Sundance Film Festival 2008 Articles

Courtney Hunt's Frozen River, a thriller about two economically strapped women (Melissa Leo and Misty Upham, above) who turn to immigrant-smuggling at the US-Canada border, was chosen best American narrative feature at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. (In the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan calls Leo and Upham "magnificent," adding that Frozen River is a "powerful story that makes strong emotional connections.") Tia Lessin and [...]

2008 Sundance Film Festival Awards 2008 Sundance Film Festival: January 17-27, 2008 Sundance 2008 Winners   Grand Jury Prize Dramatic: FROZEN RIVER, directed by Courtney Hunt Grand Jury Prize Documentary: TROUBLE THE WATER, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal World Cinema Jury Prize Dramatic: KING OF PING PONG (PING PONGKINGEN) – Sweden, directed by Jens Jonsson World Cinema Jury Prize Documentary: MAN ON WIRE [...]

David M. Halbfinger in the New York Times: "After a weekend marked by too many downbeat dramas and comedies in name only, the Sundance Film Festival's flock of film buyers finally began taking in movies they could send to the multiplexes — and it was a religious experience. "As Monday night bled into Tuesday, Henry Poole Is Here, Mark Pellington's lighthearted tale [written by Alberto [...]

Variety's Justin Chang on The Great Buck Howard: "A smoothly turned-out entertainment centered around an Amazing Kreskin-style mentalist comes down with an unfortunate case of the warm-and-fuzzies in The Great Buck Howard. Behind-the-curtains comedy reps an amusing showcase for John Malkovich's diva-like theatrics in the title role, but writer-director Sean McGinly's decision to frame the story as a relationship movie, as Buck's impressionable young assistant [...]