Sundance - Installment One: Under The Bombs, Recycled, Shorts Program V

I've seen a few Sundance screenings the past couple of days and here's some short reviews.

Under The Bombs - 3 and 1/2 out of 4 stars

This French-produced film based in Lebanon during the Israeli incursion into Lebanon during the summer of 2006 and lasted 31 days until a cease-fire was brokered, avoids making political statements about who was right and who was wrong and instead focused on the impact that it (and all wars) have on the innocents who are forced to live through war. Zeina is a woman who arrives in Beirut from Dubai during the massive Israeli bombings in search of her son, who she sent to stay with her sister in southern Lebanon. She is finally able to find a taxi driver who will take the dangerous and often broken roads to the south and may have some alterior motives of his own. This film was heartbreaking, human and raw (it was conceived and partially shot during the conflict itself), using mostly real non-actors to play the incidental characters. My favorite decision about the film was to not let the story linger on the personal aspects of the characters, but rather to end it in a way that leaves the audience reeling at the very real consequences that disagreeing factions can leave on civilians caught in the middle.


Recycle - 2 out of 4 stars

I had high hopes for this documentary in which the filmmaker returns to his hometown of Zarqa, Jordan, hometown of the infamous Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musa al Zarqawi, to investigate the beginnings of what makes a person make the kind of choices that Zarqawi did. While it scratches the surface in interviews with a few sheiks in the city (economic hardships, religious persecution), it loses focus of both that investigation and the life of its main subject, a struggling religious man in a poor part of the city. The editing and information that director Muhammad al Massad chose to put in the film reflects some questionable and sometimes confusing choices and in the audience is left with too many questions about the motivations and characters - questions that seemed like the could have been answered if a more polished touch and deeper reporting were involved. The highlight - the main subjects young son, who he lets steer his truck around town and at one point directs his father to "hit that camel for me."


Shorts Program V - 3 out of 4 stars

One of the programs of short films presented at the festival, this one was entertaining enough to earn my recommendation. Nine shorts (3 of which were Isabella Rossellini's short and funny interpretations on how certain insects procreate) are in this group and they progressively get better as the program rolls on. The best are the final three - the Chinese August 15, which is the tale of two robbers who board a bus in rural China and the results; Sara St. Onge's film about a woman preparing her final wishes (rife with gallows humor) appropriately called The Funeral, and the Australian bizzaro short about teenagers and zombies, I Love Sarah Jane. Yeah, I'm a sucker for zombies.

Sundance 2008 is here!

Utah has just entered the best part of the winter. January in this state means ample snow for skiing and snowshoeing and, of course, the Sundance Film Festival. While I'm cynical about the growing popularity of the festival in terms of celebrity-gawkers rather than film-goers and too many movies about dysfunctional, but quirkily endearing families, it is still a showcase of great independent film and great cultural event to have in this state. I'll be staying mostly in Salt Lake City for screenings this year, doing the wait-list thing and avoiding the movie star vehicles that will likely end up at the local megaplex in the coming months. One thing I've learned about Sundancing over the years: There are some pretty terrible dramatic features every year, but I've never come across a bad documentary. While some are certainly more engrossing than others, they are a safer bet for enjoyable viewing.

Tonight: Under the Bombs

The movie is set (and was filmed during) the Israeli-Lebanese fighting of 2006, with the main character Zelna, returning home to search for her family during the conflict and the taxi driver who agrees to drive her.

I'll be posting short reviews of the movies I see, so check back daily.

Sundance 2008 line-up announced

The slate of films chosen to represent the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 were released today, jostling a jolt of excitement in me. I don't know why I neglected the festival for so long, being a lover of movies and living along the Wasatch Front, but once I finally braved the traffic and cold January ticket lines, I was hooked. It's always hard to tell what will be good and what won't, which is why it's good to get some word-of-mouth advice from fellow festival patrons. This year there is a Chuck Palahniuk adaptation (Choke), a new Michel Gondry film, some off-beat comedies (there's almost a Sundance Quirky Comedy genre now), dysfunctional family dramas, U2 in 3-D, and documentaries about linguists, gang violence in South L.A., steroids, Hunter Thompson, rural Russian delenquints, water, and Morgan "Supersize Me" Spurlock searching for Osama bin Laden. Should be an interesting year. I've learned a few things in my few festivals as attendee (links to the 2008 line-up below):

1)It's best to see the films that may not get a wide-release rather than the star-driven vehicles that will show up in the local movieplex a couple of months (or even weeks) after the festival - this generally means more foriegn-language and lower-budget ones for me.

2)Documentaries are the easy-to-get-into, hidden gems of the festival. I've seen my share of pretty bad to mediocore dramatic features, but all of the docs I've seen have been anywhere from good to absolutely riveting.

3) It's nice to get your tickets in advance, but there's also something about wait-listing your way in. This usually means showing up two hours before the screening, getting a piece of paper with your designated number and hoping that some people don't show up for the screening. There's only been a couple that I haven't gotten into, but luckily there's generally another movie starting soon somewhere nearby to catch as a back-up. Last year I was able to see my two favorites, "Once" and "In The Shadow of the Moon" by wait-listing. Plus, wait-listing is a good way to meet some fellow film buffs who have traveled from all around the country or world to be there, as well as a lot of the filmmakers who are also taking in the festival.

4) Stick around for the question-and-answer sessions after the movies. These are what makes festivals like Sundance so cool. Getting into the filmmakers and actors motiviations and desires while making the movies can be extremely interesting and sometimes hilarious. You'll hear behind-the-scenes stories that will never show up in the DVD extras.

5) Don't waste your time star-gazing/stalking. You're just as likely to see that untalented harlot sipping a soy latte at a local coffee shop as you are standing outside Harry O's for three hours in the cold wating for her to stumble out after an invite-only Snoop Dogg set. Celebrities and psuedo-celebrities are freaking everywhere in Park City during Sundance. Go to the movies and you'll be just as likely to see them if that's what you want.

6) Check out Slamdance Film Festival, Sundance's first (and best) offspring. I discovered it while reviewing for the University of Utah's student rag, the Daily Utah Chronicle, and saw a couple of good movies and one that was better than most Sundance dramatic entries. It's what I imagine Sundance was like fifteen or twenty years ago, before any company with a new product line to schill devoured the streets of Park City. The films will be announced December 5th. It has a cool do-it-yourself vibe and it's cheaper and has much better access to the filmmakers than Sundance.

I'll be reviewing what I see, with daily updates, right here at Concrete Fiction once the festival gets going.

Here is a list of competition films at this years festival (Documentary, Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic).

You can find the list of non-competition films (Premiers, New Frontier, Spectrum, Park City at Midnight) on this page.

----------------------------------------------------------

In the spirit of the upcoming festival, here are a few songs that have appeared in Sundance movies I've seen in the last couple of years. (Song links at bottom of post.)

First is M. Ward and his song "Carolina" from the movie "The Go-Getter", a 2007 selection starring Lou Taylor Pucci, Zoey Daschanel and Jena Malone. Ward and his band are featured heavily throughout the film, and they even make a cameo near the beginning. This is a movie worth seeing when it gets picked up.

Then we have Gogol Bordello's "Through the Roof and Underground", a song that plays prominently in the 2006 Sundance alum (and recent release) Wristcutters: A Love Story. Gogol Bordello is a true treat live, something I learned not long after being introduced to them simaltaneously through this movie and my buddy. Bandleader Eugene Hutz was in They are part circus-act, part immigrant folk troupe, part pure dub-punk energy when they hit the stage. Don't miss them if you get the chance.

Finally, we get Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová's "When Your Mind's Made Up" from the brilliantly understated musical love story, Once. I've written about this film a bit elsewhere on this blog, but let me just say, Hansard and Irglová are pure magic onscreen. A must-see.

Sundance Songs:

M. Ward - Carolina

Gogol Bordello - Through the Roof and Underground

Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová - When Your Mind's Made Up