Reporter's Notebook: Sundance Turns to Slowdance...At Least Ryan Reynolds Rocks

Many Hollywood power players leave after premiere of big buzz films, but there's still plenty good to see

By Josh Grossberg Jan 28, 2010 9:30 PMTags
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Boring.

We're not sure if this is what new fest director John Cooper meant when he talked about Sundance going back to its roots, but the 2010 edition has just become almost as deserted as those pre-Hollywood feeding-frenzy days of yore.

Seems like the star power vacated Park City after the ballyhooed premieres of Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart's The Runaways, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling's Blue Valentine and Ryan Reynolds' Buried.

But while we suffer through fewer celeb-packed afterparties and shuttered gifting suites—the horror!—at least the movies are still good. Here's a couple of our faves...

INSTA-REVIEWS:

  • Buried: Ryan Reynolds stars in a thrilling one-man show as a contract driver in Iraq who winds up attacked by insurgents and buried alive in a coffin with little more than a Zippo, a cell phone and no clue as to how he got there. Despite the gimmicky setup, this claustrophobic creepfest never bores. B+
  • Nowhere Boy: This affecting coming-of-age drama follows a directionless teenage John Lennon (perfectly cast newcomer Aaron Johnson) trying to reconnect with his estranged mum while rebelling against the aunt who raised him (Kristin Scott Thomas in fine form) and finding an outlet in music with The Quarrymen. B+

DEALS: Lionsgate has snagged Buried for a reported $3.5 million. Hesher, starring Sundance mainstay Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a loner anarchist who helps a grieving family, was picked up by Newmarket for about $1 million. And festival-closer Twelve, Joel Schumacher's film about a group of fast-living, well-heeled NYC teens (Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin), was purchased by Hanover House for $2 million ahead of its world premiere on Friday.

SIGHTINGS: Elton John taking in the North American premiere of Nowhere Boy; Watchmen and Couples Retreat star Malkin Ackerman all over town promoting her two movies, HappyThankYouMorePlease and The Romantics (costarring Katie Holmes)—and genuinely happy to be here.

BUZZWORTHY: Holy Rollers—about a Hasidic Jew (Jesse Eisenberg) torn between his faith and his burgeoning ecstasy-smuggling business—is being talked up as a potential winner in the dramatic competition. In the fest's Next slate, showcasing super-low-budget flicks, the quirkfest Bass Ackwards (about a man who drives a '76 VW van across America) and The Taqwacores (which delves into the hardcore Muslim punk-rock scene, we kid you not) are both emerging as favorites. 

AWARDS: Sundance Shorts winners were announced Thursday. Drunk History: Douglass & Lincoln scored the Jury Prize in U.S. Short Filmmaking, while Six Dollar Fifty Man won the Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking.

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­­­­­­­­­Feel like a festival insider and check out the 25 Buzz Films gallery! And don't forget our Sundance 2010: Star Sightings gallery.