Quick Facts: won a Caméra D'Or at the Cannes Festival and the Special Jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival (both in 2011); shot in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, Calif.; alternate title: “Satisfaction.”

In an independent film scene which has been stagnant of late filmmaker Miranda July is a breath of fresh air. The Berkeley, California-born, filmmaker who reminds one of a more sprightly Michel Gondry mixed with a dash of Todd Solondz, is also a performance artist and a writer.

The film, aloof and repetitive, follows Mohammad (Gallo), an Afghani fighter from the Taliban, as he attempts to dodge the U.S. Army. The topic is news-worthy and that can help a movie nowadays (“The Hurt Locker”)—or not (“In the Valley of Elah”). But rather than provide the thrills of a hunt movie “Essential” leaves you cold--it’s as if you’re watching a video game of a hunt stuck on autoplay. And a prerequisite of hunt movies is that they desperately need you to connect with the guy being chased--otherwise the movie bombs.

[post_author_posts_link] [post_date] [post_comments] [post_edit] More frequently than not I get [...]

[post_author_posts_link] [post_date] [post_comments] [post_edit] The tweetosphere is alive with the [...]

Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. Starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Niels [...]

Directed by André Øvredal. Starring Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, [...]

Directed by Christina Yao. Starring Aaron Kwok, Jennifer Tilly and [...]