Let the Fire Burn (2013, documentary) - An American racial and political wound is examined with masterful command

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+ Most Undeserved Flop of the Year + Best Philadelphia Movie of the Year

This colored B/W still-based poster for Jason Osder's Let the Fire Burn represents the incendiary historical event that it portrays

The city of Philadelphia through the 1970s and '80s had an escalating poor relation to the African revolutionary MOVE cult who lived there, which culminated one tragic day in 1985.

Let the Fire Burn is made by debuting documentarian Jason Osder (Ram Dass, Fierce Grace (2001, documentary), production assistant).
The story of the MOVE group, including its problematic sides; first and foremost brainwashing and severe malnutrition of its members' children, the confrontations between the group and the surrounding society, and the fallout of the eventual major tragedy are presented through gathered stock, news and legal footage and sources. Osder's structuring and complimenting on the content is role-model documentary filmmaking. Especially outrageous in this bitter misery is the testimony of the boy Michael Ward. 
The result is a compelling, insistent, important and deeply discouraging film: Let the Fire Burn stands as a monument for the Philadelphia that failed almost completely in its attempt to straighten an uncivilized group within itself, as well as an indirect exposure of racism in America. It is a must-see. 

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Have a look at the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission's first assembly in a clip here as a teaser for the film

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 64k $ (North America only)
= Uncertain - but undoubtedly a flop of some kind
[Let the Fire Burn premiered 29 April (Hot Docs Festival, Toronto, Canada) and runs 95 minutes. It was made with support from the George Washington University, where Osder is an assistant professor. The film opened #89 to a 5k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #66 and in 9 theaters. It was also shown at documentary festivals in the UK, Poland and Luxembourg, but doesn't have a publicized gross from there. No matter what the film cost to make, its tiny gross would be very unlikely to cover it. The film won an Independent Spirit award. Osder has not returned with anything of his own since; he has produced a couple of documentary credits in 2015 that are still not released. Let the Fire Burn is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Let the Fire Burn?

Wanderlust (2012) - Wain, Marino and stars Rudd and Aniston cause bellowing laughs in frank satire

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+ Best Comedy of the Year 
+ Best Satire of the Year

Make the jump with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston, this poster for David Wain's Wanderlust seems to beckon us

A sympathetic New-Yorker couple buy their first apartment and immediately fall into a difficult financial situation, which makes them make a radical shift in their lives, moving to a hippie commune called Elysium.

David Wain (Role Models (2008)) returns with a hilarious comedy, co-written by Wain and Ken Marino (Diggers (2006)), which gives Paul Rudd (The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)) and Jennifer Aniston (Derailed (2005)) plenty of space to be the terrific and very funny stars they are. - Especially Aniston is wonderful here, coming to the film with a blessed lot of enthusiasm, which also sees her coupled onscreen with her later husband Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive (2001)). (The two had met in 2008 and reconnected on this film; they eventually got hitched in 2015 and still are.)
Wanderlust is driven by snappy comedy, filled with fun lines and with a keen eye for the absurdities of both the hippie commune and the extremely consumerist lifestyle of Rudd's character's brother's family, which it is contrasted against.
Alan Alda (Gone Are the Days! (1963)) has a stellar supporting role, and Joe Lo Truglio (Escape My Life (2012, TV-series)) and co-writer-star Marino are also both strong as the commune's nudist and Rudd's super-douche brother, respectively.
Wanderlust doesn't reinvent the wheel, and not all in it succeeds, but it is an open-minded laugh-fest only a fool would reject.

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 23.8 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Wanderlust premiered 16 February (Los Angeles) and runs 98 minutes. Jessica Alba turned down the role that was eventually played by Malin Akerman. Filming took place in Georgia, including Atlanta, and in New York from September 2010 - ?. The film opened #8 to a disappointing 6.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 17.4 mil. $ (73.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1.7 mil. $ (7.1 %) and Mexico with 0.9 mil. $ (3.8 %). Video sales accrued an additional 3.8 mil. $. It doesn't change the film's status, if added to its theatrical gross. For some reason audiences didn't at all turn up in the kind of numbers needed in order to make the film a success. Wanderlust is fresh at 60 % with a 5.6 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Wanderlust?