Sundance 2012 Coverage
Sleepwalk With Me
First spawned as an off-Broadway one-man show, Sleepwalk With Me is a translation of Birbiglia’s comedy act adapted for the silver screen, polished to perfection with the help of Ira Glass. … read more
Declaration of War
Romeo and Juliette meet at a party and quickly fall in love. In no time, they move in together and find themselves pregnant. Early on, they fear that something is wrong with their son Adam—he cries incessantly, he keeps vomiting up his milk and doesn’t seem to be learning things as fast as his peers. A series of tests confirm the young parent’s fears: their son has a brain tumor. … read more
Compliance
Based on a true event, Compliance takes place in an Ohio fast food joint called Chickwich. In the midst of a rush, manager Sandra receives a call from a police officer informing her that one of her employees has stolen money out of a customer’s purse. The officer instructs Sandra that she needs to hold the employee in the back room until they can arrive, but then decides it will be easier for everyone if Sandra starts the investigation herself. … read more
Shut Up and Play the Hits
Directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace were interested in making a film about the calculated and controlled demise of LCD Soundsystem because they wondered why. “Why would Murphy, at the height of LCD’s career, decide to disband?” … read more
Kid-Thing
Ten-year-old Annie is an aimless child with an emotionally absent father who lives outside of Austin. Her dad is a goat farmer who spends his time scratching lotto cards, shooting fireworks with his dim-witted friends and competing in demolition derbys. He doesn’t do much parenting. Annie fills her time with a variety of destructive activities such as smashing birthday cakes, hucking dough at cars, paint-balling dead cows and wandering the woods near her home … read more
About The Pink Sky
The story is undoubtedly a unique one, as is the execution. Filmed in black and white and completely void of a musical soundtrack, About The PInk Sky might seem to deceive with its title, but upon completion of the film, I found that it was a conscientious and poetic decision. … read more
Red Hook Summer
A spoiled teenage vegan from Atlanta, who goes by the alias Flik, is dropped off at the doorstep with his estranged preacher grandfather, Enoch, so he can spend the summer receiving guidance at his local church. … read more
Teddy Bear
As a professional body builder, you would think Dennis Petersen wouldn’t be afraid of anything, but once you place him near a member of the opposite sex, he shuts down and his social anxiety surfaces. To make matters worse, he lives with his overbearing mother who becomes physically distraught at the thought of Dennis having another woman in his life, which is why he lies about his attempts at dating.
Middle of Nowhere
In her directorial debut, director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay tells the story of a young woman whose husband is sentenced to eight years in prison. Choosing to drop out of med school to stay close to him and have more time for visits and phone calls, Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) supports her husband 100-percent through this hardship. … read more
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
If a man like first-time director/screenwriter Terence Nance was as fascinated by me as he is by actress Namik Minter, my love-struck gaze would’ve been penetrating out of the silver screen rather than staring longingly into it from my seat amongst the audience of An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. … read more
The Law in These Parts
The Law in These Parts looks at the same issue as another World Cinema Documentary Competition film, 5 Broken Camera: Israel’s control over the West Bank. After seeing both films, it feels impossible to review one without referencing the other. Although both films cover essentially the same topic, the manner in which they are told and the perspective differ. … read more
We’re Not Broke
United States tax law is purposely complicated. This is why people hire accountants. Unfortunately, the complexity of the U.S. tax code is exactly what has allowed the majority of multi-billion dollar U.S. companies to evade paying taxes through the use of offshore tax havens. Turns out U.S. companies hire accountants too, often times ones who helped write portions of the tax code, or have spent time working for the I.R.S. … read more
