While Movieline's Sundance bureau had its cameras trained on ingénues, warbling auteurs and various other festival luminaries, another stirring scene was captured at the premiere of Lucky McKee's latest horror effort The Woman: An angry viewer removed from the screening argued the film had no artistic value and should be confiscated and burned. And he was just getting warmed up.
more »
Park City got downright crazy Sunday night, with Kevin Smith's Red State "auction" alienating sales agents and bloggers alike and reports of audience unrest at a midnight screening of Lucky McKee's latest horror pic. And then Korean director Bong Joon-Ho (The Host, Mother) took the mic at the raucous Fantastic Fest/Magnet Releasing karaoke party to warble a little Billy Joel as hundreds of partygoers cheered him on.
more »
Kevin Smith isn't the only person making waves at Sundance (thankfully); newcomer Elizabeth Olsen debuted two films at the festival, and her performances in both have been so well-received that she's already being hailed as the breakthrough performer in Park City this year. Olsen spoke with Movieline's Alonso Duralde at the Levi's Dockers House on Main Street about how difficult it was to film the one-shot horror wonder Silent House, her revelatory turn in Martha Marcy May Marlene, the star-studded project she has coming up next, and just what it's like to be an It Girl. Click ahead to watch.
more »
Judging by the flurry of high-profile buying activity this weekend at Sundance, it looks as if distributors think independent film may be somewhat profitable again. Let's hope that the theatrical releases of the latest batch of acquisitions don't prove them wrong. Here's a rundown of the next Sundance films headed to a theater near you, including Paul Rudd as a hippie, this year's seminal indie love-story, and the Antonio Banderas/Snoop Dog thrill ride you've been waiting for.
more »
The fun at the Levi's Dockers House on Main Street in Park City never stops. Just ask director and 2011 Sundance Film Festival juror Kimberly Peirce, who sat down with Movieline's own Elvis Mitchell to discuss what makes her temporary festival job so rewarding, and how she first arrived at Sundance back in 1997. Click ahead to watch the latest in our Sundance video interview series.
more »
Striding onto the stage before a sold-out crowd at the Eccles Theatre on Sunday night at the Sundance Film Festival, Kevin Smith channeled legendary hucksters like P.T. Barnum, William Castle and Samuel Z. Arkoff when his promised open-bidding for the distribution rights to his new horror film Red State turned into Smith's announcement that he would take the movie out himself under his new SModcast Pictures banner. (Not that you should be clamoring to see it, but one thing at a time.) Playing the hype game, which turned Sunday's screening into the must-see event of the festival thus far, was clearly intended to prove that he's learned a thing or two about putting butts in seats himself.
more »
Do tongue-twisting, pretentious-sounding, or generic movie titles turn you off of a film even before you see it? Precious, renamed from the unwieldy Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire after its 2009 Sundance debut, we're looking at you. But every year yields a new batch of mildly nondescript-to-annoying-to-hard-to-remember film titles, and Sundance 2011 seems inundated with them, from movies from Win Win to Like Crazy to Martha Marcy May Marlene (which I dare you to remember correctly). And so, Movieline put it to our panel of critics and bloggers: Which of this year's Sundance movie titles would you rename if you could?
more »
Actor/writer/director and recent NYU film grad James Franco stopped by Movieline's Sundance HQ at the Levi's Dockers House in Park City for a lengthy chat with Elvis Mitchell on the smaller passion projects that drive his inner artiste, including an update on when his SNL documentary, Saturday Night, will finally hit theaters. Get your James Franco quick fix after the jump!
more »
The clueless will inherit the earth, apparently, or at least Park City, Utah, since holy innocents keep popping up in some of the hottest titles at this year's Sundance Film Festival:
more »
More guests! Movieline's Sundance interview series continues with J.K. Simmons and Lou Taylor Pucci, who trekked to Park City -- and then to the Levi's Dockers House on Main Street -- on behalf of their festival premiere The Music Never Stopped. Elvis Mitchell gets full details from the fellas after the jump.
more »
The sign-bearing loons at the Westboro Baptist Church have threatened to show up at Sundance to protest Kevin Smith's horror flick Red State -- and Smith, having survived similar picketing of Dogma, plans to bring a posse carrying amusing counter-protest placards -- but they won't be the only Bible-thumpers at Park City this year. Scary religious fundamentalists turn up in lots of this year's cinematic offerings.
more »
The opening weekend of the Sundance Film Festival might be winding down, but Movieline is just getting started with a full slate of video interviews from our digs at Levi's Dockers House on Main Street. Among the festival luminaries to pay a visit: Ed Helms stopped by to chat with Elvis Mitchell about his new film Cedar Rapids, high expectations and his first Sundance visit -- as a parking attendant.
more »
When the temperature in Park City drops into the single digits and you're not fortunate enough to be at one of dozens of Sundance premieres screening around town, sometimes you just have to accept the shelter of a festival swag suite. Sure, you'll miss some good films and stars, but where else will you see Lil Jon endorsing self-help literature? Let's survey the scene in pictures, shall we?
more »
Perhaps you're already sick of hearing about this year's Oscar race, but given that contenders like The Kids Are All Right, Animal Kingdom, and Winter's Bone all premiered at Sundance 2010, it's likely that some of the films unspooling in Park City this week will be earning nominations a year from now. And three days into the latest edition of the festival, we've found at least one to watch.
more »
