Sundance 2. 01. 7: Five Under- the- Radar Movies From This Year’s Fest . It’s been a . But amid all that, films reigned and brought countless cinephiles, journalists, industry folk and celebrities together over at the mountains of Utah. Advertisement. On Saturday, top dramatic prizes were handed to Macon Blair’s . No two people have the same festival and there are always titles that seem to need a little more push to be noticed among the hot headline- makers. As I was putting together this list of worthy under- the- radar films, I was struck by the loose common thread that unites them: in more ways than one, these are all stories of women, many of them lonely and isolated, stuck in a (in some cases, life- threatening) predicament. You can extract multiple themes from any film festival, and this is one that rings true for my Sundance 2. L. A. Times” (Michelle Morgan)Writer/director Michelle Morgan, who previously had a short titled “K.

I. T.” at Sundance, makes a confident directorial feature debut with the infinitely playful and witty contemporary Los Angeles tale “L. A. Times.” In what could be called a satirical West Coast “Sex & The City,” Morgan plays a judgmental and perennially dissatisfied LA woman named Annette, whose line of logical thinking you can’t really dispute even when you disagree with it.

Inception/ Curiosità sul film con Leonardo Di Caprio e Marion Cotillard su Italia 1 (oggi, 5 settembre 2017)Inception e il mondo dei sogni: Christopher. We're both excited and terrified for the return of Pennywise in Stephen King's It. See which other movies and TV shows we're excited about this month.

After deciding her happiness with her boyfriend is inferior to the relationships she observes among her friends, Annette ventures off to different avenues and seeks fulfillment elsewhere. But couch surfing, house sitting and the nightmares of being in the dating scene again only illustrate how good she and her boyfriend had it, especially when she starts seeing through the imperfections of her friends’ lives. Times” boasts a Whit Stillman- esque sharp script—one of the finest I’ve seen in Sundance—that richly builds not only around Annette’s experiences, but her friends’ too.

Reviews from Sundance on three ambitious films based on original screenplays, "Novitiate," "Colossal" and "Bitch.". This is a list of characters that appear in the Camp Half-Blood chronicles (which consists of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, The Heroes of Olympus series.

Once you get settled into its deeply satirical love- hate relationship with the gorgeousness and flakiness of LA, it delivers some priceless, infinitely quotable comedic gold. This ultra stylish film is still without a distribution home, but could do great in a pair of brave, creative hands (cough, cough, A2. Novitiate” (Maggie Betts)Sure, “Novitiate” won a prize on Saturday, with writer/director Maggie Betts collecting the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Director And, OK, Sony Pictures Classics already bought it for distribution later this year. That said, “Novitiate” might not quite qualify for this “under the radar” list. But if you weren’t at Sundance, chances are, you haven’t heard of it.

And even if you were there, you might have sidelined this film tracing the life of a young woman, Catherine, who decides to become a nun in late . Catherine is played by Margaret Qualley (one of this festival's finest performances), who journeys through the various stages of her training program at “The Sisters of Blessed Rose” convent, while having her devotion challenged and soul bruised by the increasingly harsh practices of the institution. This was simply the best competition film I viewed during my week in Sundance. Advertisement“My Happy Family” (Nana & Simon)“In Bloom” directors Nana & Simon are back with another stab at the patriarchal customs of Georgia. This time, they follow a 5. Manana (Ia Shugliashvili), who, after living with her extended family for years, decides to leave her household and move to her own apartment in Tbilisi. The script is written solely by Nana Ekvtimishvili and filled with long stretches of chaotic dialogue that takes place inside the confines of Manana’s family apartment.

Romance Movies Download Novitiate (2017) Kiss

A small organization is looking to raise money for struggling indigenous tribes in the Amazon. So they do what anyone would - sell home-made porn on the Internet for. A recap of Sundance 2017 that focuses on five films not getting as much buzz as they deserve. The leading information resource for the entertainment industry. Find industry contacts & talent representation. Manage your photos, credits, & more. 1 I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul.

The filmmaking is reminiscent of the works of Farhadi: through various long takes and well- managed traffic, the filmmakers unfold the familial clashes and trouble that surround Manana and leader her to her decision. The strong here is specific yet universal, and the characters are so well- realized that, soon enough, they start reminding you of the people you personally know. You’re in for a treat with “Mother of George” director Andrew Dosunmu’s “Where is Kyra?” Pfeiffer plays an out- of- work New York woman illegally cashing her (recently deceased) mother’s pension checks to make a living, while desperately looking for a job, any job, to no avail. Shot by the now Oscar- nominated cinematographer Bradford Young  (“Arrival”), Dosunmu both visually and metaphorically captures Kyra’s isolation through various framing choices: she is sometimes in the center, confronting the audience, and other times, positioned to a far side like an afterthought. Purposefully shot with a dark look and feel to complement Kyra’s lightless life, in which she is running out of options fast, Dosunmu puts forward a first- rate film that surfaces a very real fear of financial doom, and articulates just how fine a line there is between security and dismay.“To the Bone” (Marti Noxon)One of the hardest- sell competition titles I have seen this year, “To The Bone” is already (and somewhat surprisingly) acquired by Netflix. I say it’s surprising, as Noxon’s film slowly, quietly and patiently follows a subject dealing with a very specific kind of mental and physical disorder and doesn’t instantly scream audience friendly.

Complying with the wishes of her stepmother (who seems overbearing but ultimately well- meaning), Ellen joins a home occupied by other people with eating disorders, led by a firm but empathetic doctor (Keanu Reeves). The film builds each individual with care and concern and when the time is right, cracks open deeper wounds of Ellen through her familial relationships, including with her biological mother, leading up to a heartbreaking and unforgettable scene. The friendship and relationship Noxon builds between Ellen and one of her dancer housemates (charmingly played by Alex Sharp) is heartwarming, and her struggles are portrayed as genuinely as they can be . The truthfulness of that personal connection shows abundantly.

Advertisement. Next Article: Sundance 2.

Sundance 2. 01. 7: . These films display distinct ambition, too, though they are wildly different in content—an alcoholic disaster movie, a nun story and a movie called “Bitch.” Anyone worried about a dearth in cinematic creativity can find plenty of solace within Sundance’s programming. Margaret Betts’ “Novitiate” is strikingly ambitious, even when it can be as formal as a church service. In her directorial debut, she has sought to make a movie that presents an honest, deliberately- paced and non- judgmental idea of a sister’s journey to become a nun during the 1.

The story takes place before Vatican II decided that nuns were not as special as priests, and that their traditions of solemnity have been pointless. As it follows the religious journey of Sister Cathleen (Margaret Qualley), it plays to every beat with supportive, sunny music as she decides that she wants to become religious despite not being raised that way, and then elects to give herself to God. There are many moments where the first half of the movie feels like “Nun: Origins,” replete with “Full Metal Jacket”- level detail into the training process, and it becomes uncertain as to which angle Betts has with the story, unless it’s for audiences who believe just like Sister Cathleen. A fascinating angle of Betts’ take on nuns is by highlighting it as a love story, but about a woman’s relationship with God. The women often say “I love you, God,” and even refer to him as their husband. It’s also a vivid depiction as to why these women would voluntarily sign themselves up for a life that cuts them away from the world, while also repressing many actions.

As a movie that wants be as formal as possible until it starts to get some edge halfway, it is given that energy from its excellent cast of women (featuring Dianna Agron, Liana Liberato, Maddie Hasson, Morgan Saylor, Eline Powell and more). They are able to maintain the human side of these characters. Betts’ script as well becomes more interesting when it becomes less about the formalities and the women themselves, who have their curiosities about the sexuality they repress, along with the rules they follow.

Of all people in the cast, no one is more explosive than Melissa Leo, who is given carte blanche as the head Reverend Mother, acting upon her own repressions and powerlessness against the young women of the convent. Leo brings an intensity that also opens the movie up a bit, particularly in a scene where she forces the women to share what their deepest, darkest flaws are. It’s her performance, along with this movie’s interest in exploring religion as a loving relationship, that make this movie more vivid than it might initially seem. Advertisement. One reason that I like “Colossal” so much is that it runs like a parody of a typical Sundance dramedy. It tells of a woman (Anne Hathaway’s Gloria) who heads back to her hometown after getting dumped.

In a house abandoned by her parents, she works through her self- destructive demons, particularly alcoholism and even sleeping in weird positions. She reconnects with people that she knew back from the day, including a childhood friend named Oscar (Jason Sudeikis, smiley and deceptive). But while “Colossal” opens up with a scene of a giant monster appearing in the city of Seoul back in the '7. In ways best explained by Vigalondo’s film, Gloria learns that her actions hurt people in the most serious way one could imagine—literally, whenever she walks on a playground at a certain time of a day, a giant monster appears in the city of Seoul, and matches her physicality, damaging the city and killing hundreds in the process. The movie goes through an impressive emotional gamut with this concept—at first it’s mortifying when she realizes what she has done just casually, but then it becomes playful, leading to some great visual jokes—and successfully builds its own logic. It’s a thrill to see the movie normalize its bizarre concept, but to be true to itself every step of the way. As the movie becomes original, so do the performances, like Hathaway’s incredibly physical turn.

I’ve never seen “horrified because a foot stomp on a playground just killed hundreds of people,” but that’s the kind of expressions that are actualized by Hathaway. As the events lead to a genuinely effective climax involving saving Seoul at the playground, “Colossal” is one of those movies with the amount of creativity that some directors never produce in their whole lives.

Fans of seeing films that are like never before should seek it out. Advertisement. The nagging problem about Marianna Palka’s horror- comedy “Bitch” is that it displays her unique power as an actress while simultaneously showing her weaknesses as a writer and her potential as a director. With a concept that sells itself—a worn- down housewife becomes a dog—it’s underwhelmed by weak execution aside from the disturbing, intense ways she plays the character.

The story of “Bitch” draws the clear line between statement or expression. This is undoubtedly a statement, in which Palka plays the selfless supermom who tries to hang herself in the opening scene, but when that fails decides to embody the dog that she is treated like by her husband. She growls, walks on fours, and barks like a hell hound when eventually cooped up in the basement. It’s not done with the finesse of an expression though, because everything is played so directly—Palka is a dog, and her husband Bill (Jason Ritter) is just a complete doofus, who faces the reality of everything that she did when he has to do it himself. Ritter takes his bad- dad cluelessness to eleven with cringing over- acting. He flails and screams and drops twice to the floor in a sequence where he experiences the daily routine of dropping the four kids off at different schools, having to remember all of the little things in between.

Whether he’s meant to be a reflection of the idiotic alpha male or a direct mirror, it leads to a movie that’s too often stuck on one idea. The closest that “Bitch” comes to making an interesting expression is with how Bill blames Jill for everything, and won’t let her get psychiatric help because that’s his wife.

The way that he talks about her is like pure ownership, adding to his entitlement of being taken care of. Bill fails to get that he is directly responsible for her condition. The vision that Palka has for this movie can be a freaky one, from the modern classical score that plucks on strings and builds tension out of chaos to excellent sound design, with the guttural growls she makes as a dog. The Full Kong: Skull Island (2017) Movie.

As she did with her grungy, depressed performance in previous Sundance film “Good Dick,” she revels in the grossness of a character, and takes on playing the dog with the intense physicality found more in performance actors than film actors. Her appearance, covered in feces, growling through grit teeth is disturbing, especially as her basement home is like a torture chamber from a “Saw” movie. Next Article: Sundance 2.