Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Wildlife is set in 1960s Montana and follows a family, through the eyes of the son, 14-year-old Joe (Ed Oxenbould). His father, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) has recently been fired from his job and decides to leave his family to fight a forest fire near the Canadian border. This leaves his mother, Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) to take care of their home which sends her into an adventure of her own.
Paul Dano’s directorial debut is hauntingly beautiful. Dano and Zoe Kazan co-write a captivating and heartbreaking depiction of a family slowly falling apart. Yet, it’s Dano’s strong ability to use the camera as a lens to help us see through Joe’s eyes, projecting his pain onto the audience. Dano also uses little camera movement, which lets his remarkable Cast shine.
Oxenbould’s phenomenal performance is at the level of a seasoned veteran, bringing to life a young, confused and shattered Joe. The incomparable Gyllenhaal expresses all facets of the male ego without saying many words. His depiction of Jerry is the stuff of wonder. Mulligan is exquisite, delivering a fiery and fearless performance as the scared and heartbroken Jeanette. All of Jeanette’s flaws are on full display and Mulligan relishes in her imperfection. She is hypnotic and gives one of the best performances to date.
Wildlife screens at Sundance on Jan. 20 at 3:30PM at Eccles PC, Jan. 21 at 6:30PM at Redstone 1 PC, Jan. 22 at 9:30PM at Rose Wagner SLC, Jan. 26 at 5:30PM at Prospector PC, and Jan. 27 at 8:30AM at Prospector PC.
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
I Like Girls is a touching testament to falling in love.
The Film tells multiple short stories of girls falling in love with other girls. Each story is uniquely different but all are endearing. What makes this animated short special is that its multiple narrators speak as though they are giving authentic testimonials. This gives each story a documentary feel. There is a realism to this cartoon animation that makes this short unique.
I Like Girls will screen before The Miseducation of Cameron Post at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 22 at 12:15PM at Eccles, Jan. 23 at 6:30PM at Redstone 1, Jan. 25 at 2:30PM at The MARC, Jan. 26 at 3PM at PC Library, and Jan. 27 at 3:15PM at The Grand.
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Hedgehog’s Home is a stop-motion animation delight.
The Film follows the story of a hedgehog and his friends in the forest. All have homes but only one is happy to have it, the hedgehog. The other animals are unable to understand why the hedgehog can love being in his own home. The animation is visually stunning, the moral is heartwarming and the narration brings back a feeling of childhood fairytales.
Hedgehog’s Home screens before White Fang at the Sundance Film Festival before White Fang on Jan. 21 at 11:30AM at Prospector, Jan. 21 at 6PM at SLC Library, and Jan. 27 at 3:30PM at Redstone 1.
By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
It’s day three at the Sundance Film Festival and the snow has come, hard. Roads were backlogged and the temperatures hit below zero but that didn’t stop anything from happening at the Festival. The Films were still playing, the stars were still out and most important fans were flocking to theatres.
Some of the Films having their premieres tonight in Park City are Colette, TYREL, Sorry To Bother You, Yardie and Wildlife. Colette is about a young woman, played by Keira Knightly, in Paris who writes novels and gets them published under her husbands name. TYREL is about a man who begins to panic when he realized he is the only black person at a birthday weekend party in a secluded cabin. It stars Jason Mitchell, Christopher Abbot, Ann Dowd, Michael Cera and Caleb Landry Jones. Sorry To Bother You follows a black Telemarketer who discovers a magical key to professional success which propels him into a macaber universe. It stars Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Armie Hammer and Keith Stanfield. Yardie is the directorial debut from Idris Elba about a young boy who witnesses his brother’s assassination and ten years later is sent on a mission to London. And Wildlife is the directorial debut of Paul Dano who co-wrote the script with Zoe Kazan, which is adapted from the Richard Ford Novel of the same name. Its described solely as a portrait of a family in crisis and stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan as husband and wife.
But the stars aren’t only attending premieres they are also walking along Main Street in Park City doing press or grabbing a bite to eat. There were plenty of stars sitting on that strip such as Jane Fonda, Craig Robinson, Common, Chloë Sevigny, Luke Wilson, Jim Parsons and much more. It’s only day three there is just over a week more to go but this Festival shows no signs of slowing down!
See some of our Snaps. Hover left and right to navigate slideshow:
(Photo credit: Amanda Gilmore)
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
The Catcher Was A Spy follows the true story of Boston RedSox catcher Moe Berg (Paul Rudd) who also worked for the Office of Strategic Services and was sent to kill Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) for possibly making a nuclear bomb.
The Film brings together an impressive and talented Cast consisting of Rudd, Strong, Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels and Paul Giamatti. They all do a great job of bringing their characters to life but none more so then Daniels who steals every scene he’s in. This is also Rudd like you’ve never seen him. Playing a character unlike he ever has before. And he effortlessly disappears into Berg. It’s a compelling story that Director Ben Lewin and Screenwriter Robert Rodat turn into a strong Film.
The Catcher Was A Spy screens at Sundance on Jan. 19 at 8:30PM at The MARC PC, Jan. 24 at 6:30PM at Eccles PC, Jan. 25 at 9AM at Eccles PC, Jan. 27 at 5:30PM at The MARC PC, and Jan. 28 at 6:15PM at The Grand SLC.
By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Mandy is one of the Films in the Midnight cateogory at Sundance this year. Its directed by Panos Cosmatos and stars Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough and Linus Roache. It follows outsiders Red Miller (Cage) and Mandy Bloom (Riseborough) who live a loving and peaceful life. But when their haven gets savagely destroyed by cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Roache), Red seeks bloody vengeance. Director Cosmatos and both stars Cage and Roache were on hand at the Sundance Film Festival today for their junket. The three joke privately amongst each other and with journalists while speaking passionately about Mandy.
Q: Nicolas and Linus could you talk about how you got attached to this project and why you wanted to be apart of it? And Panos can you speak about why you wanted to make this Film?
A: Cage: I wanted to work with Panos I saw Behind The Black Rainbow I thought it was powerfully unique, a world unto itself, visionary, artistic, hallucinogenic. And I felt that to be able to play a man with the pathos of Red Miller in that kind of world would give me something that I had never done before.
Roache: I saw Black Rainbow after I read the script and saw the character that Panos had created it was an opportunity to kind of explore the outer limits of the male ego in all its grandiosity and pompous and outrageous violence. It was a gift of a role to be given. And to get to work with Nick was a Bucket List dream come true. So it couldn’t have been a better opportunity for me.
Cosmatos: I stated writing Mandy at the same time that I was writing Black Rainbow which was after the death of my father. Which was compounded on top of the death of my mother which I had suppressed and not dealt with. So I realized I had to face these things or I was going to be eaten alive. So I started writing Black Rainbow and Mandy at the same time and it wasn’t on purpose, but I realized in retrospect that they are both articulating two separate parts of the same thing. Black Rainbow deals a lot with control and I think I was a representation of me pushing in my emotions and feeling trapped. And Mandy is the opposite of that which is releasing all these emotions, its a very outward expression of those feelings. I’ve said that Black Rainbow is like an inhale and Mandy and exhale. But because of the feelings I was working through I became very obsessed with the theme of revenge at that time. Because it can be a very cathartic genre. I wanted to make a revenge movie that centered around the person that was being avenged as much as the avenger. I feel in the Film Mandy is ritually-killed because of the male ego and in the Film she is sort of reborn as an extension of her inner world. She is almost reborn as a Goddess and Red becomes like the Demigod.
Q: How was working with Andrea Riseborough?
A: Roache: Oh my God she’s amazing.
Cosmatos: I think Andrea is one of the greatest actresses of her generation, she’s a chameleon. I have been having people come up to me and telling me that they didn’t realize it was Andrea playing Mandy until about three-quarters of the way through.
Roache: I just had this one very intense scene with her and it was wonderful to do. But last night seeing the movie it kind of blew my mind that she represents all the different facets of the feminine. She’s like the mothers, the sisters, the daughters, she the lover. And it’s great.
Cosmatos: There are certain things in this film that are rooted way back in my past. Mandy to me is, when I was a kid there was a shitty fair in our town called the JC Fair, there was this stall that was selling ZZ Top wallets. There was this lady that was selling all the wallets and she was like a metal head who wore glasses. And for some reason I just fell in love with her. When I walked away I forgot the wallet and she called after me and my heart leaped. And I turned around and she said “you forgot your f***ing wallet.” I had an idea of Mandy in my head and I don’t think that Mandy was complete until Andrea come along.
Roache: But also as a woman though she brought the brokenness of her, the scar of the face, and that this woman was so warm and vulnerable. And almost otherworldly, like living in a fantasy world. Andrea really caught the, she sort of, she just did it unashamedly, there was no vanity in it. There was no “look at me.”
Cosmatos: Mandy is like the outsider looking out, I like characters like that.
There is no set release date yet for Mandy but more information can be found here.
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
You Were Never Really Here follows traumatized veteran Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) whose job of tracking down a missing girl goes bad and a conspiracy is uncovered.
Phoenix is a force of nature as the tormented and violent Joe. With minimal dialogue Phoenix is forced the used his expressions and body language to display what Joe is feeling. And the range he displays in this Film is a tremendous feat. From being a caring son taking care of his mother, to a broken man still traumatized from his childhood and war, and then the killing machine he becomes to save missing girls.
The character of Joe is written unapologetically by Writer-Director Lynne Ramsey who also directs the Film with fearlessness. What also makes You Were Never Really Here special is that Ramsey has crafted a Hitman Thriller that is a character study, rather than one solely about violence.
You Were Never Really Here screens at Sundance on Jan. 19 at 9:15PM at The Grand SLC, Jan. 21 at 8:30PM at The MARC PC, Jan. 23 at 11:45PM at The Egyptian PC, and Jan. 27 at 6PM at PC Library.
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Beast is a compelling Thriller about a young woman (Jessie Buckley) who falls for a mysterious outsider (Johnny Flynn) who becomes a suspect in a series of violent murders.
Writer-Director Michael Pearce crafts an ambitious and impressive first Feature. He creates steady suspense throughout with his direction until the explosive climax. Pearce writes extremely complex characters that swerve in and out of protagonists and antagonists.
These characters evolve over the course of the Film due to the tremendous cast. Buckley is a magnetic force playing the perplexing Moll who brings her character from quiet and refrained to assertive and uninhibited effortlessly. While Flynn makes his Pascal a humorous, mysterious and often questionable man. The pairing of Buckley and Flynn is golden and enhances the compelling script.
Beast screens at Sundance on Jan. 19 at 6PM at Tower SLC, Jan. 22 at 3PM at Sundance Resort, Jan. 23 at 6PM at PC Library, and Jan. 27 at 10PM at Redstone 2 PC.
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Kailash tells the inspiring story of Kailash Satyarthi who had made it his life’s mission to end child slavery. The Documentary follows the work of Satyarthi from the beginning stages up until last year. But what makes this Doc so special is that it also tells us first-hand the stories of survivors of Child Slavery.
Director Derek Doneen balances facts, Kailash’s life and the lives of children equally. This Documentary educates and will affect heavily its audience. Leaving them inspired to make change themselves.
Kailash screens at Sundance on Jan. 18 at 5:30PM at The MARC PC, Jan. 19 at 9AM at PC Library, Jan. 19 at 9PM at Sundance Resort, Jan. 20 at 12:30PM at Rose Wagner SLC, Jan. 24 at 12PM at Temple PC, and Jan. 25 at 9:30PM at Redstone 1 PC.
By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
It’s day two here at Sundance Film Festival and the momentum is building quickly. Main Street in Park City is buzzing with parties day and night. One of the main hotspots was the Sundance TV Kickoff Party where we spotted the likes of Terry Crews and Dominic Cooper. Moments after, a much in-the-news Ashley Judd was seen in the vicinity stopping for a Selfie.
It isn’t only the parties that are warming-up a snowy Park City, it’s also the starpower. Several Red Carpets took place including American Animals, a Heist Thriller starring Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan; Don’t Worry He Wont Get Far On Foot directed by Gus Van Sant (Milk, Elephant) and starring Jonah Hill and Joaquin Phoenix about a disabled rights Activist John Callahan who turns to drawing after becoming paralyzed; Lizzie starring Producer Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart which is said to be Beautiful Creatures-like and based on the Borden Family murders; and Mandy starring Nicolas Cage as a man hunting a religious sect which killed his wife, all premiered tonight in Park City.
See the Teaser for the new Van Sant Film below:
Wait until you get to know John Callahan.
Get your first look at Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot, starring Joaquin Phoenix, @JonahHill, Rooney Mara and Jack Black. Directed by Gus Van Sant.
In select theaters May 11. #DWHWGFOF pic.twitter.com/Sigc28D7V4
— Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (@dontworrymovie) January 16, 2018
Sevigny at Sundance with Lizzie:
Chloe Sevigny is premiering her flick #Lizzie at #Sundance! https://t.co/MHWQtk74ju
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) January 20, 2018
Salt Lake City also is booming with that Sundance spirit! It saw a Premiere for You Were Never Really Here which stars Sundance “It Boy” Phoenix. This is the Film for which he won Best Actor at Cannes last year, premiering at The Grand Theatre. Director Lynne Ramsay was in attendance.
Stay tuned for more!
(Photo credit: Amanda Gilmore)
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