*TIM BURTON DROPS HIS LATEST MEGAWATT PASTICHE THINGY. Burton’s go-to pairing, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, are of course involved. But so are Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Crispin Glover, and an underused Anne Hathaway. With these types onboard, and a sturdy pair of Buddy Holly-style 3D specs on the bridge of your nose, there’s no shortage of breathtaking shit going on.

*THIS WEEK IN CSI ON STEROIDS: The Red Riding trilogy explodes all over Landmark E Street Cinema. Says the redoubtable Tricia O.:

There is much to admire but little to enjoy in the Red Riding trilogy, a series of interlocking thrillers loosely based on the true story of an English serial killer who preyed on West Yorkshire women in the 1970s. Adapted for television from four David Peace novels, the films aired across the pond in 2009 and will be opening simultaneously as three separate admissions at Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Consider the collective 305-minute procedural a pricey, slightly slicker Law & Order marathon.

*YOUR WEEKLY SUNDAY FIX OF SWEDISH ARTHOUSE: Jan Troell speaks at the National Gallery East Building.

Below the jump: Two highlights from the D.C. Independent Film Festival. Enjoy!

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead – A good barometer for whether you’ll enjoy this film is its title. Sean Lennon (John Lennon‘s son) scores and Jake Hoffman (Dustin Hoffman‘s son) stars in this Jordan Galland film, which delivers the suggested premise.  Though the movie isn’t loaded with as many Shakespearean allusions as you might think, it’s full of goofy cinematic and literary puns and all the vampire humor you could want.  The plot gets a little convoluted during the play-within-a-play-within-a-movie, but in an absurd film like this, the ridiculous is more than welcome.


 —Ryan Little

When It Will Be Silent — In this stark, wordless short, a man in a mask buries his dead wife.  The fact that it’s set in the demilitarized zone between Jordan and Israel adds a political layer to the film, but it’s powerful even without that knowledge.  Dan Sachar directs the traumatic scene with an unflinching eye—maximum impact in a compact timeframe.  The simple desperation of the lovelorn protagonist is not easy to forget.
 —RL