No, my goal is not to disparage big Hollywood films. I love blockbusters as much as the next guy. If, however, you sometimes get out of your house or turn your TV on, you will easily see posters and trailers everywhere to advertise them. So don't be mad at me for proclaiming my love of arthouse films. They need all the love they can get to have their brief day in theaters and not be eaten by the Hollywood fare. So let's take the time to get to know this week's two limited releases a little bit better.

Today's first film, the first of two set to open Aug. 1, will appropriately illustrate the point of diversity, as Midnight Meat Train clearly is not your typical arthouse feature, but rather a $15 million thriller that happens to be getting a release by its distributor, Lionsgate, on a limited scale. The film tells the story of a photographer (Bradley Cooper) who, while taking pictures in the New York subway , witnesses a particularly gruesome murder. The photographer has been looking for a subject of study for a gallery exhibition, and starts following the perpetrator of the crime, a violent serial killer (Vinnie Jones).

If you don't dig for information a bit, Midnight Meat Train most definitely looks like just another serial killer movie, one that you could easily picture being released in 2,000 theaters in the middle of January. And yet ... it might just be worthy of more consideration than you'd expect. And the first reason for thinking so is Ryuhei Kitamura. The man behind the camera is well known to lovers of Asian genre films, having brought the world such highly considered features as Versus, Azumi and Godzilla: Final Wars. Midnight Meat Train is Kitamura's U.S. debut, and he's taken that leap by tackling a short story by acclaimed horror writer Clive Barker. Barker has been adapted more than once, which, to be honest, has mostly resulted in poor movies. So the most surprising thing about Midnight Meat Train is the word of mouth and early reviews of the film: both are favorable. Some might even say very favorable.

So favorable that Barker himself has taken up for the film. Because here comes the trouble with Midnight Meat Train: Lionsgate seems to want to dump it into theaters rather than properly launch it. Once envisioned as a late spring wide release, MMT was yanked around and eventually bumped back to August, when it appears the film will open in 100 or so theaters. Yes, it's that dreaded release pattern Fantasy Moguls players hate: far too limited for the film to pack any box-office punch, but way too wide for it to score in the PTA category. Barker, proud of Kitamura's cinematic vision of his story, has thrown down the gauntlet, opposing Lionsgate's release strategy and exhorting his fans to flood studio chief Joe Drake with their letters of protests. Will it be enough? With the release of the film so near, it seems improbable that Lionsgate will do anything to resolve the feud.

The result for Fantasy Moguls players is quite simple: Don't book any travel on Midnight Meat Train. If the word of mouth is true, then the User Rating might be much better than the 5.1 score that's projected, but that would be the only value of picking up this film, which has no box-office, Top 5 or PTA prospects whatsoever at the moment.

On the other end of the limited releases spectrum is Frozen River, a film made for next to nothing (relatively speaking) that hopes to take advantage of its late summer release not as a pre-DVD sales preview, but as clever counterprogramming to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and its Hollywood ilk. The R-rated first feature by Courtney Hunt is firmly in the arthouse realm. A drama that takes place on the Mohawk Reservation, between the upstate New York and the Canadian province of Quebec, Frozen River follows two desperate single mothers, one white and one Mohawk, who team up to smuggle illegal immigrants in order to make some money.

Last January, Frozen River was a surprise sensation at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the coveted Grand Jury Prize that in the past has been awarded to such films as Blood Simple, The Brothers McMullen, Welcome to the Dollhouse and American Splendor. Despite its accolades, the film was not one of those that trigger a bidding war, with specialty studios throwing down millions of dollars to put their label on it. It was purchased by Sony Pictures Classics for less than $1 million, just like it was produced for less (much less, in fact) than $1 million. With a cast of low-profile actors led by Melissa Leo, probably best known for her strong supporting roles in 21 Grams and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Hunt's first feature clearly won't break box-office records. The $4 million Fantasy Moguls projects is almost surely far higher than it will go.

On the other hand, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winners often end up displaying strong PTA numbers on opening weekends, especially when there is little competition. And when you look at it, there's a neat window for Frozen River, as the only films around it with real PTA potential are either opening wide, or opening later on in August.

With an $8 price tag in July-September Ultimate Movie Moguls leagues, Frozen River is still, in my opinion, a bit too expensive. The emotionally obscure subject matter of the film may prevent it from grabbing an impressive IMDb number (around 6.5 probably), while box office and especially Top 5 are certain to be nonexistent. You may grab some PTA, but even with great results from its New York and Los Angeles debut, I don't see it earning more than 6 or 7 points. Maybe Sony Pictures Classics's strategy of including in the trailer words of praise from Sundance jurist Quentin Tarantino will pay off draw in a few more viewers than just the film buffs who will want to see the latest Sundance winner. (QT's exact quote: "This completely naturalistic movie is one of the most exciting thrillers I've seen this year.")

And so I close the latest chapter of Dances with the Arthouse. It was a short chapter, I know, but you know how summer is still a bit allergic to independent cinema. Maybe not as much as I am allergic to Hollywood remakes of fantastic Asian films. (Yes, even when Marty Scorsese makes them with Leo DiCaprio. At least Marty and Leo have more to offer than, say, than Gore Verbinski and Naomi Watts. And how about when Asian directors remake their films themselves? Anyway ...) The coming weeks of August are picked even cleaner of arthouse fare, but I'll still see you next week!

Indie Jones is much more excited about the perfect macaroon than about whether Dark Water or The Eye is a better Asian horror knockoff. Send you own favorite macaroon recipes to danceswiththearthouse@gmail.com.