Mumblecore grows up: The new Andrew Buljaski and Ry Russo Young

There’s something distinctly Bush era about mumblecore (there, I said it) and the narcissistic, reductive, unengaged worldview that these films generally contain. Micro indies about comfortable yet jobless or marginally employed Caucasian-American young adults looking for love, at least the ones produced in droves during much of this decade, never made much of an impression with me, I’m sorry. Why make a movie if you have nothing to say?

This being the case, I’m very happy to report that two of the most promising figures to arise from these ranks have new films…Ry Russo-Young’s You Won’t Miss Me and Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax both center on young women (in Beeswax’s case, a pair) and feature, in their very different ways, remarkably empathetic portraits of individuals trying to make their way in the world and come to terms with their own vices and limitations.

Buljaski’s back!