At The Movies: Indie Picks This Weekend

Cedar Rapids (Alamo Ritz, Regal Arbor)
The early films of Miguel Arteta didn't really predict where he would be today. His 1997 debut Star Maps told the story of a teenage boy pimped out by his father. Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl, while having moments of dark comedy, were kind of depressing. Last year's Youth In Revolt was really the first indication that Arteta could even craft a film like Cedar Rapids.

Former Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms really became a comedy star with his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover (which he will reprise in its sequel later this year). Cedar Rapids undoubtedly owes a comic debt to that film as it goes for broke in one of the most outrageous and crude, yet genuinely sweet, comedies that we've seen on screen in some time.

While it's great to see Helms in a leading role as a small town insurance agent on his way to "the big city" for a conference, he's damn near steamrolled off the screen by John C. Reilly, who really has a knack for delivering the film's most offensive lines. At the preview screening we caught, the audience laughed so hard at some of his jokes that you would miss the next few lines of dialogue.

After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival last month, Fox Searchlight is starting this film out on the art house circuit. Strong word of mouth should easily push this inspired comedy into the multiplexes in the weeks to come.

Also worth noting:
The 2011 Oscar nominees for Best Animated Shorts and Best Live Action Shorts have moved to Alamo South Lamar for another week of screenings.

Brad Anderson (Transsiberian, The Machinist) has a new film called Vanishing On 7th Street that is unlikely to open here in Austin anytime soon, but is available "on demand" now through all local cable providers and online sites like VUDU. The post-apocalyptic thriller stars Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo.

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