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November 30, 2004
Sundance 2005: Part 2
Our annotated list of background on projects and directors, supplementing the Sundance Film Festival's site.
Synopses edited from those provided by Sundance. Each link is the most comprehensive available about either the movie or its director(s):
PREMIERES
3-IRON/ South Korea
Director: Kim Ki-duk; Screenwriter: Kim Ki-duk
A transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days. From the director of 2000's lush but disturbing tale of obsession, The Isle.
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE / U.S.A.
Director: Rebecca Miller; Screenwriter: Rebecca Miller
A father and daughter isolated on their secluded Pacific Northwest island commune grapple with the limits of family and sexuality. Starring Mr. Miller, Daniel Day-Lewis; partially shot on Canada's Prince Edward Island.
CHUMSCRUBBER / U.S.A.
Director: Arie Posin; Screenwriters: Arie Posin and Zach Stanford
A dark and satirical story about life crumbling in the midst of seemingly idyllic suburbia.
DEAR WENDY / Denmark/Germany/France/UK
Director: Thomas Vinterberg; Screenwriter: Lars von Trier
A nameless, timeless American town with a gang of youthful misfits who love guns and their code of honor.
DRUM / South Africa
Director: Zola Maseko; Screenwriter: Jason Filardi
Hotshot journalist is swept up in a movement to challenge Apartheid in 1950s South Africa.
GAME 6 / U.S.A.
Director: Michael Hoffman; Screenwriter: Don DeLillo
Combining real and fictional events during the 1986 World Series, Hoffman's film is a day-in-the-life snapshot of a playwright who skips his own opening night to watch the momentous game. (DeLillo's novels "White Noise" and "Underworld" have been adapted for the movies, but never produced.)
THE GIRL FROM MONDAY / U.S.A.
Director: Hal Hartley; Screenwriter: Hal Hartley
A "comic drama" about the near future, when citizens are happy to be property traded on the stock exchange.
HAPPY ENDINGS / U.S.A.
Director: Don Roos; Screenwriter: Don Roos
"A story that weaves multiple stories to create a witty look at love, family, and the unpredictability of life itself" is how the Park City Opening Night attraction is described, or, a "web of life" pic, as fest director Geoffrey Gilmore describes 'em. From the director of The Opposite of Sex.
HEIGHTS / U.S.A.
Director: Chris Terrio; Screenwriters: Amy Fox and Chris Terrio
In one 24-hour period, five New Yorkers are challenged to choose their own destinies before the sun comes up the next day. It's a Merchant-Ivory Production.
INSIDE DEEP THROAT / U.S.A.
Directors: Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato
More than 30 years after Deep Throat's debut, doc examines the social legacy of the most profitable film of all time. Produced by Brian Grazer and IMAGINE.
THE JACKET / U.S.A.
Director: John Maybury; Screenwriter: Marc Rocco
A military veteran travels into the future. Witnessing his own death, he is left with questions that could save his life and the lives of those he loves. From the director of the visually inventive 1998 biopic, "Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon."
KUNG FU HUSTLE / Hong Kong/China
Director: Stephen Chow; Screenwriters: Tsang Kan Cheong, Stephen Chow, & Chan Man Keung
In Canton, China in the 1940s, an aspiring gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while an obnoxious landlady and her apparently frail husband exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf. From the director of Shaolin Soccer, among other nutty treats. Here's a teaser trailer.
LACKAWANNA BLUES / U.S.A.
Director: George C. Wolfe; Screenwriter: Ruben Santiago-Hudson
In a story fueled by r-and-b, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of the cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives. Theater impresario and writer-director Wolfe's feature debut, scheduled for a February 14 HBO debut.
LAYER CAKE / U.K.
Director: Matthew Vaughn; Screenwriter: J.J. Connolly
A successful cocaine dealer planning an early retirement is lured back into business by a love interest and an international drug ring. It's Vaughn's directorial debut, after producing Guy Ritchie's pictures.
LOVERBOY / U.S.A.
Director: Kevin Bacon; Screenwriter: Hannah Shakespeare; Novel by Victoria Redel
A neglected daughter becomes a possessive mother in an emotional journey into the heart and mind of a woman who loved too much.
MARILYN HOTCHKISS BALLROOM DANCING & CHARM SCHOOL / U.S.A.
Director: Randall Miller; Screenwriters: Randall Miller & Jody Savin
A widowed man's life turns upside down when he embarks on a journey to find a dying man's long-lost love.
THE MATADOR / U.S.A.
Director: Richard Shepard; Screenwriter: Richard Shepard
When a globetrotting hit man and a crestfallen businessman meet in a hotel bar in Mexico City, their encounter draws them together in a way neither expected.
MIRRORMASK / U.K.
Director: Dave McKean; Screenwriter: Neil Gaiman
In a fantasyland of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year-old girl must find the fabled “Mirrormask” in order to save her kingdom and return home.
MYSTERIOUS SKIN / U.S.A.
Director: Gregg Araki; Screenwriter: Gregg Araki
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths and together discover a horrible, liberating truth. From Scott Heim's novel.
NINE LIVES / U.S.A.
Director: Rodrigo Garcia; Screenwriter: Rodrigo Garcia
A synopsis that escapes comprehension: "Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life."
REEFER MADNESS / U.S.A.
Director: Andy Fickman; Screenwriter: Dan Studney & Kevin Murphy
A tongue-in-cheek musical comedy adaptation of the wretched 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film.
RORY O'SHEA WAS HERE/ U.S.A.
Director: Damien O'Donnell; Screenwriter: Jeffrey Caine
When the kinetic Rory moves into a home for the disabled, he changes the life of a young man with cerebral palsy and encourages him to experience life outside the confines of 'the system.' From the director of East is East and Heartlands, ROWH was produced as "Inside, I'm Dancing."
SNOWLAND / Germany
Director: Hans W. Geissendörfer; Screenwriter: Hans W. Geissendörfer
In the snowy landscape of Finland, a newly-widowed writer discovers the traces of a bygone love story and finds a way back to her own life.
UPSIDE OF ANGER / U.S.A.
Director: Mike Binder; Screenwriter: Mike Binder
When her husband unexpectedly disappears, a sharp-witted suburban wife and her daughters juggle their mother’s romantic dilemmas and shifting family dynamics. From the creator of the TV series, "Mind of the Married Man."
AMERICAN SPECTRUM
212
Director: Anthony Ng; Screenwriter: Anthony Ng
Living in matchbox apartments and working mechanical mundane jobs, three sets of urbanites struggle to connect with each other in New York City.
5TH WORLD
Director: Blackhorse Lowe; Screenwriter: Blackhorse Lowe
Andrei and Aria, two young Navajos, hitchhike through their ancestral lands on a journey home.
DUANE HOPWOOD
Director: Matt Mulhern; Screenwriter: Matt Mulhern
Set in Atlantic City near the Thanksgiving holiday, a recently divorced casino pit boss feeds his depression with alcoholism. When an Irish bartender, two quirky neighbors, and an aspiring comedian come along, family and love might become possible. With David Schwimmer.
HIGH SCHOOL RECORD
Director: Ben Wolfinsohn; Screenwriter: Ben Wolfinsohn
A portrait of four exceptional and at times painfully awkward 17-year-olds as they struggle through their senior year.
LOVE, LUDLOW
Director: Adrienne Weiss; Screenwriter: David Paterson
Myra is a no-nonsense young temp from Queens who takes no guff at work, but at home she is dominated by her eccentric brother Ludlow. When Myra agrees to date the charming but vulnerable Reggie it seems that things could change.
MITCHELLVILLE
Director: John D. Harkrider; Screenwriter: John D. Harkrider
The story of the relationship between two very different men: Gabriel, a handsome, ambitious, 34-year-old corporate lawyer, and Ken, a talented, aging, classical musician. Scott Foundas reviewed "Mitchellville" for Variety.
THE MOTEL
Director: Michael Kang; Screenwriter: Michael Kang
Ernest Chin, a chubby Chinese kid, works at his family’s sleazy motel where he meets Sam Kim, a charismatic but troubled man who teaches him a few life lessons.
THE PUFFY CHAIR
Director: Jay Duplass; Screenwriter: Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass
Josh Sagers drives cross-country on a mission to deliver his father's birthday gift: a giant purple Lazy-Boy.
RIZE
Director: David LaChapelle
A documentary that chronicles a dance movement rising out of South Los Angeles with roots in clowning and street youth culture.
THE SALON
Director: Mark Brown; Screenwriter: Mark Brown
A day in the life of a beauty shop, where a woman finds romance as she struggles to save her business from the Department of Water and Power. Filmed as "Nora's Hair Salon"; from the writer of Barbershop 2: Back in Business and director of Two Can Play That Game.
SAVING FACE
Director: Alice Wu; Screenwriter: Alice Wu
A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.
STEAL ME
Director: Melissa Painter; Screenwriter: Melissa Painter
Jake is a 15-year-old kleptomaniac with a mother fixation who finds his way into the small town family of his dreams.
SWIMMERS
Director: Doug Sadler; Screenwriter: Doug Sadler
After an accident in a small Maryland fishing town, 11-year-old Emma forms an intense friendship with a volatile woman and begins to question the nature of the adults around her.
THE TALENT GIVEN US
Director: Andrew Wagner; Screenwriter: Andrew Wagner
A retired New York City couple drives across the country to reconnect with their reclusive son in Los Angeles, and their two unmarried, thirty-something daughters tag along.
THIS REVOLUTION
Director: Stephen Marshall; Screenwriter: Stephen Marshall
In this politically-charged riff on Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool (1969), a jaded war photographer is sent on assignment to cover the protests on the streets of the 2004 RNC in NYC.
PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT
9 SONGS / U.S.A
Director: Michael Winterbottom; Screenwriter: Michael Winterbottom
In between attending rock concerts, two lovers meet for sexually explicit encounters. (One version of this DV feature was 69 minutes long.)
DIRTY LOVE / U.S.A
Director: John Asher; Screenwriter: Jenny McCarthy
A jilted photographer sets off on a mission to get back at her philandering model boyfriend and along the way she discovers that not all love is created equal.
HARD CANDY / U.S.A.
Director: David Slade; Screenwriter: Brian Nelson
A provocative drama about the surprising consequences when a 32-year-old man takes home a 14-year-old girl he meets on the Internet.
MATANDO CABOS / Mexico
Director: Alejandro Lozano; Screenwriter: Alejandro Lozano
A dark comedy about a group of Mexico City teens embroiled in a kidnapping involving a retired wrestling legend and a parrot.
OLD BOY / South Korea
Director: Park Chan-Wook; Screenwriter: Park Chan-Wook, Hwang Jo-yun & Lim Jun-hyeong
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to discover that he must find his captor in five days. A Quentin Tarantino favorite.
STRANGERS WITH CANDY: THE MOVIE / U.S.A
Director: Paul Dinello; Screenwriter: Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello & Stephen Colbert
A prequel to the critically acclaimed television series featuring Jerri Blank, a 46-year-old ex-junkie and ex-con who returns to high school in a bid to start her life anew.
THREE...EXTREMES / Hong Kong / South Korea / Japan
Directors: Fruit Chan, Park Chan-Wook & Takashi Miike; Screenwriters: Lilian Lee, Park Chan-Wook & Haruko Fukushima
An Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished independent directors.
WHAT IS IT? / U.S.A.
Director: Crispin Glover; Screenwriter: Crispin Glover
This bewildering, unnerving, surreal, and darkly comic film from a visionary filmmaker depicts the struggles of a young man who faces villains and demons on multiple planes.
FRONTIER
FRONTIER 6 / U.S.A
Director: Luke Savisky
Projection performance artist Luke Savisky, known for conjuring moving images in unusual places (bodies through windows, feet in ceiling corners, and disembodied legs in thin air), unveils his newest creations.
THE JOY OF LIFE / U.S.A.
Director: Jenni Olson; Screenwriter: Jenni Olson
An unconventional exploration of the history of the Golden Gate Bridge as a “suicide landmark,” and the story of a butch lesbian who traverses San Francisco in search of self-discovery.
ROOM / U.S.A.
Director: Kyle Henry; Screenwriter: Kyle Henry
Julia Barker is an over-worked, middle-aged Texas woman who is haunted by psychic visions that compel her to travel to New York in search of the chapel-like “Room” she imagines.
SUGAR / U.S.A.
Directors: Reynold Reynolds & Patrick Jolley; Screenwriters: Reynold Reynolds, Patrick Jolley & Samara Golden
When a young woman rents a shabby one-room apartment, she unwittingly opens the door for visions, nightmares, haunted memories, and revenge.
SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM: TAKE 2 ½ / U.S.A.
Director: William Greaves; Screenwriter: William Greaves
In Central Park, 1968, a director shot scenes of a young couple whose marriage was falling apart. 35 years later, the three are back in Central Park as the director relentlessly pursues the ever-elusive symbiopsychotaxiplasmic moment.
TROPIC OF CANCER / Mexico
Director: Eugenio Polgovsky
At the height of the Tropic of Cancer in the desert of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, various families survive by hunting animals which they then sell on the freeway.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
BALLETS RUSSES / U.S.A
Director: Dayna Goldfine & Dan Geller
An intimate portrait of a group of pioneering artists—now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s—who gave birth to modern ballet.
THE EMPEROR’S JOURNEY / France
Director: Luc Jacquet
An epic story of penguins traveling hundreds of miles across treacherous Antarctic ice floes in their heroic struggle for survival.
THE GARDEN / U.S.A
Director: Frederick Wiseman
A documentary film about Madison Square Garden.
THE PROTOCOLS OF ZION / U.S.A
Director: Marc Levin
Levin sets out to understand and challenge those who believe the Jews were responsible for the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
REEL PARADISE / U.S.A
Director: Steve James
Indie film “guru” John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for one year to run the world’s most remote movie theater.
ROCK SCHOOL / U.S.A
Director: Don Argott
At the real-life School of Rock a group of misfit kids get in touch with their inner rock stars.
GREEN BUSH / U.S.A
Director: Warwick Thornton
A THOUSAND ROADS / U.S.A
Director: Chris Eyre
Weaving together the complex lives of different characters, these two short films offer stunning visual depictions of how modern radio can build community. In GREEN BUSH, an Australian Aboriginal DJ realizes that his job at the country radio station is about more than just playing music, and in A THOUSAND ROADS a radio DJ’s voice calls out to four indigenous people in the far flung lands of Alaska, Navajo Nation, Manhattan and Peru.
SUNDANCE COLLECTION
HARLAN COUNTY, U.S.A. / U.S.A
Director: Barbara Kopple
Doc on the 1973 coal miners’ strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky. (1976)
STRANGER THAN PARADISE / U.S.A
Director: Jim Jarmusch; Screenwriter: Jim Jarmusch
A self-styled New York hipster is paid a surprise and quite unwelcome visit by his pretty, sixteen-year-old Hungarian cousin. The relationship between the two exiles progresses from initial hostility to indifference to a strange mutual affection. (1984)
Posted by Ray Pride at November 30, 2004 01:23 PM
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