In a World...(2013)

Director: Lake Bell

Starring: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed

More info: IMDb

Plot: Carol Solomon is a struggling vocal coach. Propelled by the hubris of her father, Sam Sotto, the reigning king of movie-trailer voice-over artists, Carol musters the courage to pursue her secret aspiration to be a voice-over star. Her fiery sister, Dani, becomes a trusted confidante, and Carol engages the skills of a charming sound techie named Louis. Armed with renewed confidence, Carol lands her first voice-over gig—a primo spot—nabbing the job from industry bad boy Gustav Warner. And then the real trouble begins. Carol becomes entangled in a web of dysfunction, sexism, unmitigated ego, and pride.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? You betcha!

This is it - the last movie I saw at the Sundance Film Festival.  I'm so pleased that it's very good, very funny and very smart.  IN A WORLD...is a charming comedy by writer/director/star Lake Bell.  I like this gal.  She's got moxy!  I don't know what moxy is but whatever it is, she's got it!  Hahahaha.  Rob Corddry sure has been a busy boy recently.  He was in at least 3 movies I saw at Sundance.  Funny guy.  Oh, and Nick Offerman's in it.  Classic. The real star of the show, although there's an awful lot to like in this picture, is Bell's script.  It's great.  It doesn't get sappy or cliche or preachy.  There's not a wasted frame.  I really enjoyed the ending.  Gena Davis let's Bell know the score in the final minutes of the picture that could really damage someone but it's what Bell does with it that makes all the difference in the world.  I loved it and I'm so glad I ended my movie watching part of Sundance on such a high note.  Thank you, Lake Bell.

In Fear (2013)

Director: Jeremy Lovering

Starring: Alice Englert, Iain De Caestecker, Allen Leech

More info: IMDb

Plot: In Jeremy Lovering’s chilling debut, a young couple fights to survive one night-turned-nightmare. Driving to a music festival, Tom and Lucy have plans to stay at a countryside hotel. But with hotel signs leading them in circles and darkness falling, they soon become lost in a maze of country roads…and the target of an unknown tormentor.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  I wouldn't mind another crack at it.

It took me a while to start to like this but I have questions that might easily be answered on a second viewing.  There's a great scene that involves the backseat passenger majorly fucking with the couple holding a knife to the back of her neck.  The payoff was fucked up but not as fucked up as the trunk scene later on.  Sundance is for independent film and this is a good low budget film with a minimum of cast (just the three kids) and an excellent use of the small outdoor location.  As far as I could tell this was one of only two horror films at the Sundance Film Festival this year.  I missed S/V/H/S (2013) because of schedule conflicts with other films I just couldn't miss.  With me being the horror junkie that I am I'm going to have to load up the car with a couple of friends and hit a horror/sci-fi film festival somewhere.  I'm sure the quality of the films isn't any near as good as they are here at Sundance but it'd be a hell of a time.

The Rambler (2013)

Director: Calvin Reeder

Starring:  Dermot Mulroney, Lindsay Pulsipher, Natasha Lyonne, James Cady, Scott Sharot

More info: IMDb

Plot:  Upon release from prison, a solitary man known only as “the Rambler” embarks on a mysterious journey en route to reconnecting with his long-lost brother. Traversing treacherous back roads, lost highways, and isolated small towns, he unearths a multitude of bizarre and wickedly depraved slices of Americana.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nope.

I can handle surreal.  ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW (2013) is a fine example when the surreal can be understood and enhance a picture. But this entry at the Sundance Film Festival had me wondering WTF all the way through.  I got some of it but there was enough left over that it just didn't make any sense.  I LOVED the bits with the old man and the dream recorder.  That shit was funny.  Lots of exploding heads (and boobs which is a first for me).  Even though there were some batshit bits tossed in, it still held my attention.  Unfortunately the director was unavailable for a Q&A (he had to split town for a previous engagement) but the producers and some of the cast and crew were there.  Despite earnest questions from the audience to try and make sense of it, the folks on stage weren't able to help us.  Hell, they didn't even know and put their trust completely into the writer/director.  A few years ago he brought a short to Sundance of the same name and there was a lot of interest in seeing him turn it into a feature.  I'd like to see the short but I can't justify watching this again.  There are just too many movies out there to get to.

Sweetwater (2013)

Director: Logan Miller

Starring: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Jason Aldean, Stephen Root

More info: IMDb

Plot: Against the backdrop of the American Old West, newlyweds Miguel and Sarah struggle to make a living cultivating their small patch of land. Soon a much bigger struggle arises as powerful landowner and community preacher Prophet Josiah makes a play for their property. As he launches his diabolical plot to take their land, an eccentric big-city sheriff comes to town. Things soon go from bad to worse, culminating in a jaw-dropping, hell-hath-no-fury showdown.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes!

OK, I'm a sucker for a Western and this it the ONLY Western at Sundance this year.  A film in this genre doesn't have to be great for me to dig it.  Give me some gorgeous scenery and some gun play and I'm A-OK.  I haven't given it much thought but this might have been my most anticipated film of the festival because it's a Western and it's got a great cast.  I knew bupkiss about the story.  I don't need one.

SWEETWATER has got some great performances.  Ed Harris is having a ball and you will, too, when you see it.  This is definitely going to get picked up and make it's way to your town.  I sure as hell hope it makes it to mine.  Anyway, the cast is great and even though it hits on a few Western cliches, the film makers handle them differently.  The biggest issue I have is the lack of motivation for Prophet Joseph (Isaacs).  He's a very bad man and he mentions how God spoke to him or something but it felt like we needed someone to give us a little more exposition to fully understand his motives or at least how he got to the mental state he's in.  He's a mean sumbitch.

Other than that, I was liking the movie OK until the final act and then I went fucking apeshit insane for it.  Fuck me with a Commodore 64.  It's off the charts.  Bodies all over the place.  And the ending is splendid.  Man, that shit got crazy.  Oh, and I can't leave without saying what a wonderful job January Jones did.  It's such a treat to see a strong role for a woman in a Western and one that's not just a badass but one that is real and 3 dimensional.  I'm impressed.  I cannot wait to drag my friends to the theater when this one hits.  Can't wait.

Escape from Tomorrow (2013)

Director: Randy Moore

Starring: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor

More info: IMDb

Plot: Jim White is an average American family man, mostly content to exist within his humdrum reality. At the tail end of a theme park vacation with his loving wife and two beautiful children, he is awakened by an unsettling phone call from his boss, who tells him that he has lost his job. Unwilling to disturb their sabbatical, Jim holds off on breaking the news to his family so they can enjoy their last day at the idyllic and beloved tourist destination. In desperate need of a distraction, he finds one amidst the long lines at the park—two attractive and fun-loving teenage girls. In his fractured state, Jim falls obsessively in love, making any excuse he can to follow them everywhere. Along the way, his paranoid psyche spirals even further downward, and the fine line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? Oh, fuck me I hope so!

This could very well be my favorite film at Sundance.  Moore filmed this at Disneyworld and Disneyland without anyone at the parks knowing about it and without the prior consent of Disney.  This is a stunning and remarkable picture.  Filmed in black and white Moore has made a story filled with laughs, surrealism, fantasy, sci-fi and a heaping dash of creepy.  The ending is fantastic.  Abel Korzeniowski's score (specifically the orchestral, romantic main theme) moved me in a way I haven't felt by a score in a very long time.  This guy is at the top of my radar now and I'm going to watch for his films (same with director Moore). Due to the legal issue that's going to come up with Disney, I'm sure this will never see the light of day.  I'm sure there'll never be a DVD of this.  I sincerely hope that I am able to get a copy somehow so that I can show this to anyone that will give me 104 minutes.  I'm beside myself.  This is a remarkable film and one that refreshes my love for cinema.  And for what it's worth, the four people that I knew and saw it with LOATHED it and couldn't wait to scram.

Il Futuro (The Future) (2013)

Director: Alicia Scherson

Starring: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta

More info: IMDb

Plot: When her parents die in a car accident, adolescent Bianca’s universe is upended. Staying alone in the family’s Rome apartment and entrusted with the care of her younger brother, Tomas, she struggles to hold things together as her place in her surreal new world becomes blurry. Life is further complicated when Tomas’s gym-rat friends invite themselves to stay indefinitely. Using Bianca as a lure for a heist they’ve concocted, they convince her to initiate a sexual relationship with enigmatic blind hermit Maciste, played by Rutger Hauer. But as the two spend time together, Bianca unexpectedly finds normalcy and acceptance in the aging B-movie star and former Mr. Universe’s rococo mansion.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

I'm in love.  Manuela Martelli (as Bianca) is not only  very easy on the eyes but she's smart and a damn fine actress.  This is one of my favorite films at the Sundance Film Festival this year.  She's magnificent.  It doesn't hurt that one of my favorite actors, Rutger Hauer's in it, too.  This coming of age story is very unlike most.  There's no bullshit.  The characters feel genuine as do their actions and Bianca's arc is handled delicately well.  I LOVED the ending.  I was sad at first but as the hours waned after the screening I came to grips with it and accepted it.  I'd like to see more films like this.  And for those of you who are wondering about Martelli and that image above?  She's completely nude for 75% of her screen time in the scenes with Rutger Hauer.  Lucky bastard.  I highly recommend this one to anyone that might be even remotely interested in this picture.

Big Sur (2013)

Director: Michael Polish

Starring:  Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas

More info: IMDb

Plot: 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.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Jean-Marc Barr puts in a great performance as Jack Kerouac and it's great seeing another BOARDWALK EMPIRE actor here at Sundance, Patrick Fischler (who played Arnold Rothstein on BE).  It's funny that the other film at the Sundance Film Festival with Kerouac in it, KILL YOUR DARLINGS, had another BE actor playing Kerouac. The music was great, the scenic CA coastline, the supporting cast and the script.  Barr's delivery of Kerouac's words is very musical.  The cadence of the lines is mesmerizing.  It's a leisurely paced movie that isn't pretty (as far as the story goes) but I was happy to take the 77 minute journey with him.