The Sundance Film Festival is just as important as ever

Coming to Sundance always brings a kind of mystery to movie-going. There’s an almost organic feeling to this film festival, which was started in the mid ‘80s by Robert Redford, a then ski enthusiast who saw an opportunity to boost…

Certain Feelings for ‘Certain Women,’ ‘Yoga Hosers’ and ‘As You Are’ at Sundance

Before leaving Park City and the new acquaintances I met, the films I loved, and the experiences that will slowly fade in my memory, I attended Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women (10/10). Like my other hands-down-favorite at Sundance, Manchester By The…

Sundance And Me: ‘Little Men,’ ‘Lo And Behold,’ ‘Dazed And Confused’

Before I get to know someone, I am awkward, distant, and some might say pretentious. I’m constantly concerned with what others think of me. I try to impress rather than connect. Before embarking on a 20-hour trek with another Vancouver…

Genre Movies At Sundance: ‘The Lure,’ ’31,’ Under The Shadow’

There is a tendency among film critics, programmers, and academics to dismiss filmmakers who work within genres as entertainers, not accepting them as artists. Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Douglas Sirk, and other classical Hollywood directors have engraved within the fabric…

Sundance continues uphill climb to nowhere with ‘The Free World,’ ‘Wild’ and ‘Ali and Nino’

If you attend a lot of film festivals, one of the idiosyncratic and geeky pleasures is recognizing weird motifs that unintentionally connect very different films. This year’s Sundance appears to have a fascination with spiraling staircases and dead dogs —…

‘Belgica’ and ‘Other People’ are Disappointing Sundance Openers

Tucked away in a mountainside town that is located 40 minutes away from Salt Lake City, one of the world’s premiere film festivals provides a platform for A-list actors and undiscovered talent, some of the cinema’s greatest auteurs and first feature films…