As ever, Memorial Day will be a pretty big weekend for the movies. On the tentpole front, "Men In Black 3" hopes to unseat the still-dominant "The Avengers." And on the indie front, Wes Anderson's much-anticipated "Moonrise Kingdom" is opening in limited release and sure to draw crowds, while The Weinstein Company are also opening crowd-pleasing foreign flick "The Untouchables." But there's one little film flying under the radar that deserves your attention as much as anything else in release: Norwegian director Joachim Trier's "Oslo August 31st."
Trier became a Playlist favorite a few years back thanks to his debut "Reprise," and he's reteamed with the star of that film, Anders Danielsen Lee, for a powerful tale of a recovering drug addict, recently released from rehab, who sets out to connect with old friends, family and lovers. It sounds like depressing stuff, but it's a vibrant, beautifully made and acted film, and this writer named it one of his ten favorite films of last year. Now, a full year on from its premiere at Cannes, the film's finally making it to U.S. shores, courtesy of Strand Releasing, this week and to celebrate the occasion, we're premiering an exclusive clip, which features Danielsen Lee's protagonist being forced to share an anecdote at a party. And you can see the rest of the film from this Friday, May 25th.