Boy, I'm losing track already. I'm sure I can blame Morgan Spurlock for that. Of course I can! His new film offers adventure, suspense, humor — the qualities of a great Hollywood entertainment. And yet, the film is ... a political documentary? There is more to any film than just the sum of its ingredients. That's the beauty of cinema, ladies and gentlemen. You go to a theater for a war movie, a monster movie, or a quirky comedy, and sometimes you end up witnessing a genre-defining movie experience, like The Thin Red Line, The Host or Amelie. Before I become the laughingstock of Fantasy Moguls, however, let me get this straight: Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? probably won't be such a surprise. It's the only arthouse release of the weekend of April 18, however, so why not dream, right? This week, I'll also take a look at a couple of indie films opening this summer. Those are ... naaaaah, you don't expect me to blow the suspense right away, do you? Be patient.

Only a handful of documentary filmmakers can be considered "famous." Usually, they stay in the shade and can build a strong career in their field without ever gaining recognition from audiences. It took only one film, though, to make Morgan Spurlock a star of the docu genre. Will his second, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, confirm that all-star status? Spurlock broke through in 2004. While everyone was watching for Michael Moore's contoversary Farenheit 9/11, which would later pulverize box-office records for a documentary, a 33-year-old nobody, Morgan Spurlock, made a sensation with his documentary shining the light of truth (and humour) into the dark world of fast-food alimentary habits, and their consequences on one's health. The film debuted at Sundance and became the arthouse flick that everyone was talking about. Produced with a budget of mere thousands of dollars, Super Size Me generated more than $11 million at the U.S. box-office, and about the same amount internationally.

Thrust into the limelight by his documentary, Spurlock instantly became a name and a face in the American cinema, following in the footsteps of Michael Moore and his trademark approach to documentary filmmaking. Four years after breaking out, Spurlock, who many people probably thought would never direct again (it looked so much like a one-time experience of an Average Joe), is back in quite an unexpected place: trailing the war on terror. Who would have thought Spurlock would travel through the Middle East, asking everyone he meets where is Osama Bin Laden? It looks like a joke at first (the poster spoofing Indiana Jones helps to think so). Then you see images of the film, however, and realize that, not only does Spurlock wander in hot places, often near combat zones, but that the real purpose of the film might be to unmake America's preconceived ideas concerning Muslim countries, and the people living there.

The search for Bin Laden would then be more of a pretext, a selling argument. The problem with such filmmakers is that they tend to annoy a lot of people, and attract a lot of cold reviews, criticized for their own mise en scène, for putting themselves ahead of their subject. Tackling America's war on terror also does not help one make friends. It does demonstrate a filmmaker's guts, and give him and his film a lot of publicity. There's no such thing as bad publicity, right? Besides, Spurlock proved he could add a lot of humor to his films, and humor always helps when it comes to seduce audiences.

The Weinstein Brothers, who successfully released Farenheit 9/11 through Miramax back in the day, are now distributing Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, which was the recipient of muted, decidedly mixed praise at Sundance in January. You know the refrain of course: The brothers have lost their magic lately, and their name is no longer synonymous of triumph (far from it, in fact). But here's the situation: April offers a lot of space for ambitious prestige pictures. Spurlock's film is the only arthouse release of its particular weekend, and it would take a really deceitful release strategy from the Weinstein Company to not make Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? an interesting Fantasy Moguls pick in Ultimate Movie Moguls leagues. Everyone's curious about Spurlock's follow-up to Super Size Me, the theme is political and controversial, and the documentary genre often packs theaters. It should bring five PTA points, minimum, plus a few million dollars at the box-office and a very decent User Rating, between 6.5 and 7. It's a good option for its $7 price tag.

And now, with the week of April 18 being poor in terms of arthouse films, I've chosen a couple to present to you in advance. Both are scheduled to open this summer:

The first one is The Wackness (July 2). It is the second feature film of Jonathan Levine, who's mostly known for directing a film that has yet to be released in the U.S., All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. The Wackness is set in Manhattan in the summer of 1994, and tells the story of a high school dope dealer who befriends his shrink/client and falls for the shrink's stepdaughter. One might think it would be hard to get a second movie off the ground when the first one still is struggling to find distribution almost two years after its Toronto Film Festival premiere, but that won't be the case for Levine and his Wackness. That film was a standout hit at last January's Sundance Film Festival, earning rave reviews and collecting the coveted Audience Award in the Drama Competition. Unsurprisingly, the film had no problem finding a distributor, Sony Pictures Classics. In addition to the great buzz surrounding the film, The Wackness is sure to benefit from it performers' aura, in particular that of Ben Kingsley as the pot-smoking shrink. An interesting counter-programming to Will Smith's traditional Fourth of July blockbuster.

The second summer arthouse release worth watching for is Hamlet 2 (August 22). Don't run away disgusted thinking somebody lost his mind and created an unnecessary sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is more prosaic, and way cooler than that. Hamlet 2 tells of a high school drama teacher who, in order to save his job, decides to write a sequel to Shakespeare's famous play. The comedic potential of such a pitch is reinforced when you consider the fact that British comic Steve Coogan plays the lead role of the failed-actor turned drama teacher who comes up with that crazy Hamlet 2.

Coogan's being trying to make it in American cinema for quite a few years now but, like the character he portrays, has more or less failed at his attempt. Yet no matter what you think of the man, he has a talent at giving life to pathetic and delicious characters (the finest example being A Cock and Bull Story). Like The Wackness, Hamlet 2 debuted at Sundance, where it gathered mixed reviews but a word of mouth calling the film "hilarious." Of course, you could get scared by the name of the director, Andrew Fleming. This is the guy behind such unnecessary films as Nancy Drew and the flashy remake of The In-Laws. But if you're like me, you'll be ready to give him another chance just because he directed an episode of Arrested Development. If he was associated to that show, then he can't be all bad!! Focus Features bought Hamlet 2 at Sundance for the whopping price of $10 million. Believe me, they'll put hard work at giving it a more than decent release. After all, everybody remembers what happened to Happy, Texas, and nobody wants to repeat the same mistake.

That's all folks! (Is there a copyright to that catchphrase?) We are smoothly moving towards summer, as next week I will already be chronicling the last weekend of April. It will be another occasion to talk about political documentaries — but hey, let's not think about that now. Now is the time to put the final touches to your April/June leagues. Now is time to finally catch Be Kind Rewind if you haven't yet. Now is time to confess: My name is Indie, and I am addicted to cinema. And I'm not even ashamed of that. (Grin.)

Indie Jones's name isn't really Indie. Duh, that's just his nom de plume. He really is addicted to cinema, though, and definitely not ashamed of it. Confess your own good habits to danceswiththearthouse@gmail.com.