Sundance mixes stars, newcomers, fans
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 16, 2009 00:00
PARK CITY - The Sundance Film Festival resumes its duties as a great equalizer of the cinema world.
This is where complete unknowns can suddenly find themselves sought-after talent among Hollywood distributors. Overseen by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute, the festival is America's top showcase for independent film. The 11-day festival includes 118 feature-length films and 96 shorts.
Opening the festival last night was director Adam Elliot's "Mary and Max," a clay-animation tale about a pen-pal friendship between an 8-year-old Australian girl (voiced by Toni Collette) and an obese middle-aged New Yorker (Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Filmmakers say one of the festival's big lures is rubbing elbows with fans who brave the cold, snow and mob scene of Sundance to see something different than what they will find at their local multiplex.
"That is the best thing about going to a festival, especially Sundance," said Bobcat Goldthwait, writer-director of the dark Sundance comedy "World's Greatest Dad," starring Robin Williams.
"The Office" co-star, John Krasinski, makes his directing debut with the comedy "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men;" Rock plays host for the documentary "Good Hair," exploring African-American hairstyles; and Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan star in the melodrama "The Greatest."
Other big-name entries include Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke in Antoine Fuqua's cop drama "Brooklyn's Finest," Uma Thurman in the domestic tale "Motherhood," Kevin Spacey as analyst to Hollywood A-listers in "Shrink" and William Hurt and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the apartheid story "Endgame."
Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore said key themes this time are "romance and activism." Sundance is heavy on cautionary environmental stories, among them the dolphin tale "The Cove," the oil-pollution chronicle "Crude" and the earthy ecology study "Dirt! The Movie."
Environment and passion
"What you see is people going out and making stories not just identifying problems and documenting what that is, but trying to identify solutions," Gilmore said. "The environmental work you see these days does not end with a description of the crisis we are in. It ends with a description of what you can do to help us get out of this crisis."
On the romantic side, Sundance offers quirky stories of passion and affection, including "Don't Let Me Drown," a teen love story set in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks; "Peter and Vandy," chronicling a couple's relationship from hopeful start through slow deterioration; and "Humpday," a tale of old buddies who attempt a "work of art" Ñ an amateur porn flick of straight guys having sex with each other.
Jim Carrey appears in his first Sundance film with one of those romances, "I Love You Phillip Morris," playing a gay con man who meets the love of his life (Ewan McGregor) in prison.
"It's just such a goodhearted, sweet, beautiful, really funny movie. It dares to be romantic," Carrey said, adding a dig at Utah's Mormon church over its involvement in the passage of California's gay marriage ban. "I just think it's a perfect movie for these days and I am just so glad it is premiering there. First of all, it is in Utah, which is kind of poignant after Proposition 8."
Opening the festival last night was director Adam Elliot's "Mary and Max," a clay-animation tale about a pen-pal friendship between an 8-year-old Australian girl (voiced by Toni Collette) and an obese middle-aged New Yorker (Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Filmmakers say one of the festival's big lures is rubbing elbows with fans who brave the cold, snow and mob scene of Sundance to see something different than what they will find at their local multiplex.
"That is the best thing about going to a festival, especially Sundance," said Bobcat Goldthwait, writer-director of the dark Sundance comedy "World's Greatest Dad," starring Robin Williams.
"The Office" co-star, John Krasinski, makes his directing debut with the comedy "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men;" Rock plays host for the documentary "Good Hair," exploring African-American hairstyles; and Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan star in the melodrama "The Greatest."
Other big-name entries include Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke in Antoine Fuqua's cop drama "Brooklyn's Finest," Uma Thurman in the domestic tale "Motherhood," Kevin Spacey as analyst to Hollywood A-listers in "Shrink" and William Hurt and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the apartheid story "Endgame."
Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore said key themes this time are "romance and activism." Sundance is heavy on cautionary environmental stories, among them the dolphin tale "The Cove," the oil-pollution chronicle "Crude" and the earthy ecology study "Dirt! The Movie."
Environment and passion
"What you see is people going out and making stories not just identifying problems and documenting what that is, but trying to identify solutions," Gilmore said. "The environmental work you see these days does not end with a description of the crisis we are in. It ends with a description of what you can do to help us get out of this crisis."
On the romantic side, Sundance offers quirky stories of passion and affection, including "Don't Let Me Drown," a teen love story set in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks; "Peter and Vandy," chronicling a couple's relationship from hopeful start through slow deterioration; and "Humpday," a tale of old buddies who attempt a "work of art" Ñ an amateur porn flick of straight guys having sex with each other.
Jim Carrey appears in his first Sundance film with one of those romances, "I Love You Phillip Morris," playing a gay con man who meets the love of his life (Ewan McGregor) in prison.
"It's just such a goodhearted, sweet, beautiful, really funny movie. It dares to be romantic," Carrey said, adding a dig at Utah's Mormon church over its involvement in the passage of California's gay marriage ban. "I just think it's a perfect movie for these days and I am just so glad it is premiering there. First of all, it is in Utah, which is kind of poignant after Proposition 8."