Scott Davis on films to look out for at Sundance 2015…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when many of Hollywood’s big hitters gather together to be awarded a variety of different prices on the Awards circuit, culminating with the 87th Academy Awards on February 22nd. But on Thursday weekend in west USA (namely Utah) the Sundance Film Festival kicks off again, and many of the world’s best independent films will get their debuts to the public, and the press, over the next few weeks.
Staff Writer Scott Davis takes a look at some of the films making their debuts, and digs deep to find the next gems that could be coming out way in 2015.
A Walk in the Woods
When an aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy, the duo learn that some roads are better left untraveled.
Starring King of Sundance Robert Redford alongside such acclaimed talent as Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen and Nick Offerman, director Ken Kwapis’ latest looks like Wild for the senior generation, but no less charming.
Stockholm, Pennsylvania
Stockholm, Pennsylvania comes with the accolade of coming from the 2012 Black List, where many of the best-unproduced screenplays lay. No pressure on debutant Nikola Beckwith with this one, then. The story of 17-year old girl, played by Saoirse Ronan (The Grand Budapest Hotel) who is reunited with her parents after being abducted 17 years earlier. Raised in a suburban basement and renamed Leia by her kidnapper, Ben, she was told the outside world had come to an end, and now she must completely reconceive her perception of it. Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) and Cynthia Nixon (Sex & The City) co-star.
Digging For Fire
Returning once again to Sundance, director Joe Swanberg (Happy Christmas) is back with his latest effort in his long line of dramedies (or as FM Deputy Editor Luke Owen refers to as “mumblecore”).
A young couple suffers a mid-life crisis after the birth of their new son, and for a change of pace the pair takes a weekend away together, but they are almost immediately duplicitous behaviour is in the air. With a stellar cast including Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sam Rockwell, Brie Larson Jenny Slate, Orlando Bloom and Anna Kendrick.
The D Train
Dan Landsman (Jack Black) is the overly enthusiastic head of his high school reunion committee who vows to convince their most famous former classmate—Oliver Lawless (James Marsden), the star of a national Banana Boat TV commercial—to attend the reunion to increase attendance. Lies ensue, but Dan soon finds an excitement that was lacking in his life
Having been away from our screens for a little while, this could be the type of role to reignite Jack Black’s career. Kathryn Hahn (Afternoon Delight) and Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent) co-star.
Slow West
Director John McLean, who made a short film in 1999 with Fassbender, makes his debut at Sundance with a film about a lovelorn 17-year-old who travels America looking for his lover, when he meets a mysterious traveler (Fassbender) who soon discovers that the young man’s lover has a price on her head.
Kodi Smit-McPhee (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Ben Mendelsohn (Starred Up) join Fassbender in the film that looks like it could well be this year’s The Homesman rather than A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Knock Knock
After last year’s The Green Inferno showed that director Eli Roth is capable of making a good horror film that isn’t just about how gory he can make it, his new film Knock Knock is somewhat of a departure for him, going more psychological this time out.
Keanu Reeves (John Wick) stars as Evan Webber, a successful American man who has a beautiful wife, two kids and a big house. But when two young women (Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas) knock on his door, the dream lifestyle soon turns nasty.
Z For Zachariah
A low-budget apocalyptic tale comes to this year’s Sundance on the wave of some big expectations. In the wake of a global disaster, a young woman believes she is the last human on Earth, until she meets two fellow survivors. But the two men begin to vie for the woman’s affections with deadly consequences.
Directed by Craig Zobel (Compliance), Z For Zachariah stars Oscar Nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Chris Pine (Into the Woods).
True Story
After being accused of falsifying part of an investigative piece New York Times Magazine writer Michael Finkel hears startling news that a fugitive accused of murdering his family was captured in Mexico claiming the identity of “Michael Finkel of The New York Times.” Intrigued by the story, he travels to interview the accused, identified as Christian Longo, to help save his name.
Rupert Goold’s first feature pits Jonah Hill and James Franco against each other in more serious fare than say This Is the End. Described as “a psychological cat-and-mouse game obscured by many “truths””, True Story should have no trouble breaking out of the festival.
Last Days in the Desert
After years of taking on Sith Lords, Big Fish, salmon and motorbikes, Ewan McGregor takes on arguably his biggest challenge yet: portraying Jesus in Rodrigo Garcia’s (Albert Nobbs) eagerly anticipated film.
An imagined chapter from Jesus’ forty days of fasting and praying in the desert, the film shows him on his way out of the wilderness and his consequent struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis. A stark look at through history and religion, the film is sure to divide opinion on its release (as most do) but it could well be McGregor’s career high.
Mississippi Grind
After their success with 2006’s Half Nelson, writer/directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden return to the festival after some disappointments, which sees the talented Ben Mendelshon (Starred Up) move up to leading man status alongside Ryan Reynolds, himself in need of a hit after a long line of stinkers.
In the film, Mendelshon plays Gerry, a talented poker player, but his gambling habit is getting the best of him until he meets a charismatic young traveler named Curtis (Reynolds). Deeming Curtis his lucky charm, Gerry convinces him that they should hit the road together toward a legendary high-stakes poker game.
Mistress America
Finally, it wouldn’t be Sundance without an anticipated new film from writer-director Noah Baumbach. Over the last few years he the filmmaker has enjoyed great success with The Squid and The Whale, Frances Ha and the upcoming While We’re Young.
Reteaming with Frances Ha co-creator (and significant other) Greta Gerwig, the duo return for Mistress America, the story of a lonely college freshman (newcomer Lola Kirke) who moves in with her stepsister (Gerwig) to try and rescue her dull life. Already picked up by Fox Searchlight, Mistress America is set to be one of the festival’s big successes.
Strangerland
A family finds their dull life in a rural outback town rocked after their two teenage children disappear into the desert, sparking disturbing rumors of their past. Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes and Hugo Weaving star in this Aussie drama that is already eagerly anticipated across the festival circuits, and is another film that has the potential to strike it big when it gets a release later this year.
Other Festival highlights to watch out for:
• Sleeping With Other People – Alison Brie, Jason Sudeikis, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Natasha Lyonne, produced by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay
• The End of the Tour – James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) directs Jesse Eisenberg (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
• Ten Thousand Saints – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor) direct Asa Butterfield, Ethan Hawke, Emily Mortimer, Emile Hirsch, Hailee Steinfeld
• Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The story of the National Lampoon – documentary about the famous National Lampoon’s impact which gave us Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, John Belushi and Gilda Radner
• Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – new documentary from Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie) about the lure of Scientology
• Nasty Baby – Kristen Wiig returns to Sundance after last year’s The Skeleton Twins, under the direction of Sebastian Silva
• The Bronze – already getting some hot buzz, this Olympics-based comedy stars Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Gary Cole (Office Space).
Scott Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&x-yt-cl=84411374&v=qqtW2LRPtQY&x-yt-ts=1421828030&feature=player_embedded
