The Motels

What makes characters unlikeable? When they say or do things that we d do ourselves, given the opportunity to do so without any social repercussions? And why are we impelled to demand characters that are likeable in the first place? In his second feature, writer-director Alex Ross Perry picks up the baton of shame and self-loathing from the novels of Philip Roth, mixes it with the films of Vincent Gallo and Jerry Lewis, and drives it down the psychosexual American highway, revelling in awkwardness and embarrassment. JR (co-writer Carlen Altman), an aspiring weather girl whose celebrity crush is Moses (yes, from the Bible) and unaspiring writer Colin (director Perry, who could be voicing a Muppet), are a bickering brother and sister, travelling on the road to reclaim JR s belongings from the apartment she shared with her professor-lover. This is mainly a pretext to throw these warped siblings with raging ids together in motels, diners, bathrooms (many bathrooms) and public settings including a party from hell and observe their logorrheic-driven superiority to all whom they encounter. Shot on black-and-white 16mm to resemble Robert Frank s The Americans and with rapid-fire Hawksian comedic dialogue, The Color Wheel is a daring, adventurous film that might work extra hard not to be loved, but succeeds as a unique construction in the current landscape of post-mumblecore American indies it s a dark and twisted comedy that pushes the rules to their appalling limits.

Trailer for Janie Jones. A faded rock star is forced to take responsibility for the daughter he never knew he had in Janie Jones, a funny and touching road trip through the world of rock 'n' roll from writer-director David M. Rosenthal, inspired by his own experiences. Rocker Ethan Brand (Alessandro Nivola) and his band, the Ethan Brand Experience, are on the comeback trail when a former flame (Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue) drops a bomb in his lap their 13-year-old daughter, Janie Jones (Abigail Breslin). Ethan refuses to believe Janie is his kid, but when her mom suddenly leaves for rehab, the child has no place to go but with the band. With no inclination toward fatherhood, Ethan continues his hard-living ways, leaving Janie to fend for herself in the dive bars and sleazy motels along the way. As his drug- and booze-fueled antics take their toll on and off stage, the band deserts him one by one, until he and Janie are left alone. Desperate to finish the tour and revive his career, Ethan stays on the road as a solo act with Janie in tow. As Ethan's self-destructive spiral threatens to derail his comeback, Janie uses her own surprising musical talents to help guide him down the rocky road to redemption.

A faded rock star is forced to take responsibility for the daughter he never knew he had in Janie Jones, a funny and touching road trip through the world of rock 'n' roll from writer-director David M. Rosenthal (Falling Up), inspired by his own experiences. Rocker Ethan Brand (Alessandro Nivola) and his band, the Ethan Brand Experience, are on the comeback trail when a former flame (Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue) drops a bomb in his lap-their 13-year-old daughter, Janie Jones (Abigail Breslin). Ethan refuses to believe Janie is his kid, but when her mom suddenly leaves for rehab, the child has no place to go but with the band. With no inclination toward fatherhood, Ethan continues his hard-living ways, leaving Janie to fend for herself in the dive bars and sleazy motels along the way. As his drug- and booze-fueled antics take their toll on and off stage, the band deserts him one by one, until he and Janie are left alone. Desperate to finish the tour and revive his career, Ethan stays on the road as a solo act with Janie in tow. As Ethan's self-destructive spiral threatens to derail his comeback, Janie uses her own surprising musical talents to help guide him down the rocky road to redemption.

Legacy -- A mother and her eleven year old daughter only know a life of poverty and living in run down motels. Their fate is to descend further into misery and secluded sadness.