BY JOE REID |

This Weekend's Indies: 'Touchy Feely,' 'Salinger,' and More

Opening in limited release today: docs on J.D. Salinger and red wine, a comedy about touch and a drama about taboo attractions. Plus Jennifer Hudson as Winnie Mandela.

This Weekend's Indies: 'Touchy Feely,' 'Salinger,' and More

Touchy Feely: Writer/director Lynn Shelton has become a critical favorite for her funny, humane, affecting comedies like Humpday and Your Sister's Sister. Here, she reunited with one of her stars of that latter film, Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays a massage therapist who one day discovers an aversion to human contact. The supporting cast is brimming with talent, including Allison Janney, Ellen Page, Scoot McNairy, and Josh Pais, and it's a slight departure in tone from a director who once mined in so-called "mumblecore" filmmaking.

Adore: Robin Wright and Naomi Watts play best friends who end up sexually involved with one-another's teenage sons, and if that's not enough to rope you in, you could consider that the sons are played by James Frencheville (Animal Kindom) and Xavier Samuel (Anonymous), and that the whole thing is based off of a Doris Lessing novel, as adapted Christopher Hampton and director Anne Fontaine.

Salinger: A documentary about one of the most famous recluse novels of all time, this delves into Salinger's experiences in World War II, his private life, and his unpublished works. And according to the trailer, the project attracted such Catcher in the Rye adherents as Edward Norton, Martin Sheen, and John Cusack.

Red Obsession: This documentary about the challenges facing the vineyards of Bordeaux and the fierce competition in the marketplace for top-dollar red wine. Who knew China was such a major player in the wine world? After playing the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, this eye-opening doc finally makes it to theaters.

Winnie Mandela: After having first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011, Darrell Roodt's film finally makes it into theaters, a mere weeks before the Idris Elba-starring Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom enters the awards race. As the title suggests, this film puts the focus more on Nelson Mandela's wife, here played by Jennifer Hudson in what looks to be a stretch of her acting ability. Winnie never sang, after all (though look for a Diane Warren-penned Jennifer Hudson ballad over the cedits).

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