Archive for the 'Movies' Category
Here is this year's Sundance Film Festival report from my friend Dan Casper.
1 - The Savages
Easily the best dramatic feature at the festival this year, Tamara Jenkins’ film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as adult siblings who are asked to make important decisions about their aging father’s long term care and somehow stumble their way through it all. This is a tough film, but it’s not just about what it means to grow old in America today – it’s also about sibling rivalry, middle age, and the disappointments that drive families apart – and at the heart of it all are magnificent performances by two of our finest actors. Watch for this film at Oscar time next year.
2 - Manda Bala
The documentary revelation of this year’s festival, Manda Bala is a riveting portrait of contemporary Brazil. Director Jason Kohn uses the food chain as a metaphor to show how seemingly unrelated circumstances all feed into the cycle of violence that is at the heart of Brazil’s current economic and social problems, but he does so in a way that is vital, engaging, and wholly original. I guess I would describe Kohn’s technique as Errol Morris meets Quentin Tarantino, but Kohn is really in a class by himself, bringing the documentary form forward into a new and exciting place. I can’t wait to see what he does next. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Documentary Filmmaking.
3 - In the Shadow of the Moon
A sentimental favorite, this film is simple, elegant, and a supremely moving experience. In the Shadow of the Moon documents the Apollo space missions of the 1960s and 70s, but brings a new perspective to this well-documented era by allowing the men who traveled to the moon speak about their experiences in their own words. Filled with glorious images of the moon, Earth, and space, this film will look splendid on your plasma TV when it airs someday on the Discovery Channel (HD, of course!). There’s no ponderous narration, no scientific lecturing – just the faces and words of the men who traveled in space, looking back on what clearly are the defining moments of their lives. Winner of the World Documentary Audience Award.
4 - Hear and Now
Irene Taylor Brodsky’s parents have been hearing impaired for all of their 60+ years, and now they have decided to have cochlear implant surgery to restore their hearing. This is an inspiring film that, at its heart, is more about two people sharing their lives together than it is about this controversial medical procedure and its outcome. The Taylors have an entirely unpredictable journey into the world of sound, but it’s a journey that somehow, despite its difficulties, in my mind, makes sense. Winner of the Documentary Audience Award.
5 - War/Dance
Stunningly filmed documentary about children living in the middle of the Ugandan civil war zone who travel to Kampala to participate in the country’s annual student music and dance competition. Every single frame of War/Dance would make a beautiful still photo for a coffee table companion book for this film, and I admit that I was thoroughly engaged in the beauty and poetry of the images filmmakers Sean and Andrea Nix Fine created. The moving narrative is a familiar treatise on the healing power of art in times of peril, and though the film did work for me, its impact was diminished a bit for a reason I can’t quite articulate. My friends observed that the film actually felt entirely ‘staged’ to them and that there is nothing honorable about having these children recount their tales of torture and horror. I respect that view, but I can’t deny that for some, the techniques used in this film will go a long way towards bringing attention to its agenda. I give the film high marks for its artistry, but I admit that its intent and execution are a bit of a mismatch. Winner of the Documentary Directing Award.
6 - Strange Culture
An intriguing film that explores the strange case of Steve Kurtz, an artist who was arrested on evidence of suspected terrorism when it was found that his home contained scientific equipment and other materials for an art installation he was working on about genetically-modified food products. Not only is this a fascinating and thought-provoking case, but the film is presented in a fascinating and thought- provoking way. Not content to simply document the case, director Lynn Hershman Leeson uses actors to recreate scenes that Kurtz’s lawyers will not allow him to talk about publicly since his case is still awaiting trial. I was fascinated by the many layers to Kurtz’s story – and by the many layers of Leeson’s film. Strange culture, indeed.
7 - Never Forever
I’ll admit it – I love a good melodrama – and Never Forever is, simply put, a highly- polished melodrama. Elevated by a strong performance from Sundance’s woman-of- the-year, Vera Farmiga, this somewhat sordid tale of a woman married to an infertile Korean businessman who pays another Korean man who she meets at her fertility clinic to impregnate her, is riveting despite itself. Yes, at times it feels like it’s headed down a rabbit hole, never to return to sanity, but Farmiga carries the film, keeping it grounded, and keeping me engaged during its twists and turns.
8 - Girl 27
Back in 1937, a Hollywood chorus girl, Patricia Douglas, then 17, was invited to perform at an MGM sales meeting and became a victim of rape and abuse by one of the salesmen attending the convention. Very little was reported about this incident, and over 60 years later, director and investigative reporter David Stenn went in search of answers. Why the cover-up? What happened to Douglas? Why was she never heard from again? Stenn finds lots to chew on in this story, but ultimately his film (and its accompanying Vanity Fair article) is a lucid account of abuse and its ramifications on one person’s life up until the day she died. Heartbreaking and tragic.
9 - Crazy Love
A jaw-droppingly unbelievable tale of obsession and madness, this film documents the unusual love affair between two unforgettable New Yorkers – Burt Pugatch and Linda Riss – who have spent the better part of the last 45 years falling in and out of love with each other. Saying more about their relationship wouldn’t be fair to filmmakers Dan Klores and Fisher Stevens, who reveal the details of their complex relationship beautifully in this textured and strangely compassionate film. Pugatch and Riss sat near me on my flight out to Sundance, and though I did not know who they were at the time, I knew they were one-of-a-kind characters - had they been near me on my flight back, I just might have asked to change my seat.
10 - Broken English
It doesn’t bring anything new to the romantic comedy genre, but Zoe Cassavetes’ Broken English sparkles with witty dialogue and appealing situations – and, hey, with Parker Posey leading the band as the film’s unlucky-in-love heroine, how can you go wrong? A pleasant diversion for a rainy afternoon.
11 - Waitress
Filmmaker Adrienne Shelly’s recent murder brought an extra layer of sentimentality to her already sentimental film Waitress, but even if Shelly had been with us, I would have applauded this film’s good-natured warmth and charm, its entirely convincing performances, and its often surprising wit. The setup is straight out of the 70s sitcom Alice, but the film sneaks up on you and gains surprising depth as it works up to its wholly expected and entirely feminist resolution. A chick flick of the highest order.
12 - My Kid Could Paint
That Is 4 year old Marla Olmstead an art prodigy or just a kid playing with her paint set? Or is Marla’s seemingly charming family pulling the wool over the eyes of the art world and making buckets of money off their kid? Or maybe something else entirely is going on here. One thing I do know is that filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev raises a lot of questions, throws out a lot of ideas, and ultimately shrugs his shoulders at the Olmsteads, eventually turning the camera on himself and his journalistic responsibility over his subject. This was frustrating to me by the end of this film, but I still respect a lot of My Kid Could Paint That for its intriguing dissection of a family thrust into fame by their child’s precociousness. Less successful in its assessment of the art world than last year’s raucously entertaining Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?, but worthwhile nonetheless.
13 - Starting Out in the Evening
A gentle character study of an aging writer, his daughter, and the young graduate student who comes into their lives, director Andrew Wagner’s follow-up to his very different The Talent Given Us is a nice piece of writing and acting, with Frank Langella’s reliable performance at its core. This is a modest film, quiet and at times slow, but a rewarding one.
14 - Away from Her
Another quiet film at the festival this year, Sarah Polley’s Away from Her tells the gentle story of a woman facing the onset of Alzheimer’s with grace and poise. Featuring a central performance by the great Julie Christie, the film has a mesmerizing quality to it that serves as a kindler, gentler counterpoint to the biting wit and complexity of another strong film at Sundance this year, The Savages.
15 - Chasing Ghosts
Not quiet at all, Chasing Ghosts documents the history of the video game revolution of the 1980s with all of the wit and vitality you would expect. A slick portrait of geekdom and its birthplace (the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa), the film is never less than entertaining but becomes even more than that when we check in with the men (and yes, they are all men) who were the reigning Pac Man and Asteroids champions of their day.
16 - Grace is Gone
John Cusack’s fully-realized performance is at the heart of this film, which appears to be a well-researched and believable study of a man’s journey to acceptance of the death of his wife in the Iraq war and the inevitable, though difficult, discussion he has with his daughters about their loss. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t fully get myself inside the head of Cusack’s character and couldn’t quite connect with the daughters either, and I guess the script and direction ended up keeping me at enough of a distance from this film to really be moved by it. Not a bad film, and one that many will respond to more than I did, but watching Grace is Gone just wasn’t quite the experience I might have expected. Winner of the Dramatic Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
17 - Trade
A guilty pleasure (if pleasure is the right word), this film is a Bruckheimer-style thriller about the global abduction and auctioning of young children into sexual slavery. It’s hardly an expose, and doesn’t have all that much of a social conscience, but damn if it doesn’t create a tense scenario and deliver on its promise to keep you on the edge of your seat and disturb you. It seems at first that Trade is going to be another Babel-style triptych, riffing this time on the human rights of underage children, but it quickly turns into a strong thriller that really didn’t sell me on itself until its final half hour, which was riveting and intensely disturbing. Featuring a chilling performance from Mexican actress Kate DelCastillo as the villainous Laura.
18 - Joshua
Clearly inspired by Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen, director George Ratliff has created a spooky, witty film and cast terrific actors to creep us out with his tale of one very odd child who feels very threatened by the arrival of his new sibling. Vera Farmiga (again) plays the mother who is thrown into post-partum depression by her son, while Sam Rockwell is the father driven to paranoia. This film had no trouble keeping me awake at its midnite screening, but when it was all over, I couldn’t help thinking the film was more of an exercise in style over substance.
19 - Rocket Science
Director Jeffrey Blitz, who made the terrific documentary Spellbound, creates another promising underdog scenario with his fictional tale of a socially awkward teen with a stutter who is recruited for the debate squad at his school, and I can’t remember a more entertaining time at the festival for me than the first 45 minutes or so of Rocket Science. Its setup is terrific, the writing sparkles, the central performance by newcomer Reece Daniel Thompson is spot-on (he won a special acting award from the Sundance jury), and the voice-over narration by Alec Baldwin adds the perfect touch. Unfortunately, the film is all setup and no payoff, with a second half that loses a lot of steam before sputtering out and ending. Too bad, but I give the film credit for trying.
20 - An American Crime
This is a lurid tale about a very disturbed woman in Indiana who takes in her neighbor’s children and tortures and abuses them to no end. This film was most unpleasant to watch, but I can’t deny that Catherine Keener and Ellen Page give brilliant performances that probably not too many will want to see. Brave choices on their part, and a brave choice on yours if you choose to see this film.
21 - Smiley Face
Let me just say up front that I have never smoked pot, so I’m not sure I am the target audience for this stoner comedy that spends a day in the life of a young woman who has smoked way too much of it, but damn if I didn’t find Anna Faris’ performance in Smiley Face one of the most inspired comic performances I have seen this year. Sure, this movie is pure silliness, but Faris carries the day, and director Gregg Araki (who made a great leap forward in his skill as a director a couple of years back with Mysterious Skin) gets things just right. Opens in your local theatre on 4/20 (think about it).
22 - Once
A wee tiny small little miniscule musical, this charming Irish film fulfills its modest ambitions, but I guess I wanted it to be more. A street performer meets a woman on the Dublin streets, wanders around with her, regaling her with songs on his guitar, and at one point, on a piano in a music store they pass by. It’s kind of a love story, and then it kind of isn’t, but it’s hard to say a bad word about a film that aims to charm and has no pretensions about doing anything more than that. Winner of the Audience Award for World Cinema, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s because of the film, or because the film’s stars came up after each screening and performed a few songs live for the Sundance audience before they voted.
23 - Year of the Dog
I love Mike White’s view of the world in films like Chuck & Buck and, to a lesser extent, The Good Girl, and Year of the Dog clearly has White stamped all over it. Molly Shannon is perfectly cast as a dog lover who goes over the edge when her dog Pretzel (or was it Pencil?) dies, becoming an aggressive (and annoying) animal rights activist. Because this is a comedy, the dark side of Shannon’s character is played more for laughs, so it’s hard to argue that she really could have benefited from a few visits to a good therapist to help cope with her grief. Nonetheless, the supporting cast is strong and makes the most of a not-so-great script, but I couldn’t help but think that you really have to be a major animal lover to understand how this character could have gone so far off the deep end.
24 - Red Road
Here’s one that really baffled me, since it kept me in the dark for most of its nearly 2 hour running time, then walloped me at the end with some very fast plot twists that made sense of all that came before them. Overall, I guess that means this was a tightly constructed, well-thought-out film, but as my friend and I discussed, it just needed to give me a bit more as it went along so that I wasn’t so put off by some of the main character’s actions – such as stalking and eventually having intense, violent sex with an ex-convict who she spies on through the surveillance system at the security firm she works at. A resourceful film for sure, but one I’m not sure I really appreciated all that much.
25 - Padre Nuestro
Here’s another film that baffled me. For much of its short running time, I thought this film’s two main characters, who are very similar-looking Mexican boys who have come across the border, were actually one person. Something happens early in the film that led me to believe that one of the boys was out of the picture, but alas, he was not, and all I can do is blame the director and editor for their lack of clarity in telling their story. Somehow, once my head was on straight about what was going on, I got back into the film, which so far had played like standard scrappy urban indie fare to me, and I found the film’s final 20 minutes or so to be compelling enough to not entirely dismiss it. Winner of the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, but in my mind, an accolade not earned.
26 - Snow Angels
I’ve always felt David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls, Undertow) was an extraordinarily talented filmmaker who had yet to make a good movie, and unfortunately Snow Angels hasn’t done much to change his track record. This bleak tale about the loss of a child and the impact it has on a small town is sad indeed, and the miscasting of Kate Beckinsale in the lead role (she seems to be miscast a lot these days – another case in point, Laurel Canyon) is unfortunately fatal to the film. I was never bored by it (unlike George Washington, which is a great film to fall asleep to), but it didn’t add up to much for me either.
27 - For the Bible Tells Me So
This documentary on Christianity’s views on homosexuality does itself a service by focusing on several families’ experiences and personal stories rather than on the Bible-thumpers who dismiss it all as sin, but the film also goes off on quite a few tangents that seem geared towards making this a definitive film on homosexuality rather than a specific film about one aspect of the debate on religion and sexual preference. The cartoon segment on what it means to be gay really didn’t add much, but it sure was entertaining. Director Daniel Karslake is a first-time filmmaker, and that shows, but he’s a filmmaker with clear passion for his subject, and for that I give him credit.
28 - Four Sheets to the Wind
A slight, well-acted slice-of-life in a Native American community in the Southwest, Four Sheets to the Wind doesn’t make much of a film, but it introduces several appealing Native American actors who should have bright futures ahead of them. Actress Tamara Podemski was awarded a special acting prize by the Sundance jury, but I would have made a point of recognizing the strong work of Cody Lightning and Jeri Arredondo as a son and mother coping with the loss of their father and husband.
29 - Everything’s Cool
Somewhat of a companion piece to last year’s An Inconvenient Truth, this film brings several additional layers of information to the global warming debate but is not nearly as tightly focused or as strong in its delivery as the Gore documentary. Filmmakers Judith Helfand and Daniel Gold made one of my favorite Sundance docs a few years ago (Blue Vinyl), and I had high expectations of their film this year, but unfortunately, this one’s a bit of a mess. I get the sense that they rushed to complete Everything’s Cool and in the process forgot to use their great storytelling gifts, so evident in Blue Vinyl, to really suck their audience into this important issue. Helfand and Gold started this film long before An Inconvenient Truth, and I think the pressure created by that film’s success has really had an impact here.
30 - Year of the Fish
Director David Kaplan tries to make his film look more mythic and important than it is by rotoscoping over his modest digitally-shot feature to give it a unique animated look that is intriguing at times but grows tiresome since not every moment of this Cinderella-set-in-Chinatown tale has quite the resonance he would like to believe that it does. The film is entirely watchable, however, and has its entertaining stretches.
31 - Chicago 10
The opening night film at the festival this year, Chicago 10 is a real mess but has some brilliant ideas that unfortunately aren’t well-executed. I was excited to learn all about the Chicago 7, their protest at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, and their subsequent trial, but because this film is resolutely committed to its stylistic flourishes and its big, loud, busy mises-en-scenes, I can’t say I learned all that much. Most confusing to me is why a film about the Chicago 7 is called Chicago 10.
32 - The Pool
A trend at this year’s festival was films by filmmakers not native to the cultures they made their films about. Chris Smith’s The Pool is set in Goa (off the western coast of India) and is a character portrait of a young man trying to make something of his life. I can’t say all that much happens, or that the film is all that interesting, or beautiful, or much of anything. In fact, I was pretty bored throughout much of it, but I guess I’m supposed to give Smith credit for making a film that seems to be an homage to the work of the Indian master Satyajit Ray – though that doesn’t make it a film I’d really want to see. Winner of a Special Jury Award for Originality of Vision.
33 - Chapter 27
This film purports to be a serious character assessment of Mark David Chapman, who was John Lennon’s assassin, during the final days leading up to Lennon’s shooting, but really this film is a shameless vehicle for Jared Leto, who put on 60 pounds and much vocal affectation to pull off this stunt that not for a minute feels like a genuine piece of acting. OK, I give the guy credit for trying, and the script itself isn’t terrible, but I think I walked into this film with a bit of a grudge against Leto, since I had heard some Hollywood bigwig at dinner the night before complain on his cell phone to somebody that Leto wanted the stage “all to himself” during the Q&A session after the film’s screening.
34 - The Go-Getter
I’ve already pretty much forgotten this film, which is pretty standard road trip fare about a guy who steals a car and develops some kind of relationship over the phone with the stranger whose car he has stolen. An appealing cast, led by Lou Taylor Pucci and Zooey Deschanel helps, but there’s not much to say about this unmemorable film.
35 - Ghosts
I’ve been a fan of Nick Broomfield’s documentaries about Heidi Fleiss, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, and Aileen Wuornos, but Broomfield makes a rocky transition to dramatic filmmaking with Ghosts, which brings a distinct verite sensibility to its tale of a Chinese immigrant who comes to Britain, works a series of menial jobs, and eventually gets swept up by the tides while on a cockle farming expedition in Northern England. Broomfield has something to say about the plight of illegal immigrants in his country, and some of the film (particularly the cockle expedition) is impressively filmed, but other films have tackled a similar subject much more effectively (my favorite is probably a film called Last Resort, which has more to say in 75 minutes about illegal immigrants than just about any film I’ve seen).
36 - The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun The Sundance programmer instructed us, “Don’t be afraid to laugh!” before our screening of this film, but alas, I did not laugh once. Sure, Mr. Vig and the Russian nun who comes to his family home to accept his generous offer to turn it into a Russian Orthodox monastery are quirky and hard-headed, but I just didn’t find them to be all that funny – just a bit old and cranky. This film tries so hard to mine these two kind souls for entertainment value, but there’s not much to be found.
37 - Sweet Mud
Mud indeed. This film is about life on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1970s, but unfortunately it’s muddied up with strange subplots about a mother’s mental illness, a visitor from Switzerland, an older man in love with a younger woman, a child coming of age on the kibbutz, and more. Somewhere there’s a good film to be made about the kibbutz movement, its communal living and politics, and that film could be nicely framed by a story of a child’s coming of age or a visitor’s reaction to the dynamics of the kibbutz lifestyle, but instead Sweet Mud meanders along and never satisfies. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema.
38 - Reprise
The divergent/convergent trajectories of 2 young writers in Norway is the focus of Reprise, and unfortunately, this is another film that starts out with great promise and then goes nowhere. Director Joachim Trier has some visual flair, but I couldn’t help thinking I’ve seen every technique he uses in this film before. Not really much to say on this one.
39 - Protaganist
Academy Award-winning documentarian Jessica Yu tries too hard to apply the structures of classical Greek tragedy to the lives of 4 tragic men, and the result is an intellectual curiosity at best. I think Yu was a bit constrained by her chosen hypothesis, and this film is a perfect example of making data fit a theory rather than the other way around. An interesting idea, but not an interesting film.
40 - Zoo
Several years ago, a man in the Pacific Northwest was rushed to a hospital, and upon investigating the cause of his unusual injury, investigators discovered a farm in Washington State that was a sexual playground for those who were into, ahem, bestiality. Filmmaker Robinson Devor went to investigate this strange incident, and in the process, found lots of people who wouldn’t talk about it. No surprise there, but Devor’s decision to make a documentary anyway leads to one of the most obtuse, unsatisfying films at the festival this year. A ‘meditation’ on zoophilia, Zoo tries to create a mesmerizing cinematic experience, but unfortunately it provides virtually no information and no insight into its subject. For a more satisfying investigation into an odd sexual subculture, see Kirby Dick’s film Sick instead.
41 - Miss Navajo
Here’s my problem with Miss Navajo: despite its political correctness, the Miss Navajo Pageant, which showcases the ancestry, talents, and dreams of young women across the Navajo nation, just isn’t very interesting, and this film’s decision to profile one aspiring contestant on her journey through the pageant process doesn’t work, mainly because she just isn’t very interesting either. Everybody in this film seems perfectly lovely, and I did get a kick out of the sheep slaughtering portion of the competition, but I just wish there were more to say about Miss Navajo – the pageant, its contestants, or this film.
42 - Save Me
This film about a gay reformation ministry is full of good intentions but in bad need of a script. It’s hard to figure out exactly what the message is here, since the film traffics in every gay film stereotype you can think of and is clouded by characters with inconsistent motives and actions. Judith Light comes away unscathed and turns in a respectable performance, though I’m not quite sure even she understands what her character is really about. I’m as confused about this film as some of its characters are about their sexual preference.
43 - Fido
I laughed a couple of times during Fido, a silly comedy about a day in the future when the flesh-eating tendencies of zombies can be regulated so that the undead can work simple jobs, like becoming the titular domestic help played by Billy Connolly here. The film looks great, and it has a great cast, but I just didn’t feel like I wanted to go along for the ride.
44 - The Legacy
A man and his grandson travel to a small town carrying a coffin. The grandfather is to be shot when he reaches his destination as part of a long-standing feud between families, and the grandson is to carry the coffin home afterwards. This film is an allegory for something, but I have no idea what. I think something got lost in translation (the film comes from France and Georgia, as in the former Soviet Union not the Peach State), and I just don’t have the energy to figure out what. I sat mystified by this film, at times feeling like an intricate joke was being played on me (if you’ve ever seen the Ingmar Bergman parody De Duva, you’ll know what I mean).
45 - Dark Matter
Let us discuss the dark matter of Dark Matter, the second worst film I saw at the festival this year, and if it weren’t for #46 below, well, I guess it would be the worst. A Chinese exchange student in mathematics comes to an American university, works with his mentor, and then when academic politics turn against him, goes on a crazy shooting spree. I am flabbergasted that the great Meryl Streep would choose to participate in this film, especially since I can’t imagine any reason why she would have found the thankless role of a college professor’s wife who serves as hostess to the exchange students remotely interesting. On top of that, the film itself doesn’t even try to explain or create any sense of inclusion with its audience about any of the mathematical or scientific concepts discussed – sure, dark matter and string theory can be challenging to understand, but there are ways to handle this subject matter without resorting to pointless hand-waving and big words. This film won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for a narrative film with scientific or technological subject matter, but probably because it was the only film at the festival this year to go anywhere near the world of science.
46 - Teeth
OK, here it is, the film you have been waiting for. The worst film I saw at Sundance this year, without a doubt, was Teeth, an embarrassing horror-comedy about a teenage girl who discovers that she has teeth in her (are you sitting down?) vagina. Everything you can imagine that would happen does, and then some, and it’s all incredibly distasteful. Newcomer Jess Weixler was awarded a special jury prize for acting, probably for her bravery in taking a role that will probably prevent her from ever having a normal date with a boy ever again. What’s especially offensive to me about this film is that the Sundance programmers decided to put this film in competition instead of scheduling it as an out-of-competition midnite film, a spot on the schedule that probably wouldn’t have bothered me one bit. To call this film one of the few films this year that advances the art of independent cinema is abominable, and to punish the Sundance jury by making them take this dreck seriously is unforgivable. So that I don’t end on such a sour note, I did overhear one amusing comment as I left the theatre after the screening – “I wonder how she flosses down there.”
My friend Dan Casper attends the Sundance Film Festival every year, sees everything and writes thumbnail reviews that I thoroughly enjoy. Here's his report for 2006.
Greetings friends!
Let me just get this out of the way first - 2006 was not a good year for the Sundance Film Festival.
Sure, there were plenty of films to see, and plenty of good ones at that (particularly some of the documentaries), but there just weren't any truly great films. No revelations, no films that I must urge you to run out to see, no performances that bring forward an emerging talent.
It was just an average year at best – perfectly enjoyable but not a great festival.
So with that out of the way, here’s my annual recap of the films I saw, in order of preference (best ones first), so that you can plan your moviegoing year, or not, or at least start to fill up your Netflix queue with some films that, admittedly, may be nice to see at home on a rainy day.
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1. An Inconvenient Truth
Powerful and compelling documentary about former Vice President Al Gore’s advocacy of environmental issues and his grass roots campaign to build awareness of the global warming crisis that is now upon us. At the heart of this film is one of the most compelling slide presentations I’ve ever seen, a presentation which Gore gives on college campuses around the country, and one which is a model for all leaders in how to organize and deliver a message. Gore came to the festival and spoke to our audience after the screening, but even if he hadn’t, this film would have stood on its own as a compelling case study in leadership, grass roots activism, and above all, a call to action.
2. Wordplay
An entertaining, insightful, and unexpectedly layered profile of NY Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz and his ‘puzzling’ community. Of course, the prototypes for this study lie in films like ‘Spellbound’ and ‘Word Wars’ – but somehow ‘Wordplay’ finds ways to tread new ground, bringing new insights into the world of geekdom, and profiling some truly interesting, creative, and clever individuals who are at the heart of the would-be crossword zeitgeist.
3. The World According to Sesame Street
Fascinating film about Sesame Workshop’s efforts to export their titular TV series to developing nations around the globe. The development of the show for viewers in Kosovo, Bangladesh, and South Africa is profiled, and along the way, we learn about Sesame’s educational approach, the impact of cultural differences, and the challenges of globalization.
4. All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise
Heartfelt documentary chronicling Rosie O’Donnell’s first gay and lesbian family cruise. The film does a nice job showing what it might be like to live in a world that is totally accepting of everyone’s differences, and the warmth and love on this boat of idealism are genuinely moving. A few curmudgeonly types described this as a horror film – 500 gays are imprisoned on a boat with Rosie for a week – but I say phooey to them all.
5. Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner
Interesting portrait of playwright Tony Kushner, tracking his life and his projects over a 4 year period from just after 9/11 though the 2004 presidential election. This film is beautifully constructed and does a nice job chronicling Kushner’s life and work but somehow doesn’t bring an insider’s view that would have made this an even stronger film. Credit to director Freida Lee Mock for creating such a strong film about a subject she admitted to knowing little about, but shame on her for not getting closer to her subject or even acknowledging the many influences that no doubt have contributed to Kushner’s success as a playwright and activist.
6. 13 Tzameti
The best dramatic feature at the festival, and that’s not saying much, this stylish suspense film from France takes Hitchcock, Tarantino, and pretty much all of film noir as its inspirations and comes up with something pretty darn original. Filmed in glorious black and white, this story of a man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time is always compelling to watch, but the film itself is a bit more style than substance and is really nothing more than a calling card for up-and-coming director Gela Babluani.
7. Stay
A powder keg of a film that audiences will either love or hate, this laser-sharp relationship comedy takes the most obscene premise imaginable and somehow spins an insightful exploration of relationships and the secrets we keep, or don’t keep, from those we love. Though acted within an inch of its life by the lovely Melinda Page Hamilton, Bryce Johnson, and others, this was without question the most original film I saw at the festival.
8. So Much So Fast
Sad, moving portrait of a young man with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) tracks his disease in depth but seems to be even more about the incredible family that takes care of him. This is a profile of a terrible tragedy that has affected beautiful, privileged people, but each member of this family is a true hero in their own way, showing for once how rare and special a loving, supportive family can be.
9. Puccini for Beginners
Sparkling film that is a screwball romantic comedy for our time, director Maria Maggenti delivered the most joyful 90 minutes I spent at the festival this year. Sure, it all evaporates as soon as you leave the theatre, but the film is sharply written, keenly observed, and deeply funny – what more can you ask for?
10. Kinky Boots
The latest Britcom to come ashore, ‘Kinky Boots’ is a film that actually avoids most of the obvious clichés and delivers something that is fresh and original (and beautifully filmed). The heir to a shoe factory in Northern England struggles to revive business after the death of his father and turns to a flamboyant man who convinces him that boots for drag queens could be a market niche worth exploring. The film features a wonderful performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor (of ‘Dirty Pretty Things’) as the drag diva with a heart of gold and a business sense to boot.
11. Little Miss Sunshine
This is the film that had the most buzz this year and was a huge hit with audiences and studio executives alike. It’s a perfectly adorable film about a dysfunctional family on a road trip to take their young daughter to compete in a children’s beauty pageant. With scenes that are truly inspired and hysterically funny, and a cast that is a pitch-perfect ensemble entirely in tune with the piece, there’s really no reason not to like this film. At the end, I couldn’t help thinking that this film was written backwards – that its destination (the beauty pageant) was somehow more important than its starting point, but I can’t deny that I had a lot of fun all along the way.
12. God Grew Tired of Us
Awarded both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for documentary film this year, ‘God Grew Tired of Us’ is a moving and triumphant film about young Sudanese men escaping the endless civil war in their country and coming to America for a fresh start. Filled with insights about cultural dislocation, this is a humane and sensitive portrait of 3 men who have lived tough lives who find a home and freedom and compassion in our country. My only criticism about this film is that it covers exactly the same ground as an admittedly less polished film from last year called ‘The Lost Boys of Sudan.’
13. Friends with Money
The opening film of the festival this year, Nicole Holofcener’s ensemble dramedy is a nice piece of writing, but unfortunately Jennifer Aniston is miscast as an aimless woman well into her 30s whose older friends have had much more success in their lives than she has. It’s hard to understand why Aniston’s character would have been friendly with these women in the first place, but fortunately they are all played by amazing actresses – Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack, and Catherine Keener – and the film succeeds because they are just so damn good.
14. A Lion in the House
A very long film (nearly 4 hours), but a very compelling one, that chronicles the experiences of 3 families with children who are cancer patients at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. This is a strong film that comprehensively covers nearly all aspects of its topic and in a strange way still left me wanting to learn more (well, maybe after a bathroom break).
15. Quinceanera
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for dramatic feature this year, ‘Quinceanera’ chronicles the dynamics of a Mexican family preparing for their daughter’s 15th birthday celebration. I must say my impression of this film grew in retrospect, but unfortunately the film is marred by a terribly realized subplot about a young gay cousin and the predatory gay couple who invites him into their relationship. This subplot felt so out of place to me in a film that celebrates family, tackles the subject of gentrification of our ethnic neighborhoods, and rejoices in the celebrations that make America’s melting pot of cultures so unique.
16. Sherrybaby
Maggie Gyllenhaal can do no wrong in my book, and sure enough, in this film, she is wonderful as a woman just released from prison struggling to reclaim her life, especially the young daughter who she barely knows. Without Gyllenhaal’s performance, this film wouldn’t be much, but Gyllenhaal lifts up this kitchen sink drama and turns it into a character portrait worth remembering.
17. The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Absorbing though traditionally-realized documentary about the efforts to exonerate North Carolina convict Darryl Hunt from death row. You can’t help but be moved by Hunt’s story of a wrongful, racially-driven conviction and his lengthy journey to bring forward justice, and the film does a nice job building suspense and conveying the feelings of exhaustion and determination that no doubt faced Hunt and his advocates.
18. Who Killed the Electric Car?
A nice companion piece to ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ this film explores another side of the environmental issue by delivering an entertaining and probing investigation of why we are not further developing and manufacturing the electric-powered vehicle, a car whose time has come (as the film mentions several times) – and unfortunately one whose time has already passed. At its heart, this is really just an extended ‘20/20’ or ‘Dateline’ piece, but it’s done well, and it’s tale is an interesting one.
19. The Illusionist
A film with the gloss and shine of an expensive Hollywood period piece and with high-profile (and wonderful) performances by Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. Its tricky script demands patience at times, but the payoff is interesting though perhaps a bit confusing. Nonetheless, with its piercing Philip Glass score and handsome production values, the film works well and is worth keeping an eye out for.
20. Thin
Verite documentary profiling the journeys of 3 women with eating disorders undergoing treatment at a residential center in Florida. Hard to watch at times, this film raises a lot of questions it doesn’t answer about both the disease and its treatment. Though filmed with a degree of honesty that its verite approach facilitates, I can’t help thinking that a more orchestrated treatment of the subject might go further in helping us learn about a disease that perhaps many of us don’t really understand.
21. The Night Listener
Straightforward suspense thriller adapted faithfully from Armistead Maupin’s novel (and why not, since the book reads like a screenplay anyway?), ‘The Night Listener’ is about a mysterious child and the writer he develops a friendship with. Unfortunately the film makes the mistake of revealing its cards a bit too soon (unlike the novel), but despite this, Robin Williams is terrific and terrifically convincing in the lead role, as is Toni Collette as the woman who may or may not be behind the mystery.
22. Flannel Pajamas
Overlong and overwrought relationship drama that gets things right about 50% of the time and gets things totally wrong otherwise. Not entirely without merit, the film really cracks along when it’s good, but when it’s not, it’s a real clunker. It was interesting to note that the friend I saw this film with sympathized with one of the main characters in the relationship portrayed in the film, while I sympathized with the other. I guess relationships really do have two sides to them, and I do give the film credit for showing this, but unfortunately some of the film is just totally wrongheaded and not in the least convincing.
23. This Film is Not Yet Rated
Expose of the motion picture association film ratings board and their lack of consistency in rating films, this piece clearly has an agenda that just doesn’t feel all that important to the average moviegoer. Not without its flashes of brilliance (showing sex scenes from 2 films side by side to highlight the inconsistency of ratings, for example), overall this film didn’t resonate for me and its focus on the mechanics of its undercover investigation, though entertaining, just didn’t seem all that relevant to the proceedings.
24. Man Push Cart
Small, scrappy little film cut from the immigrant experience cloth, ‘Man Push Cart’ was better than most small, scrappy little films are, but its story is familiar and offers nothing fresh or surprising. It’s the kind of film you want to feel good about but ultimately walk away from feeling a bit undernourished.
25. Art School Confidential
Though it starts off well, this film goes downhill pretty quickly and never really recovers from it. Brought to us by the same creative team that made the delightfully dark ‘Ghost World’ a few years back, ‘Art School Confidential’ bursts with promise, has some fun moments and nice performances, but loses steam about halfway through and gets bogged down in the pulp of a hard-boiled detective yarn that is a bit incongruous with its subject (though no worse than last year’s ‘Brick,’ I suppose, which spun its hard-boiled detective yarn around life in high school).
26. Songbirds
A film about women in prison in the UK writing and performing in music videos, these songbirds don’t quite sing well enough to make them all that noteworthy. More interesting than the women and their performances is the story behind the film – the seed of its idea, the therapeutic aspect of it for the women, and the logistics of its making. There’s an interesting documentary in there somewhere – one that is much more interesting than this film.
27. Stephanie Daley
Though this was one of the first films I saw at the festival this year, my friends saw it late in the festival, and when we discussed it afterwards, I was embarrassed to admit that I remembered very little about it. What I do remember is that Tilda Swinton was really good in it (when isn’t she good?), and that it was a pretty serious affair about a lawyer defending a teenage girl accused of killing her baby.
28. TV Junkie
Now we’re moving into the self-indulgent films on this list. The first of several films that spend way too much time with people who just aren’t all that interesting, ‘TV Junkie’ edits down over 3000 hours of home movies to create a disturbing portrait of a TV reporter who also happens to be a crack addict. Tedious and way too long, some credit (and sympathy) must be given to the director and editor for watching all of the footage so we don’t have to.
29. Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst
Not quite self-indulgent, but definitely a film about someone who just isn’t that interesting. Florence Broadhurst, the pre-eminent wallpaper designer of Australia, purportedly led a colorful life, but all of the color is missing from this overly gimmicky and annoyingly inventive documentary about her life. Teeming with animation, re-enactments, and interviews in rooms wallpapered with Florence’s work (yawn), this film does show some creativity on the part of esteemed Australian director Gillian Armstrong.
30. The Hawk is Dying
Paul Giamatti stars in this downbeat tale of a man who adopts dying hawks and then keeps them in captivity and starves them to death. A strange film that lands with a thud and also happens to be the darkest (meaning least lit) film I’ve ever seen (did someone forget to pay the electric bill?). With that said, Giamatti comes out of this mess relatively unscathed and actually, despite how unpleasant his character is, turns in a good performance. Unfortunately, director Julian Goldberger probably won’t see the light of day after this, the second unexpected failure of his career.
31. Come Early Morning
Ashley Judd is wonderful in this character study of a troubled woman, but there’s practically nothing interesting about this film, which chronicles a young woman’s journey from a world of one night stands to a world of, well, what will likely be more one night stands.
32. No. 2
I’m afraid this film was setting itself up to be the butt (pun intended) of bad jokes with its title, and I’m sorry to report that the title is not far off from what this film is. OK, it’s not all that bad, and it does offer an intermittently interesting and deft performance from the great Ruby Dee as a Fijian woman bringing her family together for a final party before handing over her house to one of her progeny. But other than that, it’s a curiously uneven film that just doesn’t ever find its rhythm.
33. Right At Your Door
Possibly the first film since ‘The Blair Witch Project’ to create a sense of terror and dread with virtually no budget, but this film that speculates about a dirty bomb attack on Los Angeles ends up being just plain silly. Full of characters making stupid choices, this film did prove, if nothing else, that it is possible to create a doomsday thriller without big budget special effects – unfortunately, this just isn’t a good one.
34. Destricted
Filmmakers from around the world (including Gaspar Noe, Matthew Barney, Larry Clark and others) were challenged to create a series of short, explicitly sexual films, and the results are pretty mixed. Far and away the best film in the lot is Clark’s, a nearly 40 minute piece about his search for a regular guy to have sex with a porn star for his section of the film. Clark’s film is witty and entertaining, which is more than can be said for the rest of ‘Destricted’ – and thankfully, Clark’s film is also the longest, almost making ‘Destricted’ worth a gander.
35. Who Needs Sleep?
The first of 2 films about sleep deprivation at the festival this year, and while neither one was very good, at least this one had something to say. Famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler authored this entry about sleep deprivation among professionals in the film industry, and like ‘This Film is Not Yet Rated,’ this film also has an agenda, one that few outside the industry will care to hear about for 90 minutes.
36. KZ
In case you can’t make it to the Mauthausen concentration camp site on your next trip to Germany, this film fills in what you missed with a ponderous, serious, and ultimately not very interesting tour. I do feel badly about dismissing a film about the Holocaust, but this noble effort just doesn’t educate or illuminate – it just sits there and watches groups of tourists get upset at sites that are barely explained or contextualized by the guides. Send this one immediately off to the vaults of Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation.
37. Wide Awake
You guessed it – film #2 in the sleep deprivation film sub-festival. Unfortunately, this one smacks of self-indulgence as the filmmaker drones on endlessly about his insomnia and his family sits around telling him he should get some sleep. Brief attempts are made to visit specialists to understand the nature of sleep deprivation, but the film stops short of providing any insight and instead fills out its time with quickly edited footage of alarm clocks going off and people yawning – enough to put me to sleep at the midnite screening I attended.
38. Wild Tigers I Have Known
Pretentious and virtually incomprehensible, this film gets points only for its occasional visual brilliance. I can’t even begin to tell you what this one was about, but it had something to do with a high school student who is attracted to his best friend and then dreams of tigers or something. Whatever.
39. Cargo
Another mess of a film, this one was about a German student who loses his passport while in Africa and stows away on a cargo ship to get home. Strange and unusual things start to happen, but I don’t really understand them – they lost me when the slaves in cages start speaking to the ship’s crew in their native tongue. Well, actually, that was one of the more understandable scenes in this movie.
40. In Between Days
Ugh. This is a ‘naturalistic’ (meaning boring) tale of a teenage girl who comes from Korea to a small town in America with her mother and has a friendship/flirtation with a boy also from Korea who never takes off his ugly ski hat for almost the entire film. That really bugged me – but nearly everything about this acclaimed film (what were they thinking?) drove me batty.
41. small town gay bar
The worst documentary at the festival this year, this film makes exactly one point, then repeats it over and over for more than 90 minutes. It’s hard to be gay in Mississippi, this film continuously reminds us, but it helps if you have a place to go. I’ve already written the first verse of a country-western song that I think should go over the credits for this film (“Oh it’s hard to be gay in Mississippi…”). Perhaps Reese Witherspoon (in June Carter Cash mode) will grace us by singing it, then we can all leave the theatre when she’s done.
42. Forgiven
A completely misguided and at times offensive drama about a political candidate who once sent a man to death row and who must face him when he is pardoned and released from prison. Not much more to say here.
43. Wristcutters: A Love Story
A comedy, I think, about suicide. It would be bad enough if this film were about a suicide support group or something, but this one has the gall to set itself in the afterlife, where everyone who has ever committed suicide is sitting around having a grand old time. Where did this film come from? And how is it possible that so many people at the festival told me they enjoyed it?
44. The Darwin Awards
A big, high-profile, star-studded mess that will be coming to a theatre near you simply because so many noteworthy actors agreed to be in it – including Winona Ryder, Joseph Fiennes, and others. I sat through this entire film with my mouth wide open at the horror of it all. Not a single laugh in this raucous stink bomb of a comedy that I can’t even begin to describe. My friend walked out, but I was too entranced looking at the accident on the freeway to join her.
Here’s hoping for a better festival in 2007!
Yours in moviegoing,
Dan
The movie Laurel Canyon left me frustrated. Everytime the dialogue got to a crucial moment the scene ended. It was as if the writer decided that when the writing got difficult it was time to move on. Compare that to something like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Kathleen Gilroy who loved the movie and saw it twice called it “atmospheric.” The last movie I saw that qualified as atmospheric was Lost in Translation and with that one I felt strangely unsatisfied as well. Nice to look at but left me wanting much more and better writing. So, is making an “atmospheric” movie just an excuse not to write the hard parts? I'm asking Chip Phillips, an expert in film criticism to weigh in here.
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