Image courtesy of Snowfort Pictures
Watership Down (1978, dir. Martin Rosen)
Available on iTunes and Amazon
Easter is nearly upon us, and that means bunnies. Stuffed, fluffy, adorable bunnies. So in tribute to that, give Watership Down a spin and watch those fluffy, adorable bunnies lay siege to one another in increasingly violent ways. An adaptation good enough to justify a Criterion Collection DVD release, this animated version of Richard Adams’ timeless story is genuinely powerful.
Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter (2008, dir. Lee Demarbre)
Available on Amazon
Yes, JC is part of that elite fraternity that includes such hallowed named as Van Helsing, Blade, Buffy & Abraham Lincoln – he is a vampire hunter. Here he teams with a famous Luchador to protect the lesbians of Ottawa, Canada. If any of that sounds up your alley, this probably very much so is.
Birth (2004, dir. Jonathan Glazer)
Available on Google Play & Amazon
Finally, Easter is also about rebirth and regeneration, so in honor of that notion, why not treat yourself to Jonathan Glazer’s overlooked second feature, Birth. His Under the Skin was my favorite film of last year, and you can see some of his proclivity for unsettling material peeking out in this story of Nicole Kidman’s grief-stricken widow who finds her husband apparently reincarnated in the body of a young child, a truly one-of-a-kind experience.
Noah Baumbach Triple Feature
Kicking and Screaming (1995, dir. Noah Baumbach)
Available FREE! on Netflix & Amazon Prime, also available on Google Play
Greenberg (2010, dir. Noah Baumbach)
Available FREE! on Netflix, also available on Amazon & Google Play
Frances Ha (2012, dir. Noah Baumbach)
Available FREE! on Netflix, also available on iTunes and Google Play
April 10 is the scheduled release date for the latest Noah Baumbach picture While We’re Young in the Milwaukee area and I’ll have a review of it for you when that time comes (fans and perhaps some newcomers will be pleased), so why not brush up on the oeuvre of this indie film darling in advance? His feature debut, the whip-smart college comedy Kicking and Screaming feels like While We’re Young’s precursor in many ways, and his collaboration with Ben Stiller on Greenberg and the youthful exuberance that makes Frances Ha such a joy to watch both inform his latest work as well.
Observe and Report(2009, dir. Jody Hill)
Available on Amazon, Google Play & iTunes
April 17 sees the release of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and instead of subjecting yourself to that experience might I suggest a mall security movie far funnier in the incredibly dark Observe and Report. This might be Seth Rogen’s finest performance as a security guard who’s more Travis Bickle than Paul Blart. It’s a work of genuine darkness, but the hilarity is there in equal measure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekAQzff95E8
Indie Horror Triple Feature
Starry Eyes (2014, dirs. Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer)
Available on Amazon, iTunes & Google Play, and FREE! on Netflix
The Babadook (2014, dir. Jennifer Kent)
Available on iTunes, coming 4/14 on Netflix
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014, dir. Ana Lily Amirpour)
Available on Amazon, iTunes & Google Play, coming 4/21 on Netflix
Two of these releases I’ve reviewed recently for you, so I’ll let those words speak for themselves – both Babadook and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night are immense works to be reckoned with, announcements of great talents the both of them. I have yet to see the Hollywood-devours-its-young parable Starry Eyes, but solid reviews off the festival circuit last year have me quite excited. This is a boom era for indie horror (add It Follows to this list) and these are three prime examples of why that is the case.
