Sundance Film Festival 2013
Sundance Film Review: The World According to Dick Cheney
No matter whether you admire or despise him, former Vice President Dick Cheney has unquestionably left a permanent mark on our nation’s political history. Directors R. J. Cutler and Greg Finton gain impressive and intimate access with Cheney and explore the politician’s staggering transformation as a screw-up from Wyoming who flunked out of Yale (twice) and was arrested for multiple D.U.I.s to one of the most powerful and influential men in our nation’s capitol. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Touchy Feely
In this hip, light drama, Lynn Shelton returns from last year’s Sundance success (Your Sister’s Sister) with Rosemarie DeWitt as her leading lady once again, this time, in a quiet and, well, touchy feely kinda flick. … read more
Sundance Film Festival: C.O.G.
Adapted from an essay of the same name in Sedaris’ 1997 autobiographical book, Naked, the film couldn’t have been more in-line with Sedaris’ dry wit and humorous yet terrifying experiences. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Houston
The idea of following the occupational responsibilities of an alcoholic German headhunter whose marriage is on the rocks is about as appealing as it sounds. When Clemens Trunschka (Ulrich Tukur) is given the task to locate and make contact with an American CEO for a large German organization, the task takes our leading man to the Lone Star state where his life continues to sink deeper into despair with every passing moment. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Magic Magic
Everybody around Alicia (Juno Temple) is acting weird. Nobody is making any sense and there is an undercurrent of maliciousness behind everyone’s smiles. Alicia, an American girl travelling in Chile, is driving with her cousin Sarah (Emily Browning) and Sarah’s friends to a cabin in remote southern Chile. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Hell Baby
From the creators of Reno 911! comes a wickedly funny horror-comedy that explores horror film conventions in such an over-the-top and self-aware way that I’ll never be able to take a haunted house, exorcism or demonic baby films seriously again. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Animation Spotlight
In the 12 years I have been coming to Sundance, I have never seen the Animation Spotlight program contain such risqué subject matter, which is fully embraced by this film critic. It’s nice to enjoy some lewd material with a sold-out theater of guests. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Fruitvale
Directed by a 26-year-old, first-time feature filmmaker, Fruitvale is a near-perfect, emotionally driven drama with a strong-hitting political agenda. … read more
Sundance Film Review: MANHUNT
Before you jump to the conclusion that “MANHUNT” is only the documentary version of “Zero Dark Thirty” (and you’d be partially correct), Greg Barker’s accounting of the hunt for Osama bin Laden takes a further step back into history and recalls the actions of “The Sisterhood”, a group of C.I.A. analysts who were responsible for uncovering the existence of the terrorist network al-Qaeda. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Upstream Color
It’s going to take me a few more viewings of this film to full grasp what the hell is going on and what it all means, but let’s try this: Larvae infect a plant, kids harvest and process the blue dust on the infected plant and they make a drink out of it which gives them mental, physical and spiritual connection. … read more