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Bend It Like Beckham directed by Gurinder Chadha New this week on DVD is this year's indie smash-hit Bend It Like Beckham, the charmingly uplifting story of a girl's struggle to play soccer despite her family's disapproval. Spending every spare moment playing soccer and idolizing the techniques of British soccer superstar David Beckham, Jess Bhamra (Parminder K. Nagra) is constantly subjected to her parents' pleas that she lead a more normal life, following the proper Indian traditions for a girl her age -- namely forgetting soccer, going to college, and marrying a nice Indian boy, just like her older sister did. While playing in a pick-up match in the park one day, she meets Jules (rising star Keira Knightley) a girl whose soccer dreams mirror her own. The two become fast friends and secretly join an all-girls soccer team coached by handsome ex-pro Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), combining their skills to spur their team to victory. As the team's drive toward the championship grows more difficult, Jess finds her relationships with her family and Jules tested, and she must find a way to balance her emotions with her goals and dreams and still win the game. (more) Buy Bend It Like Beckham on DVD    Ask A Filmmaker This week: screenwriter John August ponders whether or not it is better to be the last writer on a script, Penelope Spheeris assesses the impact of a degree on a career in film, and Oliver Stapleton discusses the marketability of a digitally shot film. New to Ask a Filmmaker? Catch up on past columns in our archive. Indie Update... In Theaters Currently open in limited release is Bubba Ho-tep, Don Coscarelli's latest bid to earn a permanent place in the cult film hall of fame. Evolved from a short story by Joe R. Lansdale that was originally written for inclusion in a not-yet-realized anthology of stories about Elvis Presley, the film tells the tale of the elderly Elvis Presley (played by cult icon Bruce Campbell), now living in a rest home in East Texas. How can that be? The story as a whole is based on the premise that Elvis, overcome by the pressures of fame, switched places with an average guy in Texas, only to be trapped in the false persona when the Elvis imposter passed away in 1977. Now a 68 year old confined to the decrepit nursing home, he is increasingly frustrated that no one will believe he is actually Elvis, except for another resident of the home (Ossie Davis) who, despite his appearance as an elderly black man, reveals that he is actually President John F. Kennedy. Their friendship turns out to be a fortunate occurrence when it is discovered that an ancient Egyptian spirit is killing their fellow residents, and they must form an alliance to fight the evil mummy and save their rest home compatriots from complete annihilation. Long live the King, indeed! Read more about Bubba Ho-Tep.        Indie/art house films in various stages of release: My Life Without Me, Lost in Translation, Dummy, Party Monster, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, Bubba Ho-tep, Dirty Pretty Things, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Masked & Anonymous, Swimming Pool, 28 Days Later, The Magdalene Sisters, Whale Rider, Together, I Capture the Castle, Spellbound, Owning Mahowny, Step Into Liquid, Thirteen

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