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Cemetery Junction (15)

(Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, 2006, Us) Christian Cook, Jack Doolan, Tom Hughes, Felicity Jones. 95 mins

Those averse to Ricky Gervais's "white-man overbite" will see surprisingly little of it in his second co-directed movie. Set in suburban 70s Reading, this rites-of-passage drama stars newcomers Cook, Doolan and Hughes as three mates growing apart on the threshold of adulthood. The ending may be formulaic, but Gervais and Merchant carve a neat middle path between comedy and pathos to get there.

The Ghost (15)

(Roman Polanski, 2010, Fr/Ger/UK) Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor. 128 mins

While he remains in chokey, Polanki's latest release is an old-school political thriller, starring Brosnan as a slick ex-pm with guilty secrets and McGregor as the hack hired to launder them.

Beeswax (Nc)

(Andrew Bujalski, 2009, Us) Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher. 100 mins

Mundane mumblecore about the travails of twins.

The Heavy (18)

(Marcus Warren, 2010, UK) Gary Stretch, Vinnie Jones. 102 mins...

Andrew Bujalski's one of the most distinctive directors of drama to emerge in the last decade. The elements that define his work are instantly recognizable: the abrupt starts and stops (those words seem more appropriate in regard to his movies than "beginnings" and "endings") and his instistence on not offering resolutions at the end of his films; the careful interplay of details that mark both his characterization and his framing; and the nuanced, often beautiful images he creates with his regular cinematographer, Matthias Grunsky. Frankly, he's got more in common with Mike Leigh and recent Patrice Chereau than with his friend Joe Swanberg.

Bujalski's first two features were the naturalistic miniature Funny Ha Ha and the bleak, ambiguous Mutual Appreciation. His newest film, Beeswax, can be seen as an application of the lessons of those first two films: after Mutual Appreciation's urban sprawl, he's focused again on a...

One of the first things that must be noticed about Beeswax is that the film is filled with color, and match of that color is pink. The film fits fairly well into the mumblecore genre, melding comedy and drama with a minimally stylized, straight-forward handheld visual approach. Beeswax was written and directed by Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation) and stars the real-life twin sisters Tilly and Maggie Hatcher.

Beeswax was shot in Austin, Texas and follows a pair of identical twin sisters, Jeannie and Lauren, as they each deal with their own places in life. Lauren (Maggie Hatcher) is considering a teaching position out of the country, while Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher), who has been a paraplegic since birth, attempts to sort out her unequal relationship with her business partner. Jeannie co-owns and runs a small retail shop called the Storyville Boutique.

The movie flows along at a comfortable...

Director: Andrew Bujalski Writer(s): Andrew Bujalskiv Starring: Tilly Hatcher, Anne Dodge, Maggie Hatcher, Alex Karpovsky Writer-director Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation) has a tendency to plunge at once in medias res; such is the case with Beeswax – Bujalski hints that a larger narrative exists as the audience stumbles into the midst of the drama… Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher) co-owns a vintage boutique in Austin, TX with an estranged friend, Amanda (Anne Dodge). Jeannie (from whose perspective the story is told) is apparently the more dedicated of the two owners. She spends a majority of her time managing the day-to-day operations of the boutique, while Amanda is essentially an absentee partner. Despite their ownership contract (which was written by Amanda’s father – and Jeannie has become suspicious that it strongly favors Amanda), the two partners have a bitter and jaded history of making business decisions without consulting each other.

I'm still not exactly sure how to describe the films of Andrew Bujalski. I've seen all three of his features, Funny Ha Ha (2002), Mutual Appreciation (2005) and the new Beeswax, which is currently playing on 2 screens in New York and Los Angeles and will expand to more theaters in the coming weeks. Funny Ha Ha really struck me when I saw it in 2004, but I think his films have improved since then, and Beeswax is really something wonderful. Of course, the word most people use to describe his films -- and other similar films in the same "wave" -- is "Mumblecore," and I suppose that's effective, but there's more to it.

Bujalski tends to focus on young people in their twenties and thirties. They're educated and middle-class, but probably not the most driven folks in the world. One character in Beeswax, Merrill (Alex Karpovsky), prepares to take the Bar, but when...

Maggie Hatcher, Tilly Hatcher And Alex Karpovsky In Writer-director Andrew Bujalski'S Beeswax. Courtesy Cinema Guild. Every film movement has its (sometimes reluctant) leader or trendsetter, and in the case of mumblecore, that person is Andrew Bujalski. The soft-spoken writer-director and sometime actor was born in 1977 in Boston, where both his parents worked in business. His mother had previously been an artist, and Bujalski seemed to inherit her more creative inclinations, which lead him to study film at Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies. Bujalski was particularly fortunate to have the legendary Belgian filmmaker Chantal Ackerman as his thesis adviser, who helped him find the lead actress for his thesis film,...

Precious in its realism this film is so plain is threatens to slip off the screen. Kudos for the honesty but the entertainment is lacking Andrew Bujalski has created a wonderfully pure and expressive film with what appears to be a limited budget and amateur actors. The actors are allowed to be themselves although they are coached carefully regarding their parts and the back stories of their characters. Tilly Hatcher has most of the screen time playing Jeannie; the wheelchair bound co-owner of a small second-hand boutique. Her sister Lauren (Maggie Hatcher) is less directed, unemployed and considering a job teaching overseas. Alex Karpovsky plays Merrill, Jeannie.s former boyfriend who has just finished law school but is not doing...

Release Date: Aug. 7

Director/Writer: Andrew Bujalski

Cinematographer: Matthias Grunsky

Starring: Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher, Alex Karpovsky, Katy O’Connor

Studio/Run Time: The Cinema Guild, 100 mins.

Mumblecore icon speaks volumes in latest offering

In his first two features, Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation, lo-fi trailblazer Andrew Bujalski spearheaded the mumblecore movement, funneling untrained actors and quarter-life ambiguity into a surprisingly rich product. Beeswax continues Bujsalski’s history of creating domestic visual poetry that borders on novelty.

Prepare to see stars in your local arthouse as the summer turns to fall. Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore will all grace celluloid in the coming months. There are new films from star directors -- Tarantino! Campion! Soderbergh! Coen brothers! Even the new documentaries are driven by stars -- Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story," LeBron James' "More Than a Game" and Anna Wintour's "The September Issue." And then, as Matt Singer will tell you, there are breakout stars who you should start catching up with now. In between, there's epic animation ("Ponyo" and "9"), an astounding array of asskicking ("Ong Bak 2" and "Black Dynamite") and Lars von Trier's "Antichrist," proving there's there's just about something for everyone this fall at the multiplex. (And if not there, make sure to check out what films you can catch in the comfort of your own home on demand,...

This week's new releases include a Latin American double bill on the nature of the fame game, a British one-two centered on the macabre and a global smattering of meditations on love young and old.

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"Beeswax"

Following on the heels of well-received festival performers "Funny Ha Ha" and "Mutual Appreciation," mumblecore alum Andrew Bujalski delivers another characteristically lo-fi tale of post-grads trying to build lives for themselves. Complete with a who's who of Austin indie film players (including SXSW film fest head Janet Pierson), this Texas-set ramble centers on the unfulfilled lives of twin sisters Lauren and Jeannie (non-pros Maggie and Tilly Hatcher), the former a carefree drifting spirit, the latter a headstrong business owner.

Opens in New York.

"Bliss"

Progressive and traditionalist values clash against the barren backdrop of Eastern Turkey with the...

The latest film by Andrew Bujalski, Beeswax had its U.S. premiere at SXSW on Monday. You might remember Bujalski's earlier features: Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation. The term "mumblecore", which describes a certain kind of low-budget indie made by a certain group of people, became popular after an interview Bujalski gave about Mutual Apprecation. But I'd like to talk about Beeswax without mentioning the term and all its associated baggage. Beeswax is a good movie that does some surprising things in a quiet way.

The story in Beeswax takes a backseat to the characters and the way they communicate. Two sisters, Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher) and Lauren (Maggie Hatcher), are sharing a house in Austin. Jeannie is co-owner of a vintage clothing store, and the other owner and former friend, Amanda, is threatening to sue her or possibly buy her out. Jeannie seeks legal advice from an old friend,...

You'd think that a film shot and set in Austin would see its world premiere at SXSW. "Beeswax" even features the festival's new producer Janet Pierson in a supporting role, as well as a slew of faces from the local filmmaking scene (the Zellner brothers, Kyle Henry and Bryan Poyser). And of course, "Beeswax" is the third feature by Andrew Bujalski, whose name is associated with a group of low budget filmmakers known, for the most part, for having met at SXSW over the past few years and subsequently being shoved under the same umbrella-like designator, "mumblecore." However convenient the shorthand, it's hardly fair to the filmmakers, much less the films, particularly one as non-mumbly and subtly heartfelt as "Beeswax." Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher), runs a vintage clothing shop; she may be facing a lawsuit from her business partner, and she seems to be flirting with the idea of getting back together with an old flame,...

SXSW is one of my favorite festivals of the year as it showcases some of the best and most innovative real independent films, and with this host of world premiers, it's also playing alot of Sundance material as well as genre fare from all over the world, many of which we've covered heavily in these pages.

From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.

For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.

I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..

Lineup after the break.

Narrative Features Competition

Artois the Goat

Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart

Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...