The annual Sundance Film Festival takes place in Park City, Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Sundance Institute was founded by Robert Redford to “foster independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film.” Sundance provides grants, mentorship and an audience for emerging film-makers. This month, the founder is celebrated along with award winning films from the festival. Take a break from big budget Hollywood, and visit our DVD Display on the 2nd floor.
Deb recommends Three Days of the Condor.
This suspense film is about a bookish researcher (codename Condor) in an agency fronting for the CIA (unknown to him). He is caught up in a story of intrigue when he returns from lunch and finds all his coworkers murdered. Condor goes on the run to try to figure out what happened. A real nail biter.
Heather recommends: Whiplash, Fruitvale Station, Winter's Bone, The September Issue and Brick.
Brick is one of those films I can't get out of my head even though I only saw it once in the theater, almost a decade ago. It's a hard-boiled detective film set in a suburban high school with fantastic acting performances (vintage Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and a perfectly rendered mood -- it's the best kind of noir, with fast-talking dames, corruption, and plenty of witty repartee surrounding the murder at its center. This film won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Festival. Worth a watch, especially for fans of Dashiell Hammett.
Taryn recommends: Run, Lola, Run - A breathless but stunning take on time and space. It will leave you gasping!
And The Station Agent - The amazing Peter Dinklage stars in this heartwarming story of friendship.
Kevin recommends Quinceañera and Sex, Lies and Videotape.
Myles recommends: Capturing the Friedmans – Using home movies and interviews, this documentary profiles a family entangled in a child sexual abuse trial. What makes this film so unique is how much video footage the brothers captured before and during the trial. It is hard not to look away when this seemingly normal family starts to unravel. A winner of Grand Jury Prize Documentary in 2003, this is a must see for fans of either documentary filmmaking or true crime.
And Paris is Burning – An inspiring and heartbreaking look back at early days of competitive New York City ball culture. This film was shot throughout the 1980s and won Grand Jury Prize Documentary in 1991. It is worth the watch just to see performances by the late godfather of vogue, Willi Ninja.
