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Posted: **Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:35 am**

As it seems that no one has created this topic, I thought I would. Sundance is coming up shortly, and I was curious as to what everyone thought of this year's films.

Being a Utah resident, I can buy my tickets tomorrow. Last year, I went for more obscure films. More in competition films this year have my interest, so I think I'll check these films out:

- Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
- Choke
- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
- Sugar

I know these are all US films, so if anyone can vouch for films in the "World" categories, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a link to the downloadable PDF of the Film Guide: 2008 Sundance Film Guide

Posted: **Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:58 pm**

Well, forget that. I only was able to get tickets for Sugar. I guess it's time to get in line for the wait-list tickets.

Anyone else planning on going?

Posted: **Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:43 am**

I wasn't going to go this year, but now I'm starting to regret that. Unless, something comes up last minute, I won't be there. I had tons of fun last year.

Posted: **Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:22 am**

bkimball wrote:Choke

Wow, when did this finish getting made - and with Sam Rockwell to boot? I remember hearing grumblings of it, but I always though it slowly died away (as I hope the three other planned adaptations do, though a HBO miniseries of Diary by Fincher does sound more interesting post-Zodiac).

Posted: **Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:08 pm**

Would it be worth flying out to Sundance opening weekend (18th to the 22nd) with no advance tickets, and waiting in the stand by lines for every showing? I've never been to the festival before and was planning on going this year. Our ticket source has fallen through at the last minute, and we are stranded without any advance tickets. Now, we haven't booked airfare yet, and I need to make a decision. Could anyone comment on the difficulty of getting stand by tickets, or the stress level of attending the festival having to stand by for every film? How many films per day would we be able to fit in, etc...? Thanks.

Posted: **Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:18 pm**

Thought this was interesting...

Boom looms as filmmakers trek to Sundance
By Gregg Goldstein and Steven ZeitchikWed Jan 16, 11:34 PM ET

As indie moviemakers flock to the Rockies for the Sundance Film Festival, which begins Thursday, an abundance of available films and potential buyers is combining with Hollywood's labor unrest to fuel talk of the most robust Sundance market in years.

The memory of pricey and poorly performing buys from last year, such as the Weinstein Co's $4 million purchase of $36,000-grosser "Grace is Gone," could still slow the train. But when the frenzy known as Sundance Fever takes over -- with its primary symptom of temporary amnesia -- memories fade quickly.

Acquisition executives will be keeping themselves busy with the sheer volume of films. New 3 p.m. slots have been added to the traditional 6 and 9 p.m. Premieres screenings, increasing the overall number of selections in the category from 17 last year to 25.

Three of Friday's films already are attracting strong interest from distributors: "Sunshine Cleaning," a drama from "Little Miss Sunshine" producer Big Beach starring Emily Blunt and Amy Adams; the Ben Kingsley/Mary-Kate Olsen stoner film "The Wackness"; and actor-director Michael Keaton's romantic fable "The Merry Gentleman."

It's just the start of a schedule front-loaded with available titles. The weekend also will see such dramas as Paul Schneider's "Pretty Bird"; the Elle Fanning starrer "Phoebe in Wonderland"; Mark Pellington's "Henry Poole Is Here"; and the coming-of-age tale "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," one of three films from "Sideways" producer Michael London's Groundswell Prods. (Miramax's "Smart People" and Overture's "The Visitor" are the others).

Foreign films usually aren't big sellers -- last year's $4 million Searchlight/Weinstein Co. buy of the March 19 release "Under the Same Moon" ("La Misma Luna") aside -- but in the coming days, the Danish identity-swap thriller "Just Another Love Story," the Russian missing-woman saga "Mermaid" and the Mexican sci-fi tale "Sleep Dealer" are titles that insiders say deliver the goods.

Documentaries, meanwhile, will try to overcome market skepticism this weekend when Nanette Burstein's study in adolescence "American Teen," Stacy Peralta's gang film "Made in America," the slavery documentary "Tales of the Trade" and Chris Waitt's first-person "A Complete History of My Sexual Failures" debut in Park City.

Saturday afternoon also will see one of the most commercial and expensive movies ever to bow at the fest: director barry Levinson's $30 million-plus "What Just Happened?" a Hollywood comedy-drama starring Robert De Niro and Bruce Willis.

The Tom Hanks-John Malkovich vehicle "The Great Buck Howard" gets its premiere Friday in Salt Lake City before traveling to Park City, with sources saying the movie already has screened for some studio buyers.

Next week feels far away to many buyers, but distributors already are beginning to eye Plum Pictures' intergenerational dramedy "Diminished Capacity" and "Hamlet 2," a comedy-musical starring Steve Coogan. (Comedy appears to be a highly regarded category, especially after a glut of war films and dour dramas at the boxoffice this fall.)

Of course, buzz has a way of fading fast if a much-touted movie doesn't screen well, and it can build just as quickly for movies many hadn't been tracking. Few were hyping "Once" or "Waitress" entering Sundance last year, and everyone was talking about "Joshua." Fox Searchlight bought all three; the first two soared, the third bombed.

On the buying side, a complicated set of factors has led to the optimism and kept at bay the possibility that last year's failures would make buyers gun-shy.

Specialty divisions flush with cash, studios seeking to fill holes created by the strike and the creation of new distribution labels including Overture Films and Summit Entertainment all have set tongues wagging about faster buys, frenzied bids and higher prices.

Last year, despite the roughly $50 million in sales, such big specialty players as Picturehouse, Focus and Miramax refrained from writing checks. This year, their presence will be one of several important factors shaping the market.

Miramax Films president Daniel Battsek hopes to pick up one or two films this year. But he warned, "It's not impossible to imagine a scenario where if a title gets hot, it will get white hot."

Perhaps the biggest wild card is the Weinstein Co. With "Grace Is Gone," "Dedication" and "Under the Same Moon" ("Under the Same Moon"), the brothers Weinstein made a series of pricey buys and co-buys last year. How much they "get a taste of the festival game," as Harvey Weinstein said in 2007, will go a long way toward shaping how it's played.

Sony Pictures Classics' historically wary co-president Tom Bernard reiterated his colorful metaphor, which says selling is set up "like speed dating -- only at the end of the night you get married."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Posted: **Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:07 pm**

Award winning documentary Trouble In The Water and Sugar (by the team who were behind Half Nelson) are "too black" for Sundance buyers.

Posted: **Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:56 am**

Some slightly incongruous timing for that article, since Sugar is on the verge of being picked up (by Sony, no less).

Posted: **Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:01 pm**

I am a Utah resident and I was able to see a lot of films at Sundance this year. Overall, 2008 was a pretty weak festival. But "Sugar" was an amazing picture and it deserves to be picked up by someone. I can't imagine what is off-putting about the film -- it has a humanism similar to "Half Nelson" and makes some profound insights about the immigrant experience in 21st century America without ever becoming didactic or overly sentimental. My perspective may be colored by the fact that I am a big baseball fan (and that I adored "Half Nelson"), but I really loved this picture and hope to see it get into theatres this fall.

Posted: **Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:46 pm**

anybody see Choke?
I'm actually kind of interested in how this turned out (and how it went under the radar here in Palahniuk Portland, even though his reputation has died down quite a bit)

Posted: **Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:09 pm**

I caught a screening of "Choke" in SLC on the last Friday night of the fest. I went with a good friend who went to college at Lewis and Clark and is a big Palahniuk fan (I have not read much of his work myself). My friend thought that it was a pretty effective and faithful adaptation, and he largely enjoyed the film as well. Not being familiar with the novel, my biggest dissapointment with the film was that the comedy was much lighter than I was expecting. I suppose I was hoping for something more akin to the first forty minutes of "Fight Club," some sort of dark critique of the meaninglessness of sex and consumerism and all that. Don't get me wrong, it was still all there, but it was colored by a far more twee sensibility that I was expecting (especially the flashbacks to Rockwell's youth on the run with Angelica Huston's mentally ill mom). But this was still a decent flick, and it will fit right in to Fox Searchlight's stable. Kelly Macdonald is really great in this: very funny and quite sexy.

My favorite part of the film was actually the soundtrack. Radiohead's "Reckoner" is used to great effect near the end, and there's also a great Greg Dulli Twilight Singers song.

Posted: **Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:44 pm**

Tom Hagen wrote: (especially the flashbacks to Rockwell's youth on the run with Angelica Huston's mentally ill mom).

Those sections are the worst in the book, too.

Posted: **Tue May 20, 2008 2:46 pm**

At Japan Society, NYC, July 2-13:

For the second consecutive summer, Japan Society brings a sizable slice of Japan's dynamic contemporary film culture to New York City with the annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film, the first and only large-scale annual film festival in North America celebrating the latest films from Japan. Running for 12 days (Wednesday, July 2 through Sunday, July 13, 2008) at Japan Society, JAPAN CUTS presents nearly 20 feature films--all U.S. and New York premieres--ranging from blockbusters and animation to documentaries and cutting-edge independents. In addition, special events include collections of short films, family screenings and appearances by leading filmmakers and actors. In its second year of collaboration with the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), JAPAN CUTS will co-present nearly ten films running July 3-6. With 18 confirmed films to date, the final JAPAN CUTS line-up of featured films and shorts, guest directors and actors and all program information will be announced June 6, 2008.

With just over 400 films produced in Japan annually (as reported by The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan), JAPAN CUTS promises U.S. audiences their first taste of the most talked about Japanese films from 2007 and 2008. Made by both established and emerging directors and starring today's hottest actors and festival winners, all JAPAN CUTS feature films are unavailable on DVD as well as having their U.S. or New York premiere.

Confirmed films for 2008 include:

The Mourning Forest by Naomi Kawase; Winner of the Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2007; NY Premiere.

Sukiyaki Western Django by Takashi Miike, guest starring Quentin Tarantino; In Competition, Venice 2007; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

United Red Army by Koji Wakamatsu; Winner of Netpac, C.I.C.A.E. Awards, Berlin Film Festival 2008; co-presented with NYAFF; U.S. Premiere.

Yasukuni by Japan based Chinese director Li Ying; highly controversial documentary on Yasukuni Shrine, where all Japanese war dead from mid-19th Century to WW II are honored; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

Sakuran by art photographer Mika Ninagawa; Official Selection, Berlin 2007; NY Premiere.

Dainipponjin by Japan's superstar comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto; Directors' Fortnight, Cannes 2007; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

Kisaragi by Yuichi Sato; Winner, Best Film, Awards of the Japanese Academy 2008; U.S. Premiere.

Sad Vacation by Shinji Aoyama starring Tadanobu Asano; Venice 2007; Winner, 2008 Kinema Junpo Award for Ten Best Films of 2007; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

Accuracy of Death by Masaya Kakei starringTakeshi Kaneshiro (House of Flying Daggers); co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

A Gentle Breeze in the Village by Nobuhiro Yamashita (Linda Linda Linda); Toronto 2007; Winner, 2008 Kinema Junpo Award for Ten Best Films of 2007; NY Premiere.

Always–Sunset on Third Street–2 by Takashi Yamazaki; sequel to the smash hit Always–Sunset on Third Street; Winner, Best Supporting Actor Tomokazu Miura, Kinema Junpo Awards 2008 (together with Adrift in Tokyo); Winner, Best Actor Hidetaka Yoshioka, Best Sound recording, Awards of the Japanese Academy 2008; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

Adrift in Tokyo, a breakthrough film by Satoshi Miki; Winner, Best Supporting Actor Tomokazu Miura, Kinema Junpo Awards 2008; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

Near Equal Yayoi Kusama: I Adore Myself by Takako Matsumoto; documentary on the wildly charismatic artist Yayoi Kusama; U.S. Premiere.

Gummi, Chocolate, Pine by Keralino Sandorovich; based on a best-selling memoir by underground rock musician Kenji Otsuki. International Premiere.

Filmful Life by Shunji Iwai, a documentary on director Kon Ichikawa; U.S. Premiere.

Fine, Totally Fine by Yosuke Fujita; co-presented with NYAFF; NY Premiere.

The festival will also include a tribute to the director Kon Ichikawa with a first-ever screening of his classic blockbuster mystery-thriller The Inugami Family (1976) with digital English subtitles. Additionally, Ichikawa's re-make of The Inugami Family, which became his last film, Murder of the Inugami Clan, will have its New York premiere, as well as a new documentary on Ichikawa by director Shunji Iwai, Filmful Life.

As with the previous year, festival events are Long Cuts, nearly 20 U.S. and New York premieres of feature-length films released in Japan in the last year; Short Cuts, dozens of never-before-seen short films from the forefront of Japan's independent filmmakers and video artists; A Gentle Breeze in the Village by Nobuhiro Yamashita will be screened for Turtle Bay Cuts, a complimentary family screening for the Turtle Bay community and beyond; NY-Japan Cuts, screenings and networking event for New York- and Japan-based filmmakers; and MEET Cuts, exclusive Q&A's, panel discussions and other events.

Launched in Summer 2007 to celebrate Japan Society's centennial, the first annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film was one of the most successful single events in Japan Society's 2007-08 centennial celebration. Noted for its "rich and varied selection of recent Japanese films" (David Kehr, The New York Times), the festival attracted nearly 5,000 audience members and screened over 80 feature length films and shorts of various genres. Five of Japan's leading directors Shusuke Kaneko, Sion Sono, Miwa Nishikawa, Naoko Ogigami and Yasuo Kurita attended the festival; and Tetsuya Nakashima's Memories of Matsuko garnered the JAPAN CUTS audience award. The 2008 JAPAN CUTS will follow this precedent in scale and variety.

Posted: **Tue May 20, 2008 3:08 pm**

Kawase's Mourning Forest -- good, but seemed more "artificial" than her earlier films.

Ninagawa's Sakuran -- gorgeous looking (probably worth seeing just for this) but dumb -- a far cry from the artistry and intelligence of Tadashi Imai's Nigorie and Gosho's Takekurabe (which cover somewhat similar territory).

Aoyama's Sad Vacation -- some nice things in this, but overall disappointing.

Yamashita's A Gentle Breeze in the Village -- loved it (but not so much as his earlier Linda Linda Linda or Jun Ichikawa's new Making Tomorrow's Me (or, more boringly and less accurately, How I Became Myself).

Always 2 -- If it's anything like Always 1 -- ersatz schlock. Why not present the more genuine documentation of this period, by people like Yoji Yamada (and his Tokyo realist predecessors).

Fujita's Fine, Totally Fine -- has gotten great reviews, something I'd really like to see....

Posted: **Tue May 20, 2008 4:56 pm**

I agree with Michael on The Mourning Forest -- it has a schematic feel that's difficult to get over -- but it was still one of my faves from last year and the opportunity to see it in a theater should be taken. (And even the schematicity helps, in its own odd way, by enhancing the moments when Kawase breaks away and goes for outright lyricism -- I don't know if it adds up to anything as great as her earlier features, but when it soars it soars.) Sad Vacation is skippable unless you really really liked Helpless, since it's largely in the same mode -- at least until some last-half gropes for a Eureka-style catharsis that never feel less than labored.

Personally speaking, I would sell a body part or two to catch a screening of United Red Army -- the subject matter is fascinating (there have been several previous films on the events, none of which seemed willing to address them on their own terms), Wakamatsu is probably the ideal director for this material, and the critical consensus is downright glowing. And Dai Nipponjin sounds like it could be, um, something, anyway.

Posted: **Tue May 20, 2008 6:32 pm**

United Red Army is an amazing film, well worth seeing for anyone with some background in the history of the period (Wakamatsu assumes a base-level knowledge of the Japanese left). In my opinion, it may be the best thing Wakamatsu's ever done, although in fairness I should say that I'm not crazy about most of his work.

Yasukuni should also be interesting. As many of you probably know, it's already generated considerable controversy in Japan and it was even screened for the members of the Diet prior to release.

I haven't seen any of the others, but this is a very exciting lineup all around, much better than last year.

Posted: **Tue May 20, 2008 10:45 pm**

At the Ichikawa retro just catch one or the other of the Inugami Family unless you're really into comparing shot for shot remakes. They're both pretty much identical except perhaps the last scene, but I'd go with the original personally. Everything about the remake seems a bit too clean for some reason. The grime on the walls, and scruffiness of the main charatcer (think Columbo in a dirty kimono) were part of the appeal of the original for me. And there's a cool bit towards the end that may well have been accidental but they didn't replicate it for the remake.

Edit to add: Shunji Iwai's Ichikawa Kon Monogatari (or whatever it's English title is) is really good.

Posted: **Tue May 20, 2008 11:18 pm**

Thanks for the Ichikawa info.

Posted: **Sun May 25, 2008 9:23 pm**

The Ichikawa retro's not on the Japan Society's website (looks like it's been removed), and I don't see it on the Subway Cinema site either.

Bummer - I just saw An Actor's Revenge two days ago. %^<

Posted: **Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:59 pm**

Toronto Film Festival

Toronto – The Toronto International Film Festival announces 27 international selections to screen this September after premiering at film festivals the world over. Programmers have brought back some of the finest titles from Cannes, Berlin and beyond, to screen as part of the 33rd edition of the Festival running September 4 - 13, 2008. The official website for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, tiff08.ca, will go live on Friday, June 27, 2008. Ticket packages for TIFF08 will be available for purchase by Visa† cardholders as of 10am on Monday, July 7, 2008, and by cash, debit or Visa as of 10am on Monday, July 14, 2008. Purchase online at tiff08.ca, by phone at 416-968-FILM or 1-877-968-FILM or in person at the TIFFG Box Office at Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor Street West (main floor, north entrance). Box Office hours are 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.

GALA PRESENTATION

The Good, The Bad, The Weird Kim Jee-woon, South Korea

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Adoration Atom Egoyan, Canada
Un conte de Noël Arnaud Desplechin, France
Entre les murs Laurent Cantet, France
Gomorrah Matteo Garrone, Italy

MASTERS

24 City Jia Zhang-ke, China
Four Nights with Anna Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/France
Of Time and the City Terence Davies, United Kingdom
Le Silence de Lorna Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy
Three Monkeys Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/France/Italy

REAL TO REEL

Blind Loves Juraj Lehotský, Slovakia

VISIONS

Liverpool Lisandro Alonso, Argentina/France/Netherlands/Spain/Germany
Service Brillante Mendoza, Philippines/France

VANGUARD

Waltz with Bashir Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany

DISCOVERY

Hunger Steve McQueen, United Kingdom
Medicine for Melancholy Barry Jenkins, USA
The Paranoids Gabriel Medina, Argentina
Salamandra Pablo Agüero, Argentina/France/Germany
Three Blind Mice Matthew Newton, Australia
Tony Manero Pablo Larraín, Chile/Brazil
Tulpan Sergey Dvortsevoy, Germany/Switzerland/Kazakstan/Russia/Poland

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA

Acne Federico Veiroj, Uruguay/Argentina/Spain/Mexico
Linha de Passe Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, Brazil
O’Horten Bent Hamer, Norway/Germany/France
Lion’s Den Pablo Trapero, Argentina/South Korea/Brazil
Restless Amos Kollek, Israel/Germany/Canada/France/Belgium
Revanche Götz Spielmann, Austria

Posted: **Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:31 pm**

Hmm, most of it is stuff from Cannes now. I hope the new Angelopoulos will be shown too. One of the ones at Cannes that looked really good was Soi Cowboy, so I hope that ends up showing up. Out of these, I'm most excited for 24 City and Un conte de Noel.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2008 1:06 am**

I'm very happy to see Medicine for Melancholy get some recognition. =D>

It was one of my favorites from the recent San Francisco International Film Festival. I thought it offered fresh perspectives on racial and social issues that may be unique to San Francisco but resonate through the world. The film visually captures life here rather remarkably. It also takes the form of a fairly unique love story.

I recommend it to anyone attending the festival.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:02 am**

Where the hell is El Cant dels ocells?

Posted: **Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:39 pm**

Ophüls' LOLA MONTÈS is the featured retro screening this year in the same 35mm restoration seen at Cannes.

It will then play Film Forum October 10-30.

Posted: **Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:07 pm**

tavernier wrote:Ophüls' LOLA MONTÈS is the featured retro screening this year in the same 35mm restoration seen at Cannes.

It will then play Film Forum October 10-30.

So a restored DVD release will be coming at some point, but I guess not from Criterion. Maybe Lionsgate?

criterionforum.org

Film Festival Circuit 2008

Film Festival Circuit 2008

2nd Annual Japan Cuts Festival

Toronto Film Festival 2008

2008 New York Film Festival

Re: 2008 New York Film Festival