Your Sisters Sister

Lynn Shelton is one of the best filmmakers to come out of the last decade (no, I will not use the "M" word), and she returns to the big screen with her newest film Your Sisters Sister, starring Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt, and Rosemarie DeWitt. Duplass plays Jack, a man still reeling from the death of his brother, who is invited up to a family cabin for some "alone" time by best friend Iris (Emily Blunt). When he gets there, he finds Iris's half sister, Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), and, after blasting through a bottle of tequila together, inhibitions loosen (and, apparently orientations, as Hannah is a lesbian), and Jack and Hannah end up in a compromising situation, which they spend part of the film trying to hide from Iris.

Your Sisters Sister builds on the small group dynamics that Shelton seems to be working on in all of her films (most of them have no more than three main characters), and it feel like she has really come into her own on this one. It comes off as a well crafted, relatively subtle, portrayal of love (both familial and romantic), loss, and loneliness. She really could not have chosen three better actors to play the roles. This is, in my opinion, a must see.

Cyrus

The Duplass Brothers have been working steadily in independent film since they started shooting short films in the early 2000's. Their debut feature, The Puffy Chair, followed by their psuedo horror film Baghead were both highlights of the last couple of years. Their hard work has finally paid off and, with Cyrus, the Brothers move into the low budget studio territory, but still manage to keep the spirit that got them here in the first place.

John C. Reilly plays John, a guy who is looking for love as his ex-wife is about to get remarried. He meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party that his ex-wife and fiance are throwing, and the two hit it off. Molly is very secretive, though, when it comes to talking about her life. When John follows Molly home, he finds out what she's been hiding - Her grown son, Cyrus (played by Jonah Hill), still leaves with her, in a sort of time capsule single mother/son relationship. They do everything together. They're best friends, and when John starts horning in on his mother's time, Cyrus becomes jealous, and when Cyrus becomes jealous, things get weird.

Cyrus is a humorous indy, and, maybe, the Duplass Brothers best film to date. Everyone brings in a great performance, including Jonah Hill (who I've never been a huge fan of). It's not the kind of film that has you rolling around on the ground laughing, but it definitely has its great moments, especially when things escalate between John and Cyrus. The Duplass Brothers have made something super solid and funny, and have shown what studio heads seemed to forget regularly - that a funny film, or any film, really, can be made for a reasonable amount of money.

Greenberg

Ben Stiller has been languishing in rom-com's for as long as I can remember. Sure, there was the occasional stroke of genius. Dodgeball, for instance, or Tropic Thunder. With his lead in Noah Baumbach's Greenberg, Stiller not only ditches the inane romantic comedies, he shows us a side of himself that we don't often see. And, for a bonus? We got a movie with a LOT of Greta Gerwig in it. Always a pleasure.

Gerwig plays a nanny/assistant to a rich couple who are leaving for Vietnam for an undisclosed reason. In their absence, the husband's brother, Roger Greenberg (Stiller), comes to stay out at the house for a couple of weeks so that he can ease back into life, after being in a mental hospital for a period of time. Gerwig's Florence meet's Roger when she comes over to pick up her check, which starts up a strange, sometimes endearing, sometimes tumultuous, relationship. Greenberg is also trying to reconnect with his old friends Ivan and Eric (played by Rhys Ifans and Mark Duplass), who were all in a band together, and even tries to hook up with his divorcee ex-girlfriend, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh (who looks considerably more cleaned up than in her past couple of movies).

Greenberg, and I mean the guy, not the movie, is a mess. He, obviously, does not know how to live life in any sort of meaningful form or fashion, and, instead, seems to work primarily on impulse. Stiller shows some real acting chops in this film, as he's able to cross the line into so many different emotions, seemingly on a dime. He hits every note of his Baumbach inspired dialogue and shows us that he's not just the funny guy. Greta Gerwig is always a pleasure to watch, and I think this is her best role since Nights and Weekends. She is at her insecure best, giving herself to this guy who is, probably, twenty years older than her, putting up with his crap, CONSTANTLY, and generally making all of the mistakes that twenty something girls make. Rhys Ifans was interesting to see in this role, because it is the most quiet and subdued role I have ever seen him in. Sure, I haven't seen him in a ton of stuff, but, of what I have seen, I was definitely blown away by his ability to truly show distance, sadness, and regret. Noah Baumbach is a greater writer and director. Not withstanding Margot At The Wedding, I really feel like Baumbauch's oeuvre is solid, and this is a great addition to it.

Baghead

Baghead is the second feature film by sibling director team Jay and Mark Duplass. Their first film, The Puffy Chair, was met with critical praise and did fairly well for an extremely low budget indie film (I think I read somewhere that the budget was around 70 grand, an extremely low amount for most professional films). Their follow up, another low budget indie, shows that the Duplass brothers are a serious force in the independent film making scene.

Baghead stars Ross Partridge, Steve Zissis, Greta Gerwig, and Elise Muller as a group of actors who, after seeing a mutual friends idiotic film receive praise at a film festival, decide to escape to a cabin in Big Bear, California, and write a script that they will all have parts in. As their time passes at the cabin, though, the sexual tension between the four causes some serious problems. The problems, though, take a back seat when a visitor, wearing a bag over his face (which just happens to be exactly like the villain in the script their writing), shows up and starts messing with the group.

I really liked the fact that Baghead was almost an anti-horror movie. You were never quite sure whether or not the threat was real, it always kept me guessing up to the reveal. The acting was great as well, and the Duplass brothers did a great job picking out their actors (Greta Gerwig is always a reliable stand by, which is, of course, why I tried to get her for The Definers). The only problem that I had with the film, and it was a pretty BIG problem for me, was the cinematography. The film was shot very sloppily, with a lot of quick zooms, out of focus shots, and poor lighting. It was a surprise to see the difference between Baghead and The Puffy Chair. Puffy... had a lot more of a professional look to it, as though they had hired someone who seemed to know what they were doing. Baghead looked like it was shot by a sixth grader who had just put down a couple of Monster's. If it wasn't for that, I think Baghead would have been a really great indie, but it ends up coming off as a great story, that's executed in a technically poor fashion.