In Theaters This Weekend: Giamatti Plays Giamatti, Mumblecore and More

A scene from Sophie Barthes' "Cold Souls." Image courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

The latest entry in the mumblecore canon, a hard-hitting Turkish film, and two hits from Sundance are among the crop of movies opening this weekend at the specialty box office.

Andrew Bujalski's indie take on the "legal thriller," "Beeswax," has got critics (once again) debating the merits of mumblecore.

Reviewers are also divided over "Paper Heart," a comic doc starring Charlyne Yi. Following the film's premiere at Sundance earlier this year, Steve Ramos writing for indieWIRE called Yi the "drollest comic working today...her deadpan style makes 'Paper Heart'...a fresh, irreverent road comedy."

Another Sundance hit, Sophie Barthes' "Cold Souls," also opens this week. "Cynics might consider it 'Being John Malkovich' with slightly modified symbolism, but 'Cold Souls' deserves better than that," wrote critic Eric Kohn for indieWIRE about the film, which is garnering comparisons to Charlie Kaufman's work, not least because of its meta-narrative structure which finds Paul Giamatti playing...Paul Giamatti.

Other options this weekend include Abdullah Oguz's "Bliss," which tackles the controversial subject of honor killings in Turkey (the New York Times' Stephen Holden writes that "this consistently gripping, visually intoxicating film stands as a landmark of contemporary Turkish cinema"), Glenn McQuaid's horror film "I Sell the Dead," and the documentary "Smile ‘Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story," screening in New York and LA as part of DocuWeeks.

For more information on the movies opening this weekend and for links to reviews and trailers, check out the film pages below:

Andrew Bujalski's Beeswax
Abdullah Oguz's Bliss
Sophie Barthes' Cold Souls
Glenn McQuaid's I Sell the Dead
Nicholas Jasenovec's Paper Heart
Lee Storey's Smile ‘Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story