A family unit is like a fragile ecosystem—the introduction of a foreign species can have dangerous ripple effects. In Ry Russo-Young’s Nobody Walks (co-written by Girls’ Lena Dunham), sexy gamine Martine (Olivia Thirlby) stays for a brief spell in the pool house of an L.A. clan, and changes everyone, for better and for worse. The film takes place over the course of a few hot, summery weeks during which Martine ... Read More

Remember when Bridesmaids came out and the world braced itself for an onslaught of outrageous, gross-out female comedies? Well, That’s What She Said, a raunchy new film fresh from Sundance, will inevitably be counted by those taking measure of the Bridesmaids revolution. Directed by Carrie Preston—best known for her role as waitress Arlene Fowler on HBO’s True Blood—the movie is about a fraying friendship soldiering ... Read More

  A story about a man paying someone to take his virginity sounds like your typical high school sex romp, but The Sessions is the furthest thing from that.     On the surface, the film is about Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes), a man who hires a sex surrogate, Cheryl Cohen Greene (Helen Hunt), to help him lose his virginity. He does so not because he’s just unlucky with women, but because he contracted polio ... Read More

  Daniel Barnz directs this narrative sister to the school-reform doc Waiting for Superman, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as two Pittsburgh mothers who want to fix their kids’ failing elementary school. Gyllenhaal plays an Erin Brockovich-like character with tattoos, heels, and an “I’m not an activist, I’m just a mom working two jobs” mentality. Her daughter is dyslexic, but neither ... Read More

Mike Birbiglia has released three comedy albums, starred in three Comedy Central specials, is a regular contributor to This American Life, and both wrote and starred in two award-winning off-Broadway one-man shows. But even he struggles with staying professional from time to time. During filming for Sleepwalk With Me—the new movie he co-wrote, directed, and stars in based on his sleep disorders and love life—he had to make ... Read More