Sundance Channel Blog

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Film

Article: HIGH FIDELITY inspires our own desert island, all-time, top 5 cinematic sad sacks

Posted November 29th, 2012, 2:11 PM by Sean O'Connell

The lovable losers in Stephen Frears’ HIGH FIDELITY waste their days sitting around the Chicago record store Championship Vinyl compiling Top 5 lists. Records to play on a Monday morning? Dream jobs? Songs about death? These elitist “experts” have got you covered.

As we prepare for Sundance Channel’s premiere of Frears’ relationship comedy — it airs Sunday, Dec. 2, at 10P, with encores throughout the month — we were inspired to create our own all-time, top 5, desert-island list of lovelorn, sad sack heroes of the heart. These guys have perfected the art of pining after the prettiest girls. In the best-case scenarios, they even win that girl’s heart.

And yes, we double-dipped on Cusack, because few in Hollywood are quite as masterful at the hangdog look of the broken-hearted, unfulfilled Romeo. It’s his calling card … as HIGH FIDELITY confirms.

Article: Now Playing: MADE IN CHINA, BLOWN AWAY, BLIND DATE, ONE WEEK

Posted November 28th, 2012, 10:11 AM by Sundance Channel

On tap this week, we’ve got three quirky, funny and yes, sad films for the independent minded, plus a bonus: an unlikely blockbuster thriller with an unusual stock of Oscar-winning talent. That’s four films for the price of three. Who doesn’t love a holiday season deal like that?

Article: SPIDER and the uncanny web of David Cronenberg's career

Posted November 23rd, 2012, 10:11 AM by Bilge Ebiri

In 2002, David Cronenberg’s SPIDER, which airs this Friday, seemed like a departure for the director. He was known primarily as a genre expert – one who had taken standard horror and thriller motifs and turned them into very personal expressions of post-modern unease in films like his remake of THE FLY and his adaptation of Stephen King’s THE DEAD ZONE. (Even his masterpiece DEAD RINGERS, though ostensibly a more serious film, was at heart a monster movie about twin gynecologists whose wild beliefs about the body and human nature resulted in their horrific deeds.) Although the director had made some forays into more “respectable” literature along the way, SPIDER felt different. And it was. It was also a harbinger of things to come.

Article: Now Playing: STARGATE, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and TAZZA: THE HIGH ROLLERS

Posted November 21st, 2012, 3:11 PM by Sundance Channel

This week, let’s be thankful for Asian cinema and some sleeper films that spawned monster hit TV series. If it wasn’t for the risks taken by Asian filmmakers like Takashi Miike, Johnnie To and Park Chan-wook, where would western directors like Quentin Tarantino and RZA get their inspiration? And if it wasn’t for films like STARGATE and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, we probably would never have had… well, Stargate or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV shows, that is). But even if you believe a life without Stargate or Buffy on TV wouldn’t be such a bad thing (or maybe even especially if you do), you’ll want to check out the original films – they are very different from the series they spawned.

Article: Anatomy of a Monster: LITTLE CHILDREN's Jackie Earle Haley

Posted November 21st, 2012, 10:11 AM by Bruce Fretts

The title of LITTLE CHILDREN (airing November 24 at 8P and throughout the month)—cowriter-director Todd Field’s chilling 2006 adaptation of Tom Perrotta’s tale of love, lust and lies in suburbia—works on many levels. It describes the type of people who would commit selfish, impulsive actions like the pair of unhappily married people (Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson) at the heart of the story who engage in a passionate but ultimately destructive affair with no regard for how it will affect others, especially their own, yes, little children. It also applies to those innocent young residents of a sleepy New Jersey burg whose parents feel they need to protect them from a convicted sex offender, Ronald “Ronnie” James McGorvey (THE BAD NEWS BEARS grad Jackie Earle Haley, in a career-redefining performance), who’s moved back into their neighborhood. And it also encapsulates the personality of Ronnie, who’s infantilized by his smothering mother (the heartbreakingly good Phyllis Somerville) and terrorized into believing he could never survive without her, leaving him in a state of perpetually arrested adolescence and unable to express his sexual longings in a mature manner—and with his peers.

Article: Top 10 ultimate alternate universe films

Posted November 20th, 2012, 2:11 PM by Sundance Channel

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the real world, are we? Sundance Channel has the perfect escape on offer: Some really unreal worlds, alternative universes where hauntings, vampires, time travel, spontaneous combustion and the like are commonplace. However bad things may look right now, they can’t possibly compete with discovering that your kid is the spawn of Satan, can it? Here are 10 of our favorite alternate universes on film, of course, airing on Sundance Channel this month.

Article: Tinseltown and the American Dream in STAR MAPS

Posted November 19th, 2012, 10:11 AM by s.e. smith

As long as they’ve been making movies in Hollywood, Tinseltown has represented the American Dream, where anything can happen for those who reach high enough. Scores of nobodies arrive in Southern California each year hoping for their lucky break, inspired by the stories of those who built multimillion dollar careers from nothing. In STAR MAPS, premiering on Wednesday at 8P and airing throughout the month, our hero travels to Hollywood in search of a new life, only to find something very different.

Article: LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN and other cases of mistaken identity

Posted November 16th, 2012, 10:11 AM by s.e. smith

It’s one of the oldest entertainment tropes there is, dating right back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Whether the audience is in on the trick or not, there are dozens of ways to play with identity confusion from rom-coms to thrillers. Some of them can leave you wondering if anyone is who you think they are! LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN — which airs on Friday at 10P and throughout the month — takes us deep into the heart of tangled identities, the mob, and more, but it’s not the only thriller relying on this trope to keep audiences tingling with anticipation…

Article: Sean Connery: 5 great scifi/fantasy roles

Posted November 15th, 2012, 8:11 AM by Nina Hämmerling Smith

Sure, he’s Bond (arguably the best), in GOLDFINGER and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (among others). Yeah, he won an Oscar for playing a grizzled Chicago lawman in THE UNTOUCHABLES. And of course, he’s a professor-adventurer in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. But, wow — has Sean Connery been in a lot of scifi and fantasy movies! Here are five of our favorites:

Article: Now Playing: ANGEL HEART, THE PRIME GIG, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS

Posted November 14th, 2012, 2:11 PM by Sundance Channel

Mickey Rourke and Robert DeNiro in a neo-noir with a twist. Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman in a Tom Clancy nuclear thriller. And Ed Harris and Vince Vaughn in a long con. It’s a roller coaster week of suspense, thrills, chills and twist endings here on Sundance Channel. Hang on to your hats!

Article: Top 10 thrilling modern outlaws

Posted November 14th, 2012, 10:11 AM by Sundance Channel

Attention, filmmakers: If you want an audience to get behind a particular character, make him go it alone, force him to do things his own way. Renegade style. Whether he’s fighting for the good of mankind or redefining what constitutes evil, we can’t help but find him intriguing. These are self-sufficient guys with no apologies, few rules, and even fewer questions asked. And here are some of our favorites, our Top 10 Thrilling Modern Outlaws, every one of them airing on Sundance Channel in November.

Article: Denzel Washington: At his best when at his worst

Posted November 13th, 2012, 2:11 PM by Sean O'Connell

Have you ever noticed that Denzel Washington is at his best when he’s behaving his worst?

The actor’s first Oscar win arrived in 1989, when he played the bitter, furious ex-slave Trip in Ed Zwick’s Civil War drama GLORY. Washington further embraced his dark side, and delivered his second Oscar-winning performance, by playing a corrupt L.A. street detective in Antoine Fuqua’s TRAINING DAY. And it’s likely he’ll earn a sixth Academy Award nomination early next year for his gripping portrayal of an alcoholic airline pilot in Robert Zemeckis’ FLIGHT, in theaters now.

It wasn’t until this pattern presented itself that we doubled back and realized just how often Washington willingly accepts the role of a hero mired in morality’s grey areas. Unlike Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks — bankable A-listers who desperately want to be loved by audiences worldwide — Washington repeatedly challenges his followers by asking them to accept a flawed protagonist who stands at an emotionally complicated crossroads and often makes an unpopular decision.

Article: 5 of oddball James Spader's oddest roles

Posted November 08th, 2012, 7:11 AM by Nina Hämmerling Smith

There’s just something about James Spader that reads… well, kind of odd. Intelligent, certainly, but also icky. He has a certain oddball appeal that often manifests in roles that are uncomfortably sexual — and, more often than not, you’re in for a mindfuck. Next up for Spader is the political drama LINCOLN, in which he plays a Tennessee lobbyist — but lest you’re worried he’s gone legit, he explained that his favorite thing about the role was smoking cigars, laughing and drinking… and being naughty and irreverent. Here are some of his oddest (and some of our favorite) roles to date.

Article: Now Playing: SLEEPING BEAUTY, MAN IN THE CHAIR, BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN

Posted November 07th, 2012, 2:11 PM by Sundance Channel

This week, we’ve got a unique take on the world’s oldest profession, an archetypical story of a lovable curmudgeon who learns even as he teaches, and the directorial debut of one of the most popular comedic actors of our time. Catch it all over the next seven days on Sundance Channel.

Article: John Malkovich's THE DANCER UPSTAIRS and the myth of the actor-director

Posted November 07th, 2012, 10:11 AM by Bruce Fretts

The rap on actors as first-time directors is that they’re often more interested in exploring characters—and indulging cast members—than they are in telling straightforward stories. Think of slow-paced character studies like Sean Penn’s THE INDIAN RUNNER or Gary Oldman’s NIL BY MOUTH. Even Tommy Lee Jones’ modern Western THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA and veteran auteur Robert Redford’s wartime drama LIONS FOR LAMBS (both of which I’ve recently written about) favor long scenes of motivation-revealing dialogue over peppy, narrative-advancing plotting.

Article: Atmosphere, nostalgia, and media commentary in HOUSE OF PLEASURES

Posted November 06th, 2012, 2:11 PM by s.e. smith

HOUSE OF PLEASURES, airs Saturday night at 12:15A (with an encore on Tuesday) and takes us deep into the private life of a French maison close, a turn of the century brothel catering to wealthy and picky clients. It’s a rich, atmospheric, slow film that joins a long list of venerable and illustrious entries in the genre; we have a collective social fascination with sex work and are particularly interested in period pieces that allow us to indulge our voyeurism without the immediacy of looking at the modern sex industry head-on. Like other films of its ouvre, it presents a simultaneously rosy and jaded view of sex work, creating a tension on the screen that may evade some viewers.

Article: Faster, Jason! Kill! Kill! Five top FRIDAY THE 13TH deaths

Posted November 06th, 2012, 10:11 AM by Sean O'Connell

Talk about following in your parent’s footsteps.

Earlier, as part of Sundance Channel’s WTF, we celebrated the film industry’s most psychotic mothers – triggered by Mrs. Voorhees’ hack-job through the original FRIDAY THE 13TH. Yet, as most of you know, Jason Voorhees picked up his mother’s torch with FRIDAY THE 13TH, PART 2 … and promptly buried it in some poor teenager’s chest. The sequel screens just after midnight Thursday night (Friday, Nov. 9th at 12:15A, to be specific).

Article: Top 10 films that represent the war on women

Posted November 05th, 2012, 2:11 PM by Em And Lo

While the topic of women’s rights doesn’t have the box office draw of a bunch of dudes getting wasted at a bachelor party, say, or a bride-to-be getting diarrhea in the middle of the street, there are many excellent movies that cover various aspects of the War on Women (either directly or metaphorically)—workplace discrimination, violence against women, restricted access to abortion, sexual harassment, and all that fun stuff. So when you make a bag of popcorn and tune into the Sundance Channel this month for movies like ROSEMARY’S BABY, I’M NOT THERE and BLUE VELVET, not only will you be entertained, you’ll also be spending some quality time thinking about women’s rights. In other words, you can feel virtuous about that time on the couch. You’re welcome!

Article: 5 kick-ass sports movies

Posted November 02nd, 2012, 10:11 AM by Nina Hämmerling Smith

You don’t have to be a sports fan to love a great sports flick; the drama, the passion for the game, the struggle and the victories (and losses) make for irresistible movie material. Here are five of our favorite kick-ass sports movies any film buff will love — no matter how you feel about what happens in the ring…or the field…or the court…

Article: Is Leonardo DiCaprio difficult to work with?

Posted November 01st, 2012, 9:11 AM by Sean O'Connell

Why don’t most directors want to work with Leonardo DiCaprio more than once?

You can count on two fingers the number of times DiCaprio has collaborated with a filmmaker on multiple films: Martin Scorsese (on numerous projects) and Baz Luhrmann. On the flip side, you’d need an abacus to tally the number of high-profile directors who hired DiCaprio once and never went back for seconds. James Cameron (TITANIC), Woody Allen (CELEBRITY), Steven Spielberg (CATCH ME IF YOU CAN), and Danny Boyle (THE BEACH) are just a few names that come to mind. Boyle’s one-off feature with DiCaprio premieres Saturday, November 3, on Sundance Channel, and was the film that got us contemplating this topic.

Article: ROSEMARY'S BABY could have been made in 2012

Posted October 31st, 2012, 2:10 PM by Em And Lo

You hear a lot these days about Republicans rolling back women’s rights all the way to the ’50s and ’60s: vowing to defund Planned Parenthood; to allow employers to decide whether or not their female employees can have their contraception covered; to put the rights of an embryo above those of a woman via the Personhood Amendment; to outlaw all abortions, even in cases of rape, incest, and threats to not only the health but the life of the mother. They won’t even commit to laws ensuring equal pay for women doing the same work as men!

Article: Top 10 terrifying films on Sundance Channel

Posted October 31st, 2012, 10:10 AM by Jesse Hassenger

Just in time for Halloween, the ten most terrifying movies on the Sundance Channel run a gauntlet of horrific styles. For traditional slasher-movie thrills, we’ve got the original FRIDAY THE 13TH (and, inevitably, a slasher sequel with FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II). Others are horror classics too distinctive to be called traditional; David Cronenberg and Roman Polanski rarely seem more at home than when they channel their own personal obsessions into the horror genre with movies like ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE FLY, and SPIDER. Lars Von Trier’s ANTICHRIST fits into this pattern, too; it bears little resemblance to its genre brethren and is unmistakably the work of Von Trier, yet it is a horror picture, of sorts, filtered through the director’s bracing, often lyrical misery. Of course, there are other ways to get scared without even going into horror; Danny Boyle’s THE BEACH offers a scary vision of paradise corrupted, and, come to think of it, so does David Lynch’s BLUE VELVET, in its own way. If you want to freak out, there’s no shortage of options.

Article: Mamma Mia! The five meanest moms in horror history

Posted October 30th, 2012, 2:10 PM by Sean O'Connell

It’s a popular trivia question meant to stump horror newbies: Who terrorized the horny counselors at Camp Crystal Lake long before Jason Voorhees donned his trademark hockey mask and wielded his trusty machete? The answer – his mother – is revealed in the original FRIDAY THE 13TH, which airs on Thursday at midnight on Sundance Channel.

Yes, Jason was yet another serial killer born from a long line of deranged and murderous mothers, but he’s hardly alone. The overprotective mum has reared her ugly head in many horror movies through the years, prompting us to pick our five favorite frightening maternal figures. Don’t neglect to send them a card on Mother’s Day.

Article: 5 shockumentaries to scare yourself awake

Posted October 30th, 2012, 12:10 PM by s.e. smith

Are you ready to get spooked? Whether you’re trick or treating for Halloween or staying home with the lights off and a bowl of popcorn, few things are quite as delightful at this time of year as getting scared silly–especially with a friend to grab on to during the freakiest parts. When it comes to films bound to make you flip your wig, we favor the shockumentary, and we mixed up quite an assortment for you; we dare you to sleep with the lights off after watching THE POSSESSION OF DAVID O’REILLY, airing at 2 AM on Halloween morning (set your DVR).

Article: Mitt Romney: THE QUIET AMERICAN?

Posted October 26th, 2012, 10:10 AM by Bruce Fretts

It’s always the quiet ones. That’s what they say about serial killers, but the same could hold true for foreign-policy hawks. Maybe Mitt Romney’s curiously muted performance in this year’s third and final presidential debate was inspired by Teddy Roosevelt’s famous line, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” More likely, he was channeling the tragically clueless title character in THE QUIET AMERICAN (which airs Sunday at 8:15P on Sundance Channel) the deservedly Oscar-nominated 2002 adaptation of Graham Greene’s prescient anti-Vietnam War novel.

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