Public premiere: January 18, 12:15 pm at The Eccles
Lowdown: I seemed to get the wrong end of the Jared Hess phenomenon (if you can call it that). I didn't much care for the cultish “Napoleon Dynamite,” but adored 2009's roundly panned “Gentlemen Broncos” – which has me curious to see where I land on this directorial debut from Hess's wife and co-writer Jerusha. “Austenland” appears to come from a similarly zonked comedic place, but with an absurd premise that pretty much has me at hello: a lovelorn Jane Austen acolyte (Keri Russell) heads off to Austenland, a spectacularly kitsch literary theme park devoted entirely to her heroine, in order to find herself – and presumably her Mr. Darcy. Bret McKenzie and hilarious Hess alumnus Jennifer Coolidge co-star, and the production stills alone raised a chuckle.

- Guy Lodge