My Best Films

We’re not going to lie, we’re starting to lose our grip on reality.

Eight days, 31 movies, and god-knows-how-many early mornings in, the line between fiction and fact is getting dangerously thin here at Sundance 2012.

Luckily, we’re still discovering some fantastic movies in the theatres of the now-rather-slushy Park City. After a busy day yo-yoing from venue to venue yesterday, we caught the final screening of Your Sister’s Sister (we missed the premiere last week thanks to bus confusion) at the Holiday Theatre.

Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt star as siblings who spend a weekend away at their family cabin with the former’s friend (Mark Duplass).

Slow-burning but quick-witted, Sundance was made for films like this. Directed by Humpday’s Lynn Shelton, Your Sister’s Sister has naturalism coming out of its backside as our central trio bicker and overcome their various issues. It’s engaging and often throw-head-back funny, even if it fails to break any new ground.

We capped the night off with a trip to TF’s favourite restaurant, Squatters (which serves one of the best yellow Thai currys we’ve ever tasted), before sleepwalking back to the TF HQ for some much-needed kip.

Come a bright but chilly Day 8, The Shining doc Room 237 was first on our list of viewings. Considering fact flicks West Of Memphis and The Imposter both blew our socks off earlier this week, 237 would have to be something special to impress.

Compared to those cinematic offerings, though, Room 237 is an entirely different beast. Devoid of talking heads, it uses interview chat tracks and footage from other movies (mostly Kubrick’s) to tell its story, as various Kubrickites offer their 10 cents on the possible meanings contained in Stan’s warped horror flick.

The result is a tongue-in-cheek experiment that lets the interviewees do the talking. Craziest reading of The Shining? One guy’s insistence that it’s an ‘apology’ from Kubrick for ‘faking’ the Apollo 13 landing footage. Hysterical.

Next up was The Comedy, one of this year’s most contentious entries. It stars Tim Heidecker (one half of comedy duo Tim & Eric) as Swanson, a privileged yet disenchanted man-child who meanders from one reckless situation to the next, in what the press notes call a “scathing look at the white male on the verge of collapse”.

Hmmm… Painfully tedious and repetitive with no sympathetic characters and nothing new to say (rich kids have problems too, you know), the film provoked a mass walkout at the screening TF attended - and it’s hard to blame them.  

One supporter at the post-screening Q&A publicly compared the film to Buñuel (who are you kidding, love?!) and, among the few who stayed in their seats, there was lots of “people just didn’t get it” chatter. But isn’t that always the excuse afforded to the sort of pretentious drivel that, in fact, isn’t very good?

Then it was on to indie drama Keep The Lights On, the latest feature from previous Sundance winner Ira Sachs (Forty Shades Of Blue).

Sadly, Sachs’ return to Utah doesn’t fare quite so well, the director unspooling the story of Erik (Thure Lindhardt), whose love for Paul (Zachary Booth) is blighted by the latter’s drug addiction.

It’s well-shot and well-acted, but the druggy plotline feels like an outdated dramatic device, while it’s difficult to sympathise with Erik’s lost, over-dependent artist when we know so little about his motivations. In short: not a patch on Weekend.

Time to sign off. Tomorrow we’re seeing dramas Compliance, Filly Brown and The Words (the festival’s all-star closing-night movie) as well as Brit-flick My Brother The Devil, which has been getting big buzz over here. Check in for our thoughts on those and more tomorrow…

Film of the day: Beasts Of The Southern Wild

A gripping, entirely unique creation, Beasts Of The Southern Wild is part childhood fairytale, part enviro-drama, and wholly enchanting.

Starring a cast of unknowns, it’s the debut feature of director Benh Zeitlin, whose true grit visuals – paired with dreamy narration – are both whimsically arresting and grubbily unpretentious.

At the centre of Beasts is six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis, remarkable), who lives in a Delta community known as ‘The Bathtub’, because it’s in constant threat of flooding.

When Hushpuppy’s father falls ill, the end of the world seems nigh – especially when the melting icecaps unleash deadly monsters called aurochs.

Wonderfully weird and flush with atmosphere, Beasts is easily the most unique feature at Sundance 2012. Armed with a singular vision and a wry sense of humour, it refuses to bend to convention. While the end result is occasionally meandering, Beasts emerges as a beautifully-lensed, surprisingly savage lullaby.

Alongside all the old Middle-earth faces lining up to return for The Hobbit are a host of all-new players to become acquainted with. One of these is Tauriel, played by Lost’s Evangeline Lilly who was been speaking to Entertainment Weekly about what we can expect from her character.

Tauriel is one of the Elves of Mirkwood, and from the sounds of things, she knows how to handle herself in a fight.

“She is a warrior,” confirms Lilly. “She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly.”

However, we may have to wait until 2013 to see Tauriel in all her arse-kicking glory, as Lilly says she features in the second film a lot more than she does in the first.

“She’s not in the first film very much,” says Lilly. “She comes into the first film near the end, and has a very small part to play. Her role in the second film is much more involved. Although, I have to say, when I first read the scripts and took the job, she had a lot less going on in the second film. I think the role is becoming a bit more demanding that I had expected it to be. There’s a lot more for me to do now, which is a lot of fun, but it’s a little more pressure.”

Clearly Peter Jackson was impressed by what he saw, and decided to make more room for the bow-wielding warrior. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in the UK on 14 December 2012.

Fans of Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz have been waiting patiently for Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg to team up once more, and it seems now that work has finally begun on making that dream a reality.

Wright had long promised that those two films would be joined by a third to complete what he refers to as The Blood And Ice Cream Trilogy, and took to Twitter to post the above image, accompanied by the teasing message, “Hard at work.”

As you can see, there’s little more to go on in terms of plot or genre, but we’re just happy to see Pegg and Wright in the same room together, seemingly pooling their creative brainpower to get a third film off the ground.

Fans had initially hoped to see the film back in 2009, but thanks to the increasing Hollywood profile of both stars and director alike, it has taken until now for their respective schedules to align themselves.

2014 has been mooted as a tentative release target for The World’s End, the same year that Wright’s Ant-Man is set to arrive in cinemas. No more delays please – a four year gap between Edgar Wright movies is quite enough, thank you.

Filth! Total and utter filth!

Day 6 dawned with a film of such wall-to-wall smut-chat that TF almost had to cover its own ears. Except for the fact that we were loving every single four-letter-word-spitting minute of it.

The film? The slightly awkwardly-titled For A Good Time, Call…, which we’re dubbing a ‘homance’ thanks to its sex-obsessed storyline about two girl friends (Ari Graynor and Lauren Miller) who start up their own slutty chat line.

Deliriously dirty, imminently quotable, and packed with cameos (we won’t spoil them), it’s a laugh riot from start to finish – not least thanks to funny gal Graynor (think a young Bette Midler). In years to come, people will lump it in with Bridesmaids, and that’s no bad thing.

The smut kept on coming (ahem) during our chat with Save The Date stars Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan, the latter dishing the dirt on her many sex scenes in the film.

Not that we’re all about the dirt, also taking time to grill the indie starlets on the ‘girls can be funny now’ attitude sweeping movieland, as well as future projects (“good horror scripts are so hard to find,” says Caplan).

From there it was over to 2 Days In New York, writer/director/star Julie Delpy’s quirky follow-up to her 2007 indie 2 Days In Paris.

Delpy reprises her role as French artist Marion, now living in New York with new boyfriend Mingus (a surprisingly low-key Chris Rock). They’re living a relatively conventional life with their two young kids, but when her dysfunctional Gallic family come to visit, madcap hilarity ensues.

A charming culture-clash comedy, the film doesn’t always hit its mark - Rock’s asides to a cardboard cut-out of Barack Obama fall particularly flat - but Delpy’s manic, pratfall-heavy script moves at a lick and ensures plenty of laughs along the way.

Next up, Safety Not Guaranteed continued Sundance’s affiliation with actors who appeared in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. In the eccentric dramedy, Aubrey Plaza plays Darius, a disenfranchised twenty-something investigating a guy who claims to know how to time travel.

Though she’s best known for her caustic wit, Plaza softens off the rough edges while delivering an excess of deadpan goodness. The film’s final act tonal shift will divide audiences, but in general Safety is a hilarious, character-driven film that never takes the easy route. It’ll be interesting to see how they market this one.

So that was Day 6. Tonight we’re off to have dinner with the Shadow Dancer folk ahead of the film’s official premiere tomorrow morning. As always, check back here tomorrow for our verdict on the movie…

Film of the day: The Imposter

Rounding up our day of celluloid viewing was The Imposter, a British documentary telling the story of a Texan boy who went missing and suddenly ‘reappeared’ three-and-a-half years later in Spain.

If you don’t already know the story, to say any more would be to spoil the outrageous, almost unbelievable twists and turns of this dark and fascinating doc. Consistently compelling and superbly shot (the dramatic reconstruction scenes are as cinematic as any Hollywood thriller), this one is a must-see.

The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards have been announced, with The Artist leading the way with five nominations in major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.

The announcement wasn’t peppered with shocks, although there were one or two surprises along the way, with Gary Oldman receiving a surprise nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but Michael Fassbender missing out for Shame.

Drive was one of the highest profile films to be passed over (gettnig just one nod for Sound Editing), whilst Tintin was overlooked in the Animated Film category. Meanwhile, Melissa McCarthy garnered a rare supporting actress nod for a comedy performer, having been recognised for her sterling work in Bridesmaids.

Hugo got the most nominations overall (11), with The Artist following closely behind (10). Transformers: Dark Of The Moon and The Tree Of Life are neck and neck with three each.

Take a look at the list below for full details of who has got the nod for the key awards at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony on 26 February…

Best Picture
War Horse
The Artist
Moneyball
The Descendants
The Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Actress
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

Best Actor
Demian Behir (A Better Life)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Max Von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

Best Director
Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Martin Scorcese (Hugo)
Terence Malick (The Tree Of Life)

Best Original Screenplay
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
Margin Call
A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Foreign Feature
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsier Lazhar
In Separation

Best Animated Feature
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Art Direction

The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
War Horse

Cinematography

The Artist
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree Of Life
War Horse

Costume Design

Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Documentary Feature

Hell And Back Again
If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short Subject

The Barber Of Birmingham: Foot Soldier Of The Civil Rights Movement
God Is The Bigger Elvis
Incident In New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsumani And The Cherry Blossom

Film Editing

The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

Make Up

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Iron Lady

Music (Original Score)

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Music (Original Song)

The Muppets - ‘Man Or Muppet’
Rio - ‘Real In Rio’

Short Film (Animated)

Dimanche / Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Sound Editing

Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
War Horse

Made on a shoestring budget, but grossing nearly $100 million worldwide, Insidious was one of the most profitable films of 2011, so it should come as no surprise that New Line have moved to reunite its director and star for new horror, The Conjuring.

Patrick Wilson, one of the increasingly desperate parents in the aforementioned saga of demonic possession, will re-team with director James Wan and new addition Vera Farmiga to play… another married couple stalked by demons.

At least this time their characters should know what they’re in for, being that they make their living as demonologists. However, when they take on a case at a Rhode Island farmhouse, they find themselves tangling with a power the like of which they’ve never encountered before.

Boasting a script from House Of Wax duo Chad and Carey Hayes, the film is based upon the real-life account of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, and their visit to the Perron family in the ’70s. Expect a “based on true events” tag slapped all over it then…

Although it might not sound like anything new, Farmiga and Wilson are never anything less than watchable, and Wan was at the helm for the first (and best) of the Saw movies, so we’ll be watching how this one develops with interest. The Conjuring is expected to arrive at some point in 2013.

With the release of The Hobbit just under 11 months away, Elijah Wood has been discussing just how nostalgic it was to step back in time to film some more scenes in the familiar climes of Middle-earth.

“It was a gift to go back and return,” Wood told Collider. “I was in Hobbiton again, for the first time in 11 years. I turned 19 in Hobbiton. I’m 30 now. That put a lot of things into perspective. It was beautiful. It was just beautiful to go back.”

"I was there for a month, and the majority of my time was just going to set every day and meeting a lot of the new cast members, catching up with old friends, and being in Wellington again. It feels like home, and those people feel like extended family to me. It was such a treat to go back. It was awesome!”

Wood goes on to discuss how things have changed in terms of the technology available to Jackson and his crew, explaining how the new 3D cameras allow them to tweak things on the hoof.

“It’s an odd sense of just tuning into [the 3D] and accepting it, but it’s totally amazing,” says Wood. “And, it’s really cool to see the 3D on set, and to know what the images ultimately look like. The technology is so good now. I remember, years and years and years ago, video assist was really rudimentary and watching playback was so rudimentary.”

“Now, because The Hobbit is being shot digitally, we’re seeing a full HD image, in 3D, pretty much exactly as it’s going to look when it’s thrown up onto a big screen. That’s amazing! And, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. They can do a lot of the tweaking on the day, which is really cool.”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in the UK on 14 December 2012. Start counting down the days…

We survived the end of the world!

At least that’s how it felt last night, when lashing snow and freezing winds made it seem like The Day After Tomorrow was happening for real here in Park City, Utah.

Severe storm warnings didn’t stop us attending the Sundance London party, though, where the booze was flowing freely, and Robert Redford and Eddie Izzard both popped their heads around the door.

Day 4, and the sun’s back at full force, clearly apologising for yesterday’s utter misery. Today’s morning screenings consisted of financial thriller Arbitrage and father-son drama The End Of Love.

The former starred Richard Gere as a hedge fund magnate who’s been a very naughty boy – he’s diddling a younger woman (despite being married to Susan Sarandon), and has racked up a massive load of debt. Things only get worse in the wake of a terrible accident.

Though the script - by first-time writer/director Nicholas Jarecki - packs in some white-hot wit, Arbitrage is often scattershot in its approach, failing to fully explore many of its potential plot threads.

Gere also struggles to bring the requisite bite to his ruthless magnate, mostly resorting to shouting that quickly grows tiresome.

The End Of Love fared better. Written and directed by and starring Mark Webber (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), it’s a moving drama about the relationship between a struggling actor and his two-year-old son in the aftermath of the loss of their wife/mother.

Heavily improvised and blurring the line between fiction and reality (the kid is played by Webber’s real-life son while Amanda Seyfried and Michael Cera appear as themselves), it’s a raw, unfussy film about grief that had TF pretending there was something in our eye for most of the bus ride to the next venue.

Keeping things in the family was For Ellen, a much-hyped festival entrant that had Paul Dano ‘doing a Hesher’ (i.e. painting his nails black and getting tattooed-up) as a rock star fighting for custody of his young daughter.

Predictably slow and ponderous considering director So Yong Kim (Treeless Mountain) was at the helm, Dano is nonetheless mighty impressive, while John Heder briefly offers dry comic relief. But Ellen’s crippling pace means it struggles to retain your attention throughout, even if its images are mesmerising.

At the other end of the spectrum was Wrong, the latest film from Rubber filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. It’s far more assured – and funnier (see the wicked ‘poo memory’ scene) – than that killer-tyre oddfest. That said, Wrong’s quirky sensibilities proved too much for some; a fair few sceptics left the screening early.

In a day packed wall to wall with screenings, we capped things off with prison drama Middle Of Nowhere. The sophomore feature of director/writer Ava DuVernay, Emayatzy E. Corinealdi plays Ruby, who resolves to stand by her man when he’s dropped in the clink.

Polished but predictable, DuVemay’s film isn’t sure if it wants to be a romantic drama or a soul sister to Erin Brockovich, which makes for a muddled, sporadically sparky viewing.

Not a fantastic day for movies, then, but that’s the best thing about Sundance – there’s always tomorrow…

Total Film rocked up at the super stylish Bing Bar on Main Street earlier today for a chat with Rodrigo Cortés, director of starry supernatural thriller Red Lights.

The film stars Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver as college professors who make a living out of debunking claims of paranormal phenomena, whose scepticism is challenged by Robert De Niro’s sinister celebrity psychic.

Lights has had something of a mixed reaction at the festival - reports of a lukewarm reception during the Friday night premiere contrasted with a wildly enthusiastic response after yesterday’s public screening (which Total Film attended).

“The first screening and the second screening had such different energies,” smiled the amiable Spaniard who says, like it or not, he’s made the film that he wanted to make.

“It’s very difficult in festivals to have a clean perspective on films. They have to compete with the expectations everybody has and you can get very strong reactions - positive or negative,” he continued.

“That’s part of the game and as a filmmaker you should be very aware of this in order to keep your position strong. There’s always gonna be wind out there - sometimes blowing for, sometimes against… But you better know what you wanna do and try to keep your centre."

Day three, and the snow is back with a vengeance…

Another early morning start, TF trudged to the flicks (nearly falling arse over tit several times along the way) for Red Lights – a menacing paranormal thriller from Buried director Rodrigo Cortés.

The film tells the story of supernatural-sceptic professor Cillian Murphy, who becomes obsessed with disproving the ‘powers’ of celebrity healer Robert De Niro. As ominous events start to occur, though, it seems he might have bitten off more than he can chew…

Featuring a high-calibre support cast (Sigourney Weaver, Toby Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Craig Roberts), the film twists and turns all the way to its WTF? ending, throwing in a handful of expertly-timed shocks along the way (it made us jump, but not half as much as the lady sat next to us…).

Desperate for a bit of light relief, TF quickly scoffed a turkey sandwich and hopped on the bus for the next theatre and film number two: teen comedy The First Time.

Written and directed by Jon ‘son of Lawrence, brother of Jake’ Kasdan, the film follows the hilariously awkward whirlwind romance of high-schoolers Dylan O’Brien (TV’s Teen Wolf) and Britt Robertson (Scream 4), as they contemplate hopping on the good foot and doing the bad thing for, you’ve guessed it, the first time.

Powered by the spot-on chemistry of its two young leads (which carried over into a post-screening chat in a pub down the road) and backed up by solid support (including Craig Roberts, again!), this charming and wittily scripted indie went down a storm with the chuckle-happy audience. One to watch, then.

Next up was the press conference for West Of Memphis, featuring surprise guest Peter Jackson - taking a break from his Hobbit duties to big up the much-talked about doc. He was joined by the film’s director Amy Berg, his wife and producer Fran Walsh, as well as two of the Memphis Three - Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin.

“This movie shows every part of what makes us human,” Jackson said. “There’s good, evil, there’s hope, despair, love, greed, kindness. Every aspect of who we are is displayed on screen by various people.”

We stayed in Park City’s snow-clogged centre for the rest of the afternoon, where we chatted with the stars of opening night Aussie film Wish You Were Here (and bumped into Joshua Jackson, who was there doing press for Lay The Favorite).

Joel Edgerton turned out to be the nicest guy we’ve ever met, while Teresa Palmer revealed that she actually grew up in Snowtown – the setting for last year’s bleak ‘true story’ chiller of the same name.

And on that happy note, it’s off to local haunt Squatters for a spot of dinner before we finish the night off with a much-needed beer at the launch of the upcoming Sundance London.

That’s right – Bob Redford is bringing his indie showcase across the pond. The line-up is yet to be announced, but don’t be surprised if some of our favourite flicks make it across to London’s O2 arena in April – head to www.sundance-london.com to book your tickets!