DOGLEG

Programmers notes: Al Warren’s character-rich, sundrenched tableau of Los Angeles’ indie-film scene is a 21st century cinephile’s dream come true. While deftly working in satire rather than intrigue, Warren’s L.A. has much in common with The Long Goodbye—a collision of natural beauty and human folly where getting anywhere or getting anything done always feels harder than it seems like it should. And lest you worry that DOGLEG’s hilarious takes on millennial trends and film-bro privilege skew towards the mean-spirited, rest assured that the director has reserved the harshest barbs for himself; the film’s central thread comes with his character “Alan”’s quests to find a lost dog and shoot a scene of his independent movie, which increasingly take on After Hours-levels of misadventure. With nods to everything from Laurel and Hardy to Mulholland Drive and memorable turns from supporting players like Bridey Elliott, DeMorge Brown, and Dylan Redford, Dogleg arrives in Baltimore as one of the best independent films of the year—and 100% Ion Pack-approved.