Sundance
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Sundance 2014: Programme preview
Following on from the overwhelming success of last year’s sophomore outing, American actor and director Robert Redford’s Sundance London film and music festival returns to the nation’s capital this month for its third incarnation, which takes place at the O2 Arena from 25-27 April. As with 2013, the majority of the 21 feature-length films presented…
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Sundance 2014: Wetlands review
★★★☆☆ David Wnendt’s Wetlands (2013) stars Carla Juri as Helen, an adventurous teen experimenting with sex, drugs and haemorrhoids.The daughter of divorced parents – and with countless issues feeding her angst – Helen spends her days indulging in casual encounters with strangers, vegetables and public toilet seats. One day the bleeding starts and Helen is…
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Sundance 2013: Mud review
★★★★☆ Premièring towards the end of last year’s Cannes Film Festival when the majority of critics had long left the sun and splendour of the Croisette, indie filmmaker Jeff Nichols’ highly anticipated Mud (2012), his follow-up to 2011’s Take Shelter, somehow fell off the cinematic map on both sides of the Atlantic. Almost a year…
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Sundance 2013: Blackfish review
★★★★☆ Newly positioned as one of this year’s most anticipated American documentaries following rave reviews at Sundance, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish (2013) makes its way to the festival’s London incarnation this week ahead of a late July theatrical release. Cowperthwaite’s slight naïveté as only a second-time feature director (having deputised back in 2010 with City Lax:…
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Sundance 2013: From the Sea to the Land Beyond review
★★★★☆ Featuring prime cuts from the BFI’s extensive National Archive and a typically soul-stirring soundtrack from acclaimed Brighton collective British Sea Power, director Penny Woolcock’s lyrical visual collage From the Sea to the Land Beyond (2012) gets a live screening at Sundance London this week, having already wowed audiences at last year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest. Effortlessly…
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Sundance 2013: Programme preview
Following the success of last year’s inaugural outing, actor-director Robert Redford’s Sundance London film and music festival returns to the nation’s capital this month for its second incarnation, which takes place at the O2 Arena from 25-28 April. As with 2012, all 19 feature-length films will be UK premières, with programme highlights this time around…
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Sundance 2012: Safety Not Guaranteed review
★★★★☆ American director Colin Trevorrow’s Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) is just the type of sweet-natured, low budget indie comedy (with an all-important intelligent heart) that has slowly become synonymous with the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival. Starring rising star Aubrey Plaza, Jake M. Johnson and US mumblecore actor/director Mark Duplass, Safety Not Guaranteed is a pitch…
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Sundance 2012: Filly Brown review
★★☆☆☆ From directors Yousser Delara and Michael D. Olmos comes Filly Brown (2012), a fictional tale of a promising Latino rapper trying to make it big in LA despite numerous domestic and professional obstacles. Starring Gina Rodriguez, Chrissie Fit and Lou ‘Diamond’ Phillips, this hip hop-infused drama sadly struggles to find its voice amongst its…
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Sundance 2012: LUV review
★★★☆☆ From debut director Sheldon Candis comes LUV (2012), and unconventional crime drama set on the mean, crab-filled streets of Baltimore. Candis largely ensures the cat-and-mouse structure typical of most gangster narratives, instead choosing to focus on the relationship between 11-year-old Woody Watson (Michael Rainey Jr.) and his entrepreneurial Uncle Vincent (played by US rapper…
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Sundance 2012: For Ellen review
★★☆☆☆ Regardless of others involved, a new film starring US indie darling Paul Dano will always be an intriguing prospect. Having broken onto the scene with fine performances in Sundance favourite Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s towering Oscar-winner There Will Be Blood (2007), Dano has since retracted into the background with a…