Sundance 2007

Last year there were several threads on film festivals which kept me amused so, as the first major festival of 2007 starts on Thursday, here's another.

http://festival.sundance.org/2007/index.aspx

Titles that seem interesting:

Variety said:

"Adrift in Manhattan," directed by Alfredo de Villa ("Washington Heights") and written by Nat Moss and de Villa, stars Heather Graham as a grieving eye doctor reassessing her life, while an aging artist deals with his loss of eyesight and a photographer battles personal demons. Features an eye-popping sex scene with Graham. Victor Rasuk, Dominic Chianese, William Baldwin and Elizabeth Pena also star.

"Broken English," directed and written by Zoe Cassavetes in her dramatic feature bow, is a romantic yarn about a thirty-something woman (Parker Posey) who embarks upon a relationship with an offbeat Frenchman while her friends are preoccupied with family life. Also with Melvil Poupaud, Drea de Matteo, Gena Rowlands, Justin Theroux, Peter Bogdanovich, Tim Guinee, James McCaffrey, Josh Hamilton and Bernadette La-font.

"The Good Life," directed and written by Steve Berra, is about how the arrival of a young woman disrupts the life of a young man who's dedicated himself to operating a faded movie palace in a small town. Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Paxton, Harry Dean Stanton, Chris Klein, Patrick Fugit, Drea de Matteo, Bruce McGill, Donal Logue and Deborah Rush star.

"Grace Is Gone," the first dramatic feature from director-writer James C. Strouse, is a topical story about the three days it takes for a father (John Cusack) to summon the courage to tell his young daughters that their mother has been killed in Iraq. Alessandro Nivola, Shelan O'Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk fill out the cast.

"The Untitled Dakota Fanning Project, aka Hounddog," directed and written by Deborah Kampmeier ("Virgin"), is a Southern gothic tale set in 1961 Alabama about a precocious girl who finds what she's looking for in blues music. Fanning stars along with Robin Wright Penn, David Morse, Piper Laurie and Afemo Omilami.

Click to expand...

Other premieres that look interesting:

BLACK SNAKE MOAN
Director and Screenwriter: Craig Brewer
Cast : Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, Justin Timberlake, S. Epatha Merkerson, John Cothran

Desire is a burning sickness for Rae, while making her the white-trash sexual target of every man and boy in her small Tennessee town. When her true love leaves for military service, Rae plunges into wild excess. Beaten and left for dead, she is taken in by a reformed bluesman, a private self-contained black man who nurses deep anger of his own and who is fiercely committed to his task of keeping her alive.

CHAPTER 27
Director and Screenwriter: Jarrett Schaefer
Cast : Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan, Judah Friedlander, Ursula Abbott, Jeane Fourier, Brian O'Neill

A terrifying glimpse into the deranged mind of Mark David Chapman (played by Jared Leto) during his days in NYC prior to the murder of John Lennon, which is played out through his obsession with JD Salinger's classic novel 'The Catcher in the Rye'.

FIDO
Director: Andrew Currie; Screenwriters: Robert Chomiak, Andrew Currie
Cast : Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Tim Blake Nelson, Henry Czerny

A zombie movie with a twist….Andrew Currie’s horror film-cum-satire is the story of Timmy Robinson, a young man who's best friend in the world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido in the family.

INTERVIEW
Director: Steve Buscemi; Screenwriters: Steve Buscemi, David Schechter
Cast : Steve Buscemi, Sienna Miller

A fading political journalist has a falling out with his editor and is given an assignment to interview a top television actress, which derails into a battle of wits and deep dark secrets.

KING OF CALIFORNIA
Director and Screenwriter: Mike Cahill
Cast : Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood, Willis Burks II, Laura Kachergus

Michael Douglas stars as an unstable dad who after getting out of a mental institution tries to convince his daughter that there’s Spanish gold buried somewhere under suburbia.

LOW AND BEHOLD
Director: Zack Godshall; Screenwriters: Zack Godshall, Barlow Jacobs
Cast : Barlow Jacobs, Robert Longstreet, Eddie Rouse

When an unmotivated young man signs on as an insurance adjuster in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, he is profoundly changed by the destruction and loss he encounters.

RESURRECTING THE CHAMP
Director: Rod Lurie; Screenwriters: Allison Burnett, Michael Bortman, Chris Gerolmo, Rod Lurie
Cast : Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Teri Hatcher, Kathryn Morris, Rachel Nichols, Alan Alda

A down on his luck sports reporter has his life and career upturned when he lands the story of his career: A former heavyweight boxing superstar, previously thought to be dead, is living his final years on the streets. Finally, he can earn the respect of his wife and editor—but the dark secret he finds may be too much for him to bear.

THE SAVAGES
Director and Screenwriter: Tamara Jenkins
Cast : Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco

Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman co-stars with Laura Linney in Fox Searchlight's The Savages. The drama tells the story of two siblings who have to care for their elderly estranged father when he falls sick. Although the man abused them as children, the siblings must overcome their resentment to aid their father.

SLIPSTREAM
Director and Screenwriter: Anthony Hopkins
Cast : Anthony Hopkins, John Turturro, Christian Slater, Stella Arroyave, Camryn Manheim, Lisa Pepper, Gavin Grazer

A man discovers that life is random and fortune is sightless as he is thrown into a vortex where time, dreams and reality collide in an increasingly whirling Slipstream.

Variety highlighted several documentaries, 2 of which sound interesting:

In the Shadow of the Moon

One of the defining passages in American history, the Apollo space program literally brought the aspirations of a nation to another world. Between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. They remain the only human beings to have stood on ground beyond our planet. For the first time ever, all surviving crew members from the Apollo missions tell their story in their own words.

Visually stunning original NASA film footage--much of it never seen before--is interwoven with riveting firsthand testimony. The result is an intimate epic that vividly conveys the daring and the danger, the pride and the passion of this extraordinary era in American history. Personal camera interviews expose the astronauts as fun loving, emotional, and very human. Audio recordings from Mission Control lend a strikingly fresh immediacy to well-known historic moments. Astonishing space shots capture the Earth in all its glory and reveal the Apollo program with a visual clarity and impact it has never had before.

Seamlessly melding the wonders of science with the drama of the human quest, filmmaker David Sington has crafted a nostalgic and inspiring cinematic experience that provides unparalleled perspective on the fragile state of our planet.

Chicago 10

As one of the seminal political events of the 1960s, the Chicago Seven trial seems to come from another era, but filmmaker Brett Morgen has created a film that is much more than a look back. Indeed Chicago 10 takes a stylized, innovative approach that gives contemporary history a forced perspective. He boldly mixes original animation with extraordinary archival footage to explore the buildup to and unraveling of the infamous conspiracy trial. Set to the music of revolution then and now, Chicago 10 is a parable of hope, courage, and challenge as it portrays the struggle of young Americans attempting to confront an oppressive and armed government…their own.

The 1968 Democratic Convention was a watershed event in the ongoing opposition to the Vietnam War. Protestors clashed with Chicago police, and the ensuing battles were witnessed live on television. In an effort to find a scapegoat, eight protestors were charged. The trial became a circus, and the abuse of individual liberties made this event one of the era's most significant.

Chicago 10 is much more than mere historical drama, and its creative artistry and inspiration are at the core of what makes the subject of this documentary as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.

Variety's view was:

"A vibrantly crafted evocation of a convulsive moment in 20th century American history, "Chicago 10" is far less interested in offering a fresh, probing look at what took place on the streets during the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the circus trial that followed than it is in celebrating the stars of the anti-war movement and rallying the current generation to follow their examples."

John August's (screenwriter of The Corpse Bride, Charlie's Angels, Go!, Willy Wonka) first film The Nines has been getting some good critical feedback.

He's also Twittering his Sundance experience, which is occasionally amusing...

Someone highlighted a documentary on a strange subject. Can't see it getting much of a release:

ZOO

In the predawn hours of July 2, 2005, a dying man was dropped off at a rural emergency room in the Pacific Northwest. A surveillance camera captured the license plate of the car that deposited the man at the hospital. This led detectives to a nearby horse farm, where they found hundreds of hours of videotape of men from all over the world having sex with Arabian stallions. The man's cause of death was a perforated colon.

Although this incident made headlines and the tabloid news, Zoo is the complete antithesis of what you expect. Robinson Devor's filmmaking is as smart as it is eloquent. To begin with, Zoo is neither graphic nor exploitive. Most of it takes the form of recreations, but from the point of view of the men "who met for years without disturbance in the shadows of Mt. Rainier," as Devor puts it. He cleverly captures the essence of these men and their alienation by creating a visual poetry.

The cinematic language invented for the film permits us to examine where we draw the line, how much perversity we can tolerate in others. In a broader sense, Zoo is really about thresholds. What can we stand to know, and, more importantly, what can we stand to accept?

FIDO
Director: Andrew Currie; Screenwriters: Robert Chomiak, Andrew Currie
Cast : Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Tim Blake Nelson, Henry Czerny

The Hollyowod Reporter said:

In recent years, the 1950s as viewed and distorted in '50s movies has become a favorite target of contemporary filmmakers, most notably Todd Hayes' "Far From Heaven." So why not throw in zombies? After all, zombies were a staple of '50s horror movies. "Fido" is the cheerful horror/satire that results from this pleasantly twisted thinking.

Click to expand...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8644

THE SAVAGES
Director and Screenwriter: Tamara Jenkins
Cast : Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco

The Hollyowod Reporter said:

As writer-director of "The Slums of Beverly Hills" in 1998, Tamara Jenkins demonstrated an ability to steal much humor from the spectacle of ordinary lives as lived by a perceptive yet self-absorbed and neurotic family. With her second long-awaited film, "The Savages," she not only confirms that ability but also adds a deeper dimension: Her two main middle-aged characters are in the process of discovering themselves as they cope with demons from their past. It is more sad-funny than funny-funny, but Jenkins has enough empathy and wit to realize that even the sad parts are, somehow, funny.

Click to expand...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8650

Variety seem to like The Savages as well.

Variety said:

The dynamics between two siblings forced together to care for their demented old father are observed wisely and well, and with more than a little humor, in "The Savages." After far too long an absence since her first feature, "The Slums of Beverly Hills," Tamara Jenkins excels more at maximizing individual moments here than at developing a meaty storyline. But a great many of the moments are choice, and with superb performances by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman front and center, Fox Searchlight could muster a respectable turnout for a subject not exactly designed to make auds want to drop everything and rush to the cinema.

Click to expand...

Jeffery Blitz's follow up to Spellbound sounds OK:

Variety said:

Writer-director Jeffrey Blitz segues effortlessly from non-fiction to fiction -- and from spelling bees to speech tournaments -- in "Rocket Science," a disarmingly quirky follow-up to his Oscar-nominated (and Sundance-rejected) documentary, "Spellbound." Following a stuttering, insecure youth who joins the debate team after falling hard for a brainy female classmate, this unusually voluble comedy is as eloquent about love, self-realization and adolescent angst as its protagonist is endearingly tongue-tied. There's room for debate, but by playing up pic's geeky comic sensibility and Blitz's hit pedigree, Picturehouse just might have a winner on its hands.

Click to expand...

The Hollywood Reporter enjoyed it too.

THR said:

"Rocket Science" defies the gravity of generic moviemaking and spun an early-morning Sundance audience into ecstatic orbit here. Catapulted by an endearing lead performance by Reece Daniel Thompson as a stuttering high-school student, "Rocket Science" transcends the predictable high-school yarn and arcs into usually unexplored domains of self-discovery and personal growth in a coming-of-age film.

Click to expand...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8655

Maltin said:

SLIPSTREAM
Director and Screenwriter: Anthony Hopkins
Cast : Anthony Hopkins, John Turturro, Christian Slater, Stella Arroyave, Camryn Manheim, Lisa Pepper, Gavin Grazer

A man discovers that life is random and fortune is sightless as he is thrown into a vortex where time, dreams and reality collide in an increasingly whirling Slipstream.

Click to expand...

Doesn't sound as good now. Variety say:

"Apparently needing to release some private thoughts, musings and images to the world, Anthony Hopkins takes a leap into stunning self-indulgence with his directorial debut, "Slipstream.'' What can either be viewed as one huge home movie or a plaything from an actor who has been observing other filmmakers for decades, pic strains to convey the interior emotions and ruptures of a vet screenwriter on deadline, and the obnoxious film crew and cast that keeps intruding into his universe. Without the name of Hopkins and those of cast members mixing usually reliable stars and actors, project would be commercially DOA; as it stands, only a miniscule theatrical window seems possible, with most curiosity seekers wading through the undoubtedly extras-filled DVD."

The Hollywood Reporter's review is negative, but apparently the first deal was for:

"Crazy Love," a bizarre true story of pathological love, possession and maiming, which certainly fits into the truth-is-stranger-fiction category, is a case of intriguing subject matter and lackluster execution. Despite the inherent, shocking nature of the material, Dan Klores' narrowly focused, poorly paced documentary lacks a narrative thrust that could have made for a more compelling film.

Old photographs and home movies of Linda Riss, who grew up in the 1950s, reveal an uncommonly attractive, sensual woman full of vitality. In on-camera interviews, numerous friends attest to her singular beauty and her hold over men. Her aura of glamour captured the imagination and triggered the compulsions of Burt Pugach, a philanderer and narcissistic manipulator with a lifelong habit of trimming the truth.

Burt is whom Jean Paul Sartre had in mind when he wrote: "Hell is other people." Linda, initially impressed by Burt's money and style, found out he was married. After she broke it off, Burt threatened and stalked her before dispatching criminals who threw acid in her face and blinded her. The media ate the story up.

Linda, an inveterate New Yorker and one tough lady, gamely faces the camera, her disfigurement concealed behind a wig and sunglasses. She calls herself damaged goods. He had said that if he couldn't have her, nobody else would. He got his wish.

Burt went to prison. After he was released, she married the jerk. Then they went on the TV talk show circuit, queried by incredulous interviewers. They've been together for 28 contentious years and according to Linda's friends, that, in itself, is a form of justice: He got his punishment, she got her revenge.

Year of the Dog

Variety said:

Needy human animals straining against the leash of emotional expectations make Mike White's low-key "Year of the Dog" more situation tragedy than situation comedy. But Molly Shannon's bittersweet portrayal of its lonely canine-loving heroine, along with a passel of pups trying to steal the picture, make for a satisfyingand funny, if ironic, comedy intended for lovers of both the beast and/or sophisticated laughs.

Click to expand...

Broken English

Variety said:

A pitch-perfect lead performance by Parker Posey and debuting feature writer-helmer Zoe Cassavetes' deft, low-key approach raise "Broken English" a couple notches above the usual run of lonely-single-woman-seeking-romance-in-the-big-city yarns. Though there's little unfamiliar here, pic's tipping the scales more toward latent-depression drama and away from typical romcom situation gags (the humor here is more offhand) makes it seem truer to life than many similar exercises.

Click to expand...

Maltin said:

Someone highlighted a documentary on a strange subject. Can't see it getting much of a release:

ZOO

Click to expand...

Bit of a review here:

Variety said:

A horse is a horse of course, of course, and no one has sex with a horse, of course, unless, of course, that horse, of course, is the one at the center of "Zoo," a breathtakingly original nonfiction work by Seattle-based filmmaker Robinson Devor, based on the widely reported July 2005 incident in which a local man died of a perforated colon after getting intimate with an Arabian stallion. Though it's certain to disappoint those seeking cheap, perverse thrills and likely to baffle as many viewers as it intrigues

Click to expand...

RESURRECTING THE CHAMP
Director: Rod Lurie; Screenwriters: Allison Burnett, Michael Bortman, Chris Gerolmo, Rod Lurie
Cast : Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Teri Hatcher, Kathryn Morris, Rachel Nichols, Alan Alda

The Hollywood Reporter say:

"Sportswriters need their athletic stars to be big for them to be big. That's the sports-talk wisdom that is flattened in this knock-out story about a skid-row, one-time contender and a mediocre sports writer who find they don't need their inflated glory-days lies to puff themselves up.

Charged by a knock-out performance from Samuel L. Jackson, this compelling story of manly redemption will deliver a winning boxoffice combination of word of mouth and ultimately step outside the generic ring of sports lore."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8660

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

"You don't have be a fan of the 1970s British punk rock sensation the Clash to enjoy Julien Temple's "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten," a visually exciting, high-octane, rock history of the band and its charismatic frontman and songwriter, Joe Strummer. Simply said: It's terrific."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8667

KING OF CALIFORNIA
Director and Screenwriter: Mike Cahill
Cast : Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood, Willis Burks II, Laura Kachergus

Variety said:

Bristling with a beard and a madman's joie de vivre, Michael Douglas brings as much twisted personality to "King of California" as he has to anything since "Wall Street" -- which should help make this Mike Cahill-helmed and written, cockeyed comedy a solid hit among the adult and the adult-minded. The only thing dragging down Cahill's Don Quixote-on-the-West Coast fable -- which boasts an eccentric tone, properly whimsical music and problematic father-daughter story -- is the daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, who flatlines through most of the movie. Douglas, however, is a manic joy, and Wood manages to hang on for the ride.

Click to expand...

The Good Night
Penelope Cruz, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg, Danny DeVito

Variety said:

Sweet dreams, indeed. As becalmed and refreshing as a good night's sleep, writer-director Jake Paltrow's first feature delves assuredly into the mind of a lost soul who literally encounters the woman of his dreams. Though its forays into the subconscious may strike more adventurous cinematic palettes as precious and unimaginative, few will be able to resist Martin Freeman's appealing lead turn or the wry Brit wit that gives this fanciful confection a robust comic core.

Click to expand...

The Hollywood Reporter didn't like the latter though.

"There is a fine idea for a romantic comedy in Jake Paltrow's "The Good Night" but the writer-director, in his debut feature, never develops it much beyond the idea stage. An odd casting choice and awkward methods of exposition get the film off to a halting start. Then Paltrow compounds the erratic storytelling by making every character thoroughly unlikable. Actually pathetic would be a better adjective since the film is about male-female relationships and everyone seems to have lost the manual.

Burdened with a nothing title and coming off like a third-rate Woody Allen movie, "The Good Night" must pin its boxoffice appeal on the casting of Jake's sister, Gwyneth, and Penelope Cruz. That may not be enough since neither actress has a worthy role.

Gary (Martin Freeman), a British musician of modest talent, is miserable with his life despite having a beautiful live-in girlfriend Dora (Paltrow) and a stable career in New York. He retreats into his dreams where the girl of his dreams is Anna (Cruz), a fantasy figure that demands nothing but non-stop lovemaking."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8707

Maltin said:

[Slipstream]Doesn't sound as good now.

Click to expand...

The Hollywood Reporter start their review with:

"Introducing "Slipstream" at its first screening at Sundance, writer, director, star and composer Anthony Hopkins said of his film, "I did it as a creative joke." That's not a bad description of this playful melange of surreal imagery, Hollywood in-jokes, random archival footage and a space and time jumble."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8662

Maltin said:

Other premieres that look interesting:

BLACK SNAKE MOAN
Director and Screenwriter: Craig Brewer
Cast : Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, Justin Timberlake, S. Epatha Merkerson, John Cothran

Click to expand...

The Hollywood Reporter's view:

"She's a backwoods nymphomaniac, and he's a Southern-fried cuckold, and together they make one very odd couple in "Black Snake Moan." This ludicrous Southern melodrama with over-the-top performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake is so convinced of its own righteousness that it almost makes a damn good comedy. Certainly the image of Ricci wearing panties and a peek-a-boo top getting dragged around by Jackson tugging on a chain wrapped around her tiny waist is one any publisher of '50s dime novels would have loved for a book cover if only he dared."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8703

CHAPTER 27
Director and Screenwriter: Jarrett Schaefer
Cast : Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan, Judah Friedlander, Ursula Abbott, Jeane Fourier, Brian O'Neill

Variety say: "Chapter 27" peers into the mind of a real-life, insane killer and finds almost nothing of interest. In order to play John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman, actor Jared Leto gained some 70 pounds. Seemingly following his lead, the pic itself is heavy, lethargic, and exasperating. Whether this is due to the producer-star or due to debuting writer-director Jarrett Schaefer -- or both -- this dramatization of Chapman's days in New York City leading up to the shooting yields little insight or entertainment value. Despite the presence of Lindsay Lohan (in a thankless support role), theatrical success looks about as likely as a 21st-century Beatles reunion."

Winners have now been announced.

http://festival.sundance.org/2007/winners/2007_Sundance_Film_Festival_Announces_Jury_and_Audience_Awards.pdf

The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was given to MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET), directed by Jason Kohn. In Brazil, known as one of the world's most corrupt and violent countries, MANDA BALA follows a politician who uses a frog farm to steal billions of dollars, a wealthy businessman who spends a small fortune bulletproofing his cars, and a plastic surgeon who reconstructs the ears of mutilated kidnapping victims.

The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was given to PADRE NUESTRO, directed by Christopher Zalla. Fleeing a criminal past, Juan hops a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to New York City, where he meets Pedro, who is seeking his rich father.

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was given to ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS (VORES LYKKES FJENDER)/Denmark, directed by Eva Mulvad and Anja Al Erhayem. In ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS, Malalai Joya, a 28-year-old Afghani woman, redefines the role of women and elected officials in her country with her historic 2005 victory in Afghanistan's first democratic parliamentary election in over 30 years.

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic was given to SWEET MUD (ADAMA MESHUGAAT)/Israel, directed by Dror Shaul. On a kibbutz in southern Israel in the 1970's, Dvir Avni realizes that his mother is mentally ill. In this closed community, bound by rigid rules, Dvir must navigate between the kibbutz motto of equality and the stinging reality that his mother has, in effect, been abandoned by the community.

The Audience Award: Documentary was given to HEAR AND NOW, directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky. Brodsky tells a deeply personal story about her deaf parents and their radical decision–after 65 years living together in silence–to undergo cochlear implant surgery, a procedure that could give them the ability to hear.

The Audience Award: Dramatic was given to GRACE IS GONE.

The World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary was given to IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON.

The World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic was given to ONCE/Ireland, directed by John Carney. ONCE is a modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard and his Irish band "The Frames," the film tells the story of a busker and an immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story.

Maltin said:

BLACK SNAKE MOAN
Director and Screenwriter: Craig Brewer
Cast : Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, Justin Timberlake, S. Epatha Merkerson, John Cothran

Click to expand...

Trailer is online now.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_vantage/blacksnakemoan/

Maltin said:

The World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic was given to ONCE/Ireland, directed by John Carney.

Click to expand...

Variety said:

Two actual Dublin singer-songwriters of as-yet minor renown play fictive ones in "Once," which took the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance. Winningly unpretentious tale uses a wispy romantic narrative as a vehicle for attractive original tunes. Pic's charm seems so offhand one might not notice the skill with which helmer John Carney pulls it off, or how it plays like a full-blown musical without anyone bursting into song.

Click to expand...

.

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Dennis Harvey said:

Vet documentarian Steven Okazaki's "White Light/Black Rain" provides a concise, often powerfully unpleasant account of the atomic bomb drops on Japan that ended WWII. Extensive survivor interviews and some hard-to-watch archival footage make this an important document. Brief specialized theatrical play is possible before the pic makes its HBO debut on the Hiroshima anniversary date, Aug. 6. While the film will primarily be an educational broadcast and classroom perennial, it should also be required viewing for advocates of the "Just nuke 'em" school of conflict resolution.

After briefly sketching the historical context and development of the bomb, Okazaki speaks with U.S. military and scientific personnel who were a part of the top-secret 1945 mission.

Interviewed Japanese, who ranged in age from 3-20 at the time, tell very different stories of the blast, subsequent hurricane-force wind and enveloping fire. Many were left disfigured, lost entire families and/or developed lifelong illnesses from radiation poisoning. This section is illustrated via art made by survivors, much of it simple and childlike yet extremely disturbing, a la Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

But that's nothing compared with what follows: First-person recollections of the final segment, "Aftermath," are accompanied by horrific color archival footage of the dead, dying and hospitalized. Many children were among the latter, in such pain that some purportedly begged to be put out of their misery. Even those who survived often lived out their lives as a new form of leper, pitied but generally shunned by mainstream society.

Film's sobering impact lets the images and witnesses' words speak for themselves.

Click to expand...