Sundance 2010 Preview: U.S. Dramatic Competition

Here’s where the Sundance faithful really sit up and pay attention. They might even turn their cellphones off in the screening room. It’s where Steven Soderbergh first came to prominence, where Kevin Smith transcended his obesity and where Quentin Tarantino revived the fortunes of Stealer’s Wheel. Can we expect similar breakouts this year? Well, the most common theme are misfits coming together and falling apart. So that’ll be Joseph Gordon-Levitt at rock bottom and a bereaved teenager, James Gandolfini trying to make Kristen Stewart the daughter he never had, and a librarian and a film projectionist heading out to Greed country. If most of these movies are playing it cool in scrutinizing togetherness, though, they boast some red-hot talent. Read on ..

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Click here to read our International Dramatic Competition Preview

Blue Valentine

Who’s in it? Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams
What happens? On the verge of splitting, a couple head to a theme hotel to spice up their marriage. The film cuts between the present and a past courtship, when the pair were filled with hope about the future.
Why we like it: Ryan Gosling earned our undying devotion with Half Nelson. Michelle Williams came into her own last year with Wendy & Lucy. Let’s see some fireworks!

Douchebag

Who’s in it? Andrew Dickler, Ben York Jones, Marguerite Moreau
I said, who’s in it? Well, you’re only going to know Dickler if you carefully scrutinize the Borat credits for the editing department. That’s what makes Sundance so AWESOME! Independent film, baby!
So what happens? When his estranged brother becomes obsessed with finding his fifth grade sweetheart, Sam Nussbaum (Dickler) agrees to ditch his upcoming wedding and tag along. The fractitious road trip allows everybody’s favorite d-bag meme to be explored in detail.
Why we like it: Because after watching all those Iraqi War documentaries, we’re going to need a few mumblecore-style titters.

Jesse Eisenberg Has Seen the Best Minds of His Generation Destroyed By Madness

When Allen Ginsberg is remembered, it’s as the chanting dervish at the center of many cultural events of the 1960s. As one of the original “Beat” artists, he represented a nexus of drugs and sexuality. He let some of his poetics rub off on Bob Dylan, faced down the Hell’s Angels at an anti-Vietnam War demonstration in 1965, and chanted at the 1968 DNC demonstrations in Chicago. But it wasn’t always thus. A famed campaigner for gay rights, Ginsberg for a while tried to mingle with the “straights” as a reporter for the World-Telegram with girlfriends and everything. As a poet, he struggled to escape the influence of his mentor William Carlos Williams before blossoming with “Howl,” one of the most famous poems of the 20th century.

Which is why the news that Jesse Eisenberg is to play the young Ginsberg in the horribly titled Kill Your Darlings is kinda intriguing. As the oldest son in Noah Baumbach‘s The Squid and the Whale, he created an indelible portrait of an awkward adolescent who, not unlike Ginsberg, wasn’t afraid to be off-putting. Eisenberg is poised to become the next Michael Cera with this spring’s Adventureland, but let’s not hold that against him. This could be some very exciting casting.

Trailerama: Adventureland

Even in Superbad, there were traces of the warmth that director Greg Mottola displayed on his acclaimed debut Daytrippers. He’s written and directed his latest film, which recalls an ’80s summer spent working for a disreputable amusement park. Expect something with a little more charm than raunch. (At least we don’t see Jonah Hill anywhere.) Soundtrack by Yo La Tengo. Due to screen at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.