I talked to an insider last night about Sundance 2013, and he shared some interesting things. Park Chan-Wook‘s Stoker is “probably more of a genre movie than anything else.” The word is “pretty good” on Ann Fontaine‘s Two Mothers, about moms (Naomi Watts, Robin Wright) having affairs with each other’s sons. “There are a lot of reasons to like” Richard Linklater‘s Before Midnight. [Wells interjection: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy‘s characters are in their early 40s and they’re still circling each other and wondering if they’re a good fit? Are they going to keeping doing this until their 50s or their 60s?]
David Gordon Green‘s Prince Avalanche is based on a 2011 film by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson called Either Way, which is “a tiny film…three characters…fairly slow and experimental.” There is apparent cause for caution with Joshua Michael Stern‘s jOBS, which has been given the festival’s closing-night slot, which can sometimes be interpreted as a sop. “Everyone seems to like” Joseph Gordon Levitt‘s Don Jon’s Addiction, which is “very good but all about pornography…and yet stylish and sweet rather than creepy.” Michael Winterbottom‘s The Look of Love “is all about Steve Coogan‘s performance” as British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. “It’ll put him in in play as a dramatic actor” in a film that is “playful but also serious.” (Or did he mean the performance is “playful but serious”?)
Word around the campfire is that Naomi Foner‘s Very Good Girls will “play best with a younger teen audience.” Jill Soloway‘s Afternoon Delight…”good. Hannah Fidell‘s The Teacher…”pretty good.” With Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell and Maya Rudolph costarring, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash‘s Way Way Back is obviously aiming for a big commercial sale.
The general, semi-informed view is that Sundance 2013 is looking like a mildly good one and perhaps even a tiny bit underwhelming. But nobody knows everything.