2008 Sundance Film Festival

It wasn't my favorite of the 2008 Sundance movies I saw, but The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was still an interesting watch — and probably even more so for those who have read the Michael Chabon book on which the movie is based. Jon Foster plays the main character of Art Bechstein, a young man who passes his last Summer before entering the "real world" working at a book warehouse, meeting regularly with his dad (a shady Nick Nolte) for dinner, and sleeping with his boss, Phlox (Mena Suvari). Things get considerably more interesting, however, when Art meets the alluring Jane (Sienna Miller) and her boyfriend Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard). Suddenly, Art's Summer goes from mundane to exhilarating.

There's no release information just yet but there is a trailer you can check out if you read more

Got your tissues handy? Because this trailer's probably going to make you sad and if you're like me (highly prone to crying at trailers) you might shed a tear (or five). Starring Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor, Incendiary (based on a novel of the same name) is the story of a woman who loses her son and her husband in a suicide bombing, an event made more traumatic by the fact that she witnesses the attack on TV with the man with whom she's having an affair. I know, insanely sad.

The movie garnered a lot of attention at Sundance this year partly due to Williams's performance (which is supposed to be amazing) and also because of the eerie correspondence of its premiere with the death of Heath Ledger. The whole scenario becomes quite dark but definitely looks riveting as well.

A U.S. release date for Incendiary is so far unknown. To watch the trailer, read more

"Turns out it's against the law to throw biohazards in the dumpster. Who knew?"

Emily Blunt's character, Norah, dryly says this in the preview for Sunshine Cleaning, a little indie movie from this year's Sundance that finds two sisters starting up a "biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service." One of the sisters (Amy Adams) is a single mom who needs to earn money to send her son to a new school. From the trailer, the movie seems strange, dark and funny, a little like Six Feet Under but with the innocent sweetness of Amy Adams.

There's still no actual release date for the film, though apparently it'll open sometime this year. To check out the trailer, read more

The documentary Trouble the Water was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and the buzz around this movie has continued to build from there. The film centers around Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her boyfriend who were trapped in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. Roberts videotaped the the entire ordeal, which was, as you might imagine, horrifying.

The extraordinary footage of the catastrophe aside, what appears to be at the heart of the movie is the additional devastation caused by the government's apparent indifference toward the city's most vulnerable citizens.

It seems like it would be a heart-wrenching film, but I've heard just the opposite. Even the trailer suggests there's something of a life-affirming vibe underneath the telling of this terrible chapter in our recent history.

The movie opens August 22 in L.A. and New York and will have a wider release later. To check out the trailer for yourself, read more

Note: I posted this review soon after I saw this movie at Sundance, and today it's out in theaters, so I thought I'd share my thoughts again. It has some flaws, but overall I really like this movie.

Henry Poole Is Here was one of the first non-documentary feature films to be snatched up by a studio at this year's Sundance, and I can easily see why. It's a sweet, feel-good movie featuring great performances and a quirky look at the old discussion of faith vs. reason. It's not for everyone, veering as it does into some schmaltzy territory, but the subject matter lends itself to some cheesiness and I can't quite see how that could have been avoided. The hipster soundtrack helps to make things more edgy, as does the artful direction by Mark Pellington.

Luke Wilson plays Henry Poole, a grouchy man who buys an ordinary house in Southern California. Before long, his very friendly neighbor Esperanza (Adriana Barazza) notices a stain on the outside of Henry's house that she thinks is the face of Jesus. She calls in a priest (George Lopez) and starts telling everyone in town about "the miracle" at Henry's house, much to Henry's annoyance. Henry tries his best to get rid of the stain, wanting nothing more than to be left alone in his dreary house. But the more he angrily resists the "miracle" on his house, the more proof presents itself that the stain truly does have some kind of power. For more of my thoughts about Henry Poole, read more

One of my saddest moments at Sundance this year was not being able to get into a screening of Phoebe in Wonderland, which looks like a darkly whimsical, adorably bizarre film all about the incredible imagination of a little girl. The girl at the heart of it is Phoebe (played by Elle Fanning), who is talented, gifted, and obsessed with a powerful fantasy life. She has trouble with her rule-filled world, and finds relief and inspiration in her quirky teacher (Patricia Clarkson). Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman play Phoebe's frustrated parents.

We already got a tiny taste of the movie, which opens in limited release Sept. 12, and this new trailer for it makes me a little weepy (perhaps it's the use of both "Everybody Hurts" by REM and "Imagine"). To see it for yourself, read more

When I saw the documentary American Teen at Sundance this year, I was totally wowed, and I knew I was watching something special. It's truly one of the most insightful documentaries on American life to come out in years. The film is in select theaters now, and I highly recommend you check it out.

As you can imagine, it was a delight to sit down with the director of American Teen, Nanette Burstein, and pick her brain about the making of the film, what it means in the grander scope of current teen culture, and what it's like to be a lady director in a field that is still staggeringly dominated by men.

Buzz: When you were first filming at the high school in Warsaw (Indiana), how did you know you found the "right" kids with Colin and Hannah and Jake and Megan, etc.?

Nannette Burstein: Well, I didn't know for a while. I'm used to looking for not only the people but also a story that's already in process. And it's really funny because I found the best stories all in this one town — but that was in the summer. And then I got there like a month later and every one of their stories had changed, and I was so upset! I was like, "Oh my God, I've raised all this money and this film is going to be a disaster." (laughs) But they're teenagers! And their lives change like that.

The interview continues if you read more

What Just Happened? was a fairly big deal at this year's Sundance mostly because of Robert De Niro who is at the center of this strange comedy. It's a Hollywood satire that some people will probably appreciate more than others, and the reviews I've read of the film have said there may be too many "insider" jokes about "the industry" for most people, but that otherwise it's a great movie.

The story follows "two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer (De Niro) who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made." Sean Penn plays himself, as does Bruce Willis (pretty hilariously, it seems) and Twilight's Bella, Kristen Stewart, also stars in the film, which opens October 3.

To check out the funny/odd trailer for What Just Happened?, read more

Another day, another trailer for a movie from this year's Sundance Film Festival. Today's features Matthew Broderick and Alan Alda as an uncle-nephew duo in Diminished Capacity. The plot is this: "A man (Broderick) suffering from memory [trouble] takes a trip to a memorabilia expo with his Alzheimer's-impaired relative (Alda) and his high school flame (Virginia Madsen), where the trio plans to. . . sell a rare baseball card."

I didn't get to see this one at Sundance, but my friend Molly did and she said it was pretty good. Sad, of course, but also touching and well-acted. Diminished Capacity opens in limited release July 8. To check out the trailer, read more

Towelhead (which also goes by the title Nothing Is Private) was one of the movies on my to-see list at Sundance that kept getting edged down by other movies, partially because of other priorities, though I also worried that it would be really disturbing. Now the film, based on the novel by Alicia Erian, has a theatrical release date of August 8 and a trailer that has only made me more uneasy about watching the movie — though also more curious, too.

The story is of the coming-of-age variety, though this one features a 13-year-old girl (Summer Bishil) whose Caucasian mother (Maria Bello) sends her to live with her Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi) in a small suburban town. She begins to explore her awakening sexuality, spending time with a boy from school (Eugene Jones III) and befriending a neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) whose intentions are far from pure. Her home life with a strict and sometimes abusive father only further drives her curiosity about her identity, her sexuality, her place in the world.

Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, tries his hand at directing with the movie, and it seems to bear his signature marks of examining the darkest corners of the human soul while offering glimmers of humor and redemption. I'm both interested in and slightly afraid of this film. To check out the trailer, read more