Indie Picks: At The Movies This Weekend

International poster from 20th Century Fox UK

While we're not yet in full-fledged awards season mode, it's right around the corner. Festival favorites are steadily hitting area screens and there's a nice variety of films being released in the next few weeks.

This week, the return of Pedro Almodóvar will gain the attention of many local film buffs. It remains to be seen if there are enough fans of the Spanish auteur to justify the booking of his newest movie at three local theaters. If you want to see more quality foreign films play here in Austin, you should vote with your wallet and support the release of this movie at any of the locations where it's playing.

The Skin I Live In (Alamo South Lamar, Regal Arbor, Violet Crown Cinema)
Inspired by Georges Franju's classic 1960 film Eyes Without a Face, Almodóvar's 18th feature marks the return of early collaborator Antonio Banderas in the lead role as a twisted plastic surgeon. A recent interview reveals that if the director had gotten his way, this would have been shot as a black & white silent film (similar to the sequence in Talk To Her). Instead, we get a brutal thriller that combines elements of horror and camp in a way that only Almodovar can pull off.

If you catch the film at the Alamo South Lamar during its run, they've created a special menu of tapas and Spanish wines to pair with the experience. Our own Tom Thornton has a preview of what you can look forward to right in this review. Not to be outdone, the Violet Crown will have bottles of Spanish wine on sale for $25 for the film and throw in a complimentary tapa with purchase.

Also this weekend:

- Like Crazy (Regal Arbor)
The third film from director Drake Doremus, Like Crazy debuted locally last month at the Austin Film Festival. Starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, the mostly improvised romantic drama won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize earlier this year.

- The Late Show's Solid Goldblum series this month continues with late night screenings of Jurassic Park on Friday and Saturday night at the Alamo Ritz.

- The Alamo Ritz serves up one of the most ridiculous films of the 1980s on Sunday night for their Zzang! series with Howard The Duck at 7pm.

- The Alamo Ritz and the Alamo Lake Creek have special 11/11/11 screenings of This Is Spinal Tap tonight.