I have attended the Sundance Film Festival for something like 20 years now, and have barely missed a year. There was a few years that I volunteered in exchange for a full pass and in those years I would see 20 to 25 films in that 10 day period, and come out at the end of it blinking at the sunlight and transformed by the experience.
But those days are long gone, and now I can usually only afford to see a few. I spent much of today reading through the online catalog as is my annual tradition this time of year, and I've identified the four films I intend to see. They are as follows...
2012, 90 minutes, color, U.S.A., U.S. Documentary
It’s the dirty little secret of the War on Terror: all bets are off, and almost anything goes. We have fundamentally changed the rules of the game and the rules of engagement. Prior to 9/11, it was customary for America to sound a formal declaration of war on a given country before attacking. Today drone strikes, night raids, and U.S. government–condoned torture occur in hidden corners across the globe, generating unprecedented civilian casualties. Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill traces the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the most secret and elite fighting force in U.S. history, exposing covert operations carried out by men who do not exist on paper and will never appear before Congress. No target is off-limits for the JSOC “kill list,” even if the person is a U.S. citizen.
Director Richard Rowley takes us on a chilling ride with fearless whistle-blower Scahill. Dirty Wars is a battle cry for the soul and conscience of an America few of us know exists. - D.C.
2012, 116 minutes, color, U.S.A, Premieres
Someone is attacking big corporate CEOs and forcing them to consume harmful products they manufacture. An elite private intelligence firm is called into action and contracts ex-FBI agent Sarah Moss to infiltrate a mysterious anarchist collective, The East, suspected to be responsible. Skilled, focused, and bent on success, Sarah goes undercover and dedicates herself to taking down the organization. She soon finds, however, that the closer she gets to the action, the more she sympathizes with the group’s charismatic leaders.
After the warm reception he received for 2011’s Sound of My Voice, director Zal Batmanglij returns to the Sundance Film Festival with this stunning sophomore effort, which marks his second collaboration with the irresistibly alluring, multitalented Brit Marling. Featuring a fantastic supporting cast, including Patricia Clarkson, Ellen Page, and Alexander Skarsgård, The East is a taut and timely thriller that resonates deeply with the complexity of today’s explosive socioeconomic landscape. - S.F.
2012, 100 minutes, color, U.S.A., Premieres
Big Sur focuses on a moment in Jack Kerouac’s life when, overwhelmed by the success of his opus On the Road and struggling with alcoholism, he retreats to his publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s cabin in the small, coastal California town of Big Sur, which eventually inspires his 1962 novel of the same name. Kerouac’s time begins with quiet moments of solitude and communing with nature. But, struck by loneliness, he hightails it to San Francisco, where he resumes drinking heavily and gets pushed into a relationship with his best friend Neal Cassady’s mistress, Billie.
While writer/director Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho) explores a less glamorous moment in Kerouac’s legacy—one of alienation and mental breakdown—Big Sur equally examines the beauty of this time in the writer’s life, witnessed in the romance of friendship and the purity of nature. Jean-Marc Barr embodies Kerouac’s intelligence and masculinity, but also portrays him at his most contemplative and vulnerable. Luscious and breathtaking, Big Sur approaches a religious cinematic experience. - K.Y.
2012, 84 minutes, color, U.S.A., Midnight
A sarcastic, self-aware character in a video game, Sgt. Books, becomes frustrated by the screwy logic of his universe: the pointless battles, superpowerful bosses, and an endless supply of virtual Vietcong. He can’t get the girl who appears at the end of each level, and he can’t get through to his gung-ho partner. To find answers to the questions posed by his odd existence, Books abandons his mission and seeks help from a straight-talking monk, delightfully played by another onscreen hero who also once received words of wisdom from a man in a robe.
The first Roger Corman production to screen at the Sundance Film Festival, Virtually Heroes is a war picture, a satire of video-game culture, a buddy comedy, and an existential mind trip wrapped up into one outrageous film that works on many surprising levels. Injecting the low-budget/high-concept film with a full dose of razor-sharp wit, director G. J. Ecthernkamp embraces the base and the profound as he seeks to unlock the cheat codes of life. - T.G.
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Now of course one of the hard realities of Sundancing is that it's not likely you'll get to see everything you want. Getting tickets is a hassle, and what I usually do is waitlist for films. It works about 75% of the time if you're willing to be at the theater really early. This year I'm going to try and use the locals option. We'll see how it works. I'll know if everything's been sold out sometime in early January. But it'll be really nice to not have to spend all that extra time and anxiety waitlisting for everything. We'll see.
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