inverness, Scotland, where a suitcase of stolen cash awaits them, and possibly their father. Along the way they collide with a pair of girls just as raw and emotionally starved as they are. Beautifully shot and realized with a tough-minded tenderness, Some Dogs Bite owes its formidable power to a strong cast of young actors, including Thomas Brodie Sangster as the childlike Casey, Aaron Taylor as the emotionally calloused H, and Michelle Asante as Venetia.
The Colonel’s Bride (Dir. Brent Stewart)
As quirky and elliptical as a Flannery O’Connor short story, this film depicts an embittered, widowed Vietnam veteran (JD Parker) awaiting an Asian mail-order bride (Alicia Truong). The tale is expressed in a series of brief but vivid vignettes, many of them wordless, the strangled emotions lurking beneath the surface. A love story of belated redemption.
The Imperialists Are Still Alive! (Dir. Zeina Durra)
This deadpan tale of love and identity politics among some Manhattan hipsters possesses a mongrel 1980s indie film vibe. At the center is Asyah (Elodie Bouchez), a Palestinian-Jordanian conceptual artist and her new boyfriend Javier (Jose Maria de Tavia). The lovers spend as much time debating conspiracy theories as they do shagging in this ambitious but muddled comedy.
*The Locksmith (Dir. Brad and Todd Barr)
A delightful shaggy dog story set in New York City, The Locksmith wears its heart on its sleeve while still making some trenchant observations about how New Yorkers talk at and over one another. A work-release ex-con (Anslem Richardson) is employed by a locksmith. On one job, he is asked to drill a stubborn lock by a sweetly ditzy woman (the beguiling Ana Reeder). Only too late, he learns she is breaking into her boyfriend’s apartment.
*The Tested (Dir. Russell Costanzo)
Dre (Michael Morris Jr.) attends Manhattan’s Washington Irving High School where he’s trying to stand up to the thugs as much as he covets their brutal power. His mother (the powerful Aunjanue Ellis) remains obsessed by the slaying of her older son. Julian (Armando Riesco), the cop who shot the boy, tries to rebuild his life amid the suffocating guilt. As much an opera as an urban saga, The Tested soars thanks to naturalistic performances from an unknown cast and the nimble touch of its self-assured director.
White Irish Drinkers (Dir. John Gray)
Brooklyn, 1975. John Gray drops us into a world that echoes both Mean Streets and the story of Cain and Abel. Danny (Geoff Wigdor) is a thug in the making; Brian (Nick Thurston), his younger brother, more interested in art than petty crimes. The target of his father’s (Stephen Lang) drunken beatings, Danny wants to pull one more robbery before leaving home for good. When Brian’s boss at the local theater announces a Rolling Stone concert, Danny plans to steal the box office receipts but needs Brian’s help. Powerful performances from the ensemble cast (including Karen Allen as the mother) surmount the plot mechanics and occasionally sentimental overwriting.
