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This is not your father's Western. One of the things I like about the poster for Kelly Reichardt’s new film, Meek’s Cutoff, is that it isn't quite what you'd expect and it lets you know that the film is going to be similarly unique. It took me a while to come around to it. Though I liked the illustration—and I always feel that there isn't enough illustration in contemporary movie posters—I wasn't immediately sold on the typography: I think I wanted something more traditionally Western perhaps, something with a weathered woodcut feel, something more obvious. The "Cutoff" and much of the other type looked right, but that sans serif "Meek's" bothered me. The UK version of the poster is nicely done (weathered woodcut type and all), and might sell more tickets, but it is also much more conventional. It doesn't tell you that Meek's Cutoff is...

Summer, 1995. Safe. The Usual Suspects. Kids. Living in Oblivion. Double Happiness. The Brothers McMullen. The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love. Art for Teachers of Children. All in the same issue. What a quarter for independent film releases! Julianne Moore from Safe was on the cover, inaugurating our irregular tradition of the big-head cover photo. Larry Gross interviewed Haynes, and it’s a great interview. An excerpt: Gross: Leaving the world of the film for just a second, do you ever feel ambivalent about making a film that’s this pessimistic? Is somebody watching the film gonna say “I should give up, there’s no hope” or do the opposite and develop a new political awareness at the end? Haynes:...