
BY JOE REID |
This Weekend's Indies: ‘Fruitvale Station,’ ‘Crystal Fairy' and More
Opening in limited release today are a pair of Sundance faves, a timely doc about Google and Facebook’s invasions of privacy, and TV’s Hannibal in a whole new light.

Fruitvale Station: The big winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale tells the tragic true story of Oscar Grant and the events that happened on New Year’s 2009. Expect big things for lead actor Michael B. Jordan, who has been a star on the rise for some time now (Chronicle; TV’s The Wire, Friday Night Lights, and Parenthood) and now finds himself in an indie sensation and looking to be pushed by The Weinstein Company for awards. We talked about the trailer’s effectiveness previously, and are quite excited for this one.
The Hunt: Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale; A Royal Affair) has made himself familiar to American audiences via his role as cinema’s most famous cannibal in NBC’s Hannibal. Here, he stars as a schoolteacher (falsely?) accused of improper conduct with a kindergartener. The resulting reaction of his community gives the film its title. Mikkelson won the 2012 Cannes Film Festival prize for acting for his work here, and the film promises to be a powerful experience.
Terms and Conditions May Apply: So you may have heard a bit about how our privacy is at risk in the news lately? Perfect timing, then, for Cullen Hoback’s documentary about the ways in which we’re signing our lives away to Google, Facebook, and whomever else may be seeking to share/sell/investigate our information. Current-events investigative documentarianism at its finest!
V/H/S/2: A late-night crowd-pleaser at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, the horror anthology sequel offers five more low-fi tales of horror, from zombie POV, to dog-terrizing aliens, to one seriously effed up cult situation.
Crystal Fairy: Another buzzy entry from this past Sundance Film Festival, Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffman lead a cast of young pleasure-seekers in search of a prime psychedelic experience.
Killing Season: Robert DeNiro, John Travolta, and John Travolta’s awesome beard team up in the story of two veterans of the Bosnian/Serbian conflicts who meet up and play out an elaborate revenge plot. From the director of Ghost Rider, Daredevil, and Simon Birch.
Previously: Plan Your “Women of ‘Grown Ups 2’ Film Festival”