Well I seem to have reached the end of Sundance 09. Even as someone who has a veracious appetite for films, I must admit, this feels like a good place to stop. After watching so many it will be good to give my brain time to process some of the artistic works which have been flashing before my eyes these past ten days.
It has been a fantastic ten days though. I’ve been so impressed by how many of the movies I thoroughly enjoyed. With only two films leaving me disappointed (Let’s Make Money, and Peter and Vandy), everything else managed to bring something interesting to the table at the very least.
But Sundance can never be boxed up and put out into a DVD collection because it is much more than just the movies that happen to be showing there. Everywhere I turned it seemed people who simply loved movies surrounded me. Some of these people get bored with cookie cutter Hollywood films, others just want to see something unique. Some were part of the industry, others desperately fought just to get their film made and shown here in Park City. It makes for a group of people who are fun to converse with while waiting in the freezing cold while you’re doled out a waitlist number for that flick you just have to see. (more…)
At the start of every film shown at Sundance they show a short clip with various directors sharing funny stories about Sundance (OK funny the first time, not so much after the 15th time…). So here is our own version…
Ben Hamburger should be credited as the editor of this clip.
Several of us have already posted about how great the short films are here at both Sundance, and Slamdance. It turns out that some of these films can be downloaded for free on iTunes! But there is a catch… Offer ends same day as the festival (Sunday January 25th). Here is the link though for those who are interested.
(One of our other critics, Kaye, already provided a great review of this film, but I also need an outlet to express my admiration for this film so here is yet another review of Little Dizzle)
By far the film I was most looking forward to here at Sundance was David Russo’sThe Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle. Having known nothing about the director, all I had to go on was the brief description listed online. But this description made it clear that one way or another, this was going to be unlike anything put up on the silver screen.
I am very pleased to admit that not only did Little Dizzle meet my every expectation, it far outpaced anything I could have imagined and left me (and the rest of an equally enthralled audience) with one of the most vibrant, quirky, and touching films I have seen in a long time. How Russo manages to pull this off when the story is about men who become impregnated and give birth to blue fish will have to go down as one of the most beautiful mysteries in modern cinema. (more…)
Here we sit, on the eve of President Elect Obama’s inauguration basking in the star-studded winter wonderland that is Sundance. Many of the screens over this past weekend have been flickering with all kinds of politically charged films, but perhaps the most oddly relevant to today’s geopolitical landscape chronicles events that took place twenty years ago in South Africa.
Pete Travis’ political thriller Endgame takes us deep into the tense meetings between the apartheid ruling President P.W. Botha, The African National Congress (more commonly known as the ANC) and the key players in-between who helped make these meetings possible. (more…)
The listing for Cold Souls fascinated me when I first flipped through Sundance Film Guide. It described a science fiction film in which souls can be extracted from the body and purchased and sold on a black market. Knowing only this, I had to assume the film would take a metaphysical approach and examine the duality between the body and the soul.
The film starts of with a quote from Descartes in which he describes that the pineal gland in the brain is the physical location of the soul. I assumed this quote would be used to ease us into this exploration of dualism; unfortunately it seemed only to function as a plot device by letting people know the idea behind the soul residing in a physical part of the brain was not new. It also let us know where we need to stretch our creative imagination in order to enjoy this science fiction comedy. (more…)
Like short stories in literature, short films take on a life of their own in comparison to feature length films. When you’re limited to telling a story within the span of 5-15 minutes, every frame, every piece of dialogue, and every moment becomes painstakingly important and laced with meaning. After getting a chance to see the Short Film Program V at Sundance, and the Animation Shorts at Slamdance, I have to say how impressive it is to see talent cropping up all over the globe in these small projects. The two programs combined yielded a total of over 20 films so I’m going to break it up and just mention some of the personal highlights.
Short Program V
Surrounded by a festival often filled with dark subject matter and people taking themselves too seriously Captain Coulier shines through as a perfectly funny spoof on cult 50’s sci-fi classics such as Lost in Space. While this as a concept is funny in its own right, this film would be nothing without the brilliant writing, and well timed comedic performances by the entire cast. (more…)
We have arrived at Sundance! Just during the flight into Salt Lake City I managed to have found myself within a three seat radius of various filmmakers involved in two separate short film projects being screened at Sundance! The first was a group from Canada who showing the short film Captain Coulier during the short film selection V. It looks like a hysterical spoof (or parody?) on the 1950-60’s popular Sci-Fi from film and television series. Yet another group of filmmakers hailing from our norther neighbor are bringing us a political thriller which is premiering this Saturday. The film is called Ten For Grandpa and based on the short trailer looks very interesting to say the least. I’m going to work on contacting the filmmakers so watch for more information on these films when we get our hands on them!
OK, I do have to finish this review of Drugstore Cowboy though so I’m going to do the film, and Gus Van Sant (one of my favorite working directors) a huge disservice and give a very brief impression and review of this beautifully made film. (more…)
The vast world of film and television has always held a special fascination with the legal system. From classics such as 12 Angry Men, to modern courtroom thrillers such as 2007’s Fracture, audiences and filmmakers alike flock to the inherent drama built into these legal proceedings. However, these celluloid visions often present us with scripted versions of such events; and the reality is distorted by the lens of Hollywood. This is not the case with Errol Morris’ documentary The Thin Blue Line (1988).
In this film we are introduced to a case in which a police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Dallas Texas. We soon learn that once the officers looked at the case, they had very little evidence to go on and virtually no leads. Eventually they track down and end up convicting a man named Randle Adams for the crime despite his claim to innocence. He is subsequently put on death row.
As we burrow deeper into the case we learn that the situation is far more complicated, and that every person involved in the case has their own motives to which they are striving for. These threads of the case are woven so together so subtly by Morris that the bigger picture soon comes into focus.
Trying to describe David Lynch represents no small challenge. He likes to take us to the edge of reality and peer into the darkness of the unknown. Looking in, we see where his best films comfortably reside. Nestled in the thorny twisted branches of psychosis and desire we find such films as Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., and Inland Empire, among others.
Each of these films is totally unique (both from each other and all of cinema), yet they share a common fascination with the complex, and often troubling, roots of human psychology. Born in 1946, Lynch feels comfortable exploring these disturbing aspects of humanity when most filmmakers (or people in general) would rather not approach them so directly.
In Eraserhead we explore the life of Henry Spencer whose post-apocalyptic world gets turned upside down when he learns that his girlfriend is pregnant. The child she gives birth to turns out to be a bizarre mutant creature that constantly screams. Shooting the film over a nearly five year span, Lynch uses stunning black and white cinematography to capture this strange world filled with disturbing sexual imagery and hauntingly barren sound design. (more…)
By far the film I was most looking forward to here at Sundance was 
Here we sit, on the eve of President Elect Obama’s inauguration basking in the star-studded winter wonderland that is Sundance. Many of the screens over this past weekend have been flickering with all kinds of politically charged films, but perhaps the most oddly relevant to today’s geopolitical landscape chronicles events that took place twenty years ago in South Africa.
The listing for 
We have arrived at Sundance! Just during the flight into Salt Lake City I managed to have found myself within a three seat radius of various filmmakers involved in two separate short film projects being screened at Sundance! The first was a group from Canada who showing the short film 
The vast world of film and television has always held a special fascination with the legal system. From classics such as 
