At The Movies: Indie Picks This Weekend
Documentary fans are in luck this weekend as two very different, but very acclaimed, titles hit town. If you're looking for an antidote to the mostly boring slate of Hollywood picks in release right now, you might want to try one of the following films:
The Tillman Story (Regal Arbor)
Amir Bar-Lev's third feature film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was picked up by The Weinstein Company. The anti-war documentary looks at the life and death of Pat Tillman, a former Arizona Cardinals player who decided against a multi-million dollar football contract and, instead, enlisted with the U.S. Army Rangers. While serving in Afghanistan, he was killed in 2004. It was slowly revealed that he had been shot by 'friendly fire' and the government tried to cover it up. This documentary interviews Tillman's fellow soldiers and family, including his mother Dannie, who fought hard for the truth of her son's death to be revealed.
Catfish (Alamo South Lamar)
Only opening on 12 screens across the country this weekend, Catfish is another documentary hit out of this year's Sundance Film Festival. Of course, it's up to you as the viewer to determine how much of this film you actually believe is real. Universal is being very careful not to actually promote this one as a documentary and several of us on the film staff here at Austinist debated the movie profusely after a recent sneak preview. Still, it is getting a strong recommendation from the Alamo's Tim League and we can definitely get behind a movie with the power to polarize.
Also appearing at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar:
*The Complete Metropolis (one week only!)
*Sweethearts Of The Prison Rodeo
