I ran into Salt Lake Tribune critic Sean Means tonight at Sundance in a packed RV decked out with a mini tiki bar, neon lights, and a booming sound system -- also known as the RVIP Lounge and Karaoke Cabaret, a tricked-out mobile karaoke mecca and the jammingest place you’ll find in Park City all week. Since the word’s out (read his account of the karaoke madness), here are my two cents: You can have your Drizzy Drake concerts and Bing Bar bashes, but for my money there’s no better way to thaw out from the snow and mingle with Sundance strangers than while belting a karaoke jam or two.
more »
The most polarizing films are often those that dare to push the envelope farther than is expected or comfortable, whether audiences are ready for them or not, and for this reason I tend to find the divisive films more interesting than those with universal praise or derision. Simon Killer, from Afterschool director/Martha Marcy May Marlene producer Antonio Campos, reminded me of this rule when it debuted Friday at Sundance and left critics and bloggers somewhat split.
more »
Expect Twitter to explode shortly with reactions to the Sundance premiere of Gareth Evans' The Raid, the Indonesian actioner that blew minds at Toronto but has been kept largely under wraps until now by Sony Classics, who smartly snatched up the pic and will distribute it this March. I caught The Raid last week at a pre-Sundance screening with its new score by composer Joe Trapanese and Mike Shinoda -- yes, of Linkin Park -- and can attest that the early praise was well-earned because holy crap, it's amazing. Everything you've heard about it? True.
more »
“That was excruciating,” exhaled director Kieran Darcy-Smith as the lights came up on the Sundance opening night premiere of his first feature, the Australian dramatic thriller Wish You Were Here. The theater buzzed with appreciation, sure enough, and the film’s emotional blows strike as sharply thanks to strong performances by Joel Edgerton and Felicity Price. But movies like these almost always prompt that irksome question: Are we all at risk of suffering a case of the film festival goggles?
more »
Park City was eerily peaceful early this morning with nobody around and last night’s dusting of snow on the ground. Soon enough – by this afternoon, or this evening, or certainly tonight – that will all change as filmmakers, press and industry folks roll in and the dreaded promoters (“leveragers,” Sundance founder Robert Redford called them in his inaugural address today) pimp out this snowy mountain town like a toddler in a tiara. Appropriately, Redford pointed to the current hardships for filmmakers, and the world at large. “Times are hard and grim,” he acknowledged, later offering optimism. “Independent film is healthy. That doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
more »
After debuting to geek enthusiasm at Butt-Numb-a-Thon in December, Joss Whedon's long-awaited Cabin in the Woods will have its official world premiere at SXSW 2012 this March, the festival announced today. Also on deck to headline the film portion of the annual Austin conference are Jonas Akerlund's Small Apartments, Kevin MacDonald's music documentary Marley, and Lena Dunham's post-Tiny Furniture, Judd Apatow-produced HBO series GIRLS, which will preview its first three episodes. More details after the jump.
more »
Another round of Sundance 2012 selections tumbled down the hill from Park City this afternoon, with such luminaries as Spike Lee, Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julie Delpy, Chris Rock, and a bounty of others making the cut for next month's festival. Read on for the complete list of selections in the Premieres and Documentaries sections, and have a guess at what you'll be talking about for the rest of 2012.
more »
It's nearly December which means that it is time for the Sundance Film Festival to announce their competitive programming selections. This year, the slates are varied containing two (2!) Mark Webber features, one Jonathan Kasdan teen rom-com, another Lena Dunham-penned dysfunctional NYC family drama and a number of titles that span genres and the globe.
more »
The 2011 AFI Fest drew to a close Thursday night with the North American public premiere of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, directed, appropriately enough, by AFI-associated Steven Spielberg. Though he was unable to attend in person (much of the crew of Tintin, including Spielberg, was on location filming Lincoln), he sent star Jamie Bell in his stead to introduce the film and play a pre-recorded message for the audience at the Grauman's Chinese, which became so packed festival goers spilled over into a second overflow theater for the premiere.
more »
AFI Fest's "secret" screening of Steven Soderbergh's Haywire wasn't so much a showcase for the AFI darling as it was a coming out party for MMA bruiser-cum-action heroine Gina Carano, whom Soderbergh glimpsed fighting one night on TV and subsequently built a star-studded spy thriller pic around. But it's hard to say if first-time actor Carano will branch out in a film career beyond the often lo-fi action experiment. Is she a hybrid of Angelina Jolie and Steven Seagal, as Soderbergh suggested Sunday night? Or is there more of a Cynthia Rothrock quality to Carano's steely gaze and powerhouse physicality?
more »
Friday night at the 2011 AFI Fest, the seats in the historic Grauman's Chinese Theatre weren't quite filled to capacity for the gala screening of Luc Besson's The Lady, which received mildly lukewarm reviews on the festival circuit. But, as it did at its premiere in Toronto, the biopic of Burmese democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi received a standing ovation at AFI Fest -- one clearly directed primarily at star and Oscar hopeful Michelle Yeoh.
more »
Big ups to The Artist, the Oscar-contending silent-film throwback that took home the Audience Award at this weekend's Hamptons International Film Festival. Michel Hazanavicius's film led a class that also included the superb documentarian Marc Levin and breakout stars Emily Browning, Anton Yelchin and Alexander Skarsgård. Read on for the complete list of winners; congrats to all!
more »
Don't let the audience hijinks fool you: This weekend's chat between Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin at the Hamptons Film Festival gave the two old acting chums almost a full hour to catch up -- often hilariously so, with Saturday's ostensible tribute to Broderick generally resulting in a freewheeling gab session between the guys.
more »
"Matthew, could you please let us know how you went about meeting your wife?"
"Sure," said Matthew Broderick. "Right after I'm assassinated."
Such was the mood late this afternoon at Guild Hall, where, at arguably the Hamptons Film Festival's most anticipated event, Broderick sat for a conversation with his old friend and peer Alec Baldwin. Or mostly conversation, anyway, until the wild interruption from the balcony that nearly derailed a perfectly delightful chat about humble beginnings, John Hughes. Marlon Brando, Producers-mania, botched films and so much more.
more »
Youth seized the Hamptons this afternoon, as the ongoing film festival here featured a fun Breakthrough Artists panel comprising actors Anton Yelchin (Like Crazy), Alexander Skarsgård (Melancholia), Emily Browning (Sleeping Beauty), Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) and Stine Fischer Christensen (Cracks in the Shell). It was a wide-ranging chat veering from the subjects of stage parents to confronting vulnerability, but things didn't really get going until Yelchin and Miller (pictured above) replied to a question about their early influences. Hint: They both involve megastars. And, uh, animated rabbits.
more »
