Sundance once again came and went without me seeing one film. The good news is, my friend Luke Hickman from www.TheReelPlace.com lives in Park City for those two weeks and sees all of the top movies! So, if you’re a movie buff- you’ll enjoy this podcast!
Listen to “Podcast Special: Sundance Wrap Up” on Spreaker.
Here are all of the films Luke talked about:
Carpinteros
Dominican Republic, Spanish Language
Competition film – world premiere – didn’t win any awards – doesn’t have a US release date
Synopsis: Julián finds love and a reason for living in the last place imaginable: the Dominican Republic’s Najayo Prison. His romance, with fellow prisoner Yanelly, must develop through sign language and without the knowledge of dozens of guards.
Lady Macbeth
BBC Films – Opens in US on June 2, 2017
Period piece black comedy – very dark and scandalous – murder, affairs, missing children, etc
Synopsis: In this adaptation of Nikolai Leskov’s novella “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk, a 19th century young bride is sold into marriage to a middle-aged man.
Colossal
Opens in US on April 7, 2017
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis
Godzilla-size monster attack in Seoul, South Korea
Dark comedy with a great plot that fails miserably at making the most of it, cinematically
Synopsis: A woman discovers that severe catastrophic events are somehow connected to the mental breakdown from which she’s suffering.
Raw
French-Belgian thriller
Get ready to lose your appetite
Opens in the US on March 10, 2017
Synopsis: When a young vegetarian undergoes a carnivorous hazing ritual at vet school, an unbidden taste for meat begins to grow in her.
Novitiate
BBC Films
Awards-winner
Picked up for distribution, no release date set
Likely to be an awards contender for 2018 Oscars
Cast: Margaret Qualley (daughter of Andie McDowell), Melissa Leo (recognizable actress, but most don’t know her name – Snowden, Olympus has Fallen, Oblivion, etc), Dianna Agron (Glee)
Synopsis: Set in the early 1960s and during the era of Vatican II, a young woman in training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, the changing church and sexuality.
Their Finest
Opens in US on April 7, 2017
Genuine, sweet – successful as war film, drama, comedy, romance – well-rounded and charming
Cast: Gemma Arterton (007: Quantum of Solace), Sam Claflin (Me Before You), Bill Nighy (About Time)
Synopsis: A British film crew attempts to boost morale during World War II by making a propaganda film after the Blitzkrieg.
The Little Hours
Purchased, US release date TBD
Cast: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon
Comedy
Synoposis: A young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the middle ages.
The Big Sick
Written by Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and his wife, Emily V Gordon
Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Bo Burnham, other comics
Fairly autobiographical
Produced by Judd Apatow
Synopsis: A couple deals with their cultural differences as their relationship grows.
Chasing Coral
Fantastic documentary
This year’s Blackwater or The Cove
Award winner
Picked up by Netflix
Synopsis: Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
The Discovery
Cast: Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, Robert Redford
In theaters March 31
Picked up by Netflix
Great premise. Poor story. Lame twist.
Synopsis: A love story set one year after the existence of the afterlife is scientifically verified.
Wind River
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen (two Avengers)
Shot in the Park City area
Written and directed by the writer of Sicario and Hell or High Water
My favorite film of the festival
Awards season next year
Synopsis: An FBI agent teams with the town’s veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.
Mudbound
Cast: Jason Clarke, Carey Mulligan, Gerret Hedlund, Jonathan Banks
Plays out like a book
Starts strong, turns melodramatic in the second half
Synopsis: Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
Golden Exits
Cast: Emily Browning, Jason Schwartzman, Mary-Louise Parker, Chloe Sevigny
Feels like a ’70s movie
Synopsis: An intersectional narrative of two families in Brooklyn and the unraveling of unspoken unhappiness that occurs when a young foreign girl spending time abroad upsets the balance on both sides.