This year's Spectrum section has been sectioned off into two: which if you ask me just makes pure logistical sense. Among the list are some regular Sundance faces and notably many first time filmmakers in this non-competitive category.
The highly anticipated documentary film from Morgan Spurlock (that's him above on the camel) gets featured in doc section – after taking on McD's this time out he does what the U.S president has failed to do: actually try and find Bin Laden. Another film that will generate smiles is Stephen Walker's YOUNG@HEART – imagine Coldplay sung by your grandma… Sony Pictures Classics picked up those rights a while back. Stacy Peralta goes from extreme sports back ground (Riding Giants) to looking an the gang wars between the blue and red teams in California.
In the features section we have director (XX/XY) Austin Chick's newest about a tale that takes place during the pre-Google era dotcom burst…the Duplass brothers won,t be lugging around a Puffy Chair, but instead bring their next creation…Craig Lucas (whose The Dying Gaul was a winner in Park City) shows up with another 3-ensemble piece that includes the underrated Ben Foster)…after Interview preemed at the fest last year, part 2 of the trilogy of films (adapted from Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh works) will be shown – Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson star in Blind Date. Another returnee is Randall Miller – he brings vet actors Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman among others into the cold with a wine taster. I'm glad to see Vera Farmiga back again (she's one of my personal faves) in a film called Quid Pro Quo by Carlos Brooks. Not much to say on that one – I'm totally clueless and finally Lucky McKee gets a third shot at making a second impression by co-directing Red.
Here is the complete list below:
The films screening in Spectrum: Documentary Spotlight are:
ANVIL! THE TRUE STORY OF ANVIL/ U.S.A. (Director: Sacha Gervasi)—At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the “demi-gods of Canadian metal,” influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, despite never hitting the big time. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams. World Premiere
THE BLACK LIST/ U.S.A. (Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; Screenwriter: Elvis Mitchell)— Journalist Elvis Mitchell interviews twenty African American leaders, ranging from athletes and academics to politicians, social activists, and artists, providing a series of living portraits—a unique glimpse into the zeitgeist of black America—and redefining traditional notions of a “blacklist.” World Premiere
KICKING IT/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Susan Koch)—The lives of homeless people are hanged forever through an international soccer competition. This film follows six players as they set off for Cape Town, South Africa to play in the Homeless World Cup. World Premiere
THE LINGUISTS/ U.S.A. (Directors: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger; Screenwriter: Daniel A. Miller)—David and Greg are “The Linguists,” who document languages on the verge of extinction. In the rugged landscapes of Siberia, India, and Bolivia, their resolve is tested
by institutionalized racism and violent economic unrest. World Premiere
MADE IN AMERICA/ U.S.A. Director: Stacy Peralta; Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George)— With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have led to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in
South Los Angeles. World Premiere
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?/ France (Director: Morgan Spurlock; Screenwriters: Jeremy Chilnick and Morgan Spurlock)—Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock explores every nook and cranny of the Middle East on a quest to find the world's most wanted man. World Premiere
YOUNG@HEART/ United Kingdom (Director: Stephen Walker)—A choir of Massachusetts senior citizens delights audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash and Coldplay to Jimi Hendrix and Sonic Youth.
Dramatic films screening in Spectrum are:
AUGUST/ U.S.A. (Director: Austin Chick; Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman)—An aggressive young dot-com entrepreneur struggles to keep his head above water as the bottom falls out of the market in August of 2001. Cast: Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Naomie Harris. World Premiere
BAGHEAD/ U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass)— As previously done in their last film THE PUFFY CHAIR, the Duplass Brothers explore the minutiae of relationship dynamics in this in-depth study of a group of desperate actor friends. And a bag. And a
head. Cast: Steve Zissis, Ross Partridge, Greta Gerwig. World Premiere
BIRDS OF AMERICA/ U.S.A. (Director: Craig Lucas; Screenwriter: Elyse Friedman)—Three siblings couldn’t be more different, or more neurotic. But when they find themselves converging at the family manse, they become surprisingly indispensable to one another. Cast: Matthew Perry,
Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Foster. World Premiere
BLIND DATE/ U.S.A. (Director: Stanley Tucci; Screenwriters: Stanley Tucci, David Schechter)—A married couple has suffered a tragedy, and now the only way they can relate to one another is by meeting as different characters through a series of personal ads. A remake of the original work by the late Dutch director Theo van Gogh. Cast: Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thijs Romer. World Premiere
BOTTLE SHOCK/ U.S.A. (Director: Randall Miller; Screenwriters: Jody Savin, Randall Miller)—The story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as “Judgment of Paris.” Cast: Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman,
Chris Pine, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodríguez, Eliza Dushku. World Premiere
CHRONIC TOWN/ U.S.A. (Director: Tom Hines; Screenwriter: Michael Kamsky)—A bittersweet slice-of-life comedy about a cab driver with substance abuse problems who weathers a cold Alaskan winter with his cadre of friends and lovers. Cast: JR Bourne, Emily Wagner, Dan Butler. World Premiere
GOLIATH/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: David Zellner)—Faced with a demotion, a pending divorce, and less-than-friendly neighbors, a man pins his hopes for salvation on finding his missing cat, Goliath. Cast: David Zellner, Caroline O'Connor, Nathan Zellner. World Premiere
A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK & SEXY/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Dennis Dortch)— Six progressive vignettes explore sexuality and relationships in the black community of Los Angeles. Cast: Kathryn Taylor, Valley Jones, Chonte' Harris. World Premiere
LOVE COMES LATELY/ Germany/ Austria (Director and Screenwriter: Jan Schütte)—An 80-yearold man continues to pursue his love life with youthful vigor, risking his relationship with the woman he loves. Based on the short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Cast: Otto Tausig, Rhea
Perlman, Tovah Feldshuh. U.S. Premiere
MOMMA'S MAN/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Azazel Jacobs)— A man who has avoided his wife and child at home has a change of heart after an imposed stay in his own parents' loft. Cast: Flo Jacobs, Ken Jacobs, Dana Varon. World Premiere
QUID PRO QUO/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Carlos Brooks)—A paraplegic New York public radio reporter becomes involved with a mysterious woman while researching a story about ablebodied
people who secretly yearn to be paralyzed. Cast: Nick Stahl, Vera Farmiga, Kate Burton. World Premiere
RED/ U.S.A. (Director: Trygve Diesen; Co-Director: Lucky McKee; Screenwriter: Stephen Susco)— An older, reclusive man's best friend and inspiration for living is his 14-year-old dog named “Red.” When three troublesome teens kill the dog for no good reason, the grieving man sets out for justice and redemption by whatever means available to him. Cast: Brian Cox, Tom Sizemore, Kim Dickens. World Premiere