Sundance Buzz Pt 1: Birth of a Nation, Manchester by the Sea, Tallulah
Monday, January 25, 2016 at 7:31PM Let's check in with the high altitudes of Sundance for a moment. Before we begin a word of 'don't believe the hype' caution. Sundance has the dubious distinction of being the single festival with the highest ratio of critical raves morphing suddenly to real world mehs. Altitude sickness? Long delays between festivals and premieres? Who knows. The buzz sometimes translate (Precious) but you can't ever fully trust it and sometimes it's the films with very quiet receptions that the real world actually embraces (last year's key examples: I'll See You In My Dreams and A Walk in the Woods).
Let's talk about eight new films after the jump, okay?
Birth of a Nation
Tonight's hot ticket was Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation which is not a remake of the infamous silent epic, but eager to fuck up its SEO with that brazen title snatching. He famously quit acting for a bit to raise the money to direct it though obviously he has returned to the cameras since he also stars as a former slave, leading a slave revolt. The last time we saw him onscreen was at Gugu's hunky cop lover in the romantic music drama Beyond the Lights and if he's great behind the camera too this could be one of the big 2016 films. Reviews aren't in yet but people are just getting out of screenings (which tends to be when the strongest hyperbole happens) as we post this so early tweets go like so...
The Birth of a Nation is an unflinching and hopeful call to action. Nate Parker's passion is felt in every scene. #Sundance
— Jordan Raup (@jpraup) January 26, 2016
THE BIRTH OF A NATION is a stick of cinematic dynamite with a two-hour fuse. Stirring, devastating, and right on time. #Sundance
— Jason Bailey (@jasondashbailey) January 26, 2016
The Birth of a Nation - A triumph in every way. Nate Parker takes this one to the top. Score, performances, story are perfect. Masterpiece.
— Alex Billington (@firstshowing) January 26, 2016
Prolonged standing ovation for the best narrative feature I've seen @sundancefest, actor-director Nate Parker's powerful Birth of a Nation.
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) January 26, 2016
The Birth of A Nation is brutal, powerful with a strong vision come to life from Nate Parker. #Sundance2016
— Gregory Ellwood (@TheGregoryE) January 26, 2016
Powerful BIRTH OF A NATION, American slave revolt film echoing BRAVEHEART. Sure to be major discussion piece and awards contender #sundance
— Jason Gorber (@filmfest_ca) January 26, 2016
(Oh nooooo a Braveheart comparison. THAT DOES NOT MAKE ME OPTIMISTIC. Is it just a hyper sadistic bloodthirsty epic with lots of shouting and manly martyrdom? I hate Braveheart so much.)
The Last Days of Disco stars reunited!
Love & Friendship
Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress) is going period? Huh. That's an unexpected move. This one is set in the 18th century England and stars Kate Beckinsale & Chloe Sevigny, who also headlined the director's other period piece, Last Days of Disco (1998). The Guardian loves the "devious" Beckinsale and everyone seems to think the material, Jane Austen's novella Lady Susan, is a great fit for the filmmaker. As Scott Renshaw says "Thematically, his interest is in love roundelays and character parables where people meet their matches according to merit, meaning those partners whose company and sensibility, especially in their modes of expression, they find most agreeable. Given these predilections, there is no more-congenial novelist for Mr. Stillman to adapt into a motion picture than Miss Jane Austen..."
LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP may be the most tone-perfect Austen adaptation I can remember. #Sundance
— Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) January 24, 2016
LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP: Stillman does Austen and barely has to bend. Witty, fast, delightful. #Sundance
— Jason Bailey (@jasondashbailey) January 24, 2016
Other People
Ubiquitous Jesse Plemons -- weirdly the most employed of all Friday Night Lights alum -- headlines this cancer dramedy as a young gay writer whose mother (Molly Shannon) is dying of cancer. Reviews feel mixed with Indiewire calling it "sketchy, more a collection of ideas and memories than a proper film" but most people seem to really like the performance. Molly Shannon in particular is basking in the buzz. Vanity Fair even drops Supporting Actress Race Begins Here type of love. But we'll see. Sundance is so tricky as to which pieces of buzz endures and which fade into nothingness.
Molly Shannon is really wonderful in OTHER PEOPLE. So glad to see her in a brave role like this. #sundance
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) January 22, 2016
OTHER PEOPLE was terrific. Maybe I could relate more than most, but I laughed & cried in equal measure. Plemons & Molly Shannon were GREAT.
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) January 22, 2016
Swiss Army Man
A bizarre buddy comedy about a man (Paul Dano) who discovers a farting corpse with a boner (Daniel Radcliffe) was a hot ticket -- movies with name stars always are at festivals -- but prompted lots of walkouts. As someone who is not 5 years old I can't imagine sitting through a 90 minute fart joke but Wired thinks its weirdness is winning... as do a lot of people IF they managed to survive the first half hour that is.
SWISS ARMY MAN: Yeah, no idea what to make of this fable about depression, magical realist corpses, and flatulence. #Sundance
— Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) January 23, 2016
Why I love Sundance: any institution that would foster a film like SWISS ARMY MAN from start to finish deserves to be celebrated.
— David Lowery (@davidlowery) January 25, 2016
Counted at least 30 walkouts within first 30 mins of the unwatchable SWISS ARMY MAN before I bailed myself at 40-minute mark. DO NOT SEE IT.
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) January 22, 2016
I've seen thousands of movies and never seen anything like SWISS ARMY MAN. Insane. Crazy. Like entering a bonkers dream. Wow. #sundance
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) January 23, 2016
People seem to agree that Casey Affleck is heading for his second Oscar nominationManchester by the Sea
Kenneth Lonergan's new film -- which thankfully avoided the protracted gestation of his long delayed Margaret epic -- stars Casey Affleck as a loner suddenly named guardian of his teenage nephew but wounds of the past are reopened. Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, & Michelle Williams co-star. This film prompted the priciest buy for this year's festival selling to Amazon for $10 million though it sounds sober and serious enough that $10 million seems crazy in terms of trying to earn one's money back! Early buzz suggests a strong male weepie which means men and women with both love it and the reviews in the real world will be so strong (women can handle male weepies -- why are men so dismissive of female weepies?)
"Manchester by the Sea" - Authentic, moving, cathartic, emotionally immersive. Earns all of it ... Hm? No, there's something in my eye...
— Kristopher Tapley (@kristapley) January 25, 2016
Has Michelle Williams ever had a movie husband who didn't resent her? MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, CERTAIN WOMEN add two more to the pile
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 25, 2016
"Manchester By The Sea" will be a Best Picture nominee 12 months hence -- guaranteed. Casey Affleck will be Best Actor nominated -- locked.
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) January 24, 2016
Morris From America
Chad Hartigan is back with a coming of age comedy about a overweight teenage African American (Markees Christmas) trying to adjust to life in very white Heidelberg Germany where his father (Craig Robinson) has moved them. A24 will distribute. The Film Stage calls it "Touching and insightful" and Vulture says it's "understated and generous" which makes it sound not unlike Hartigan's last no-budget winner This is Martin Bonner.
Spent most of coming-of-age/cultural-displacement drama MORRIS FROM AMERICA sick with worry for the title kid. Well done, movie. #Sundance16
— Noel Murray (@NoelMu) January 22, 2016
the stars of Goat
Goat
This frat-hazing drama starring Ben Schnetzer (from Pride) and Nick Jonas (from... well, you know) has caused quite a star. Vanity Fair says it's "reminiscent of Larry Clark's Bully, without all the sneering sleaze" whiel Screen Daily compares it to Boys Don't Cry and comparisons like that in relationship to movies described as "harrowing and brutal" suggest that it's good reviews are from the material perhaps more than the execution? Just guessing but I'll keep an open mind since we liked Schnetzer so much in Pride. AV Club compares it to last season's The Stanford Prison Experiment and doesn't help my skepticism by adding "I'm not entirely sure it achieves anything deeper than a full-on immersion in the boot camp of college fraternity culture."
The amount of gays in the line for #Goat starring Nick Jonas and about frat hazing is really impressive. Go Andrew Neel and @SeeThinkFilms!
— Jonathan Lisecki (@jonnynyc) January 23, 2016
The teens are out to see Nick Jonas at the GOAT screening. Their screams echo off the snow covered mountains, into the cold night #Sundance
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) January 23, 2016
the Juno co-stars reunite filming a scene from Tallulah
Tallulah
Ellen Page, who once gave her baby up for adoption in Juno, gets maternal in a way, kidnaps a toddler (she means well) from her reckless mother. Page's Juno mom Allison Janney is on board as well as Crazy eyes Udo Azuba, dependable John Benjamin Hickey, and stage star Tammy Blanchard round out what sounds like an amazing ensemble cast.The film marks the feature writing/directing debut of Orange is the New Black's staff writer Sian Heder. Vanity Fair praises the "complex richly realized characters" and Variety says it's Page's best vehicle since Juno. People seem to have issues with the plot but love the actors.
"Tallulah" is one of the most unusual, emotionally complex but affecting woman-centric films I've seen in a long while. Reaches in, touches.
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) January 23, 2016
TALLULAH has the most Sundance indie plot, but Ellen Page & Allison Janney make magic onscreen. Lot of sniffles around me at the end.
— jen yamato (@jenyamato) January 23, 2016
P.S. Meanwhile /Film is keeping you up to date on the festival's sales... though there doesn't seem to be that much purchasing action yet.
Reader Comments (26)
What is Daniel Radcliffe doing with his career? There is brave and then there is stupid.
Casey Affleck is not nearly as famous as his brother, but I think he's shown himself to be the better actor. (And I don't hate Ben, or anything.)
The possibilities of Allison Janney and Ellen Page together on screen make me excited.
And Morris From America sounds like a really good hard-to-watch movie. Like Precious.
happy that Parker, Shannon, Beckensale, and Page are getting some good buzz. It sounds like only Affleck;'s will continue into the later awards season. If it is a weak year, then maybe Shannon or Beckensale and get in to (both have been working solidly for years and have come close to Oscar before, so maybe will be considered due)
Will Affleck go supporting again?! Is anyone talking about Williams' performance?
"Is it just a hyper sadistic bloodthirsty epic with lots of shouting and manly martyrdom?"
If The Birth of a Nation is in fact the story of the Nat Turner rebellion, as I've heard, then remove the word "just" from your question and the answer is YES. And if this movie is good to outstanding, it will be like waving a red cape in front of the bull known as AM
PASerica.Manchester By The Sea was sold to Amazon, not A24. I suspect that they'll team up with another studio to distribute it in theaters before it's available for streaming. Similar to Chi-Raq.
Renton -- thanks for that catch. fixed.
Paul -- oh no. i am just not a fan of bloodthirsty movies. And Django Unchained already did the slave massacre for audience bloodthirst thing.
chris -- haha. he has no co-lead this time so he can't cheat.
"I kind of sold this project to investors and cast on legacy. I honestly think this is a film that could start a conversation that can promote healing and systemic change in our country. There's so many things that are happening right now in 2015 — 100 years after the original Birth of a Nation film, here we are. I'd say that is what I hope sets my film apart, is that it's relevant now — that people will talk about this film with the specific intention of change." (Nate Parker)
Yay for Casey Afflec & Ellen Page buzz. Two very good actors that probably don't get as many good opportunities as they deserve.
Please, stop making Nick Jonas or any of his dipshit brothers a thing.
Jesse Plemons -- weirdly the most employed of all Friday Night Lights alum
Because ugly people aren't supposed to have film careers? He has the luxury of being white male and hetero in Hollywood.
It's not listed in your post but John Carney (Once, Begin Again) seems to have done it again with "Sing Street" - Irish musical getting good buzz at Sundance. Looks a bit like "The Committments" which is no bad thing.
/3ftful, i think Jesse Plemons is quite attractive when chubby. And how do you know he is straight?
I'm only assuming he's straight.
"And Django Unchained already did the slave massacre for audience bloodthirst thing."
To be fair though, the Nat Turner rebellion was a real event in history that deserves to be explored, whereas Django was just an embarrassment in film history.
Philip H -- true. I'm just expressing frustration because i'm kind of a tree hugging type person. I think the world could use some healing as opposed to constant bloodlust. But underexplored history deserves a shot. Maybe it's great and the Braveheart comparison is just a surface easy reference?
The film that I am most excited about is actually Kelly Reichardt's CERTAIN WOMEN. Sounds excellent. But out of these, I am definitely keen for MANCHESTER, MORRIS, BIRTH OF A NATION (even if it doesn't become "a thing" it'll be a curiosity to say the least), and the new Whit Stillman.
I imagine that farting corpse movie will be like TUSK or like that other Daniel Radcliffe genre film, HORNS.
OTHER PEOPLE... eh, I'm excited for Molly Shannon who is still so underused despite how great she was in Mike White's YEAR OF THE DOG. Maybe White should make a project for her and Laura Dern.
GOAT I guess I'll see at a festival, but I can't imagine it going very far elsewhere.
Birth of a Nation is coming along at exactly the right time. I hope it's actually good or it's going to be one of those things where it becomes a stupid political football. Actually, it'll become that anyway, so whatever. I just hope it's good.
The Stillman and Lonergan films are the only other ones I'm definitely interested in, and that's based on the track record of the filmmakers. I don't trust Sundance reviews. At all. Ever.
I'm sure I'll see Goat. I like looking at Nick Jonas with his shirt off and the subject matter is at least nominally interesting. But mostly I like looking at Jonas shirtless (yes, how shallow, who gives a shit).
I like Plemons and Shannon but Other People sounds like a quintessential bullshit Sundance dramedy. Amazing that so many people are still wasting their time and money chasing the Little Miss Sunshine precious indie movie dream.
I read the Austen book, published under it's original title, " Love and Freindship". The original title had friendship mis-spelled. When most people looked at the cover, they didn't notice. Sometimes they looked puzzled.
http://actoroscar.blogspot.co.uk/
Afunny opinion on Eddie's Oscar nomination.
There seems to be a bidding war over Birth Of a Nation so my guess is that it will get a big Oscar push next year.
I can already feel the BIRTH OF A NATION backlash, and it hasn't even be picked up yet. It's sad that I can already see it.
Of course I'm most excited about Love and Friendship. I love Last Days of Disco and think reuniting Kate and Chloe is a stroke of genius.
Nat - you rock, thanks for writing a post like this
Now we can officially start getting excited for 2016
I am so impressed by Casey Affleck. I hope this turns out to be a great year for him. Also good to hear about Molly Shannon, who really surprised me with her small role on Enlightened. She ripped me to shreds with just a few glances.
Bia - Me too! At least Whit Stillman isn't taking 10+ years between films anymore. :)
And of course, I'm thrilled to hear Lonergan's new film is getting such good reviews. This makes me want to rewatch Margaret.
But I'll probably end up seeing all of them except the one about the farting corpse. "Sundance movies" tend to be right up my alley.