King of California: D

Joyless, monotone, preposterous, tepid, torpid, poorly acted (one note), poorly written (such plot holes!), poorly shot (completely unimaginative, considering the subject matter), poorly constructed (what the hell was with that little animation?), ill-conceived (what if there was ancient treasures buried under Costco?) and just plain dumb (did it occur to anyone that land is razed and prepared before they build those things?). Evan Rachel Wood, who gave brilliant performances in Thirteen and Pretty Persuasion, turns in a flaccid performance opposite Michael Douglas' caricature of the mentally ill. She's much to old for the role and he's much to simplistic. The only reason this film doesn't get an F is because I rather enjoyed the idea of people holding out and living in a big Victorian house on the very edge of urban sprawl. Contrasting what explorers from the 1600s experienced on the same land that we now see as developments and big-box stores is interesting. But I'm not going to waste any more time writing about this film. Skip it.

Expired: C-

Writer/Director Cecilia Miniucchi's offbeat film Expired starts out promising, but ends up tortuous and illogical. This is a character driven drama with the meek, mild and kind-hearted meter-maid Claire (Samantha Morton) who meets and re-meets and ultimately dates an incredibly mean, insensitive, emotionally crippled, angry disaster of a man, Jay (played with brazen force by Jason Patric). For the first hour I was riveted by their odd relationship and Jay's never-ceasing put-downs and over-reactionary quips. Illena Douglas plays a reasonable best friend and Teri Garr is terrific as Claire's mother who suffers from stroke. She also Claire's aunt, whom we're told is a nut, although I failed to see why. All of the acting is top notch. The real problem with the film is the script.

In a character driven drama the characters have to have an arc. They have to start in one place, go through their series of trials and tribulations, and end up in a different place, or the same place with a new understanding. Again, the first hour is great. But then, slowly, the film continues to plod along with the same structure, pacing, and verbal abuse. It becomes relentless, and where we found Jay's inability to act like a decent human humorous and quirky, it later becomes too pathetic and we no longer enjoy his misogynous ways or misconduct (or her inability to even say "you're a jerk"). The film crumbles, and then, as if she had no idea what her concept was or what she wanted to say, Miniucchi ends the film with a completely left-handed and illogical moment that lacks in reason, hope, redemption, or comprehension. I've never seen an audience bolt before a Q&A so fast.

Black Snake Moan: A

This is Craig Brewer's second film and I'm happy to report there's no sophomore slump here. After blowing us away with Hustle & Flow, Brewer brings us another astonishing and original film with knock-out performances by Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson. The action takes place in rural Tennessee where the town slut gets beaten up and thrown from a car in front of a bitter, tempermental, religious, blues-playing, against-his-will divorceé. He takes her in and figures he's the only one who can cure her of her evil ways. To protect her from herself (in his mind) he chains her to the radiator. Let the curing begin.

This is raw, powerful stuff. Ricci spends 80% of the movie in her underwear writhing, screaming or fucking. Jackson knows when to be big and when to be small--when to stay calm and when to cut loose. Their chemistry is intoxicating and the vivid cinematography, tight direction and gorgeous editing make this film a surprising pleasure to watch, especially given the subject matter.

Other reviewers will undoubtedly talk about the use of specific music in the film. Not being a fan of the blues or knowing much about the nuances, I can still report I was still riveted by every note. I give high credit to Brewer -- he's taken a film idea that is as foreign to me as, well, sluts and blues singers in backwoods Tennessee finding redemption, and turned it into a character drama of the highest caliber.

Animation Spotlight: Various Grades

Each film in this year's animation spotlight is so unique in it's own method, statement and enjoyment factor that I'll briefly rate and discuss them individually. The overall grade for the collection, however, is a C+, despite some brilliant standouts.

One Rat Short: A
This richly detailed, cleverly constructed, brilliantly rendered, sensitive and tender tale was my favorite of the evening. Alex Weil's vision is one-of-a-kind. In just ten minutes and without a single spoken word he brings us into a fully developed world with complete and soulful characters and even manages to provoke some introspection about the price of our urbanity, scientific progress and technological failures without beating us over the head.

Duct Tape and Cover: B
Using a government "Duck and Cover" voice-over from 1951, Yong-Jin (Gene) Park cleverly manipulates it into a story for our time to demonstrate the inanity of the idea of ducking and covering to avoid getting hurt in an attack. Using the same verbal instructions, we are now visually instructed to wrap ourselves, our loved ones, our cars and our homes in government-issued duct tape. It's a clever one-liner with simple, vibrant images, but it doesn't go much further than the punchline.

Phantom Canyon: C-
Using Romanticism images from Edward Muybridge's anatomical studies and setting them in a surreal landscape is neat idea, but the story (which we're told is true) involves a woman who's attacked by bugs and loves a winged bat-man and fights off fish and has a bat-child and escapes a series of falling mattresses, more fish, and some canyon-like intestines to float down a river in a crate to an Alexander Pope poem... sorry, I just didn't get it.

Destiny Manifesto: D-
The only reason this annoying film didn't get an F is because I know I hard it was to create it and I think its anti-war message is a positive one. Still, it's completely overbearing, self-indulgent and SLOPPY. Sections of it were blurry, misaligned or showed hands or tape on the layers of painted glass over the collages. It has a shrieking soundtrack that doesn't let up and increases in volume and pitch. As the film progresses it gets angrier, but doesn't say anything new about how war is a bad thing and hurts people. We get it in the first 30 seconds. I went from irked to exasperated by the end of the first minute. The film goes on screaming for another nine.

Golden Age: B+
This initially hilarious film loses some of its humor as it progresses, mainly because the idea of taking iconic cartoon characters and redesigning them as mere actors with flawed lives beyond the screen is clever, but that's all that happens. Re imagining the toons and giving them all back stories in a "True Hollywood Story" style gave us some great laughs --but after the fifth story it started to feel long and I began to wonder if Aaron Augenblick was going to go through every cartoon I've ever seen in my life and maybe it was time for me to find a box of sugar cereal and my little yellow blankie and settle in for the night...

Pauline Hollers: F
I hated this film. Hated it. I hated the imagery, the story, the ranting monologue on the soundtrack, the insidious violin-and-reverse-reverb-dissonant music, the shoddy technique, the lazy photography. I'm stunned Sundance included this wretched, acerbic mess over hundreds of other submissions. The program would have been better off without it. No, better yet, the world would have been better off without it. Please don't ever make any more films like this.

Dreams and Desires - Family Ties: A
Sensational! Joanna Quinn's fantastic use of the line, her characters, the bizarre angles and high-brow wit make this the breeziest and most enjoyable ten minutes of animation I've seen in a long time. Reminiscent of Bill Plimpton's work but on a completely different plane, I can only rave, bravo, bravo, I can't wait to see everything you ever do!

Everything Will Be OK: C+
Don Hertzfeldt has a signature technique and unusually perceptive sense of humor that I adore. His work over the years, including Genre and Billy's Balloon, have always made me laugh--often at my own surprised reaction-- to the sick-side-of-life as presented in his films. In this one, however, Hertzfeldt deviates from his tried-and-true style and goes to a much darker side. He crosses over and leaves the humor behind, seeking downright destruction and carnage instead. The film stops being enjoyable. I wouldn't mind so much, perhaps, if the first five minutes of the film didn't have those smart, pensive musings that made me fall for the main character. It's like watching a puppy play happily in a field and then a wolf runs over and tears it to pieces. In his other films you get the same message that life can be randomly, sickly cruel, but it's the humor that brings it to us in a palatable form and gives the films levels and legs. This one just invited us in and then beat us over the head until we hurt -- and didn't laugh.

Dedication (4 out of 10)

Well isn't this an annoying film. One of those rare theatrical experience when you want to crawl out of your seat. Actor/Director Justin Theroux has given us...not much at all. I guess he is primarily to blame (because he is the one that cast the thing) but he must share de-gratulations with the horribly miscast Billy Crudup. Crudups performance in this film is a true mess. He is entirely unbelievable as the neurotic sociopath Henry Roth. He never fills the writing or the character and it is not only his fault, but also Theroux's. If it weren't for Dianne Weist, Mandy Moore and Bob Balaban, this film would be unwatchable. It's just so stupid. By the way, Tom Wilkenson is miscast also, to tepid results. This is the type of film where I sit in the audience - bored - and wonder how they ever got the money to make this thing? Or how the programming committee can say with a straight face that stars have nothing whatsoever to do with whether a film is shown here or not. It is infuriating. It is not worth the money you paid for your ticket. And what you paid for is to be assaulted by not only a bad script with a bad lead but also with one of the loudest, most annoying soundtracks ever. EVER! Please don't let this guy behind the camera - ever again. And the formulaic and ridiculous script. Let's not forget that. Don't waste your time. Don't waste your money. - Brahman

Grace is Gone (5 out of 10)

I may stand alone in this (if the ovation as John Cusack was introduced is any indication) but I didn't buy this film. I didn't fall for the story and I wasn't won over by Cusacks performance as former army man and current home store manager Stanley Phillips. He never felt comfortable as the strict disciplinarian that this role requires and he never seemed to make a choice as to Stanley's emotional state. Was he holding it all in? Was he cracking up? Was his strength derived from his silence? Was his silence a result of his weakness? I've always enjoyed Cusack as an actor, but looking back I guess that was in less demanding roles. In my mind he was not able to enter the darkness that this role required. He tried, but never got there. Since he is featured throughout, the experience suffered greatly for me by his inability to give us a Chris Cooper in American Beauty or a Great Santini. This is one of the problems of an actor producing his own movie. Actors are terrible at knowing what roles they are right for. Cusack in this case isn't bad, he just isn't good enough. The girls playing his two daughters grow into their roles and do a good enough job, but I guess we have to put the blame for the weakness of this film squarely on writer/director James C Strouse. He didn't seem able to bring great performances out of his actors and he didn't seem to have the ability to rework the script while filming to tighten up the production. His characters visit "The Enchanted Garden" but it's supposed to be DisneyWorld and Stanley works at "The Home Store" but it's supposed to be Home Depot and they buy clothes at "Value City" but it's supposed to be WalMart. If you're going to do a topographical film about a real war, shouldn't you use real places? If it's a budgeting thing I understand the problem but as a viewer it bothered me. The film gets preachy and annoying when Strouse introduces the liberal brother and the idea of patriotism for the sake of patriotism is thread bare. Pick a side and stick to it, if I want impartial journalism I'll watch the British News. As a side note, I believe this film needed and would have been greatly helped by the Mary Kay Place character (Grace's mother) that ended up on the cutting room floor. The grating soundtrack never failed to take you right out of the action. This film does get you to cry at the end, but it is the subject matter, not the way the subject matter is crafted that does it. Never surprising, never enthralling, Grace is Gone is a TV Movie in Feature clothing. - Brahman

Clubland (10 out of 10)

Everything about this film is magical but nothing is a magical as Brenda Blethyn's performance as second rate comedienne Jean Dwight. It is another tour de force and it's about time the critics start paying attention to her as one of the greatest actresses of the stage and screen. I think she was actually too good in Secrets and Lies. She disappeared so completely into her role that I think people didn't realize she was acting, and so never gave her her props for the astounding character she created. I was lucky enough to see Blethyn in 'Night Mother last year on Broadway where she pretty much blew Edie Falco off the stage and now was lucky enough to see the premiere of this Oscar worthy performance in Clubland. Wow is all I can say to her finely crafted and multifaceted portrayal of a self centered and iron willed hack-with-a-heart-of-gold. Her smothering mothering is spot on and she anchors this film as no other actress could. It was written with her in mind and lucky for the filmmakers she agreed to take the role. Thank you Brenda for this gift of a performance. May everyone take notice. Surrounding Blethyn's "sun" are other bright orbiting planets. Khan Chittenden does a great job as the dutiful yet rebellious son, Richard Wilson as his physically but in no way mentally challenged brother has unbelievably accurate comedic timing. Emma Booth is so very endearing as the self effacing "modern girl" Jill. There isn't a weak link in the film. Not in the writing or the perfectly paced direction. Not in the performances. Not in the cinematography. This is a must see film and I defy anyone not to enjoy the experience. - Brahman

Waitress (8 out of 10)

Although Jeff Gilmore announced that the premiere screening of Waitress wasn't going to be a wake, it did feel a bit like a memorial service. How could it not with the tragic and untimely death of Adrienne Shelly the director and screenwriter? Well, it couldn't. The great thing is, she left us with a wonderful watchable film. Imagine how awful it would have been if the film was bad. So what a great memorial we have to the artist that was Adrienne Shelly. Waitress is a sweet film with some refreshingly unexpected dialogue and lovely relationships. Good performances. Nice pacing. It's really a joy to watch. Having been a fan of Keri Russell since Felicity, I wasn't expecting much. Not in a bad way but I've always felt that she was more or less playing herself (and that opinion wasn't changed by her work in The Upside of Anger), but her portrayal of Jenna is a true breakout performance. She is, of course, infinitely watchable onscreen and here she finds a new quiet and heartbreaking way to play the abused housewife. The passive strength she is able to relate outside of the dialogue is amazing, and her eventual power taking is absolutely cathartic. Good for her. Maybe there is life after Felicity after all. Russell is surrounded by other spectacular performers. Cheryl Hines, Andy Griffith, Nathan Fillion and Shelly herself are all perfect in their roles and give us great fun. Jeremy Sisto does his best as a miscast Earl - the creepy husband - but he doesn't have the depth to realistically bring the demented abuser to life. He plays at being rotten but never finds it. I had a similar problem with his work recently onstage in Festin. I don't think he's got the chops to tackle these troubled characters. I think he should try something lighter. Truly one of the most enjoyable films at this year's festival, Waitress makes me want to go home and bake an "I'm bummed that we won't get any more films from Adrienne Shelly" pie. - Brahman

Broken English: B-

There's something strange about a romantic comedy when the guy and the girl only share about half a dozen scenes together. Zoe Cassavetes film feels like something we've seen before: Lonely But Moderately Successful New York Girl Goes Through Series of Losers And Discovers She Needs To Do Work On Herself Before The Right Guy Can Stand A Chance. Oh, And Right Guy Is Foreign. It's a little like watching Cliff's Notes for Sex and the City.

I enjoyed Parker Posey's performance, although it didn't delve into anything too dark or deep. As Nora she had inspired comic timing, especially when she was self-deprecating, but the film needed something more than competence to keep it fresh. The guys were the typical guys in typical romantic comedies: all losers in one way or another, or impossibly perfect, but taken (at least we were spared the cliche of her dating someone gay). Even the character of Julian, played affectionately by Melvil Poupaud, lacked any depth or even a back story. He just appears at a party and becomes 'the one' because he pursues her and brings her water when she's hung over without her asking. Drea de Mateo stands out as Nora's best friend. The true love story in this film was between the two of them. They are the only ones who say "I love you" and can sleep in a bed together without getting it on. They are also the only ones who seem to know each other intimately and accept each other unconditionally. Too bad they're hetero -- their relationship was the most interesting part of the film.

Broken English has significant plot problems. The second act drags. At one point Nora gets happy and then orders too many cannolis and has a strange anxiety attack that appears out of nowhere and goes no place. When Nora goes to Paris to find Julian and then misplaces his number it almost seems like another movie is starting halfway through the first one. And what was with the mysterious package she delivers to the mysterious old lady who acts like but isn't her grandmother (or is she her grandmother? huh?). The ending is floppy, utterly contrived, and devastatingly safe. You never get the feeling that Nora is in love with Julian because you never really know who Julian is. She's more in love with the idea of being in love with Julian. But hey, if that makes her happy, then great, I'm happy she's happy. How interesting.

Hounddog: A+

Watching Hounddog was a mesmerizing, sublime experience with incredible performances, consummate directing and exquisite cinematography. Dakota Fanning, who turns 13 next month, proves herself to be an accomplished and intelligent actress in this challenging and richly detailed role as Lewellen, a poor southern girl with an Elvis fixation. Director/Screenwriter Deborah Kempmeier has woven together a sensitive and spiritual story of lost innocence and brutality with a forthright honesty that's refreshing, disturbing and soul-tapping. Robin Wright Penn, David Morse, Piper Laurie, and Afemo Omilami turn in convincing, compelling and sometimes wrenching performances. It took ten years to get this film made and I applaud Kempmeier for her perseverance and her ability to serve her vision with such strong, clear talent and artistry. Hounddog is perhaps the most important film in the festival this year and shouldn't be missed.

Dedication: D

So an emotionally and psychologically screwed up poet and his gritty, filthy lover-of-life pal go to a porno and come out with the idea of writing a children's book called Marty the Beaver which becomes an instant nation-wide success but then the friend dies and the damaged writer has to find an illustrator to take his place and the intelligent and beautiful woman steps in but they can't possibly work together but then they do and then they fall in love and then it doesn't work out because she got a big bonus to work with him but then he goes back to the beach on a rainy night to find the rock he threw away and gives it back to her so they can love each other again even though she's engaged to an English writer who left her and then there's a nebula theme and some nifty blender-art-editing (throw it all in, cut it all up, reassemble, play) and then the filmmakers cap the drama with a screaming soundtrack and more preposterous details and plot points and and and. This film was a mess, it was ugly, it was loud, it was obnoxious, it was preposterous, it was stilted, it was egocentric and it was a waste of time.

I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the performances by Mandy Moore, Bob Balaban, and Dianne Wiest. Balaban and Wiest were grossly underused and unfortunately almost all of Moore's scenes were played opposite Billy Crudup who didn't seem to know when to be crazy, when to be cute, when to be pathetic, when to be sadistic, sarcastic or sardonic. Maybe it was blender-art-acting, too. Skip it.

Grace is Gone: B+

Stanley Philips has a problem. When this hardware store manager and father of two learns his Sergeant wife was just killed in Iraq he has the burden of telling his two young daughters. He irrationally decides to take a spontaneous road trip to a Florida theme park in a desperate attempt to preserve their innocence and possibly cope with his own grief first so he can fully be there for them. Along the way their relationships deepen as they get to know one another--possibly for the first time.

I believed in John Cusack’s performance as Stanley and I was particularly taken by Shélan O’Keefe as his eldest daughter. I thought their chemistry was beautiful and it brought the film to levels beyond it’s script. I was confused by the choice of altering Home Depot and DisneyWorld into Home Store and Enchanted Gardens (hey, why not change Iraq to Irazistan?). It also seemed a little strange that Mary Kay Place’s roll as Stanley’s Mom was entirely deleted, but I suppose I can also accept that the conflicts were not about the number of people Stanley had to prove himself to. There may have been weird details here and there that didn’t work (like a super-strange encounter with a boy and his mom at a hotel), but ultimately Grace is Gone is a powerful and simple anti-war film about innocence, strength and dignity and I was deeply moved.

Clubland: A

It isn't uncommon for parents to put aside their dreams to create a life for their children, but Clubland is unique in its spin and tone. I'm finding it difficult to write a review of this film because I don't have enough synonyms in my vocabulary for the word 'great' and I fear it will appear too obvious if I use all of the words my thesaurus spits out. This is a tremendous film from the first shot to its compelling ending. Brenda Blethyn gives us yet another performance-of-a-lifetime as a woman who gave up a promising acting career to become a Mom to two sons, one of whom is retarded. Now her boys are grown up and she's finding the idea of the empty nest unbearable--especially considered what she lost to build it in the first place. It's a fascinating study of a relatively "quiet" situation and director Cherie Nowlan masterfully takes us into the psyches and hearts of these characters with a deft combination of humor and drama. We adore these people and we relish in watching them interrelate and do their best at overcoming their flaws and limitations. Everything about this film fits: the pacing, the music, the revelations, the relationships... it's an honest film that knows what it's about and knows what it wants to say. Again, there aren't enough words for 'great'.

Waitress: A-

Director/Screenwriter/Actress Adrienne Shelly's feature film Waitress is a beautiful and tender film filled with humor and heart in all the right places. Keri Russell finally shakes off her Felicity persona and deftly portrays Jenna, a master-pie-maker/waitress trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage, with acute timing and wit. Supporting characters are equally engaging, with an extra-special turn by Andy Griffith as a cantankerous patron at the diner he owns.

The plot develops smoothly, although there aren't many surprises. We know that by the end Jenna will pull herself out of her terrible life and find a way to live the life she dreams about. The fun is in discovering how she gets there and Shelly and Russell succeed in keeping us engaged with Jenna as she claws her way through the muck. Jeremy Sisto's performance as Jenna's husband Earl was unconvincing and it's hard to believe she could really end her marital problems with one stern speech. Still, putting that and some of its predictability to the side, this is a delicious and smart film with plenty of eye-candy, warmth, and good feelings all around (and it made me really hungry).

Reprise: C-

REPRISE takes all of it's best moments, ideas, elements, characters, editing, concept and energy and crams it into the first three minutes. From there it's a long, slow downhill ride with a few punctuation points here and there to remind us why we liked the first three minutes and giving us hope that at some point it will pick up again. During the first three minutes I thought to myself, "Self, you're so going to love this movie! The Norweigans are clever and the shots are fantastic! The lead actors (Espen Klouman-Høiner and Anders Danielsen Lie) are handsome and interesting to watch! I'm already laughing and aghast!! Where's this plot going to go? It's so exciting!! Weeeeeee!!!."

Then the movie takes nearly two hours to rehash the first three minute setup, but this time in excruciating detail and backstory (or forwardstory? It gets confusing sometimes, but that didn't matter to much, see, it's all about the feeeling of the fiiiilm...). Is Philip going to kill himself or start writing again? Is Erik a gifted writer or a hack (or both?) Is Kari going to do anything?

The visuals were dynamic and the editing was swift, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. During the first three minutes I was super-stimulated. By the end I was just bored.

Reprise (4 out of 10)

Boy does this film start with promise. Boy is that promise never fulfilled. This film starts and you think you are going to be part of a wild roller coaster ride of fun and thrills but this coaster stalls after the first vertical drop and you are left trapped in your car wondering when the hell they are going to get you the hell out of there. The writer introduces great possibilities but never delivers. The performances feel improvised - never a good thing. The cinematography is bland. This film falls apart at the end of the first act and never recovers but we're left to suffer as it flops around like a fish on the sand. Way too raw to warrant a $30 expense for two people. I don't think this film is of a quality to be accepted to this festival. Like last years Wild Tigers I Have Known, the misleading write up by the programming committee fooled me again. I guess you can get lucky with the Spectrum Films, but I have yet to be happy about seeing one of them. In a word Reprise is torturous. -Brahmin

Year of the Dog (6 out of 10)

Perhaps a new genre has been created. The political action dramady. Unfortunately it's a creaky genre. Year of the Dog feels like two separate films glued together about five eighths through. Its a strange fish. Very upbeat and fun at the beginning yet preachy and disturbing at the end. Like a rainbow leading to a pot of mold. This is one of those films that I really wanted to like but it never won me over. The cast were all great. Molly Shannon is fun and not at all annoying, never devolving into using previous tricks. Her character arc is even believable. At least to anyone who has lost a beloved pet. Laura Dern is really fun. She's becoming a master of the suburban housewife. Peter Sarsgaard is good. John C Reilly is John C Reily. Tom McCarthy is spot on as an anal "numbers guy" and Regina King is a constant breath of fresh air. It's feels as if she and Tom are the only ones the director mentioned the tone of the film to. But somewhere in this movie things start falling apart. It gets clunky. It goes too far. It's message is too blatant. Its script has too many holes. I know that there has or will be a trailer created that sucks out all of the funny parts - and there are funny parts - and that people will go see this film. But they will be surprised. Like the ad campaign for Le Divorce which promised a wacky romantic comedy and instead delivered a bizarre piece of crap. Of course once the theater gets your money you're fucked. It isn't like Hollywood offers a money back guarantee. Mike White is a master at creating strange little films that work on the independent financial level, but when you're entering the big budget arena I think he needs more guidance. He's not the type of filmmaker who can go off on his own and make a great film. He's the type who can go off and make an OK film with some really funny bits few and far between. Year of the Dog feels like a first draft that had the misfortune to go into production too early. - Brahman

Year of the Dog: B-

Mike White's Year of the Dog wants to be both a hilarious and important film. Casting Molly Shannon as Peggy, the world's best dog owner, serves the first purpose and making a film about animal cruelty fulfills the second. Sort of.

The first half is great. White carefully balances his tremendous humor with deeply heartfelt scenes of grief when Peggy's pup, Pencil, suddenly dies. Shannon performs expertly. We laugh with her, we laugh at her preposterous friends and boss, we cry with her, we hope for something more meaningful in her life with her... The story builds and propels itself with solid character development. Most people in this film are not what they first appear to be, unlike the canines whose personalities are defined and clear from the outset.

But then the second half loses momentum just when the energy starts to build and the setups start to pay off. Peggy's life unravels spectacularly as she makes desperate attempts at doing the right thing. Hilarity ensues--but it was an uncomfortable funny, not ha-ha funny. I found myself thinking, often, that Peggy was quite disturbing and sad, and who wants to feel guilty for laughing at loneliness and desperation? But then there are good moments: When Peggy tries to take her young niece to a slaughterhouse, when she tries to kill a neighbor with one of his own hunting knives, when she takes on the care of 15 strays and the dogs tear up the house, it's all kinda funny, but also unsettling. I suppose I never really understood the tone of this film, but I don't blame Shannon or the supporting characters (or the dogs). I think it comes back to the script and the challenge the White set for himself. The message about how we've come to ignore animal cruelty is insightful and plaintive. But slapping it on top of a comedic premise belittles its import and ultimately made this a quasi-enjoyable and quasi-uncomfortable film to watch.

Away From Her: B-

Away From Her is Sarah Polley's feature film directorial debut but her skill belies her inexperience. This artfully directed film is beautiful, descriptive, emotional, wrenching, sensitive, gorgeous, and very very very sad. It's also very very very long, even though it's only 110 minutes.

The action takes place on a wintry lake in southern Ontario. Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Julie Christie) are coming to grips with her pending decline from Alzheimer's. The film takes us through the slow process of her memory losses at home until she ultimately becomes dangerous to herself and has to move into an assisted living center. From there she befriends another patient and Grant (oddly) befriends that patients wife, Marion, piercingly portrayed by Olympia Dukakis. All of the performances in this film are of the caliber we've come to expect, and I won't be surprised if Oscar remembers Julie Christie next year with at least a nod.

There are some peculiarities to the story, or maybe its telling, which was faithfully adapted from an Alice Munro novel. My own Grandmother's decline in real life from the point where we first meet Fiona to her state at end of the film took place over the course of about nine years. In this film it happens in one winter, maybe even during the same snow storm. Also, the love stories seem strangely abrupt, and the film tries to explain that it's okay if the person you love that loves you goes on to love someone else because they can't remember you and your love should let that love live because it's making the one you love happy, and that's love. I get it, but I'm still not sure why Grant hooks up with Marion, except out of loneliness, and well, I guess that's the reason (her look of maddening guilt after they make love moved me to tears more than anything else in the film). It just felt weird to see Grant and Marion together when Grant spends 110 minutes, er, 109 minutes pining for Fiona. The other interesting choice was we never see Grant cry--not even a tear.

Away From Her is affecting, especially if you know anyone from a mature generation who's degenerating before your eyes. But it is too long -- the energy of the film disappears as Fiona declines. Still, it's worth the price of admission to support the Canadians for taking a risk on the subject matter (not exactly a commercial thriller), to support Polley so she can continue to create interesting, emotional films, and to see Julie Christie in yet another amazing performance.

Away From Her (5 out of 10)

I like Sarah Polley - as an actress. As a writer/director she has a long way to go. Away From Her is an extremely ponderous and indulgent piece of filmmaking. It has some great performances - notably by (a still beautiful) Julie Christy and Olympia Dukakis in a thankless and bizarre role. Kristen Thomson is fantastic and it isn't that Gordon Pinsent is bad - he's just playing one droning note throughout the film that gets pretty unbearable as it progresses. Has anyone ever mentioned playing against the text to this guy? Of course, he isn't the main problem. The main problem is the script. I happen to be familiar with the progression of Alzheimers disease and it isn't honestly portrayed in this movie. Some stages are represented too quickly and others happen too slowly. More importantly, the writing is didactic and wooden and I suspect that Ms. Polley was so enamored with the material that she couldn't break away from the short story enough to let a screenplay fly. Some of the dialogue is actually laughable. As far as the direction goes, Polley uses too many long - very long - close up shots bringing the action of the film down to a snails pace. It's repetitious visually and the soundtrack is a snooze. You are never pulled into the plot so you never really care about the characters. There are some teary moments but how can you not have teary moments in a film about a woman losing her mind and thus her identity? And who edited this thing? The non-linear timeline (which doesn't work for this piece) is at times unintelligible. I still don't know if the movie took place in one winter or over the course of two. Possibly Polley wants her audience to feel like they have Alzheimer's too and so she's decided to keep us confused. This is a 110 minute indulgence that feels a good half hour longer than it is. Sometimes short stories should just stay short stories Sarah. Sundance seems to be really into letting actors direct - unfortunately it's an experiment that is more often a failure than a success. This isn't the worst film I've ever seen at Sundance, but the last thing a filmmaker wants to do is bore their audience. Better luck next time. - Brahman

Rocket Science (9 out of 10)

Well this was the first film I saw at the festival and I have to tell you I liked this movie a lot. It has that quirky tone that I enjoy being swept up in. A classic teenage angst feel good comedy. Sure, it rehashes the underdog formula that we have seen over and over again, but who gives a shit? Every story has already been told and now its all about how you tell it - and I like the way Jeffrey Blitz tells it. I also like the way he directed it. He makes maximum use of the camera with some stunningly simple and effective cinematography. He pulled very mature performances out of some very young actors and deserves a medal for that alone. He managed to create a bunch of watchable and believable Uber Quirks and throughout the film deftly walked a tightrope of exaggeration without going too far. I liked every performance. Especially Reese Thompson as "the kid". Extremely watchable and reminiscent of the young Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore. I was uplifted by the non-victory-victory at the end a'la Little Miss Sunshine and found this to be a very satisfying 98 minutes. Rocket Science is one of the little jewels that I always hope to discover at the Sundance Film Festival. - Brahman

Rocket Science: A-

There's something special about a good, clean What If? premise. You can't make a good film with a bad premise, no matter how much energy, talent or money you throw at it. Conversely, I think it's equally tough to make a bad film with a great premise. The director's job is basically to bring the best elements together, and then stay out of the way of the story. I am happy to write that writer/director Jeffrey Blitz did both jobs well: he wrote a great story, and then didn't screw it up by abandoning his vision or attacking it with unnecessary elements or glitz.

Rocket Science is quite simple: Hal, a smart, likable outcast with a debilitating stutter gets pushed into joining the state-championship-bound debate team in Plainsboro, New Jersey. Rocket Science is also quite complex. This same engaging reject, played flawlessly by Reece Daniel Thompson, has other problems, too. Men keep leaving his Mom, his brother is a bit deranged (albeit an honorable kleptomaniac), his speech therapist wishes Hal was hyperactive so he could better cure him, and his new girlfriend is a manipulative, overachieving brainiac with heavy debate team baggage. It's complex without being complicated and the story unfolds with some expectations, some surprises, but always a heavy dose of wit and sensitivity.

This film derives its power from the humor and warmth created by the idiosyncrasies and quirks of its characters. They are all really human, really true, and really weird. There's the speech therapist teacher who sits in his underwear and solves a Rubik's cube while advising Hal to abandon his dreams. There's a bizarre sure-to-be-sex-addict neighbor kid who insists on educating Hal about the world of bras. Marital Musical Therapy, Drunken Cello Vandalism and Janitorial Closet Reprieves are just a few of the multitudinous bits and pieces that are woven into this tapestry of alien-yet-familiar terrain. The jokes are all there and the punchlines come with brilliant editing, subtle, poignant acting, and assured directing.

I found the voice over narration a bit problematic. In the beginning it lended to the story and added a note of poetry, but it drifted in and out of the film, taking me out of the experience of the story, and by the end it basically told me there was going to be a happy ending that I wasn't going to see and everything I just saw was potentially made up. Okay, thanks for that, I forgot I was watching a movie...? I also wondered why the filmmakers couldn't seem to end the film. Maybe they were enjoying it as much as I was and didn't want to let go? In the last ten minutes there were more than a handful of 'capping' moments that could have cut to the credits and left us all satisfied, but then there was another scene. And then another. And then another. Each added a bit more denouement and oddly-timed exposition and ultimately it weakened the finale (I would have left it off in the pizza shop). Still, these are minor points and they don't take away from the film's impact.

I commend Blitz for expertly entertaining us with what could have been a dark and destructive story of a disabled youth. Instead he kept it light without compromising the integrity or seriousness of the protagonist or his journey. The premise is good, the filmmaking is smart, the casting is spot-on, the acting is topnotch. Rocket Science is definitely worth seeing.

WELCOME

Welcome to STUNDANCE: AUTHORIZED.
We're Jay Avatar and Jon Brahman, two professional filmmakers, film critics, film enthusiasts. For ten years we ran a film festival in New York State. During this time we sorted through an estimated 7500 films and picked 20 to 30 each year for inclusion in the festival. In other words: we've seen a LOT of bad, bad movies. But we've also seen some astonishing, surprising and stunning films.
Jon has a BFA in Acting and Jay has a BFA in Film. We've been coming to Park City for a few years now, and we feel we're ready to start telling you about our experiences here.

Warning: We're honest and we don't always agree.