Over the past two weeks, I’ve reviewed two exceptional new independent American films for Cine-File Chicago: Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth, which continues at the Music Box Theatre (for its second week) through Thursday, and John Magary’s The Mend, which opened at the Facets Cinematheque Friday and also runs through Thursday. Both films focus on “unlikable” central characters but distinguish themselves from other recent indie fare through superb lead performances and by each director’s unusually ambitious and accomplished sense of aesthetics: Perry’s movie was beautifully shot on 16mm film by the great young D.P. Sean Price Williams and Magary goes bananas with his Arnaud Desplechin-like “whatever works” grab-bag of styles.

You can read my review of Queen of Earth here.

You can read my review of The Mend here.

Random thought: I recently noted that those who’ve seen both Love and Mercy and Straight Outta Compton may wonder when it became a rule for biopics of musicians to feature Paul Giamatti in a bad hairpiece. In a similar vein, those who see The Mend after Frances Ha may want to know why everyone wants to ejaculate on poor Mickey Sumner’s face.