Movies - Sundance Film Festival 2010 Preview - Are Your Eyeballs Ready?

20 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 10

Sunday, January 17, 2010

20 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 10

FESTIVAL PREVIEW
Exercising Eyeballs To Visual Satisfaction: Two Weeks Only

SUNDANCE BEST BETS and PREDICTED HITS

Sundance

By Omar P.L. Moore
PopcornReel.com

Sunday, January 17, 2010

WHEN the 26th edition of the Sundance Film Festival gets underway in Park City, Utah on Thursday it will be squeezed into a month exclusively devoted to looking back at the previous year's films. Because of the late date of the Academy Awards this year (March 7) everything else has naturally fallen behind too, with the North America box office still blanketed by "Avatar".

Yes, awards season is in full swing. Tonight's Golden Globe Awards will fill the airwaves and on Saturday the Screen Actors Guild Awards will take place. By Festival's end (January 31), the Producers Guild Of America Awards will also have taken place.

This year's Sundance soiree however, has plenty to keep filmgoers talking, with many films being star-studded affairs, as well as titles to watch for.

"Howl", about the Beatnik poet Allen Ginsburg, gets Sundance off and running with its World Premiere screening on Thursday night. It stars James Franco as Mr. Ginsburg. David Straithairn, Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker and Jon Hamm. The film is followed by the world premiere of the documentary "Restrepo", about journalists embedded with Second Company U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan on the frontlines in 2008. One of the film's directors is Sebastian Junger ("The Perfect Storm").

Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his feature film directing debut in "Jack Goes Boating", in which he also stars alongside fellow New York stage actors Amy Ryan, Daphne Rubin-Vega and John Ortiz. Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Ryan starred in Sidney Lumet's "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead". "Get Low" boasts the talents of Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black. "Mother And Child", a perplexing yet poignant film directed by Rodrigo Garcia, features Naomi Watts (only faintly recognizable as an attorney), Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington (also in the Sundance entry "Night Catches Us") and Jimmy Smits. "Please Give", Nicole Holofcener's latest, stars Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt. Each of these films will be released in U.S. and Canadian movie theaters later this year.

And by the way, where can you see Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner -- all of whom have also directed -- in the same film? Try "The Company Men", a drama about a group of men suddenly thrown out onto the unemployment line. Another Kevin -- Kevin Kline -- stars in "Extra Man", directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini ("American Splendor"). Joining Mr. Kline are Paul Dano, Katie Holmes and John C. Reilly, who also stars with Marisa Tomei in the film "Cyrus".

Aside from some of these mega-watt star-powered vehicles (some will forever complain that Robert Redford's festival has long settled in as an Indie-wood production), the most-talked about film of this year's Sundance is surely the French vehicle "Un Prophete" (A Prophet), a fascinating and extraordinary film about a man (Tamar Rahim) thrown in prison with nothing who goes through an amazing spiritual journey. This 2009 Palm D'Or winner at Cannes is a guaranteed Audience Award winner at this year's Festival. ("Un Prophete" opens in New York and Los Angeles on February 26.) It's already very high on a short list of 2010's best films, according to a certain critic.

"The Runaways" will surely be a favorite as well. Galt Niederhoffer's film based on the famous rock band Joan Jett and The Blackhearts stars Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. Ms. Stewart also stars alongside James Gandolfini in "Welcome To The Rileys", another entry at this year's festival whose popularity is expected to be of wildfire proportions.

Aside from Mr. Hoffman, several other actors make feature film directing debuts, which will be unveiled at Sundance this month. Mark Ruffalo directs "Sympathy For Delicious", part of the Festival's U.S. Dramatic Competition. Adrian Grenier of HBO's "Entourage" and "The Devil Wears Prada" directs "Teenage Paparazzo" (Spotlight category), while Josh Radnor helms the romantic comedy drama "happythankyoumoreplease", starring Zoe Kazan, Malin Akerman and Kate Mara. Diego Luna helms the drama "Abel". Each of these films' directors star in their debuts.

On the documentary side there are profiles of some divisive figures.

"Bhutto" (U.S. Documentary Competition) is about the life of slain Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In the same competition is "Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work", a self-explanatory title directed by "The Devil Came On Horseback" filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. There's "Smash His Camera", about an unrelenting paparazzo who was once the ire of many a celebrity, directed by "When Were Kings" helmer Leon Gast.

From the makers of "Jesus Camp" (Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady) comes "12th And Delaware", focusing on the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller last May in Kansas. There's "Casino Jack: The United States of Money", a documentary on K Street lobbyist Jack Abramoff by Alex Gibney ("Taxi To The Dark Side", "Gonzo").

Stanley Nelson directs "Freedom Riders", about the civil rights workers who took buses to the American South in the 1960s to risk life and limb to register hundreds of blacks to vote. Davis Guggenheim directs "Waiting For Superman", about the U.S. education system and its shortcomings. Amir Bar-Lev, who directed "My Kid Could Paint That", brings "The Tillman Story" to Sundance in the U.S. documentary competition.

More light-heartedly there's "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks", about the mid-1990s NBA playoff battles between Indiana Pacers superstar Reggie Miller and the team he devastated the most.

In the Premieres section, among others, is the documentary "The Shock Doctrine", based on Naomi Klein's book.

World cinema competition includes New African Cinema entries such as "The Tunnel". Australia is represented with "Animal Kingdom", about a Melbourne crime syndicate, starring Guy Pearce. There's "Yo Tambien" (Me Too), which may sound like a sequel to Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien" but isn't. "Boy", set in 1984 amidst Michael Jackson's heightened popularity and one boy's childhood, is helmed by New Zealand's Taika Waititi ("Eagle Vs. Shark"). From Ireland, there's "His & Hers", an affectionate tribute to men by women.

There are many many more. So many to see, so little time to see them.

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HOME

"Un Prophete" (A Prophet)

"HOWL"

"happythankyoumoreplease"

"Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work"

"The Runaways"

"Extra Man"

"Welcome To The Rileys"

"I Am Love"

"Blue Valentine"

"Bass Ackwards"

"Teenage Paparazzo"

"HIGH school"

"The Tillman Story"

"Boy"

"His & Hers"

"A Small Act"

"Nowhere Boy"

"Enter The Void"

HOME