News Feeds - Bobsville

News Feeds
Netflix Top 25 in Independent
Top 25 by genre, published by Netflix every 2 weeks.
001- Once In this charming contemporary musical helmed by John Carney, a street musician (Glen Hansard) in Dublin, Ireland, strikes up a friendship with a migrant street hawker (Markéta Irglová), and the duo ends up composing and recording a series of songs over the course of a week. The tunes mirror their burgeoning romance and help the young busker release his musical passions. The actors wrote the tunes they perform, winning an Oscar for their efforts.
002- The Darjeeling Limited In the wake of their father's death, three brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) embark on a steam-engine journey across India aboard the Darjeeling Limited and attempt to reconnect after years of physical and emotional distance. The trip also opens up old wounds and proves that the base instincts of sibling rivalry can never be completely erased. Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston co-star in this Wes Anderson dramedy.
003- The Station Agent When his only friend dies, a young dwarf named Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) relocates to an abandoned train station in rural New Jersey, intent on living the life of a hermit. But his solitude is interrupted by his colorful neighbors. Finbar's new crop of friends includes a struggling artist (Patricia Clarkson) coping with the recent death of her young son and a talkative Cuban hot dog vendor (Bobby Cannavale).
004- The Squid and the Whale Jeff Daniels makes for a haunting Brooklyn professor who's well past his prime, and Laura Linney is his writer wife on the brink of stardom in Noah Baumbach's honest look at the disintegration of a marriage. With their lives headed in distinctly opposite directions, the two can't help but be acrimonious about their impending separation. But that leaves their two children (Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline) stuck in the middle of an emotional war.
005- Happy Endings Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern and Jason Ritter star in this offbeat comedy from writer-director Don Roos that gathers a series of connected vignettes about the randomness of love and life. A documentary filmmaker threatens to reveal a woman's long-held secret; a father and his son find out that they're both seeing the same woman; a gay man discovers his partner might (or might not) be the father of their friend's baby; and more.
006- Broken Flowers After being dumped by another girlfriend (Julie Delpy), serial bachelor Don Johnston (Bill Murray) vows he'll be alone forever. But when a mysterious unsigned letter arrives in the mail, he's surprised to learn he has a 19-year-old son. With no idea who the mother is, Don sets out on a cross-country journey to confront his past, surprising a series of old flames (Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone and Tilda Swinton) along the way.
007- I'm Not There Six actors (including Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett, in an Oscar-nominated role) portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon. The first biography ever approved by the singer-songwriter, this stylized portrait (directed by Todd Haynes) reveals how Dylan reinvented himself many times. Kris Kristofferson narrates.
008- Grace Is Gone Director James C. Strouse's indie drama stars John Cusack as Stanley Phillips, an ex-military man trying to find the courage to break some devastating news to his two daughters: Their mother has died while serving in Iraq. As he works through his complex feelings about his wife's death and the war, Stanley delays telling his girls the truth, instead taking them on an excursion to a theme park. The film won the Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance.
009- Margot at the Wedding When acid-tongued writer Margot (Nicole Kidman) arrives to attend estranged sister Pauline's (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding, she quickly takes a disliking to Pauline's fiancé (Jack Black). Now, Margot's caustic comments threaten to undo the siblings' relationship as well as the upcoming nuptials. Oscar-nominated writer-director Noah Baumbach helms this wry comedy exploring the often infuriating but enduring connections of family.
010- Bella Two lost souls -- Nina (Tammy Blanchard), a pregnant, unmarried waitress, and Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), an introspective cook with a tragic past -- find solace in each other as their lives become unpredictably linked throughout the course of one incredible day. First-time director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde also co-wrote the screenplay for this inspirational story about love, hope and forgiveness.
011- Me and You and Everyone We Know Miranda July writes, directs and stars in this poignant drama about both the unique and oftentimes humorous nature of people's idiosyncrasies. At the center is eccentric Christine Jesperson (July), who seeks emotional connections in the modern world. Meanwhile, shoe salesman Richard (John Hawkes) copes with his recent separation while his teen son (Miles Thompson) experiences a sexual awakening. Carlie Westerman and Brad William Henke co-star.
012- The Good Girl Justine (Jennifer Aniston) longs to start a family, but she and her loving husband (John C. Reilly) seem unable to conceive. So when the frustrated "good girl" meets a creative, passionate young man named Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal), she gladly escapes into a new world of emotional and sexual awakening. It doesn't take long, however, for Holden's passion to bloom into a poisonous obsession, putting Justine's very world at risk.
013- American Splendor Paul Giamatti stars as Harvey Pekar, a working-class stiff file clerk who found an outlet for his creativity by chronicling the minutia of his life in Cleveland, Ohio, in a comic-book series called American Splendor for more than 20 years. Hope Davis co-stars as Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner, in this revealing biopic, which tells Pekar's story through a blend of two-dimensional images, archival footage and more.
014- Real Women Have Curves America Ferrera shines in a star-making performance as Ana, a Mexican-American teenager who's struggling to break free from her mother's old-world expectations, in this coming-of-age drama set in East Los Angeles. Ana wants to attend college so she can better herself, but she's needed in her sister's sewing sweatshop, where women labor to make dresses that are then sold for many times what the shop is paid to make them.
015- Sweet Land Norwegian-American farmer Olaf Torvik (Tim Guinee) and his rural Minnesotan community must struggle to overcome years of anti-German propaganda and prejudice when he discovers that his mail-order bride, Inge (Elizabeth Reaser), is not only a German but also an accidental Socialist. Writer Ali Selim also directs this Independent Spirit Award-winning tale of love's ability to triumph over ignorance.
016- Cassandra's Dream When two brothers turn to crime to solve their money troubles, they soon find themselves over their heads and pitted against each other in this thriller from Oscar-winning writer-director Woody Allen. Meanwhile, one brother (Ewan McGregor) becomes smitten with a beautiful young actress (Hayley Atwell), while his sibling (Colin Farrell) struggles with mounting gambling debts. Tom Wilkinson and Sally Hawkins co-star.
017- Trainspotting: Collector's Edition Danny Boyle's explosive 1996 film tracks the misadventures of young men (played by a cast that includes Ewan MacGregor, Robert Carlyle and Jon Lee Miller) trying to find their way out of joblessness, aimless relationships and drug addiction. Some are successful, while others are hopelessly not. Based on Irvine Walsh's novel, Trainspotting melds grit with poetry, resulting in a film of harsh truths and stunning grace.
018- Dead Man Only Jim Jarmusch could direct a Western like this: a poetry-loving American Indian mistakes accountant William Blake (Johnny Depp) for the English writer by the same name, while bounty hunters take Blake for a murderer. Jarmusch packs his independent-minded film with an unlikely collection of castmates, including Iggy Pop, Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt -- and Robert Mitchum, in one of his final big-screen roles.
019- Dogma Fallen angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), a gnarly demon (Jason Lee) and a half-baked apostle (Chris Rock) walk among America's cynics and innocents and duke it out for humankind's fate in director Kevin Smith's 1999 comic meditation on religion. A modern-day battle against evil takes place in suburban New Jersey, after an abortion clinic worker (Linda Fiorentino) gets a higher calling from two clueless prophets (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith).
020- Ghost World Mopey high schooler Enid (Thora Birch) and her equally disaffected friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) play a prank on a lonely, middle-aged man (Steve Buscemi). But when Enid strikes a connection with their victim, her growing fascination with him begins to test the girls' friendship and future. Directed by Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Bad Santa), the film is based on the cult graphic novel by Daniel Clowes.
021- Wristcutters: A Love Story Depressed over his breakup with girlfriend Desiree (Leslie Bibb), Zia (Patrick Fugit) slits his wrists, only to find himself sent to a bleak corner of the afterlife reserved for those who kill themselves in Goran Dukic's dark comic fantasy. When he learns that Desiree also commits suicide, he's joined by a pair of fellow lost souls (Shannyn Sossamon and Shea Whigham) on a quest to find her and see if love and happiness can exist even in death.
022- Lovely & Amazing Four spirited women tackle everything from relationships to careers in this captivating indie drama, starring Brenda Blethyn as an insecure mother who passed along bits of her neuroses to each of her three very different daughters. The eldest, Michelle (Catherine Keener), is an ex-homecoming queen in a loveless marriage; Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer) is an apprehensive actress; and the adopted Annie (Raven Goodwin) is a precocious 8-year-old.
023- Dogville When a mysterious woman (Nicole Kidman) claims she's being chased by hoodlums and needs a place to hide out, the residents of Dogville come to her rescue. But she must prove herself worthy of the privilege -- and win the trust of everyone in town. John Hurt narrates director Lars von Trier's meditation on small-town America, with an all-star cast that includes Paul Bettany, Chloë Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgård, Lauren Bacall and James Caan.
024- Music of the Heart In director Wes Craven's inspiring Oscar-nominated drama -- which is based on a true story -- violinist and single mother Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep) struggles to convince the administration at an East Harlem high school to let her establish a music program. Having won that battle, Guaspari nonetheless continues to face an uphill climb as budget cuts threaten her determined and deeply felt efforts to bring the arts to underprivileged kids.
025- Year of the Dog Molly Shannon stars in this quirky, canine-themed comedy written and directed by actor Mike White (School of Rock), with supporting performances from Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King and John C. Reilly. The film centers on an upbeat secretary (Shannon) whose life takes a temporary nosedive when her beloved dog, Pencil, suddenly dies. But in an unexpected trick, her pet's tragedy opens her up to transformation.

[ Back ]