(As Son of Rambow opens today, here's Cinematical's review from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival ...)

After a week of high-power documentaries and wrenching dramas at Sundance, there's a strong chance I may have been extra-susceptible to the charm and sheer exuberance of Son of Rambow, the newest film from director Garth Jennings and the production team known as Hammer and Tongs. But I don't think so; the giddy, goofy and heartfelt creativity of Son of Rambow would stand out regardless of where, or when, one had the good fortune to see it. In 1980's Britain, young Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) is a good-hearted, slightly burdened young boy, grieving his lost father, constrained and supported by the humble Christian community his mother finds solace in. The group shuns television and films; they live with simplicity, piety and grace. None of which, it seems, can compete with Sylvester Stallone....

After a spot of bother at school, Will winds up not-quite-friends with troublemaker Carter (Will Poulter), a scamp with slight troubles. In the storage shed at Will's family's business, Will is exposed to a pirated VHS copy of First Blood. Will's never seen a movie, or heard a story not taken directly from The Bible. It is, to him, a revelation of the highest order and leads to Will and Carter collaborating on a camcorder epic, Son of Rambow. The fact that Will seems to be working out some issues with his absent father is fairly obvious, as is the tension between Will's sacred teachings and his more secular desire to run through the English countryside pretending to commit acts of derring-do.

Just because everyone's been analyzing and criticizing Oscar nominations this morning doesn't mean that the dealmaking stands still at Sundance. Some of the biggest deals of the festival have taken place in the past 18 hours:

• It's just been confirmed that Fox Searchlight has partnered with The Weinstein Company to acquire worldwide distribution rights to La Misma Luna (The Same Moon) for an estimated $5-6 million. This is a significantly large deal for this year's festival, in which deals had previously topped out at around $4 million. The movie is about a boy in Mexico who attempts to travel to the U.S. to find his mother. Rumors had been circulating that this film was generating a lot of interest in buyers at Sundance, who packed the film's Sundance screening on Monday. La Misma Luna is the feature directorial debut for Patricia Riggen.
• According to Variety, a fierce bidding war has taken place over distribution rights for the feature Son of Rambow (pictured at right), which premiered last night at Sundance. It's estimated that competitive bids from Fox Searchlight, Paramount Vantage and Miramax were climbing as high as $8 or $9 million, which would make the deal the biggest yet for this year's festival. Although unconfirmed, it currently appears that Paramount Vantage has won the deal for the British film about a young boy transformed by exposure to the Rambo movies. The movie is directed by Garth Jennings, who also directed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
  
• Magnolia Pictures has bought the North American and UK distribution rights to The Signal, a horror film about a supernatural radio/TV transmission that brings out the killer instinct in those who receive it. The film is told in three episodes from differing perspectives. Magnolia is estimated to have paid $2 million in the deal. The film is co-written and co-directed by David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry.