2010 Sundance Film Festival Preview!

In just a few days, I’m going to be making my first trip to the Sundance Film Festival in beautiful Park City, Utah. I honestly cannot begin to explain how excited I am. I’ve been dreaming of going to the festival for years. After all, this is where Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, Paul Thomas Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, and countless others, got their start.

While independent film isn’t quite what it used to be, Sundance is still a major force to be reckoned with. Last year’s Sundance saw the debut of PRECIOUS, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, ADVENTURELAND, MOON, BLACK DYNAMITE, IN THE LOOP, and many others.

Luckily, the press office has granted me full press accreditation, so I should be able catch lots of films for the site, so make sure to check regularly for reviews. I also will be updating my Movie Fan Central blog live from the fest, so hopefully I’ll have some good stories and anecdotes to share.

I’ve spent the last few days planning out a tentative schedule of films to see. I plan on catching at least twenty films, and among the films on my schedule, here are a few highlights.

BLUE VALENTINE

BLUE VALENTINE is a relationship drama starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Gosling’s involvement is more than enough to make this a must see, as he’s truly one of the best actors of his generation. Sundance has been good to Gosling over the years, with HALF-NELSON, which played in the 2006 festival, garnering him an Oscar nomination in 2007. Will this do the same?

HESHER

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a mysterious loner who takes a fatherless thirteen-year-old boy under his wing. Like Gosling, I’ll check out anything Levitt does. This looks like a much darker film than 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, but anyone who’s seen MYSTERIOUS SKIN can attest to the fact that Levitt is no slouch when it comes to drama. Something tells me this is going to be one of the big hits of the festival, and I can’t wait to see it. The fact that Natalie Portman co-stars doesn’t hurt.

HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE

This is the directorial debut of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER actor, Josh Radnor, who also stars. Considering that it’s supposed to be about a group of young New Yorkers trying to find their place in the world, obviously Radnor hasn’t strayed too far from his comfort zone. At worst, this could be a self-indulgent star vehicle that rides the coat-tails of its small screen counterpart. However, it could also be this year’s GARDEN STATE. I’ll let you know…

HOWL

James Franco stars as beat-poet Allen Ginsberg. Need I say more? A whole lot of buzz on this one folks…

HOLY ROLLERS

Jesse Eisenberg stars as a Hasidic Jew, who goes to work as an ecstasy dealer for a friend with ties to an Israeli drug cartel. Eisenberg starred in two of my favorite films last year, ADVENTURELAND, and ZOMBIELAND, so it’ll be interesting to see how he follows them up. He tends to pick good projects, so this could be a real winner.

SYMPATHY FOR DELICIOUS

Actor Mark Ruffalo makes his directorial debut with this film about a newly paralyzed DJ, who enters into the world of faith healing. Orlando Bloom co-stars.

WELCOME TO THE RILEYS

James Gandolfini stars with Kristen Stewart, in this story of a middle-aged man getting involved with a sixteen-year-old prostitute, who resembles his dead daughter. Could be excellent, could be creepy, or could be both. We’ll see…

THE RUNAWAYS

K-Stew’s other big Sundance film, in this one; she plays a circa-1975 Joan Jett, during her formative years with The Runaways. Dakota Fanning plays the band’s lead vocalist, Cherie Currie. While I think Fanning’s too young to play Currie, who was sixteen when she joined the band (Fanning was 14 when this was filmed), I’m nonetheless really looking forward to this one, as I’m a sucker for music biopics.

SPLICE

Vincenzo Natali, director of CUBE, returns with this, the tale of two scientists (Adrien Brody, and Sarah Polley), who mischievously splice the DNA strands of several animals to create a new creature- which I’m sure will run amuck at some point.

FROZEN

Three skiers get stuck on a chair-lift after a ski resort is shut down for the weekend. The synopsis makes me queasy (in a good way), let’s see if the film does the same.

BURIED

Ryan Reynolds plays a civilian contractor buried alive in Iraq, with nothing but a candle, a knife, and a cell phone to keep him company. This should be a tour de force for Reynolds, who’ll also get to prove whether or not he can carry a film.

THE KILLER INSIDE ME

My most anticipated film of the festival; this stars Casey Affleck as a psychotic sheriff’s deputy, opposite Jessica Alba (as a prostitute), and Kate Hudson. It’s based on a classic piece of pulp fiction by Jim Thompson, and with Michael Winterbottom directing, who previously helmed 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, A MIGHTY HEART, and the awesome TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY, this could be one of the major films of the year. Of course, being Sundance, where anything can happen, it may also be an unqualified disaster. I’ll keep you posted…

Missing anything? Strike back below, with your picks of the fest!

Source: JoBlo.com

About the Author

Chris Bumbray began his career with JoBlo as the resident film critic (and James Bond expert) way back in 2007, and he has stuck around ever since, being named editor-in-chief in 2021. A voting member of the CCA and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, you can also catch Chris discussing pop culture regularly on CTV News Channel.