Out this week is the romantic drama "Charlie St. Cloud", comedy "Dinner for Schmucks", and kids’ movie, “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”. I can’t believe the studios found a way to make writers everywhere put that sentence down…anyway, there are seven more films at the box office this weekend that you need to know about. It’s a great weekend for indie and documentary lovers. 

“Smash His Camera” is a documentary about one of, if not the original paparazzo, Ron Gallela. Gallela introduced the world to the strange combination of stalker/photographer that America’s growing celebrity-hungry culture is at least partially responsible for. Gallela’s photographs, however, are a far cry from the tabloid magazine photos of today. Many are artistic, haunting, and revealing. This documentary explores his controversial art.

“What’s the Matter with Kansas?” is a fascinating documentary that takes a look at the raucous culture of a typically quiet state. The film follows a radical church full of political activists that splinters off into different cells, with some meeting in a hotel and others in a theme park. In a counter movement, a farmer takes a progressive message all the way to Washington D.C.

“Who Killed Nancy?” is a documentary that reopens the case of Nancy Spungen’s murder. Spungen is a legend in punk history, having dated Sid Vicious in a notoriously unstable relationship. When Vicious died a mere few months later of a heroine overdose, police considered the case closed, having named Vicious as a suspect right away. But Spungen’s mother begged for someone to view the case more closely and this film intends to do so after combing through hundreds of hours of interviews, evidence, and photos. 

“The Concert” is a sweet comedy about a down and out Russian conductor. When he intercepts an invitation to play at the Bolshoi, which was meant to go to someone else, he undertakes a scheme to return to his glory days and play the Bolshoi again. With a band of rag-tag musicians at his side, he attempts to prepare for an impossible caper, masquerading as another famous conductor in order to take the stage with his newly assembled orchestra. When he discovers love along the way in the form of a young violinist, the tale becomes complicated.

“The Extra Man” is the tale of a quirky young eccentric who finally sets out to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer in New York City after being fired from his job as a teacher. When he rents a room from a man even more eccentric than himself (played by Kevin Kline) he takes on the role of tutor to learn the ways of becoming the “extra man”, a male escort for wealthy ladies attending the opera.

“Get Low” is Robert Duvall’s latest exercise in filmmaking. Duvall’s films have been praised before, as he has taken the Kevin Costner approach of doing just about everything himself, from writing to directing to starring. This time, he sets out to recreate an old fable, that of the strange country man in the 1930’s who throws his own funeral in the small town where he is an outcast. The film is funny and light, but also takes on meaningful swells of emotion in the third act, where we learn just exactly what this misunderstood town outcast has to say at his own memorial service.

“The Dry Land” is the tale of an Iraq War veteran come home to his small Texas town. There he walks through the valley of post-traumatic stress syndrome, isolating his young wife and other family members. But things look up when he meets a fellow war veteran and is able to connect the depression and trauma with his current life and can begin to walk it out. This film goes beyond the basic idea of PTSD and deep into the characters’ emotional lives.