These are the big guns, people. Get ready. Last week I gave you the rundown on some of the most interesting-looking picks from the first wave of Sundance announcements, encompassing the festival’s drama and documentary categories. They just announced the entries for the festival’s premieres – these are the big deals, the movies that are most likely to set off bidding wars among studios. Let’s break down the most interesting.
Lovelace
Sundance Film Festival
This biopic of Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace has been ready to go for a while – we shared the poster back in May – but it’s finally going to screen at Sundance. Amanda Seyfried stars as Linda, who basically kicked off the porno revolution of the 70s with one unforgettable performance and then sank into a nightmare of depravity. Should be good, sleazy fun.
The Look Of Love
Sundance Film Festival
The other film about porno premiering at Sundance this year, British entry The Look Of Love tells the true tale of Paul Raymond, the man who dominated the English softcore magazine scene in the late 60s. Raymond was a truly fascinating figure who became a millionaire through judicious nudity, and awesome actor Steve Coogan plays him in the biopic, so this one should be good.
Stoker
Sundance Film Festival
One of the films I’m most excited for at the festival, Korean mastermind Park Chan-Wook’s English debut looks to be as scary as the dickens. When a young girl’s father dies in an accident, her charismatic but untrustworthy uncle moves in and kicks off a spiral of obsession and deceit. This is the guy who made Oldboy, so you know he knows how to get an audience where he wants them. Watch the trailer here.
Don Jon’s Addiction
Joseph Gordon-Levitt may or may not be the next Batman, but that isn’t keeping him in the cave. He’s actually making his directorial debut with Don Jon’s Addiction, a comedy about a New Jersey porn addict who tries to turn his idiotic life around.
Before Midnight
Sundance Film Festival
Director Richard Linklater returns to the Ethan Hawke / Julie Delpy well with Before Midnight, the third film in his series about Jesse and Celine. This new one takes place nine years after 2004′s Before Sunset (so, in real time), and puts our leads in Greece, reconnecting and probably bringing their story to a close. These movies are perfect date flicks, so be ready for it.
Top Of The Lake
Sundance Film Festival
This one isn’t for the weak of heart, but it sounds pretty amazing. Directed by Jane Campion and Garth Davis, Top Of The Lake starts out with a pre-teen girl standing in a frozen lake, five months pregnant. And then it gets really weird. Unlike some of the other films on this list, Top Of The Lake will only screen once at the festival… because it’s six hours long. Stars Mad Men‘s Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter.
jOBS
Sundance Film Festival
Yes, that is the name of the Ashton Kutcher-starring Steve Jobs biopic. I can’t think of a movie I’d like to see less, personally, unless it’s hones about how much of a tremendous douchebag Steve Jobs was. Which it might be, because Ashton Kutcher can only play douchebags. jOBS director Joshua Michael Stern’s last picture was the 2008 Kevin Costner vehicle Swing Vote (not exactly something that inspires confidence), but it was still chosen to be the festival’s closing film (a very prestigious spot). Maybe it’s to get all of Hollywood’s annoying Mac evangelists in one place so we can Inglourious Basterds the theater.