For some time now, I've been thinking about using this space more frequently, as a sort of over-the-horizon early alert for upcoming limited theatrical releases in Indiana, central and otherwise.  This also will serve as a sort of historical record of limited release movies that have their opening dates in Indiana shifted around, postponed, and/or cancelled.

My interest in this was prompted by several recent release date cancellations, and the way that so many limited release films don't open in Indianapolis at all.  Don Coscarelli's John Dies at the End at one point was scheduled to open at the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianpolis on March 1, according to the film's page on the site of US distributor Magnolia Pictures.  But someone at Magnolia must think the people of Indianapolis are crazy for documentaries, and avoid cult-type oddities like the plague, since Magnolia gave us the doc A Place at the Table on that date instead.  I don't have anything against A Place at the Table, and I would like to see it some day- but I would so much rather see John Dies at the End in a theater.  I not only would have paid for a ticket for that one, I would have organized a Meetup, and placed postcards and/or flyers around town, if Magnolia would have sent me any of them.

Another recent cancellation: Bless Me Ultima was set to open at the AMC Washington Square 12 on February 22, according to the film's official US site a week or so ahead of that date.  Instead, Bless Me Ultima bypassed Indianapolis entirely, and opened in Indiana only at the AMC Schererville 16, in the Chicagoland area.

A similar disappointment came when The Frankenstein Theory opened theatrically on March 1.  It was in fifteen American theaters, according to Moviefone, and two of them were in Indiana.  But those two Indiana theaters were in South Bend and Evansville, miles away from the center of the state, so Indianapolis got ignored once again.

Why?

That's all I want to know.  Why is it that movies that look cool and interesting to me, like John Dies at the End and The Frankenstein Theory, consistently pass us by in Indy, while we get other movies instead?  In keeping a record of what we get, and what we don't, I hope to spark some sort of discussion, and maybe find an answer of sorts, someday....


Anyway, here is what is scheduled to show up in Indiana theaters over the next few weeks, as of March 17.  If anyone else out there knows of anything else, please let me know....




MARCH 22:

InAPPropriate Comedy- Adrien Brody, Lindsay Lohan, Michelle Rodriguez and Rob Schneider answer the musical question, "Which actors are desperate/broke/whatever enough to appear in a movie co-written and directed by the guy from the ShamWow and Slap Chop infomercials?"  Boxofficemojo says that this would-be comedy is supposed to open in 250 US theaters on the 22nd, so it may well get a playdate or two somewhere or other in Indiana.  The title does appear on the "Coming Soon" page of the Georgetown 14's site.... and although there is a note on that page indicating that "Movies listed are not guaranteed to come to this theatre", it also should be noted that InAPPropriate Comedy is also the only limited release title now appearing on that page; the other titles are wide releases scheduled from the rest of March through May.

The Lost Medallion- This family/adventure/inspirational film is scheduled to open at the Jefferson Pointe 18 in Fort Wayne on the 22nd, according to its official site.  No other theaters in Indiana are mentioned on the site, although for several weeks an unspecified theater in Columbus was supposed to get the film, per a now-vanished entry on the "Theaters" page on the site. 

On the Road- Walter Salles directed this adaptation of Jack Kerouac's novel, which opened in New York and/or Los Angeles late last year.  For some time now, the film's official US site has said that it will be "IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE MARCH 22".  I suspect that their definition of "nationwide" is a bit less generous than mine, and that Indianapolis will not be part of this "nationwide" release, even with Kristen Stewart playing one of the lead characters, and even with Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen and Elisabeth Moss in the supporting cast.  Boxofficemojo now says that On the Road will be in only 37 theaters on the 22nd; this is someone's idea of a "nationwide release"?  And no theaters are listed on the official site as of yet, by the way.  Instead, they offer the lazy, totally uncool option of looking up your theater by way of a "GET TICKETS" link to Movietickets.com.  Of  course, this is damn near worthless, since if your theater doesn't list the movie yet, you can't look it up via this method, and there is absolutely no way to tell if your city even will be getting the damn movie in the first place.  Seriously, this will be in only a paltry thirty-seven theaters, and they couldn't spare the time to list those theaters, or at least the cities that will be playing the film, on the official site?  That is really pathetic.

Spring Breakers- I'm not even sure that Harmony Khorine's provocation will wind up being a limited release after all.  It opened in three screens on the 15th, and did so well that the estimated screen count for next Friday keeps growing larger and larger.  A week or so ago, Boxofficemojo said that SB would expand to 550 screens on the 22nd, but the next time I checked that was up to 600, or 650- and as of today, the screen count for next Friday is listed as "1000+".  If the number is anything close to that, Indiana is bound to have a few theaters playing the film, and one or two of them might even be in Indianapolis....


MARCH 25

Chasing Ice- This documentary is described on its official US site as "the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet", using "revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers".
It is scheduled to be shown at 5 and 7 PM today, as part of the Goodrich Quality Theaters' "Documentary Days" series, at the Hamilton 16 and IMAX in Noblesville, the Portage 16 and IMAX, and the Eastside 9 and Wabash Landing 9, both in Lafayette.

Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid- This documentary on the last year that Polariod produced its instant film will be shown at 7 PM today at the same theaters listed immediately above, as part of the Goodrich Quality Theaters' "Best of the Key West Film Fest" series; a repeat showing is scheduled for those same theaters on March 28, at 5 PM.



MARCH 28:

A Deeper Shade of Blue- This history-of-surfing doc, complete with its own special features, is scheduled for one-time-only screenings today at several theaters across the state, according to its page on the Fathom Events site: the AMC Showplace 17 and IMAX in Indianapolis, the Terra Haute 12, the New Albany Showplace 16, the Coldwater Crossing in Fort Wayne, and the Movies 14 in Mishawaka.

Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid- See March 25 above.



MARCH 29:

Detour- Per its official site, this American independent film is about a man who must fight for his life after being trapped in his car by a mudslide; it is scheduled to open today at the Yes Cinemas in Columbus.

The Gatekeepers- This documentary, in which six former heads of Israel's secret service are interviewed about that nation's war on terror, was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature of 2012.  It is scheduled to open at the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianapolis, according to the theater's page on Landmark's site.

Himmatwala- Ajay Devgn is the star of this Hindi-language action comedy, which looks like it could be a good deal of fun.  Manoranjaninc's site says that Himmatwala is set to open at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis on the 29th.




Well, thanks to several crashes and other shenanigans, I'll have to stop here for now.  I'll try to add links for the above titles soon, and put all of the limited release titles I know about that are scheduled for Indiana in April in a post next weekend.  I also hope to include a list of all of the limited release movies that I am most interested in seeing as a part of that same post.  These are the movies- like John Dies at the End- for which I would schedule Meetups, and drive around town to put flyers/postcards/etc. in local coffee shops and other relevant locales.  And if there are any updates/changes for March 29 by then, those will be covered as well.  See you then....