the good life Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Last year, a "motley group of techie folks" came together and used Bayesian analysis (don't worry, I'm not smart enough to figure it out either) to predict which films at Sundance would win the four major awards. Part of their process includes gathering 11 years worth of festival guides, information off IMDb and an assortment of film reviews, throwing it all in some sort of virtual whiz-kid blender and, apparently, out spits which films are most likely to finish on top. It sounds pretty nutty, but in 2006 they accurately predicted all four winners. Yes, I'm serious.

Since the big Sundance awards are being handed out tomorrow -- we're talking the Dramatic Competition Audience Award, the Dramatic Competition Grand Jury Prize, the Documentary Competition Audience Award and the Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize -- we decided to check back in with Deconstructing Sundance to see what their picks for 2007 are. Basically, they break it down into three hilariously-named categories: Films under the Timberlake Britney category are the best, Federline Britney lists those in the middle and Pantiless Britney, well, you get the drift. Beside each film is a percentage level which is supposed to represent how confident they are in their decision to place a film in a certain category.

So ... you probably want to know which films they picked, huh? Well, according to their 2007 predictions list (and hopefully I'm reading it correctly), The Good Life (98.76%) and Joshua (99.27%) are the two favorites in dramatic competition, followed somewhat closely behind by Grace is Gone (89.13%), Four Sheets to the Wind (86.69%) and Hounddog (66.81%). And the worst film in dramatic competition? Adrift in Manhattan wound up in the Pantiless Britney category with 83.76%.

Cinematical and Netscape recently caught up with actors Chris Klein and Patrick Fugit to chat about the making of their film The Good Life, which is screening at the Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by Steve Berra, The Good Life is about life, love and football in small-town America.

Writer/director Steve Berra has put together a cast sprinkled with recognizable names for his first feature, a "coming-of-age drama" called The Good Life. The film (which sounds for all the world like a period piece, but as far as I can tell actually takes place in the present day) is set in a small, football-obsessed town where the high school coach (Bruce McGill) is a god, and ex-players (Chris Klein, in particular) can be assholes and get away with it because they were once heroes. At the center of the story are a kid who doesn't quite fit in (Mark Webber), and a good-hearted girl (you knew one of those would be coming soon, didn't you?) who "encourages him to pursue his own path." And, since the girl is played by Zooey Deschanel, it's probably a safe bet that he does what she says. Also in the cast are Harry Dean Stanton and Bill Paxton whose character, apropos of nothing, is described as "A Judy Garland fan." Ha! Haaaa! Assuming that's a euphemism for "gay," I love it. And if it's not, I love it even more.

Production on Berra's film is already underway in Winnipeg, which was clearly cheaper than Nebraska, where the story takes place. Mmm ... Canadian dollars.