Sundance Preview: Spectrum, New Frontier and Park City at Midnight (views)
The last three categories to take a look at for the Sundance Film Festival are Spectrum, New Frontier and Park City at Midnight. Spectrum houses films that are often excellent, but for whatever reason are not in competition; New Frontier houses the edgier, more experimental fare, and Park City at Midnight is where the fun films for those late-night Park City frolics can be found. Here's a roundup of what looks most promising in each of those categories.
Film Title: Barking Water
Director/Screenwriter: Sterlin Harjo
Principal Cast: Barking Water
What It's About: Very pumped about this one. Sterlin Harjo is back at Sundance after having Four Sheets to the Wind here a couple years ago, this time around with a tale about Frankie and Irene, an on-again, off-again couple with a troubled past. When Frankie asks Irene for one last favor -- to help him get out of the hospital and go home to his daughter and new grandbaby to heal old wounds -- she agrees, and we go along for the ride.
Why it Might be Good: I'm not always a fan of "road trip" movies, but I enjoyed Four Sheets to the Wind so much, I'm looking forward to see what Harjo does with this one. Too bad Tamara Podemski, who won an award at Sundance two years ago for her performance in Four Sheets to the Wind, isn't in this one, though ... I've been hoping to see her in another film since I caught her in that one.
Film Title: Children of Invention Park City at Midnight Film Title: Black Dynamite Film Title: Grace Film Title: Dead Snow
Director/Screenwriter: Tze Chun
Principal Cast: Cindy Cheung, Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu
What It's About: A single immigrant mother struggles to support her two young kids while living illegally in a model apartment in an unfinished apartment building. When she gets involved in an easy-cash pyramid scheme, she disappears, leaving her children, Raymond and Tina, to fend for themselves.
Why it Might be Good: I'm not usually initially drawn to check a movie out based on who edited it, but in this case, the editor is Anna Boden, co-writer and editor of Half Nelson and co-writer and co-director of Sugar, both of which I enjoyed (the former somewhat more than the latter). It's an interesting twist on the children-in-peril plot line, one that resonates in a time when so many single mothers teeter on the brink of poverty; when a single mother gets stuck in traffic, or gets injured and has to be hospitalized, or just disappears, what happens to the kids?
Film Title: Johnny Mad Dog
Director: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire
Screenwriter: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, Jacques Fieschi
Principal Cast: Christopher Minie, Daisy Victoria Vandy, Dagbeh Tweh, Barry Chernoh, Mohammed Sesay, Joseph Duo
What It's About: Filmed in Liberia, the film revolves around Johnny Mad Dog, a 15-year-old child solider leading a platoon of murderous ragtag warriors younger than he is. Laokole, who lives with her young brother and disabled father, ends up in the path of destruction as Johnny Mad Dog and his platoon head toward the city they've been charged with overtaking through violence.
Why it Might be Good: Many of the young actors in the film lived through conflicts similar to those they portray, and I've heard great things about the rawness and power of their performances. I missed this one at Cannes, where it won the "Prize of Hope" award in the Un Certain Regard category, and I'm particularly looking forward to catching it at Sundance.
Film Title: Tyson
Director: James Toback
What It's About: Follows boxing star Mike Tyson's rise to the top as heavyweight champion at 20-years-old and subsequent plummet to the bottom through the cascading events in his personal and public lives, including his marriage and publicly bitter divorce from Robin Givens, arrest and conviction for rape, and rematch with Evander Holyfield.
Why it Might be Good: This doc was a surprise hit at Cannes, winning the "Knockout Prize" in the Un Certain Regard category. I heard many good things about this film from people whose opinions I tend to respect (mostly preceded by a disclaimer, as in, "You're not gonna believe this ... but that Tyson flick is really solid!" This one is a must-see for me at Sundance.
New Frontiers
Film Title: Stay the Same Never Change
Director/Screenwriter: Laurel Nakadate
Principal Cast: Tate Buck, Dirk Cowan, Matthew Faber, Mary Nichols, Julie Potratz, Paige Sanders
What It's About: This feature film debut from writer/director Laurel Nakadate follows several young women in Kansas City (amateur actors, filmed in their own homes) and the ways in which they seek to find affection and deal with the ordinary trials and travails of their lives.
Why it Might be Good: I'm hoping this is one of those Sundance gems with a vibe similar to Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know or Jenny Shainin and Randy Walker's Apart from That (the latter didn't play Sundance, but would have been a good fit for this category) -- two funky little indie films that I really loved. In the New Frontiers cateogry, you never know ...
Film Title: You Won't Miss Me
Director: Ry Russo-Young
Screenwriter: Ry Russo-Young, Stella Schnabel
Principal Cast: Stella Schnabel, Simon O'Connor, Carlen Altman, Rene Rcard, Sarah Ball, Donald Eric Cumming
What It's About: Stella Schnabel (daughter of Julian Schnabel) plays a young woman, the daughter of famous, but emotionally distant parents, who is in and out of a psychiatric hospital while trying to establish an acting career and navigate the social world of jobs, friendships with other women, and casual sexual encounters with men.
Why it Might be Good: Having a father who's a good director doesn't mean you'll write a great screenplay, of course, but the premise is interesting enough, and I'm curious to see how it's executed. This looks to be one of the most promising films on the diverse and quirkly New Frontier slate.
Director: Scott Sanders
Screenwriters: Michael Jai White,
Scott Sanders, Byron Minns
Principal Cast: Michael Jai White, Tommy Davidson,
Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Arsenio Hall, Byron
Minns, Kym Whitley
What It's About: You have to love a program description that starts with this: When “the man” kills his brother, pumps heroin
into the local orphanage, and floods the ghetto
with a secret weapon disguised as Anaconda Malt
Liquor, there is only one brother bad enough, strong
enough, and brave enough to take them on: the
legendary Black Dynamite.
Why it Might be Good: What? That description's not enough? Okay, well it also has Arsenio Hall as a characer called "Tastee Freeze." There you go.
Director/Screenwriter: Paul Solet
Principal Cast: Jordan Ladd, Samantha Ferris, Gabrielle Rose,
Malcom Stewart, Stephen Park, Serge Houde
What It's About: A woman determined to have a natural birth finds her plans gone awry when her baby dies in utero. She carries the baby to term, delivers it, and miraculously wills the dead baby back to life -- only to find that Baby Grace requires "horrible sacrifices" to keep her living.
Why it Might be Good: I'm admittedly interested in this film, primarily to see how the filmmaker deals with issues surrounding natural childbirth and midwifery. But I also have to admit, the idea of a zombie baby that requires "sacrifices" (c'mon, you know what that means ...) is intriguing as well.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Screenwriter: Tommy Wirkola, Stig Frode Henriksen
Principal Cast: Vegard Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte Frogner, Jenny
Skavlan, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Lasse Valdal
What It's About: From zombie babies to zombie Nazis ... this one deals with a pack of medical students who go off on a beer-fueled Easter vacation in the snow. Once at their destination, they meet a shady hiker (oh, that guy ... there's always a shady guy to give the background story) who tells them about the history of their campsite, which involved Nazi soldiers, an angry mob and, presumably, some pissed-off Nazi zombies out to seek retribution on a group of horny, drunk medical students. Right on.
Why it Might be Good: What could be better when you're at a film festival in a snowy location than seeing a midnight movie about zombies and snow? Bring a flashlight for the walk back from your shuttle stop ...