'Post Tenebras Lux's' Carlos Reygadas is polarizing

When "Post Tenebras Lux" premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, it was mostly met with boos and pans, yet days later Carlos Reygadas...

'The Source Family' documentary draws an L.A. crowd

It's a quintessential only-in-L.A. story, one that combines sex, drugs, rock and roll, glamour, money, celebrity, hang gliding, health...

'The Spectacular Now' director James Ponsoldt to adapt 'Pippin'

Making two indie films about the drinking problems of young people might not immediately seem to put one in line for adapting a beloved&...

Forest Whitaker, Orlando Bloom thriller 'Zulu' to close Cannes

The police thriller "Zulu," set and shot in South Africa, will close the 66th Cannes Film Festival on May 26. Starring Forest Whitaker and...

'To the Wonder' producers and Ben Affleck on Ebert's final review

When news broke a week ago of the death of film critic Roger Ebert, his last published review at the time was a lukewarm notice of sci-fi...

'Gimme the Loot' director says film 'hit the jackpot'

With its loose, freewheeling style, the unassuming "Gimme the Loot" has already led something of a charmed life. The film picked up the...

'Spring Breakers' is one big disorienting party

It remains to be seen whether "Spring Breakers" turns out to be one of the movies of the year, but it is without question a movie of its...

Lars von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac' hooks up with Magnolia Pictures

If there were some kind of cinematic mad lib invented for maximum potential art house outrage, Danish filmmaker/provocateur Lars von Trier&...

The independent film breakout stars of 2012

Independent filmmaking often acts as a farm team of sorts for Hollywood, a showcase for performers and filmmakers who go on to bigger, if...

'West of Memphis' full of real-life twists and turns

One might assume that a story already covered by a trilogy of documentaries, numerous books, countless articles and with a trail of...

L.A. Times launches free Indie Focus film series at Laemmle NoHo

The L.A. Times is expanding its events for movie lovers with a new, free ...

Indie Focus: Which pretty new face will Oscars embrace?

Though many are befuddled this year by the new Oscar math, perhaps unable to parse just how many votes it will take to land a best picture...

Indie Focus: 'Night Catches Us' examines the Black Panthers circa 1976

Recent films such as "Carlos," "The Baader Meinhof Complex" and "Che" have looked at the blowback and aftermath of the revolutionary...

Indie Focus: Bill Plympton and animation for grown-ups

Animated features have long been the favored medium for telling kid-friendly stories about princesses and cuddly creatures. But if New York-...