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Sundance in 60 Seconds: Sunday, January 18, 2009
Filed under: Sundance », Festival Reports », Cinematical Indie »
Sunday may be a day of rest, but not for the intrepid Cinematical crew, who cranked out reviews and posts between screenings and interviews. They weren't the only busy ones, of course!
Deals. Nothing closed, but Gregg Goldstein of Movie City News reported (very early) that David Mackenzie's sex comedy Spread, starring Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche, excited distributors because of its commercial appeal. The Jim Carrey "gay prison love story" I Love You Phillip Morris premiered tonight and distribs are expected to be circling.
Cinematical Reviews, and An Interview. Erik Davis says Marc Webb's 500 Days of Summer, with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt, is "an anti-fairytale" romantic comedy. (Did you watch the teaser trailer? Fox Searchlight will release it in July.) Erik was super impressed by the teen detective antics of the Derrick Comedy troupe in Mystery Team, which he calls "a silly, stupid, ridiculous comedy." Paul Solet's Grace inspired the inimitable Eric D. Snider to opine: "If you are the sort of person who might enjoy an effed-up gore-fest about a woman [Jordan Ladd] who delivers an undead baby, you can rest assured that Grace lives up to its potential." Scott Weinberg wrote about killer trees, Nazi zombies, and a cool celeb .
James Rocchi interviewed Antoine Fuqua, director of Brooklyn's Finest, a few hours before the film sold to Senator Entertainment. James was cool toward Doug Pray's doc Art & Copy ("essentially, an ad for advertising") but warmed up to Sophie Barthes' Cold Souls, with Paul Giamatti giving "what may be his best performance" as an actor who stores his soul. James also saw a "French-style ... transgendered revenge comedy," and lived to tell about it.
Blog Talk. My favorite quotes of the day, if you have a few more seconds, after the jump.
Sundance Review: Art & Copy
Filed under: Documentary », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Sundance Reviews 2009 »
Art & Copy director Doug Pray offered during the film's Q&A at the Prospector Square theater that he didn't want to make a documentary that did nothing but re-play classic advertising, and he didn't want to make a talking-heads documentary. He achieved in both those aims, but there's also the uglier question of if he made a documentary at all. Backed by The One Club -- an organization, as the press notes observe, "dedicated to the craft of advertising" -- Art & Copy talks to some of the greatest names in the field and recounts their successes. Combining clips of ads with interviews with titans in the field like Dan Wieden (Nike's "Just do it"), Hal Riney (Ronald Reagan's "It's Morning in America") and George Lois ("I want my MTV!"), Art and Copy is meant as a celebration of creativity; it winds up being a circular tautology: Great advertising is great because it's great advertising. Art and Copy is, essentially, an ad for advertising -- all of the attractive features of the business are shown in a glorious and shining light, and any concerns or deeper questions are brought up briefly before being shoved away briskly, or, more often, simply left unasked.
It's unfortunate, really, because Pray's an inventive and quick-minded documentarian who can normally show the fullness and contradictions of a topic; Hype! chronicled the rise (and fall) of the Seattle music scene; Scratch captured the quicksilver world of turntablism and of DJ'ing; Big Rig showed the lives of America's truckers and their role in commerce. I was excited by the prospect of Art & Copy, if only because Big Rig did such a great job of showing how consumer goods get from point a to point b; I was hoping Art & Copy would examine exactly how the people at point a make the people at point b want their consumer goods. (And, yes, I was hoping for a little hint of Mad Men's bleak, chic look at the industry, as well; I'm not proud to say it, but it's still true.) Opening with the Oscar Mayer and Meow Mix jingles, Art & Copy then shows us ancient stone carvings, while one of the film's ad men notes that there's not much difference between modern advertisers and the ancients who painted "on the walls of caves." Well, actually, there is -- whoever painted the bison on the walls at Lascaux was not, in fact, attempting to sell bison at a tidy profit. Art tries to encourage you to think; advertising wants you to stop thinking and buy. (And trust me, I'm aware that as you read this, you scrolled past several ads telling you how you can lose weight fast and promoting Paul Blart: Mall Cop, so let me briefly mention that you can lose weight inexpensively and safely by eating less and exercising more, and that our own Nick Schager found Paul Blart: Mall Cop an uninspired mess of fat jokes.)
Sundance '09: Our 12 Most Anticipated Films
Filed under: Sundance », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Lists »
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It's just about time for myself and a few trusty Cinematical cohorts (James Rocchi, Scott Weinberg and Eric D. Snider) to pack up our bags and head for the mountains of Park City, Utah -- home to, of course, the Sundance Film Festival. Once we're on the ground, we'll be posting reviews, interviews, scene/party coverage, photos, videos and whatever else there is to throw online that way you, our most loyal readers, will feel like you're right smack in the middle of the biggest film festival of the year. And to get the ball rolling, here are our 12 most anticipated films of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
12 Most Anticipated Sundance Films
1. Big Fan
The Wrestler screenwriter Robert D. Siegel returns to New Jersey as director for this drama about a hardcore NY Giants fan (Patton Oswalt) who suffers major consequences when he's beaten up by his favorite player.
We Say: Hey Giants fans, at least we can watch them beating someone ...
Sundance Film Festival
2. 500 Days of Summer
A quirky, offbeat comedy about a girl who doesn't believe in true love and the guy who falls head over feet for her.
We Say: Cliché? Maybe. But when else will we get to see indie darlings Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star opposite one another?
Sundance Film Festival
3. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Based on the collection of short stories, Hideous Men follows a female grad student who, following a breakup, decides to interview men in an attempt to uncover the secrets behind their unpredictable behavior.
We Say: Fans of The Office's John Krasinski (who wrote and directed) will get to see his debut as a filmmaker.
Sundance Film Festival
4. Moon
A character study about a lone astronaut (Sam Rockwell) stationed on the moon for three years who begins to unravel physically and mentally.
We Say: A whole film of just Sam Rockwell? Sign us up!
Sundance Film Festival
5. Art & Copy
Doug Pray directs this documentary which delves deep inside the advertising industry to reveal the hidden secrets behind some of the most successful and innovative campaigns of our time.
We Say: Pray's Surfwise was one of the greatest (and most overlooked) docs of 2008, and so we'll gladly welcome his next outing.
Sundance Film Festival
6. Sin Nombre
A social-political thriller set on the Mexican border about three teens whose fates collide on a train heading for the United States.
We Say: Writer-director Cary Joji Fukunaga is one to watch having taken home a student Academy Award for his previous short film, Victoria para chino.
Sundance Film Festival
7. I Love You Phillip Morris
The writers of Bad Santa make their directorial debut with this story about a cop-turned-con man (Jim Carrey) who falls for a fellow inmate (Ewan McGregor) while in prison. But is it all just one big con?
We Say: There's nothing about this on-screen recipe that doesn't reek of fun festival flick.
Sundance Film Festival
8. Reporter
Executive produced by Ben Affleck, Eric Daniel Metzgar's documentary travels deep into the Congo following New York Times reporter Nicholas D. Kristof on a mission to expose the affect this kind of journalism has on the rest of the world.
We Say: Definitely a worthy watch during this, the age of the disappearing journalist.
Sundance Film Festival
9. The Missing Person
Starring Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan and Frank Wood, The Missing Person tells of a private investigator/alcoholic who lands the case of his life ... if he can just stick around long enough to crack it.
We Say: The promise of a smooth noir caper with a few sweet performances has more than piqued our interest.
Sundance Film Festival
10. World's Greatest Dad
In an attempt not to feel shame following his son's death, a father (Robin Williams) writes a fake suicide note which ultimately gets published and becomes a huge hit – leading him to dive into a career as a fake author.
We Say: It's directed by funnyman Bobcat Goldthwait, whose keen eye for devilishly dark comedy (see: Stay) has us very interested.
Sundance Film Festival
2009 Sundance Film Fest Announces Competition Lineup!
Filed under: Sundance », Festival Reports », Fandom », Newsstand »
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Once again, your friends at Cinematical will be braving the arctic cold in Park City, Utah to bring you the best and brightest from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009. The films in competition this year, spread across four different categories (Documentary Competition, Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition and World Cinema Dramatic Competition) were just announced and we've got 'em right here.
Among some of the highlights we have Doug Pray's doc Art & Copy about the advertising world, Good Hair (comedian Chris Rock examining African-American hair?), John Krasinski's (The Office) directorial debut Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Paper Heart (that secret Michael Cera flick we told you about), Cold Souls (with Paul Giamatti and Emily Watson) and An Education (from writer Nick Hornby). Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore noted that "This year's films are not narrowly defined. Instead we have a blurring of genres, a crossing of boundaries: geographic, generational, socio-economic and the like. The result is both an exhilarating and emotive Festival in which traditional mythologies are suspended, discoveries are made, and creative storytelling is embraced." Tomorrow we'll have the non-competition films.
Check out the entire slate (with descriptions) after the jump, then tell us what looks good to you.
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