January 18, 2004

Where does one begin at Sundance?

Well, I'll start with the title I expect to be the highlight of the American Drama Competition and one of the very likely early sales at the festival… Craig Brewer's Hustle & Flow. People who have seen Brewer's earlier, little-seen work, The Poor & The Hungry and Resolutions of the Complacent Man, came away expecting a lot from this young writer/director. And with one of the best actors in the game who has not gotten a great lead role, Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow may answer those expectations.

There will be lots of small quality films this year and word is that Marcos Siega's Pretty Persuasion could be the most commercial film in competition. But Hustle & Flow is on the top of my list of films from new dramatic directors that I need to check out early.

Okay… now on to the films you will most likely be reading about sooner than later…

There are 31 titles, by my count, from "celebrity" directors.

9 Songs - Michael Winterbottom's porn film that combines bad concert footage with nine decent, but meaningless, hard core sex acts.

The Aristocrats - In the American Doc Competition, Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza's look at the same filthy joke told more than 100 times is sure to draw big crowds and find distribution with Wellspring.

The Ballad of Jack and Rose - Rebecca Miller's follow-up to critical smash Personal Velocity is also Daniel Day-Lewis' follow-up to Gangs of New York. The intimate story of a man and his daughter will probably split most audiences.

Brothers - Dogma-tist Susanne Bier (Open Hearts) is back, the only real celebrity director in this year's brand new World Drama Competition. Her film about two brothers who seem to be opposites at first is likely to get a pick-up, and includes the rare opportunity to see Connie Neilsen work in her native language.

Dear Wendy - Thomas Vinterberg has teamed up with Von Trier again to create their latest head turner.

The Dying Gaul - What's with Craig Lucas and death? Maybe this is going to blow everyone away. It's got the actors to do it up on the mountain, from Peter Sarsgaard to Campbell Scott to Patricia "Queen of Sundance" Clarkson. On the other hand, it could just be irritating.

Game 6 - Michael Hoffman is one of the few quality farce directors in the game and Michael Keaton hasn't had the chance to hit it out of the park in a long time. Is this story of a Red Sox fan and playwright going to put them in the best light?

The Garden - The great Frederick Wiseman is back again… with over three hours on NY landmark Madison Square Garden.

The Girl from Monday - Hal Hartley is in his weird monster movie phase apparently. But it's got a lot of sex in it.

Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog's films are always fascinating to watch… even if his documentary's don't always worry all that much about the true truth. This time, he profiles grizzly bear documenter Timothy Treadwell. The only big name in the World Doc Competition.

Happy Endings - Don Roos is a very clever guy. He gets terrific performances out of Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lisa Kudrow and Tom Arnold… yes, Tom Arnold. But this mélange of mediocre PT Anderson and Steven Soderbergh disappoints if you think too much. Coming to a theater near you from Lions Gate.

Inside Deep Throat - This one better not suck! The delightful Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato are back on heated turf in this Brian Grazer produced look at the phenomenon and ongoing questions about the film that allowed people to leave their raincoat in the car when visiting a porn theater… remember those? The first NC-17 film to be released by Universal since the first NC-17 film, Henry & June.

The Jacket - Word is that this John Maybury film could be Warner Independent's first big indie hit. Not only does it star Oscar winner Adrian Brody, but word is that it is the first film in which Keira Knightley shows a real ability to act and not just to be as sexy as a skinny girl can be.

Kung Fu Hustle - One of the truckload of films at Sundance this year care of Sony Classics, this Stephen Chow crowd pleaser seeks to do for the badly-dubbed (even in Chinese) comedy filmmaker what the barely released Shaolin Soccer did not.

Lackawanna Blues - The Public Theater's George C. Wolfe gets behind the camera to take us to a segregation-era story of people who are too strong to linger. Made for HBO, but looking for a theatrical window… or a reason for Fine Line to give them one.

Layer Cake - Former Guy Ritchie producer Matthew Vaughn steps behind the camera for his directorial debut that looks at the world of a UK crook. The film, already in release in Europe, will come to America via Sony Classics.

Lonesome Jim - One of indie's greatest character actors, Steve Buscemi, is behind the camera again, this time telling the intimate tale of a regular guy. In the American Drama Competition.

Loverboy - Another actor turned director, Kevin Bacon puts wife Kyra Sedgwick through the paces in this drama about a woman desperate to be a mother and the ramifications of getting that wish. Not in competition and not to be confused with the Patrick Dempsey classic o' crap.

Mysterious Skin - It's seems like Gregg Araki is finally ready to stop being a pervy tease of great style and to get to the meat of the soul.

Nine Lives - Rodrigo Garcia has put together another breathtaking cast of actresses… let's hope he can do a lot more than just give them good scenes to play this time out. Exec produced by Inarittu.

Reel Paradise - Hoops Dreams' Steve James, who brought us the very personal Stevie a couple of years ago (he was not the primary subject, no) this time goes to Fiji to bring us a look at producer/man-about-indie-town John Pierson's one year long trip to the island to run its only movie theater. I don't know how great a doc it will be, but it is one of the films I am most looking forward to seeing, given my professional affection for James, Pierson and Pierson's goofy choice to take his family from NY City to a very different island.

Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story - The second film from the team of Ron Berger and former marketing maven Dan Klores is in the American Documentary Competition and tells the story of one superstar athlete, former welterweight champ Griffith, who both killed a man in the ring and came out of the closet a few years later.

Rize - David LaChapelle brings this feature length version of his 24 minute Slamdance documentary, Krumped, to the big show. 24 minutes was a little long, though LaChapelle created some powerful images and the whole idea of dance replacing street battles is quite brilliant.

The Squid and the Whale - The fear that Noah Baumbach will be Noah Bombastic holds until the 81 minute long American Drama Competition film is seen.

Strangers with Candy - Paul Dinello takes his and Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris' baby to the big screen at midnight. It's a must see even if we are all pretty much in on the joke going in.

A Thousand Roads - Chris Eyre, who has brought so much good work to Sundance, returns again with this 40 minute doc that travels America looking warmly at the spirit of Native Americans. On its way to National Museum of the American Indian.

Twist of Faith - An Oscar short-list doc from the ever-compelling Kirby Dick, this look at one man whose molestation by a priest is more than 20 years behind him, but is still a part of his life every day, there are few docs more intimate or more powerful. In American Documentary Competition.

The Upside of Anger - A big step up for Mike Binder, this New Line release stars Joan Allen and Kevin Costner in awards level performances. Allen's rage at the husband who left her is bruising and Costner's charm is healing. A real conversation starter.

What Is It? - A midnight rampage from actor turned hellion Crispin Hellion Glover… freak shows are fun… we're dead…

Why We Fight - Director of The Trials of Henry Kissinger and brother of Capturing The Friedmans sensation Andrew, Eugene Jarecki enters this year's American Doc Competition taking a hard look at the birth and growth of the military industrial complex.

Tomorrow, a look at the rest of the field… from Premieres to the rest of the American and World Doc and Drama competitions, American Spectrum (which is often where a lot of heat lies) and the Midnight movie section, which is a Toronto hot spot, but could ignite at Park City this year. 83 more titles in all... aside from the shorts and rarely-seen Frontier selection... where Tarnation was last year, by the way.

PART II

 

January 3, 2005 - Reflections On A New Year
December 31, 2004 - The Ten Best
December 30, 2004 - The Ten Worst
December 29, 2004 - Movies You Should Have Seen, But Didn't