Noticias

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"The Darjeeling Limited" (2007)

Directed by Wes Anderson

Released by Criterion Collection

Anderson's underappreciated trip to India on the backs of three brothers (Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson) who take a train the country to honor their late father gets a reexamination with this Criterion Collection edition that includes a new documentary, an audio commentary from Anderson, Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, audition footage, a video essay from Matt Zoller Seitz, a chichat between Anderson and the late James Ivory about the film's music and Anderson's ad for American Express and the short "Hotel Chevalier" with Natalie Portman.

"As Good As Dead" (2010)

Directed by Jonathan Mossek

Released by First Look Entertainment

Andie MacDowell, Frank Whaley and Matt Dallas star as spurned cult members from the South who take a New Yorker (Cary Elwes) hostage years after they believe he's killed their leader in this thriller.

Here's an exclusive first look at the trailer for "I'll Come Running," the debut feature from Spencer Parsons, a multi-continent romance starring Melonie Diaz ("Be Kind Rewind," "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints") and Jon Lange. The official synopsis:

Pelle (Lange) wants a change of scenery. Another day, another place, another postcard, another girl... But is Veronica (Diaz) really just another girl? It was only supposed to be a stolen, sweaty day together in Texas, and all they have in common is too many hours watching "The Simpsons." But when circumstance brings Veronica to Pelle's door in Denmark, this "casual" fling shakes things up for his best friend and family as well. Comedy and tragedy entwine in "I'll Come Running" a broken romance about what happens when a stranger accidentally changes your life.

"I'll Come Running" opens Wednesday, November 4th, exclusively on IFC Festival Direct.

By Stephen Saito

It's hard to say whether it's been the stifling heat or former Warner Independent chief Mark Gill's much-talked about "the sky really is falling" speech (published in full at indieWire here) that gave attendees of this year's Los Angeles Film Festival a sense of their own mortality. Then again, it could just be the way in which the effects of life-altering events have been examined in several of the festival's films, particularly in the narrative section.

When Gill, now heading up the indie shingle The Film Department, spoke at the adjoining film financing conference on the first Saturday of the festival, he decried the indie film marketplace as standing on the brink of oblivion, saying, "if you decide to make a movie budgeted under $10 million on your own tomorrow, you have a 99.9% chance of failure." On that basis, it's possible that "Winged Creatures," an ensemble drama...

Venue: Los Angeles Film Festival.Some of the most provocative recent films, including “Babel, ” “The Visitor, ” and “The Edge of Heaven, ” have dramatized encounters of people from different cultures. While these films frequently focus on the tragic consequences of such culture clashes, they remind us that we live in a shrinking world where interdependence is crucial. The latest movie to bring this theme into focus, “I'll Come Running, ” has its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. While not as seamless as some of those earlier movies, it's an affecting drama of people from different nationalities trying to bridge the gulf that divides them.

“Running” begins with a group of Danish tourists visiting the Alamo and deriding the alien universe of Texas. Enjoying a night on the town in nearby Austin, Pelle (Jon Lange) hooks up with Veronica (Melonie Diaz). A one-night stand leads to a more serious infatuation, but Pelle is set to return to Denmark. An unexpected accident throws everything into turmoil and leads Veronica to travel to Denmark. There she meets Pelle's best friend and family. All of these characters are profoundly changed by a chance encounter that started on a dance floor in Texas.

Diaz (“Raising Victor Vargas, ” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) holds the film together. The role allows her to demonstrate toughness as well as curiosity about all the heartbreaking surprises that life has in store for us. Lange and Christian Tafdrup as Pelle's best friend both bring the requisite magnetism to their roles. There are times when the budgetary limitations hurt the film; some crucial dramatic moments take place offscreen. Still, cinematographer Siobhan Walshe captures the contrasts in the two worlds that Veronica navigates. The open-ended conclusion is honest but somehow less than fully satisfying, and the film as a whole must be considered a flawed but compelling foray into cross-cultural confusion.

Cast: Melonie Diaz, Jon Lange, Christian Tafdrup, Birgitte Raaberg, Hallie Bulleit, Mads Norby. Director: Spencer Parsons. Screenwriters: Line Langebek Knudsen, Spencer Parsons. Executive producers: Thomas Lydholm, Rajen Savjani, Jesper Zartov. Producers: Lars Knudsen, Anish Savjani, Jay Van Hoy. Director of photography: Siobhan Walshe. Production designer: Elliott Hostetler. Music: Graham Reynolds. Costume designer: Caroline Karlen. Editor: David Fabelo. Production companies: Film Science, Van Hoy/Knudsen Productions.

No MPAA rating, 112 minutes.