Sundance 2009: Paul Giamatti, Michael Cera, and Living in Public

Here's what I learned about the stars at Sundance this year: Paul Giamatti literally gave up his soul for a little peace and to improve his performance as Chekov's Uncle Vanya. Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi gave up their privacy when they agreed to let a documentary crew follow them around on dates. And both of these things can lead to madness. Or at least that's the premise of two fictional films and a documentary playing at Sundance. Cold Souls and Paper Heart both incorporate the images and names of their stars into their fictional stories, and a third film,...  read more

Sundance 2009: Young Romance

I've joked in the past about teen romances at Sundance. They seem to collapse into a subgenre all their own, each one telling the cute and touching story of a troubled loner (male) who is brought out of his shell by a perky new friend (female). I understand why young, inexperienced (male) filmmakers make these movies; I just don't understand why the Sundance programmers find them so interesting year after year. But in 2009, I'm glad to say, the filmmakers have been trying to break the mold. Some are finding more success than others, but I appreciate every effort. *...  read more

Sundance 2009: Taking Chance and Reporter

Well, it's been a busy weekend at Sundance, where I've packed in nearly twenty screenings since the last report. Let me start with a couple that I found particularly good: Taking Chance is a very simple film about Lt. Col. Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon) who is escorting the body of a fallen PFC named Chance Phelps to his family. In under ninety minutes, the film bears witness to the respectful procedures that the USMC follows in such situations and to the reactions of ordinary Americans who Strobl meets on this particular journey. He doesn't know the Private, and we learn...  read more

Sundance 2009: It Might Get Loud

A friend remarked to me that It Might Get Loud "has Paste written all over it," and sure enough it does seem to be up our alley. Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, the director of An Inconvenient Truth, had the idea of bringing Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White together to talk about guitars. And, you know, if they felt the urge, to jam a little. The result is a film that works as a brief chronicle of each musician's life and career — chock full of old clips, photos, concert footage, recordings, and visits to pivotal locations — as well...  read more

Sundance 2009: Mary & Max

Sundance 2009 is upon us, and like the rest of the world, everything here is upside down. Those of us traveling in from the east, where it's snowy and bitterly cold, are getting the shock of 40-degree weather and dry ground in Park City, Utah, the home of the festival and a town that's usually more recognizable as a frozen filmcicle in late January. This year, the sidewalk and my boots have spontaneously developed a phenomenon called traction, and before the opening night film I made a grocery run in my shirtsleeves. And as if that weren't enough, the programmers...  read more