Weekend Film-a-thon

As I drove down Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, I passed the little indie theatre and noticed that after a million months, "Brokeback Mountain" has finally been replaced by "Thank You for Smoking."

A film best known for its 'Katie Holmes MIA sex scene scandal' at Sundance, director Jason Reitman brings us this satirical comedy about the Big Tobacco's chief spokesperson, Nick Naylor, who promotes cigarette smoking while attempting to be a role model to his 12-year-old son.

With an invite to this weekend's sneak preview screening for the drama/thriller, "That Fall," I must say that this new indie flick hits all the right marks. Brilliantly written by Joe McClean and directed by newbie, Sarju Patel, "That Fall" centers on a young family who fall apart after the murder of their little girl.

When LAPD officer, Adam Wilson (played by Joseph Campo) returns home early and finds a stranger named Luke, (played by Joe McClean), hovering over his daughter with her blood on his hands, he goes ballistic and arrests the man on the spot. However, after insufficient evidence gets this guy off, Wilson turns to alcohol for salvation, causing his wife to divorce him.

One year later, Janet Wilson (played by Liza de Weerd) relocates to her brother's home where she is determined to start over. When her bro's meddling wife Andrea (played by Melissa Wolfe) sets her husband's sister up on a blind date, things spiral out of control as Janet unknowingly falls in love with the man involved in her daughter's death.

Hitting limited theatres near you is, "Lonesome Jim," starring Ben's little bro, Casey Affleck who plays Jim - a depressive, 27-year-old writer. After trying to make his mark in the Big Apple, Jimbo moves back to his hometown in Indiana where his depression gets markedly worse (understandable) until a local woman and her son distract him from his family's dysfunctional ways by welcoming the lonesome writer into their home.

Having never sold-out to the pressures of Hollywood, Casey Affleck always picks small, character driven, intense films that explore darker sides of the human condition. Two thumbs up to Casey Affleck, actress Liv Tyler, first time writer James C. Strouse, and director Steve Buscemi for "Lonesome Jim" - an artistically crafted film about real life!

Sometimes, however, real life is the last place we want to be and that is when the big budget flicks come in handy. Among this weekend's big box office line up is "Inside Man," starring Denzel Washington who plays an NYPD detective hired to track down a bunch of bank robbers who take 50 hostages from their last hit at a lower Manhattan bank. Although "Inside Man" director, Spike Lee is notorious for his character-driven films about racial inequality, Lee has strayed from his usual material by bringing Russell Gewirtz's story to the big screen. With a fantastic ensemble cast -- Washington, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe and Christopher Plummer, -- "Inside Man" is probably going to rank high on the box office charts. Another weekend newcomer is "Stay Alive," directed by William Brent Ball. This horror flick centers on a group of teens who become entranced in a bloody video game where if you die in the game, you die in real life. And at your local Blockbuster, "Capote," "Squid and the Whale," "Chicken Little," and "Derailed" are now in stock. So, get hooked up with some popcorn and have a blast watching movies.