Sundance Channel Blog

Perrin Drumm

Perrin Drumm is nothing if not a road trip enthusiast. After moving from her hometown of LA to NY and to LA again, she hiked through half a dozen National Parks, snow-shoed a sizable portion of the Adirondacks, and resisted the overwhelming charm of the South to get back to Brooklyn, where she struggles to learn the trumpet, aspires to be a better Scrabble player, and lives and writes, and remains, as of yet, catless. Visit perrindrumm.com for more.

Article: Today's top hashtag: #ThatsWhatHoesDo

Posted November 03rd, 2011, 11:11 AM by Perrin Drumm

The #ThatsWhatHoesDo trend follows the same basic premise of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck if…” jokes. In fact, it might as well read, “You might be a hoe if…” Apparently, hoes are quite dexterous where social media is concerned, strategically changing their Twitter location and Facebook relationship status. These are some of the best I found (even Betty White and Harry Potter chimed in), but it got about 100 new tweets per minute (for realz) so if I missed one, add your fave in the comments.

Article: Based on books: Sundance Channel gets literary this week

Posted November 02nd, 2011, 12:11 PM by Perrin Drumm

What do these four films have in common? They’re all based books (okay, in one case it’s a play). We’ll break down the necessary details and you watch the films and tell us which is better: the book or the movie?

OSCAR AND LUCINDA (1997)
Directed by: Gillian Armstrong
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciarin Hinds and Tom Wilkinson
Based on the book by: Peter Carey
How you know him: He also wrote True History of the Kelly Gang, which won him his second Booker Prize- the first was for Oscar and Lucinda. In fact, he’s one of only two writers to win it twice (the other is J.M. Coetzee). He also collaborated on the screenplay for Wim Wender’s UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD…

Article: THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2: at IFC and VOD

Posted November 01st, 2011, 4:11 PM by Perrin Drumm

A couple of days ago THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 was released On Demand to viewers everywhere, who are apparently ravenous for the sequel. As to why, I can’t say, but then again I’ve never been a fan of bad horror films that specialize in bodily disfigurement heretofore completely inconceivable to me (even in my wildest imagination, people aren’t scurrying around butt-to-mouth). In fact, last night on Halloween, I was a little afraid I might see a human centipede chain creeping its way down 6th Avenue in the New York Halloween parade. Luckily, I was spared the sight and, for the first time ever, I was actually happy to see a gaggle of store-bought Mario’s and Luigi’s bumble down the block instead. I’m aware that I may be a little outnumbered in my repugnance, that a lot of people are actually titillated by the film’s catch phrase, “100% medically inaccurate,” and to that I’d like to add: 100% totally gross. If you…

Article: Around (part of) the world in 7 days: Sundance films go cross-contintental this week

Posted October 31st, 2011, 1:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Because it’s on a Monday this year, which means you’ve been dressing up in costume every night since Friday, this might just be the longest Halloween weekend ever. It’s not over yet, but if you’re partied out, or just out of fake blood, stay in and cozy up to the Halloween episode of my “My So Called Life.” Angela falls for the Jordan Catalano of the 50s, who’s ghost still haunts the school gym, and (spoiler) her parents get so turned on by their costumes (he’s a pirate, she’s Rapunzel) that they decide to stay in and role play instead of going to the neighbor’s party.

Once the clock strikes November, though, we ditch all things Halloween with EVERLASTING MOMENTS (2008), by Swedish director Jan Troell, who worked with Nordic heavy-hitters like Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman, who he directed in some of her finest films, including THE EMIGRANTS (1971) and THE NEW LAND (1972). Then we venture south to France with Claude Chabrol’s A GIRL CUT IN TWO (2007). Chabrol, who died just last year, is credited with starting the nouvelle vague. He was a critic at the famed Cahiers du Cinema in the 50s and directed…

Article: Movie trailer roundup: Out of control super teens & a scare from the Sundance fest

Posted October 28th, 2011, 3:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Okay, it may not be the most original approach, but this week I rounded up a bunch of scary movie trailers because hey, it’s Halloween and everyone’s talking about it. Too much, in fact. None of my friends have kids yet – the only excusable reason for an adult to get amped up it – and yet many are inexplicably entranced by the holiday. Luckily, no one’s asked me what I’m going as, maybe because my friends all know by now that I don’t care. I like candy and I like drinking on a Monday night as much as the next person, but not with a bunch of women who’ve picked the first snow weekend of the year to go out dressed like whores. On purpose – not by accident. A good friend of mine, who’s also a snappy and sometimes theatrical dresser, someone I would normally think would go all out for the opportunity for outlandish dressing that Halloween affords, surprised me by confiding that she doesn’t dress for Halloween because she takes so much time in thinking of what she’ll wear on all the other 364 days of the year that it’s simply too exhausting. This weekend, I join her in taking a stand against all your avid Halloweeners out there, and yeah you can boo me as much as you want. And oh yeah, this is supposed to be about movies:

Article: Sundance is gonna scare the sh*t outta you this week

Posted October 26th, 2011, 2:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Halloween is just around the corner, and if you don’t have your costume ready yet let us inspire you with a line up of seriously scary movies. Seriously. I mean it. Like if you really wanted to dress up as some of the characters in these movies you could probably just pour of bucket of fake blood over your head and call it a night. Or, if you’re like me and prefer to leave the gore onscreen, there’s no better way to drown out the sound of your doorbell ringing and scare away the trick-or-treaters on the other side by tuning into Sundance Channel and turning the volume wayyyy up.

Don’t know what to watch first? Allow me to break it down quick and dirty:

POSSESSION OF DAVID O’REILLY: Scary-as-hell supernatural demons in a ”shockumentary” that will haunt your dreams.

COFFIN ROCK: Go ahead, sleep with your stalker, psychopathic neighbor. What’s the worse that could happen?…

Article: Scary hot boys and just plain scary – what's playing this week on Sundance

Posted October 24th, 2011, 2:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

We’ve got another great week of films on Sundance Channel, but before I let you in on the highlights I have to put in a word about tonight’s episode of “My So Called Life.” Let me preface this by saying I came to the show late in life, as in, I was already an adult by the time I met Angela, Rayanne, Rickie and Jordan Catalano, and so I was able to judge Jordan’s brain dead gaze as just that – brain dead – and wasn’t swayed by how my teenage hormones might have reacted to the oh-so-pretty face and soft brown waves concealing a mind completely devoid of thought – and, apparently, the ability to read. Which bring us to tonight’s episode, “Why Jordan Can’t Read.” It’s maybe one the strangest high school issues to tackle (more popular topics being the ongoing teenage battle against acne and dating). Is illiteracy really an issue that late in the game? Moreover, it’s not clear at the end of the show whether or not anyone is going to help the kid out and teach him his ABC’s. I mean, what’s Angela going to do when Jordan takes her on a date to a fancy restaurant – read him all the items on the menu? Oh wait, that’s right. They don’t go on dates; They just make out all over school. Sigh, remember when…

Article: Weekly movie trailer roundup: Harry Potter's not over yet

Posted October 21st, 2011, 5:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Because the books are so beloved, the movies so successful and the fans still reeling in post-Potter malaise, Warner Bros. is releasing one final (and this is really it guys, for real, I swear) look back with the real behind-the-scenes story, the true making-of, the 48-minute documentary only available on the DVD purchased at Target, WHEN HARRY LEFT HOGWARTS.

Article: Full Frontal Fashion recap: No more basic black – say hello to the lady in red

Posted October 21st, 2011, 2:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Winter is upon us, which means we’re about to be bombarded by a city-wide attack of the basic black coat. But you don’t have to be another boring, cold weather offender: wear red! We break down bright Winter dressing.

If cladding yourself in stop sign red isn’t your thing, we gotcha. But basic doesn’t have to be so blahh…

Article: Film in 4D at the New York Food Film Festival

Posted October 19th, 2011, 2:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Mistura’s intense bread baking competition.
This past weekend I went to check out the New York Food Film Festival, four nights of food-related screenings served with a tasting menu of some of the items cooked up in the films. It’s like cinema in 4D, and using all of your senses to experience a film is kind of overwhelming. I went on the Peruvian-themed night, which meant I was offered a traditional Pisco sour the moment I walked in the room. Having recently spent several weeks in Peru, eating traditional, local food cooked by traditional, local people, I felt like I was a pretty well-informed attendee, and I wasn’t sure if the South American cuisine would come off as well Stateside. But one sip of the bartender’s much stronger and thankfully less sweet Pisco sour and I knew it was going to be a good night of food and films…

Article: The evolution of ERASERHEAD star Jack Nance

Posted October 19th, 2011, 1:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

After David Lynch saw Jack Nance’s performance at a local theatre in Philadelphia in the early 70s, he cast him as the lead in his avant garde 1977 film, ERASERHEAD. A few years prior to their first meeting, Nance had been seriously considered for the lead in THE GRADUATE, a role which would have launched him off on an entirely different career than the one he had working alongside Lynch…

Article: Redford urges Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline

Posted October 18th, 2011, 12:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Robert Redford delivers a powerful message to President Obama, asking him to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline that threatens to destroy “the bread basket of America” so big oil can turn a profit.

Article: Brace yourself for fright night: What's playing this week on Sundance Channel

Posted October 17th, 2011, 12:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

If you don’t have your Halloween costume ready yet, tune into Sundance Channel this week for inspiration a la Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, with back-to-back screenings of EYES WIDE SHUT and ERASERHEAD. If it’s less creep you seek in your ghoulish pursuits, the animated, family-friendly THE LADY AND THE REAPER or star-studded murder mystery THE DEAD GIRL are sure to…

Article: Diane Arbus' top 10 most famous portraits

Posted October 16th, 2011, 10:10 AM by Perrin Drumm

Before 2003, the world hadn’t seen a major exhibition of Diane Arbus’ work in almost thirty years, during a traveling exhibition in the 1970s, and given the overwhelming response to “Diane Arbus Revelations” (2003-2006), the world was long overdue. Filmmaker Steven Shainberg (SECRETARY) took note and in 2006 relased FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS, starring Nicole Kidman as Arbus and Robert Downey Jr. as Lionel Sweeney, a fictionalized version of one of Arbus’ portraiture subjects. Since Arbus dwelled in a bizarre, fantastical and on-the-fringe world, it’s only fitting that an imagined story of her life is as close to a real ‘biopic’ as we’re likely to get. Get ready for Sundance Channel’s Sunday night screening (October 16th at 7:55p) with some her most famous photographs…

Article: Weekly movie trailer roundup: THE MUPPETS and THE MUPPET MOVIE

Posted October 14th, 2011, 12:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Let’s just get this out there: I love the Muppets. I grew up with them as much as any kid, but it’s only as an adult that I really appreciate Jim Henson and the art of muppetry. I love The Muppet Show from the late 70s and early 80s, THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979) – I even love the side characters – the two cranky old men in the theatre and the aliens from Muppets in Space – more than the main attractions. And as one generation that spent their childhood alongside Kermit and Miss Piggy grows up and has kids of their own, it’s really no surprise that Disney’s come out with a Muppet movie for the next batch of young ‘uns, THE MUPPETS (due out in November).

The main question is whether director…

Article: Full Frontal Fashion recap: loving Elizabeth Olsen's break out style

Posted October 14th, 2011, 11:10 AM by Perrin Drumm

Break-out star Elizabeth Olsen hits NYFF in head-to-toe McQueen. In Rachel Zoe’s words, I die. (And check out her transformative style evolution.)

It’s hot! It’s cold! It’s humid! What do I where?…

Article: MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE sweeps the festival circuit

Posted October 12th, 2011, 5:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Elizabeth Olsen, aka the younger sister of the Olsen twins, may be poised to upstage her famous older sisters with a performance in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE that critics are calling “a tour de force, full of depth and complexity.” It’s kind of amazing that her first film credit, one of the Olsen twins’ childhood capers, HOW THE WEST WAS FUN, was made less than ten years ago. In the meantime, she graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School, and now she’s back at the tender age of 22 to show us what she’s got.

But Olsen isn’t the only fresh new face…

Article: Ryan O'Neal: Bad boy in BARRY LYNDON, bad boy in reality TV

Posted October 12th, 2011, 2:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 picaresque masterpiece, BARRY LYNDON, was, like many of his greatest films, universally panned as a massive failure upon its release only to be regarded years later as a film classic. It stars Ryan O’Neal in one of his most memorable roles. After five years on Peyton Place, an Oscar nomination for his role in LOVE STORY, followed by WHAT’S UP, DOC? and PAPER MOON, O’Neal was already an established star. He played the part of Lyndon with a quietness and sensitivity I doubt any other actor would have brought to the role. In fact, in all of his biggest roles he’s played the soft-spoken, gentle leading man, like the love-sick Oliver Barrett in LOVE STORY and the…

Article: Bring on the food porn: The NY Food Film Fest

Posted October 11th, 2011, 4:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Even though there’s a specific, Food Porn event at NYFFF (that’s the other film fest, the food film fest), let’s face it – with a tribute to the taco and cheers to burgers and beers (picture close-ups of melting cheese oozing out over a perfectly grilled patty poised on a nice, buttery bun), it’s allll food porn. And with four days of tastings cooked by a line-up that includes Dos Toros, Rockaway Taco, Dos Caminos, Di Fara’s Pizza, An Choi’s Banh Mi, Ovenly’s Beer Cupcakes and Peruvian celebri-chef Gaston Acurio – that’s not a bad thing…

Article: Bad boys and even badder girls: what's playing this week on Sundance Channel

Posted October 10th, 2011, 12:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Nicole Kidman as photographer Diane Arbus in FUR
Last week we gave you a little taste of what’s in store for Kubrick fans this month on Sundance Channel with EYES WIDE SHUT and BARRY LYNDON. We keep your appetite whet this week with 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and another dose of Ryan O’Neal as bad boy BARRY LYNDON. Stay satisfied with Gretchen Mol, who bears is all in THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE. Then LOVE COMES LATELY (based on the short stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer) proves that you don’t have to be young to be young at heart – or have a bed-shaking sex life. And Robert Downey Jr. and Nicole Kidman take sex to a whole new – and hairy – level…

Article: Weekly movie trailer roundup: Spielberg + little boys = big adventure

Posted October 07th, 2011, 5:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

Young boys, their pets, period clothing, speeding cars, explosions, battles, a million different settings and director Steven Spielberg – that’s what WAR HORSE and THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN have in common. And they both come out around Christmas – two days apart. Coincidence? Probably not, but since TINTIN is animated Spielberg probably feels they’re different enough to release at the same time.

Article: Goodbye Paris, hello cow nipples?

Posted October 07th, 2011, 2:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

The Top 20 Spring Trends: Fashion gets ladylike with laser-cut lace, super femmy braids, feathers and the ever-shrinking handbag. (Finally! Am I the only with a sore shoulder?)

Article: 10 things you didn't know about Stanley Kubrick

Posted October 05th, 2011, 12:10 PM by Perrin Drumm

1. You’ve been saying his last name wrong: It’s pronounced Cue-brick, not Koo-brick.

2. He wanted to be a drummer: Specifically a jazz drummer, until his dad bought him a Graflex camera for his 13th birthday and there was no looking back…

Article: Lars von Trier's rambling director's statement on MELANCHOLIA

Posted October 05th, 2011, 11:10 AM by Perrin Drumm

Uhh, nice tattoo, Lars.
Lars von Trier’s thoughts on making MELANCHOLIA are so stream-of-conscious and disjointed they’re almost incoherent, but it’s still his ‘official’ statement – and really, would you expect anything else of him?

It was like waking from a dream: my producer showed me a suggestion for a poster. “What is that?” I ask. ”It’s a film you’ve made!” she replies. “I hope not,” I stammer. Trailers are shown … stills … it looks like shit. I’m shaken.
Don’t get me wrong … I’ve worked on the film for two years. With great pleasure. But perhaps I’ve deceived myself. Let myself be tempted. Not that anyone has done anything wrong … on the contrary; everybody has worked loyally and with talent toward the goal defined by me alone. But when my producer presents me with the cold facts, a shiver runs down my spine…

Previous Next

What’s on Tonight

Thursday, October 17
3:00 AM ET	Cliffhanger
5:30 AM ET	The Writers' Room
6:00 AM ET	The Lady and the Reaper
6:15 AM ET	Gallipoli
8:45 AM ET	Cliffhanger
More
11:15 AM ET	Ran
2:45 PM ET	Gallipoli
5:15 PM ET	Cliffhanger
7:45 PM ET	Kiss of Death
10:00 PM ET	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

View Full Schedule ▶What's On Demand? ▶