Sundance Roundup: Day Four

Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:30:00 GMT

Sundance remains a buyer's market so far, but if you're a filmmaker having little success attracting interest from distributors, don't panic yet. "IFC will probably turn out to be one of the most aggressive buyers at the Sundance Film Festival here when it comes to the number of films bought, if not the prices paid," the New York Times reports. "Jonathan Sehring, IFC’s president, and his crew were already here last Thursday to begin stocking up on pictures for their In Theaters and Festival Direct services, which send first-run movies to more than 50 million viewers in all, through their video-on-demand services." By the way, IFC will be making Steven Soderbergh's Che available on demand starting Wednesday.

The gay romance/con movie I Love You Phillip Morris has yet to find a buyer, but it seems only a matter of time. Blogging for the Houston Press, Steve McVicker, author of the book upon which the movie is based, proclaims himself satisfied with the result. "Directors/screenwriter Glen Fecarra and John Requa, were both true to my book, but also put their creative stamp on it. They kept most aspects of the book, but condensed and compressed the material in a true dark screwball comedy, which is also a poignant love story between the two jailhouse lovers, Morris and Steve Russell, who also blossomed as an escape artist...No offense to John or Glenn, but at time it felt like I was watching a Coen Brothers' comedy." Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly sort of agrees, saying the movie is "like one of those out-of-the-frying-pan capers by the Coen brothers crossed with Catch Me If You Can, featuring a hero as blithely comfortable with the metaphysics of identity fraud as Tom Ripley."

CNET has the scoop on enjoying Sundance from the comfort of your own couch, as 10 shorts from the festival are available for viewing online. "The shorts made available on iTunes, with distribution and encoding services by Shorts International, were chosen "as a sampling of the festival's unique shorts filmmakers' voices," says programmer Todd Luoto. "Some are funny; some are sad. Some are serious. Some are just plain crazy and need no classification, and some couldn't be classified if we tried--just the way we like it."

Trailer Review: Body of Lies

Paul Clark — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Does anyone out there actually buy Leonardo DiCaprio in tough-guy roles? Don’t get me wrong- I think he’s a talented actor, and given the right part he can knock it out of the park. But I didn’t find him convincing in Gangs of New York and Blood Diamond, and I’m certainly not convinced here. If you look at Leo’s best recent roles- Frank Abagnale, Howard Hughes, even Billy Costigan in The Departed- they all make use of his innate boyishness and knack for playing psychologically damaged characters. But there’s just something about him (the reedy voice, the scraggly facial hair) that doesn’t work when he’s supposed to be tough and street-smart. Just like he was in Gangs, he looks hopelessly overmatched here by his more experienced costar- Russell Crowe this time around- and it’s going to require a lot of work from director Ridley Scott and screenwriter William Monahan to convince me that Leo’s character can hold his own opposite Crowe’s. Also, it seems sort of sinful that the gorgeous Carice Van Houten (playing Leo’s wife) is nowhere to be found in the trailer, but maybe that’s just me.

The Screengrab : catch me if you can

Sundance Roundup: Day Four

Trailer Review: Body of Lies