Media In the Media Sundance Gets Quirky
| Sundance Gets Quirky |
| Dec 30 2009 |
| Written by NY Times Brooks Barnes |
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Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directing debut, a 3-D documentary about the Australian cane toad, a concert film starring the comedian Louis C.K. and a next-to-no-budget movie about “punk Muslims” in Buffalo. If Sundance was aiming for quirky for its non-competition roster, it succeeded. Programmers for the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday announced the movies that will get a showcase at the free-wheeling cinema bazaar but will not be in the official competition. The non-competition group is traditionally a more celebrity-fueled section, one that also includes horror and experimental films. “(500) Days of Summer,” starring Zooey Deschanel, was one of the break-outs from this section last year. Included in this go-round, for the first time, is a new section called Next, for “low- or no-budget” films. One of the eight inaugural selections is that punk Muslim project: “The Taqwacores,” directed by Eyad Zahra and written by Michael Muhammad Knight. Sundance, of course, also thrives on famous faces, and the non-competition slate will provide a bevy of them. “The Company Men,” directed and written by John Wells (of “ER” and “The West Wing” fame), stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones in a story about corporate downsizing. Katie Holmes, John C. Reilly, Paul Dano and Kevin Kline headline “The Extra Man, about a down-and-out playwright, while Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Samuel L. Jackson star in “Mother & Child,” about lives that intersect in surprising ways. Among the other bold-face names: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Keifer Sutherland, 50 Cent, Chace Crawford, Catherine Keener, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill. Mr. Hoffman, a familiar face on screen at Sundance, will pop up as the director (and star) of “Jack Goes Boating,” a film written by Bob Glaudini about a limo driver’s blind date. In another example of an actor moonlighting as a director, Diego Luna (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”) is bringing “Abel,” about a peculiar young boy who, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes his father’s responsibilities. Looking for controversy? “Cane Toads: The Conquest,” directed and written by Mark Lewis, probably won’t provide it – but then again we don’t know how you feel about those little critters – while it’s a safe bet that tension will be running high at “8: The Mormon Proposition.” Directed by Reed Cowan, this documentary examines the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the promotion and passage of California’s Proposition 8, which denied marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. Especially since it will premiere in, um, Utah. Here is a full list: PREMIERES Abel/Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza)—A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere Cane Toads: The Conquest/USA (Director and screenwriter: Mark Lewis)—In 3D, Mark Lewis explores one of Australia’s greatest environmental catastrophes as he follows the unstoppable march of the cane toad across the Australian continent. World Premiere The Company Men/USA (Director and screenwriter: John Wells)—Three company men attempt to survive a round of corporate downsizing while trying to fend off its effects on their families and their identities. Cast: Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt. World Premiere The Extra Man/USA (Directors: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini; Screenwriters: Robert Pulcini, Get Low/USA (Director: Aaron Schneider; Screenwriters: Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell)—A film spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about a mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who plans his own rollicking funeral party… while still alive. Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray. U.S. Premiere The Killer Inside Me/USA (Director: Michael Winterbottom; Screenwriter: John Curran)—Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small Texan town; patient, polite and well liked, until he starts killing people. Cast: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker, Elias Koteas. World Premiere Nowhere Boy/UK (Director: Sam Taylor Wood; Screenwriters: Julia Baird and Matt Greenhalgh)—A teenage John Lennon confronts wrenching family secrets and finds his musical voice in late 1950s Liverpool. Cast: Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Thomas Sangster, Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey. International Premiere Please Give/USA (Director and screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener)—In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives next door. Cast: Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Sarah Steele. World Premiere The Runaways/USA (Director and screenwriter: Floria Sigismondi)—In 1970s LA, a tough teenager named Joan Jett connects with an eccentric producer to form an all-girl band that would launch her career and make rock history. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Tatum O’Neal. World Premiere Shock Doctrine/USA (Directors: Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross)—Closely based on the book by award-winning journalist Naomi Klein, Shock Doctrine exposes how shock is used to implement economic policy in vulnerable environments. North American Premiere Twelve/USA (Director: Joel Schumacher; Screenwriter: Jordan Melamed)—A chronicle of the highs and lows of privileged kids on Manhattan’s Upper East Side involving sex, drugs and murder. Cast: Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, 50 Cent, Zoë Kravitz. World Premiere CLOSING NIGHT FILM NEXT () Armless (Director: Habib Azar; Screenwriter: Kyle Jarrow)—In this off-kilter comedy, a woman comes to terms with her husband’s strange secret. Cast: Daniel London, Janel Moloney, Keith Powell, Laurie Kennedy, Matt Walton. World Premiere Bass Ackwards (Director and screenwriter: Linas Phillips)—After ending a disastrous affair with a married woman, a man embarks on a lyrical, strange and comedic cross-country journey in a modified VW bus. Cast: Linas Philips, Davie-Blue, Jim Fletcher, Paul Lazar. World Premiere Bilal’s Stand (Director and screenwriter: Sultan Sharrief)—Bilal, a Muslim high school senior in Detroit juggles his dysfunctional family, their taxi stand, and an ice carving contest in his secret attempt to land a college scholarship. Cast: Julian Gant. World Premiere The Freebie (Director and screenwriter: Katie Aselton)—A young married couple decides to give each other one night with someone else. Cast: Dax Shepard, Katie Aselton. World Premiere Homewrecker (Director: Todd Barnes and Brad Barnes; Screenwriters: Todd Barnes, Brad Barnes, Sophie Goodhart)—The last romantic in New York City is an ex-con locksmith on work release. Cast: Ana Reeder, Anslem Richardson, Stephen Rannazzisi. World Premiere New Low (Director: Adam Bowers)—A neurotic twentysomething struggles to figure out which girl he really belongs with: the best one he’s ever known, or the worst. Cast: Adam Bowers, Jayme Ratzer, Toby Turner, Valerie Jones. World Premiere One Too Many Mornings (Director: Michael Mohan; Screenwriters: Anthony Deptula, Michael Mohan, Stephen Hale)—Two damaged young men recover their high school friendship by awkwardly revealing to each other just how messed up they’ve become. Cast: Anthony Deptula, Stephen Hale, Tina Kapousis. World Premiere The Taqwacores (Director: Eyad Zahra; Screenwriter: Michael Muhammad Knight)—When a Pakistani-Muslim engineering student moves into a house with punk Muslims of all stripes in Buffalo, New York, his ideologies are challenged to the core. Cast: Noureen DeWulf, Dominic Rains, Rasika Mathur, Tony Yalda, Anne Marie Leighton. World Premiere
Narrative films screening in the Festival’s Spotlight are: Daddy Longlegs/USA (Directors and Screenwriters: Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie)—A swan song to excuses and responsibilities, to fatherhood and self-created experiences, and to what it’s like to be truly torn between being a child and being an adult. Cast: Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, Frey Ranaldo. North American Premiere Enter the Void/France (Director and Screenwriter: Gaspar Noé)—A drug-dealing teen is killed in Japan, after which he reappears as a ghost to watch over his sister. Cast: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Emily Alyn Lind, Jesse Kuhn. U.S. Premiere I Am Love (Io Sono L’amore)/Italy (Director and Screenwriter: Luca Guadagnino)—A tragic love story set at the turn of the millennium in Milan. Cast: Tilda Swinton, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Pippo Delbono, Alba Rohrwacher, Marisa Berenson. U.S. Premiere Louis C.K.: Hilarious/USA (Director: Louis C.K.)—Sharp-tongued comedian Louis C.K. pulls no punches in this visceral concert experience. World Premiere Lourdes/Austria, France, Germany (Director and Screenwriter: Jessica Hausner)—A woman in a wheelchair travels to Lourdes in an attempt to escape her isolation. Cast: Sylvie Testud, Léa Seydoux, Bruno Todeschini, Gilette Barbier, Gerhard Liebmann, Irma Wagner. U.S. Premiere Mother & Child/USA (Director and Screenwriter: Rodrigo García)—The lives of three women – a physical therapist, the daughter she gave up at birth three decades ago, and an African American woman seeking to adopt a child of her own – intersect in surprising ways. Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson. U.S. Premiere New African Cinema/A collection of short films from multiple countries A Prophet (Un Prophète)/France (Director: Jacques Audiard; Screenwriters: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard)—An engaging examination of a seedy, gangster-driven underworld set in a French prison. Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb. Women Without Men (Zanan-e bedun-e mardan)/Germany, Austria, France (Directors and Screenwriters: Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari)—A dissection of Iranian society at the time of the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overturned the nationalist government of Mohammed Mossadegh and installed the shah in power. Cast: Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad, Shabnam Tolouei, Orsi Tóth. U.S. Premiere Documentary films screening in the Festival’s Spotlight are: Catfish/USA (Directors: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman)—When a young New York City photographer is contacted on Facebook by an 8-year-old painting prodigy from rural Michigan, he becomes deeply enmeshed in her life, even falling in love with her older sister–that is, until a crack appears in her story. World Premiere Climate Refugees/USA (Director: Michael Nash)—An over-consuming, crowded world, with depleting resources and a changing climate is giving birth to 25 million climate refugees resulting in a mass global migration and border conflicts. World Premiere Countdown to Zero/USA (Director: Lucy Walker)—A fascinating and frightening exploration of the dangers of nuclear weapons, exposing a variety of present day threats and featuring insights from a host of international experts and world leaders who advocate total global disarmament. World Premiere Life 2.0/USA (Director: Jason Spingarn-Koff)—More than an examination of new technology, the film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people whose lives are dramatically transformed by the virtual world called Second Life. World Premiere Teenage Paparazzo/USA (Director: Adrian Grenier)—A 13-year-old paparazzi boy snaps a photo of actor Adrian Grenier, leading Grenier to explore the effects of celebrity on culture. World Premiere To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America/Bangladesh/USA (Director: Gayle Ferraro)—Tapping into the success of Muhammad Yunus after winning the Nobel Peace Prize (2006), Grameen America has opened in Queens, NY replicating the banking model program Yunus first started in Bangladesh. World Premiere Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks/USA (Director: Dan Klores)—Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals that solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City. World Premiere PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT 7 Days/Canada (Director: Daniel Grou; Screenwriter: Patrick Senecal)—A doctor seeks revenge by kidnapping, torturing and killing the man who murdered his young daughter. Cast: Rémy Girard, Claude Legault, Fanny Mallette, Martin Dubreuil, Rose-Marie Coallier. World Premiere Buried/Spain, USA (Director: Rodrigo Cortes; Screenwriter: Chris Sparling)—A U.S. contractor working in Iraq awakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it’s a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap. Cast: Ryan Reynolds. World Premiere Frozen/USA (Director and Screenwriter: Adam Green)—Three skiers are mistakenly stranded on a chairlift, forced to make life-or-death choices that prove more perilous than staying put and freezing to death. Cast: Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers. World Premiere HIGH school/USA (Director: John Stalberg, Jr.; Screenwriters: Erik Linthorst, John Stalberg, Jr., and Stephen Susco)—A random drug test coincides with a high school valedictorian’s first hit of pot. Cast: Sean Marquette, Matt Bush, Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Colin Hanks, Mykelti Williamson, Andrew Wilson, Yeardley Smith, Michael Vartan, Curtis Armstrong, Erica Phillips, Adhir Kaylan. World Premiere The Perfect Host/USA (Director: Nick Tomnay; Screenwriters: Nick Tomnay and Krishna Jones)—A criminal on the run cons his way into the wrong dinner party where the host is anything but ordinary. Cast: David Hyde Pierce, Clayne Crawford, Helen Reddy, Nathaniel Parker. World Premiere Splice/France/Canada (Director: Vincenzo Natali; Screenwriters: Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, and Doug Taylor)—Clive and Elsa are young, brilliant, and ambitious. The new animal species they engineered has made them rebel superstars of the scientific world. In secret, they introduce human DNA into the experiment. Cast: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac, David Hewlett. North American Premiere Tucker & Dale vs. Evil/Canada (Director: Eli Craig; Screenwriters: Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson)—Two West Virginian hillbillies go on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin, but their peaceful trip goes horribly awry. Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss. World Premiere The Violent Kind/USA (Directors and screenwriters: The Butcher Brothers) A group of rowdy young bikers party it up at a secluded farmhouse when, tormented by a mysterious force, things take a turn for the worst. Cast: Taylor Cole, Christina Prousalis, Tiffany Shepis, David Fine, Joseph McKelheer. World Premiere. NEW FRONTIER All My Friends Are Funeral Singers / USA (Director and screenwriter: Tim Rutili)—A fortune teller lives and works in and old house crowded with ghosts. When a mysterious light appears in the woods, the ghosts realize they are trapped and begin to rebel. Cast: Angela Bettis. World Premiere Double Take/Germany,Netherlands (Director: Johan Grimonprez)— Alfred Hitchcock is unwittingly caught up in a double take on the cold war period. As television hijacks cinema, and Khrushchev debates Nixon, sexual politics quietly take off and Hitchcock himself blackmails housewives with brands they can’t refuse. Cast: Mark Perry, Ron Burrage. North American Premiere Memories of Overdevelopment/USA (Director and Screenwriter: Miguel Coyula)—Live action mixes with animation and newsreel footage of historical events to form a collage that emulates the way personal memory works for a misanthropic Cuban intellectual. An adaptation of a novel by Cuban author Edmundo Desnoes. Cast: Ron Blair. World Premiere ODDSAC/USA (Director: Daniel Perez)—An earthy, psychedelic experimental narrative infused with the band, Animal Collective’s aural and musical sensibilities. World Premiere Pepperminta/Austria,Switzerland (Director: Pipilotti Rist; Screenwriters: Pipilotti Rist, Chris Niemeyer)— A magical and visually stunning contemporary fantasy about a young woman with an anarchist imagination. Together with Pepperminta’s best friends, colors and strawberries, she sets out to fight for a more humane world. Cast: Ewelina Guzik North American Premiere. Utopia in Four Movements/USA (Director: Sam Green)—In this “live documentary” Sam Green’s live narration blends with Dave Cerf’s soundtrack to explore the battered state of the utopian impulse at the dawn of the 21st century. World Premiere |
