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It's that time of year when the Sundance Film Festival buzz becomes almost overwhelming. After 25 years, it's easy to forget the films themselves, the sheer number of great independent and international movies that often make their debuts in Park City. On GreenCine Daily and GreenCine Central, we'll offer up reviews, podcasts and interviews (and a few pointers to coverage from friends of GreenCine). And we've also updated our running list of past Sundance winners to reflect still more DVD arrivals (see at right for a taste), updating it again after this year's fete concludes. |
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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: Brick Lane, Appaloosa and more.
- What We're Watching: Patti Smith, Good Life and Tokyo Gore Police.
- Contests: Winners announced and next contest.
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Reviews were mixed but passionately, intriguingly so for Sarah Gavron's film, based on Monica Ali's novel. "[T]ells a story we think we already know, but we're wrong," wrote Roger Ebert. "It has new things to say within an old formula...[It] is about characters who have depth and reality, who change and learn, who have genuine feelings. And it keeps on surprising us, right to the end." "Gavron's debut is honest, sincere and sympathetic," writes Derek Malcolm in the Evening Standard. "In fact, it is the product of a first-time director who is clearly promising and probably more than that." More from GreenCine Daily, and here. |
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With a great cast and a true love of classic Western form, we'd consider Ed Harris' Appaloosa as underrated. "Gripping entertainment that keeps springing surprises," wrote Rolling Stone's Peter Travers. "[T]errific Western, a potently acted powerhouse that sticks in the mind and the heart." Adds Michael Sragow: "[G]oes down like a single-malt aged for 25 years." |
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It is rare when a film can spill out of traditional cinematic borders and into more ambiguous artistic territory and still succeed. A primary example of this is Dream of Life, Steven Sebring's documentary on Patti Smith. While people will know her name first and foremost in the music world, they will be surprised at her other accomplishments in the arts. This concept of well-roundedness, interdisciplinary artistic ambitions, is what makes Dream of Life such an enjoyable experience... Read review >> |
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All movies are a gamble but straight-to-videos (STVs) seem even more so. There are few places to look for reviews and the often paltry (and sometimes dead wrong) descriptions available will either give too much plot away or leave you thinking, "Huh...?" Two STVs that made their debut last week might jostle your movie viewing a bit -- if you're inclined toward an update/rethinking of the vampire legend, handled in a comic/corporate vein, or are in the mood for a quiet, sad and often strangely beautiful slice-of-life in a downtrodden Nebraska small-town. The latter is what you'll find in writer/director Stephen Berra's oddly gripping The Good Life, which tells the tale... Read review >> |
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GreenCine Daily blogger Aaron Hillis on this new DVD: " Yoshihiro Nishimura's gonzo action-horror mutant is the cinematic equivalent of a Gwar concert, a vicious black comedy dressed in latex and spurting rivers of fake blood. It's about as inventive and savvy as low culture gets; whether you interpret that as a compliment or a backhanded thwack should pretty much dictate if your curiosity will be piqued. An effects guru-turned-filmmaker, Nishimura (whose production design and F/X work... Read review >> |
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