Category: News

From the inbred freaks of The Hills Have Eyes to the cannibalistic rednecks of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the hillbilly murderer is a familiar archetype of the horror genre.But what if instead of being the killer, the hillbilly was actually the good guy for once? This role reversal is the jokey premise of Eli Craig’s feature film debut, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, a satirical take on horror movies that pits two bumbling rednecks against a pack of mean-spirited college kids.

Director and screenwriter Nicole Holofcener reveals the subtleties of relationships in Please Give—a story of love, guilt, and humanity. When Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt), a Manhattan married couple with an estate-sale furniture store buy their neighbor’s apartment, they need to wait for the occupant, Andra (Ann Guilbert), to actually die before they can tear down the walls to expand their home. An impromptu birthday dinner for Andra and her grown granddaughters (Amanda Peet and Rebecca Hall) plants the seeds for complicated relationships between the two families, in which all are faced with issues of their own morality and Kate and Alex confront their “liberal guilt,” which they’ve been at pains to navigate.

Daddy Longlegs is the funny, compassionate, and somewhat troubling Safdie brothers’ portrait of Lenny (Ronald Bronstein), who may be the most irresponsible father in recent cinematic history.
Lenny’s young sons, Sage and Frey (Sage and Frey Ranaldo), get to be with their father two weeks out of the year. Lenny is a projectionist at a Manhattan movie theater who is a loving, thoughtful father but one who’s more than a little misguided (like the time he can’t find anyone to keep his boys, so he crushes a sleeping pill and gives them part of it, thus putting them in stage four sleep for several days).

For three emerging filmmakers, the 2010 Sundance Film Festival represents both a triumphant return and an auspicious beginning. Directors David Michôd, Spencer Susser, and Ken Wardrop all presented acclaimed short films at the 2008 Festival, and remarkably all have returned just two years later with debut features. But for each, the transition to features is less of a graduation than an expansion of an already well-established personal vision.

Have you seen a Duplass brother yet? If not, give it a minute. The writing/directing duo of The Puffy Chair and Baghead (Sundance 2008) will be a presence not only via their new film Cyrus but are exec producers of Bryan Poyser’s Lovers of Hate. Mark also executive-produced Bass Ackwards and The Freebie.

According to his son Boy, Alamein, the absent and idolized father in Taika Waititi’s inspired second feature Boy, is “overseas doing some pretty important stuff.” Boy, who’s obsessed with Michael Jackson—Boy is set in 1984 in rural New Zealand—tells his classmates that his father is a “master carver, deep sea treasure diver, the captain of the rugby team, and he holds the record for punching out the most people with one hand.” Boy then sits down after he’s done giving his presentation about himself and his family to his class.

The virtual world Second Life provides an online existence for its users and a booming online industry for virtual entrepreneuers. With an avatar, you can portray a different person or a dream extension of yourself, buy and sell virtual goods with real money, and interact with other real people. Boasting the “billion” world, in terms the hours users have spent online, Second Life is poised for numerous film characters and plots.

At the very end of the Q&A for the fantastic Catfish, co-director Henry Joost implored the audience: “Refrain from giving away too much.” He explained that they wanted those who hadn’t yet seen the film to have the same experience we’d just had, the same experiences that the filmmakers had had in making the film. It’s difficult to write about experiencing a film that you’ve been instructed not to write too much about.

It’s 10:00 p.m. Do you know where your children are? If they’re in Park City, chances are they’re scooting up Main Street in heels, without coats, bare-legged and looking for the next party at the door of every other hopping bar (“Is this the place where Usher is at?”).

Ron Galella is the man behind some of the most widely recognized and iconic celebrity photos of all time. He’s been punched by Marlon Brando (resulting in $100,000 worth of dental reconstruction), he’s sued and been counter-sued by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and he’s sold pictures of Katherine Hepburn and Michael Jackson without them actually appearing in the photos. Sundance Institute president and founder Robert Redford talked about him at length in the opening day press conference.

For the diverse group of international artists whose work is highlighted at the 2010 edition of New Frontier at Sundance Film Festival, film isn’t a means for escape, but rather a call for immersive engagement. If art is a reflection, or refracted version of reality, this collection of films, video presentations and site-specific installations project reality right back into the physical world in playful and fascinating ways.
New Frontier on Main opened its doors to the public on Thursday, and the artists were on hand to introduce and discuss their works.

PARK CITY, UTAH — As further commitment to expanding audiences for independent films, Sundance Institute today announced a collaboration with YouTube to make available for rent three world-premiere films from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.  Beginning today, films will be spotlighted on the YouTube homepage, after which they will also be available until January 31 at YouTube Movies.  Two audience favorites from the 2009 Festival will also be made available for rental.