Robert Frank

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.

Featuring a bevy of 1980's icons including Ralph Macchio, Ally Sheedy, Deborah Harry and Robin Givens, this offbeat comedy is the story of a hitman (Gary Stretch) who must, over the course of one long night, clean up the messes created over the past three years by the longtime friend (Michael Rapaport) for whom he once vouched to his greatly displeased organized crime bosses. Frank Whaley and Seymour Cassel also star in this third independent film collaboration from director Craig Singer, star Stretch, and screenwriter Robert Dean Klein. <!-- exceptions -->

Join Professor Robert Frank as he argues that in the next century Charles Darwin will unseat Adam Smith as the intellectual founder of economics.

The Prince of Arthur Avenue -- It's another lovely day in Little Italy: the sun is shining, the birds are singing - and an aging mobster is strolling down Arthur Avenue on his way to a meeting. Frank Bernardo, a man who is both respected and feared, has lived here all his life - in fact, he pretty much runs things around here - and although these days the neighborhood is packed with tourists, it's still a great place. Frank is greeted by his dependable capo, Sonny, at Frank's stylish restaurant, a place where reality seems to merge with the romance associated with mob life: just down the street is where 'The Godfather' hit scene was filmed; and in the next block is where a waiter named Joe Pesci was discovered by Robert De Niro. Here, over a bottle of Chianti, Frank Bernardo reminisces about the good old days, when mobsters got whatever they wanted - and when the code of 'onorta', or honor - still meant something. But it's still a violent and vindictive world - as we are soon reminded, when Frank orders Sonny to whack an associate. Sonny, whose sense of honor and duty is unbounded, accedes to Frank's command with scant protest; and he and Tony, a less-principled mobster, plan the job. But on Arthur Avenue, things are not always the way they seem - and Sonny finds himself confronted with an agonizing decision that will leave him no way out. Producer/director Terrence Knight turned downtown Olympia, Washington, into a facsimile of the Bronx to make 'The Prince of Arthur Avenue', an entertaining and exciting short about the anguished demands of honor in a violent world. It's a thrilling mob-genre action flick with a cryptic message and, above all, is entertaining as all hell. (rough language, violence) www.knightvisionmedia.net