Eric’s Best & Worst of Sundance

For the most part, many of the films I caught at this year's Sundance film fest will find their way at your local art house theatre. Here is the complete sampling of how I spent my time in Park City.

Top 5:

Son of Rambow was Park City’s biggest buy and if marketed well enough – this could delight the mass audiences thanks to its generous dose of good natured humor and its sincere POV of what it is to be a boy! Garth Jennings beautifully displays the imaginative world of youth, the meaningful attributes of a true friendship with a template that brings viewers back to the decade of the VHS tape and camcorder. In the vein of Danny Boyle’s Millions, I hope that us older kids give it the chance that it deserves. 

Despite this being his most accessible work, as I write this entry, I’m not that surprised that David Gordon Green's fourth film remains unsold. Snow Angels delves into the usual DGG terrain – flawed characters trying to navigate around delicate matters – the ensemble acting is strong, the storyline is relevant and the directing is powerfully brawny. 

An innovative example of how the traditional docu form is being challenged and transformed, chaptered out with “Euripidean dramatic structure”, Jessica Yu delves into pertinent psychological subject matter via four talking heads. Protagonist merges a terrorist, a martial arts freak, a former gay evangelist and a bank robber into one perfectly edited piece that demonstrates how the journey to realization is not always set in stone. 

Another example of how Sundance Institute workshops produce some memorable treasures, Taika Waititi’s Eagle Vs. Shark will be dubbed as the better “Napoleon Dynamite”. The New Zealand product is a satisfying, well-constructed, knee-slappingly funny, charming piece of work. Pure and simple: A must see.  

Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern explore the madness in Darfur via a U.S. Marine's attempt to stir public interest in the genocide. The Devil Came on Horseback catalogues all of his first person accounts, his stunning photography and his numerous attempts at finding people who care. Especially frustrating to witness how he continues to fall on deaf ears in the circles of the U.S government and international committees, the final resting stop for this doc demonstrates how difficult it is for one psyche to handle. 

Middle of the pack:

Chapter 27, Chicago 10, The Good Night, King of California, Broken English, Grace Is Gone, Joshua, Never Forever, Teeth , My Kid Could Paint That, Dark Matter,  Expired , Interview, The Unforeseen, In the Shadow of the Moon, The Savages

Bottom 3:

Hounddog was dogged on by the media before it even made its white carpet premiere. Dakota Fanning manages to hold her end of the stick and visually the treatment is above par, but the controversy is not in the well-known rape scene, but rather the narrative is mind-bogglingly inexistent and Deborah Kampmeier’s use of symbolism isn’t as poignant as desired.  

The problematic with Marco Kreuzpaintner’s Trade is that a piece of startling journalism from which the storyline is based on gets a Hollywood screenplay treatment, therefore after the grim subject matter and the inner workings of sex trade and trafficking of minors is initially explored, the film then parallels multiple storylines and loses complete focus. It’s a long, downward spiral once Kevin Kline’s character enters the portrait. 

Sundance embraces a couple of these films every year, handheld camera exploration of youth and the famed road-trip, I just wished that Martin Hynes’ The Go-Getter would be more compassionate about the protagonist’s plight – the ensemble cast of young actors have difficulty in playing such loose characters.