Let me toot my own horn a bit. Of the 16 selected films out of 1,102 submissions, I accurately predicted 12. Out of the four that didn't fly on my radar we find American New Wave 25 selected Sean Durkin, who will make it back to back years in Park City. He featured the marvelous, creepy Mary Last Seen there, and would start lensing Martha Marcy May Marlene in the summer...but my thinking was he was Cannes-bound with this one...he may still be, but Sundance is world preem launching pad for the pic.
If you ask me: this was a fight between an underdog in Winter’s Bone and a favorite in The Kids Are All Right (Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo). The underdog won.
Last year they preemed John Wells' The Company Men, while this year could see J.C. Chandor's debut film (see above) make the grade. The difference with Margin Call is the slightly higher number of players involved (Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi, Grace Gummer) and the backdrop in this one: takes place in the heart of the collapse.
An ode to last year's big winner Kathryn Bigelow, the 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were announced this afternoon and Debra Granik’s backwoods drama “Winter’s Bone” leads all the nominations with a total of three, while Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture) and Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) each end up with a pair of noms reminding us that there is some definite indiegrrrl power rising to the occasion this year.
Across the pond, I'm liking the sound of the new Michelle Williams' film - a take on Marilyn Monroe while on a 1957 set with Laurence Olivier to be played by Kenneth Branagh. Weinstein Co. is onboard My Week with Marilyn, which should begin shooting soon in the U.K. Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights still needs its Heathcliff and supporting cast. I imagine that long list is a short list by now, and that we should hear some casting news probably during TIFF with filming, at best, beginning at the very end of the month.