Indie Picks: At The Movies This Weekend

On the cusp of the big summer movie season, this weekend does not provide much in the way of new options for film lovers in Austin. The Violet Crown is doing very well with their exclusive 3D run of Cave Of Forgotten Dreams, so it holds on two of their screens. It remains your best bet for the weekend. The Drafthouse locations are mostly filled with blockbuster fare, although Hesher holds for a third week at South Lamar if you haven't checked that out yet.

That leaves the Regal Arbor, which is experiencing some serious shuffling among its eight screens this weekend. We're sad to see that audiences did not support Bill Cunningham New York enough to see it make it to a second week, but do not miss it when it hits DVD. The films that they are opening this weekend are, by and large, fillers. We haven't had a chance to see any of them in advance, but we have a little bit of info about what you can expect.

The highest profile title landing at the Arbor this weekend is the Dutch film Winter In Wartime. It was on the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, but did not become a final nominee. Sony Pictures Classics released this one in other markets back in mid-March, so it's finding its way to town on a slow week. It's not likely to find much of an audience here, but in The Netherlands it was a massive box office hit and outgrossed Twilight and The Dark Knight when it was released there in 2008.

Based on a true story, The First Grader is being released in the U.S. by National Geographic Films. This docudrama is about a Kenyan man in his eighties who fights for his right to go back to school and learn how to read.

Finally, Nora's Will has been trailered at the Arbor for months and is opening here over eight months after debuting in New York last fall. This one picked up seven Ariel Awards (the Mexican Academy Awards) back in 2009 including Best Picture.

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