..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

January 20, 2003

A Tale of Two Salmas

Sundance's
Golden (Globes) Hangover

Two obsessive compulsions dominate this period of the year. So, with the Golden Globes out of the way, the second wave of Sundance business starts today (Monday), as the mini-majors with Globe-al interests (which seems like all of them lately) report to the mountains (or back to the mountains) for some unfinished business.

Lions Gate's Jamie Foley-directed con man movie, Confidence, with Dustin Hoffman and Ed Burns, premiered Sunday night and Lions Gate is looking for a partner for American distribution, a la Paramount's takeover of Narc.

Pieces of April is probably the hottest title from the festival this year and Harvey Weinstein is due to hit the snowless streets of Park City today. He was the high-price guy last year, buying InDigEnt's Tadpole for a reported $5 million. No one else has come close to that figure in recent years at Sundance - it was more than three times what Miramax paid for Oscar nominee In The Bedroom - so expect InDigEnt to make a sale to him or to use him for leverage to close a deal soon.

Salma Hayek is expected to keep her décolletage covered and her assets warm as she presents her directorial debut, The Maldanado Miracle, this afternoon at Eccles. Hot title American Splendor premieres tonight at The Library, right after Camp - the anticipated "Fame Meets Gay Meatballs" - from director Todd Graff. Many festival lovers will be anxious to see the latest Neil LaBute film, The Shape of Things, even if it does already have distribution. It's the late show at Eccles tonight.

Tuesday night, the new film from The Polish Brothers, Northfork, hits Eccles Center.

Wednesday, the most anticipated activity is the party for the likely-to-sell Party Monster, which premiered on Saturday. Wednesday night is also the first opportunity for festivalgoers to check out the sold-right-before-the-show Masked and Anonymous from Seinfeld co-producer Larry Charles.

And Thursday night Ernest Dickerson's Showtime film, Good Fences, premieres, hoping to get enough positive buzz to push its way into a theatrical release. The 227th Phillip Seymour Hoffman film of the year, Owning Mahowny, premieres as well.

Pick-up Scoreboard:
Lion's Gate: The Cooler
Fox Searchlight: Thirteen
Par Classics: The United States of Leland, The Singing Detective
In Serious Play: Pieces of April, dot the i, The Station Agent, Party Monster

-- by David Poland