Tuesday, August 2, 2016

'There is a New World Somewhere' iTunes & VOD: Strangers on a Road Trip


Gravitas Ventures continues its awesome tradition of bringing intriguing art-house films to your living room with the August 2, 2016 iTunes/VOD premieres of the 2015 indie drama "There is a a New World Somewhere" following a great festival circuit run. This film about a disaffected 20-something artist running off with an intriguing former aspiring rocker is notable for winning two best first-feature awards for Chinese-American director Li Lu.

The following YouTube clip of the "Somewhere" trailer validates the accolades for the art of Lu.


Prolific actress Agnes Bruckner, whose most recent project is the A&E version of the French series "The Returned," stars as recently formerly aspiring painter Sylvia. Her adventure begins soon after returning to Austin for the wedding of a college friend.

Having recently been fired from a gallery job in New York for foolishly believing that any of us are entitled to anything, Sylvia meets wonderfully monikered dark and mysterious stranger Esteban at a party that is a sort of a homecoming. Even more prolific actor Maurice Compote, who arguably is best known for playing Cole on the second season of "24," plays Esteban. (Yes, this name is as much fun to write as it is to say.) As an aside, an adorkable goofy sheepheaded classmate steals the party scene. Sylvia speaks for all of us in petting this labradoodle on the head and giving him a warm smile. 

Sylvia and Esteban soon discovering that the other is too cool for school reunions rapidly leads to the pair making a date. This, in turn, leads to Sylvia offensively telling her best friends and supporters "forget" all ya all and running off on a road trip with Esteban. 

This "On the Road" style journey soon teaches Sylvia that getting to know your traveling and bed partner before granting someone either status makes sense. Both their conversations and snooping through personal belongings also cause Sylvia to realize that she really does not know with whom she is travelling. Her subsequent probing consequently increases the tension between the pair.

The beautiful on-location scenes in cities such as New Orleans and Memphis and Americana locales such as an authentic roadside diner greatly add to entertaining indie vibe of "Somewhere." This is not to mention the quirky characters, including an older man who perfectly puts Sylvia the tease in her place, that our wandering minstrel and his wench encounter.

This sure-to-be-a-cult-classic character study works because it seems to reflect the psyche of modern 20-something women who discover the harsh truths that most of us are not very special and that life is not a grand adventure. It further reflects that the enduring myth of happily riding off into the sunset with Prince Charming really is a fractured fairy tale.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Somewhere" is encouraged to email me. You can also connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.


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