Sundance Film Festival wrap-up: The five best films, and a couple of the worst

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PARK CITY, UTAH—After sleeping in and choosing not to go to the new Richard Gere Wall Street thriller, Arbitrage (which was picked up by Lionsgate & Roadside Attractions), it was nice to sleep until 9 a.m. and take my time figuring out my screening schedule at the Sundance Film Festival, rather than run off to something that started before noon. Heading down to the press office after a blistering snowstorm the night before was a bit of a headache, but I was bound and determined to get tickets for a few public screenings before I left town. Continue Reading

Sundance Film Festival report: From wonders to walkouts

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PARK CITY, UTAH—By 24 hours on the ground here the following had happened:  My roommate was over 15 hours late arriving and the airline lost his luggage, I lost my gloves, only to retrace my steps looking for clues for around an hour until I discovered them smashed in between theater seats, a shuttle driver missed a routine stop and caused a jam-packed bus full of people to run into a screening right when the lights were going down, I didn’t fall asleep the first night until close to 4 a.m. and had an 8:30 a.m. screening the following morning. Welcome to the chaotic and entertaining opening day of the Sundance Film Festival. Continue Reading

Slamdance Film Festival preview: Neil Young, Stan Lee, porn king finds love

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Started in 1995 by filmmakers tired of getting their films rejected, the Slamdance Film Festival takes place from January 20-26 on the busiest street in Park City, Main Street (across the street and only a few hundred feet away from Sundance’s Egyptian Theater), at the top of the hill in the Treasure Mountain Inn, with two screening rooms, a filmmaker lounge, and a small restaurant/bar at the end of the hall. The whole set-up is very inviting and quaint. Continue Reading

Sundance Film Festival preview: LCD Soundsystem, paranormal hoaxes, and an unfinished Versailles

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The 2012 Sundance Film Festival starts next Thursday, January 19, and it feels like the festival has been going on for a month already. While the films were announced over five weeks ago, it feels that I’ve been working on this year’s festival since titles were announced and I haven’t stopped working on my congested and tight Sundance schedule since. Continue Reading

Top ten movies of 2011

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It’s never easy to boil down the 200+ films I see every year into an annual best-of list. 200 may sound like a lot, but it’s only about a third of the approximately 600 films released in U.S. theaters this year. I do enjoy watching most of them and being the “Optimistic Pessimist” that I am, I will acknowledge there are many that feature outstanding acting, editing, cinematography, writing, direction, musical scores, and costume designs, all of which I consider in determining my list. However, few are outstanding in all of these departments. Continue Reading

Golden Globe nominations: Surprises and snubs

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When the 69th annual Golden Globes nominations were announced last Thursday, it was delightful and surprising to see The Artist (above), a silent black-and-white film, coming out victorious with six nominations. It’s a film I’ve been very excited to see again since I saw it in Toronto in September. The Artist opens this Friday at the Edina Cinema, and I’m presuming it will be shown on two screens due to the high demand and interest in the story of a popular silent lead actor George Valentin (played impeccably by French star Jean Dujardin) who watches his career crash and burn before his eyes as the age of sound in films starts to take off. The Artist has been steadily gaining buzz since it last premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Weinstein Company quickly snatched up the film to distribute in the U.S. Continue Reading

Want to get a first glimpse of “The Dark Knight Rises”? You’ll have to pay for a different sequel first

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There was an interesting article I read recently on the Huffington Post regarding film sequels that got me thinking about why there have been so many sequels or remakes in the past few years. Hollywood studios are always looking to build a franchise off these original or adapted ideas and there is clearly one obvious reason—money, of course—but rarely can a remake or sequel provide or prove to be superior then the original film. Hollywood studios have become more clever regarding how to sell something bad or stale in order to bring in an audience—but more on that later. Continue Reading

If Iowa can have a film critics society, why can’t Minnesota?

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Now that December is here, that means you’ll start seeing many of the Oscar contenders starting to open every weekend. Around a dozen or so won’t open in the Twin Cities in either January or February of 2012, but will have already opened in New York or Los Angeles to qualify for the Academy Awards. As the year draws to a close, movie fans—me included—keep a close eye on other film awards, which are often good predictors of which films will ultimately be honored by the Academy. Continue Reading

2011 British Arrows Awards at the Walker Art Center: Another boffo bushel from the Brits

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Living in a college dorm my freshman year at the University of Minnesota, a few of my neighbors and my roommate were really into British television, especially comedies.  I was a fan of Monty Python and the films the comedy troupe were in, but that was about the extent of it.  I never got into Benny Hill or The Black Adder (starring Mr. Bean himself, Roman Atkinson, as well as Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie) until about midway through that first year. We watched a lot of classic episodes, laughing and quoting them for the rest of the year. More recently, British comedy found a new star in Ricky Gervais when the U.K. version of The Office premiered in the summer of 2001. The Office was so popular that it started spawning other versions worldwide and it finally landed in the U.S. as a mid-season replacement in March of 2005, giving its lead, Steve Carell, one of the best acting gigs on U.S. television for years. Continue Reading