Video Courtesy MySpaceTV.com; Distributed by Spout.com

Filmmaker Joe Swanberg's Butterknife released its premiere episode Monday, January 28. Like much of Swanberg's previous work, there's an intimacy best captured by the digital aesthetic, and yet there's definitive artistic growth, particularly with Swanberg's cinematography which is back in form with the much more visually captivating, depth of field playful days of KOTM. As for growth in story or improvisation though, there doesn't seem much advancement in this early episode. Actors Ronald and Mary Bronstein certainly bring a necessary lightness of heart and intelligence to the piece, and Kentucker Audley's cameo is quietly impeccable. Pacing, however, is off, tetter-tottering on a linger, and Butterknife right now seems a mere copy of Young American Bodies with a slight genre twist and a new cast of characters.