Chris Knipp
01-24-2017, 12:58 PM
SUNDANCE 2017.
Park City Utah, January 19-29.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/pplo.jpg (https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/competition-and-next-films-announced-for-2017-festival)
See Sundance's website with festival lineup here (https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/competition-and-next-films-announced-for-2017-festival).
The big not so new anymore but still very important American film festival of early in the year (the European one is the Berlinale in February). Much snow this year, but plenty of new movies, some small and independent, some featuring bigger stars who once were small ones. Purchases are taking place earleir this year to avoid expensive late stage bidding wars (in such costly battles late in the game at Sundance last year Birth of a Nation, which didn't do so well in the end, was bought for $17 million, and Manchester by the Sea, which did, for $10 million). Here is a rundown on fifteen Sundance 2017 titles that debuted at Park City this year. I will annotate and expand this page as warranted or time permits.
78/52
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe
Exhibit A Pictures
The Psycho shower sequence is one of the most famous and iconic scary moments in cinematic history. Alexandre O. Philippe has made an entire documentary to dissect and analyze this passage - which was filmed in 78 setups with 52 cuts, hence the title. The film includes talking heads from horror buffs, critics, and filmmakers including Guillermo del Toro, Karyn Kusama, Bret Easton Ellis, Eli Roth, Walter Murch, Danny Elfman, Elijah Wood, and Peter Bogdanovich. A must for film buffs with an interest in Hitchcock and the art of montage as well as in the film-geek cult surrounding the movie and this scene. Owen Gleiberman of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/7852-review-psycho-1201966555/) calls this film "hypnotic" and predicts "a healthy specialty-market run" for it.
The Big Sick
Directed by Michael Showalter
A real life couple, Kamil Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, devote a film to describing their relationship. Emily contracted serious illness shortly after they became involved with each other, coloring their relationship thereafter and changing the film from light comedy into something deeper. The couple wrote the film, Michael Showalter of The State, Wet Hot American Summer, and Hello, My Name Is Doris directed and Judd Apatow produced. Geoff Berkshire of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-big-sick-review-sundance-kumail-nanjiani-1201965554/) says Showalter here "has not only delivered his best work yet but reintroduced himself as a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on".
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/BD.jpg
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET AND ARNIE HAMMER IN CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Call Me By Your Name
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Not so much an American film, obviously. Guadagnino is the Palermo-born director known for the lush extravagances of two previous films distributed in this country, the Italian-language I Am Love/Io sono l'amore (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2857-I-AM-LOVE-(Luca-Guadagnino-2009)&p=24523#post24523) (which I had doubts about but was impressed by) and the English-language A Bigger Splash (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4146-NEW-YORK-MOVIE-JOURNAL-(May-2016)&p=34688#post34688) (which I just didn't like, and made me say his films were "annoyingly overwrought"). Here, sticking mostly with English again, but in a more personal film, he works from a screenplay cowritten with James Ivory based on André Aciman's coming-of-age and coming-out novel, an unexpected romance between an adolescent boy and a hunky twenty-something summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. This is being described as a gay story with universal appeal, and every review is glowing. The young innocent is played by Timothée Chalamet, whose dad is French, mom American, and who was a finalist for the new Spider-Man but lost out to Tom Holland. Arnie Hammer (the hunky guest), Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar are featured in adult roles. In the Premieres section at Sundance 2017. Already bought by Sony Pictures Classics. Peter Debruge in Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/call-me-by-your-name-review-1201966646/) says this is on "a par with the best work of Pedro Amodóvar and François Ozon."
The Discovery
Directed by Charlie McDowell
The director, son of Malcolm and Mary Steenburgen, previously made the 2014 sci-fi film The One I Love. This is another one, co-scripted with Justin Lader and set in a world where the afterlife has scientifically been proven to exist and be nice, so millions are offing themselves to get right to it. Rooney Mara and Jason Segel play two people who go to the afterlife island. Robert Redford (aha!) is the scientist who proved it all.Todd McCarthy in his Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/discovery-review-966857) review calls this "intriguing bbut unsatisfying" due to unresolved issues that come up in the second half. Already bought by Netflix for release later in 2017.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/agh.jpg
ROONEY MARA IN A GHOST STORY
A Ghost Story
Directed by David Lowery
David Lowery went blockbuster with Disney's Pete's Dragon remake, but is back with his dreamy, hard to follow Ain't \Them Bodies Saints (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3587-AIN-T-THEM-BODIES-SAINTS-%28David-Lowery-2013%29) stars Rooney Mara (again) and Casey Affleck (who've both grown larger in the public eye than at the time of earlier Sundance appearances) for an A24-bought tale where Affleck returns as a ghost to surveil his grieving lover. Jordan Hoffman gives this 4/5 stars in his GUARDIAN coverage (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/23/a-ghost-story-review-casey-affleck-david-lowery-rooney-mara), though his description makes it a little hard to see why. A.A. Dowd of AV Club (http://www.avclub.com/article/casey-affleck-and-rooney-mara-reunite-amazing-sund-248922) also gave it high marks and makes clearer what's unique and interesting - and different from Lowery's previous film - about this new one. Dowd says he breaks away more from the influence of Terrence Malick and has made a " big creative leap" this time.
Golden Exits
Directed by Alex Ross Perry
The director of the satisfyingly acerbic Listen Up Philip (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3800-New-York-Film-Festival-2014&p=32832#post32832) (NYFF 2014)[/URL] and the less successful Queen of Earth makes a dysfunctional family film about two Brooklyn families thrown for a loop by the visit of a young Australian girl. Jason Schwartzman is back with Emily Browning, Chloë Sevigny, Adam Horovitz, Mary Louise-Parker, and Lily Rabe. But AV Club's (http://www.avclub.com/article/casey-affleck-and-rooney-mara-reunite-amazing-sund-248922) Sundance correspondent A.A. Dowd calls this "a bizarre, clumsy misstep."
I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore
Directed by Macon Blair
Blair played the vengeful protagonist of Jeremy Saulnier's gritty, intense second feature Blue Ruin (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3735-BLUE-RUIN-(Jeremy-Saulnier-2013)&p=32295#post32295) (reviewed here earlier). He makes his directorial debut in one of Sundance's opening night films, a dark comedy starring Sundance regular Melanie Lynskey as a depressed nursing assistant who goes out seeking thieves who broke into her house and stole her laptop. Elijah Wood plays an oddball neighbor. In his glowing review, Peter Debruge of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-review-1201964507/) calls this " the sort of fresh indie voice people come to Sundance to discover."
Landline
Directed by Gillian Robespierre
The team behind the upbeat abortion comedy Obvious Child (ND/NF 2014) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3686-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2014/page3) writer/director Gillian Robespierre, cast member Jenny Slate) rejoin for a comedy set in Nineties NYC about failing relationships and secret loves. Cast: John Turturro, Edie Falco, and Jay Duplass, plus Robespierre and Slate, featured in the director's previous film. Owen Gleiberman in Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/landline-review-jenny-slate-1201965047/) explains how this film justifies its focus on a period just before cell phones and the Internet changed everything and says she's moving up the ranks of directors like Lisa Cholodenko, Ira Sachs, Nicole Holefcener, or Craig Johnson, who excel at "anthropological ensemble comedy" but is still "a little wobbly and rambling" so not quite there yet.
Manifesto
Directed by Julian Rosefeldt
A movie in which Cate Blanceett plays thirteen roles including readings of “the most influential and emotional artist manifestos in history” wit a housewife, factory worker, and TV anchor. Note: this isn't a new film. A Dec. 2015 GUARDIAN (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/dec/09/julian-rosefeldts-manifesto-review-13-cate-blanchetts-in-search-of-a-meaning) review of its debut in Australia, where it was presented as a multi-channel video work, gives it 4/5 stars though.
Marjorie Prime
Directed by Michael Almereyda
Lois Smith plays an older woman with Jon Hamm as a holographic younger version of her deceased husband in this sci-fi film; Almereyda's biopic Experimenter premiered in Sundance 2014. Variety calls this "intelligent but airless, but Hollywood Reporter says it's a "rare recent stage-to-screen adaptation that actually improves on the source."
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/oo9.jpg
STILL FROM MUDBOUND
Mudbound
Directed by Dee Rees
Rees made Pariah, (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3032-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2011&p=25908#post25908) portrait of a young black lesbian (ND/NF 2011) and directed Bessie for HBO. Now she presents a drama of post WWWII South where two rural Mississippi families are shocked when two returning soldiers, one white the other black, become friends on returning from the war. Cast includes Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks, and Jason Mitchell of Straight Outta Compton. Also exciting: Mudbound was shot by Dope and Fruitvale Station cinematographer Rachel Morrison, and promises a stunning look.
The Polka King
Directed by Maya Forbes
Husband and wife writing team Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky are a comedy combo: Forbes worked on The Larry Sanders Show; Wolodarsky was a mind behind "The Simpsons" at its peak. Both worked on Monsters vs. Aliens and The People vs. O.J. Simpson. This collaboration features Jack Black in a biopic about Jreal life person an Lewan, "King of Pennsylvania Polka" who was also, unfortunately behind a Ponzi scheme. Jordan HOffman in the GUARDIAN (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/23/jack-black-polka-jason-schwartzman-sundance-film-festival) gives this only 3/5 stars but says Jack Black "shines" and calls this a "weirdly enjoyable film about terrible deeds." Features Jason Schwartzman playing the clarinet, which may sound fun. It sounds similar in a way to Jack Black's role as an amiable murderer, Richard Linklater's Bernie.
Whose Streets?
Directed by Sabaah Folayan
A very political documentary lineup this year at Sundance includes films on Syria, a Kalief Browder docuseries, and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel. In Whose Streets? Brooklyn filmmaker Sabaah Folayan travels to Ferguson, Missouri for the uprising following the 2014 police killing of Micchal Brown and talks to residents, organizers, and activists to get their various perspectives on events. Dennis Harvey of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/whose-streets-sundance-film-review-1201964636/) calls this" a pulse-taking of one community’s response — variably constructive, occasionally chaotic — to perceived institutionalized abuse by law enforcement."
Wilson
Directed by Craig Johnson
Based on a 2010 graphic novel by cartoonist Daniel Clowes, whose Art School Confidential (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=606) debuted at Sundance a decade ago. His cartoon autobiography was the basis for Terry Zwigoff's terrific Ghost World in 2001. Johnson previously made the Sundance-debuted dramedy The Skeleton Twins, a feel-bad comedy featuring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Wilson , for which R-rated trailers are already showing in theaters, is a sure thing starring Woody Harrelson as the title character, a "misanthropic dog lover" gets another chance at happiness. This concerns a man offensive to everybody (Harrelson) who seeks out his wife when he discovers he has a grown daughter by her whom she put up for adoption long ago. Jordan Hoffman of GUARDIAN (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/24/wilson-review-woody-harrelson-and-laura-dern-in-mostly-charmless-adaptation)calls this a "charmless adaptation" and gives it a horrible 2 our of 5 stars. TRAILER. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2nSI6jx36E)
Wind River
Directed by Taylor Sheridan
Actor-turned-screenwriter Sheridan is the writer behind Sicario and Hell or High Water, very different films, both successes. We'll see if he does as well playing both writer and director simultaneously in this new film, involving the manhunt for a killer on the Wind River Indian Res by a Fish & Wildlife agent and FBI rookie, with a cast that includes Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, and Jon Bernthal. The story involves a Fish & Wildlife agent and an FBI rookie searching for a killer on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Park City Utah, January 19-29.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/pplo.jpg (https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/competition-and-next-films-announced-for-2017-festival)
See Sundance's website with festival lineup here (https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/competition-and-next-films-announced-for-2017-festival).
The big not so new anymore but still very important American film festival of early in the year (the European one is the Berlinale in February). Much snow this year, but plenty of new movies, some small and independent, some featuring bigger stars who once were small ones. Purchases are taking place earleir this year to avoid expensive late stage bidding wars (in such costly battles late in the game at Sundance last year Birth of a Nation, which didn't do so well in the end, was bought for $17 million, and Manchester by the Sea, which did, for $10 million). Here is a rundown on fifteen Sundance 2017 titles that debuted at Park City this year. I will annotate and expand this page as warranted or time permits.
78/52
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe
Exhibit A Pictures
The Psycho shower sequence is one of the most famous and iconic scary moments in cinematic history. Alexandre O. Philippe has made an entire documentary to dissect and analyze this passage - which was filmed in 78 setups with 52 cuts, hence the title. The film includes talking heads from horror buffs, critics, and filmmakers including Guillermo del Toro, Karyn Kusama, Bret Easton Ellis, Eli Roth, Walter Murch, Danny Elfman, Elijah Wood, and Peter Bogdanovich. A must for film buffs with an interest in Hitchcock and the art of montage as well as in the film-geek cult surrounding the movie and this scene. Owen Gleiberman of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/7852-review-psycho-1201966555/) calls this film "hypnotic" and predicts "a healthy specialty-market run" for it.
The Big Sick
Directed by Michael Showalter
A real life couple, Kamil Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, devote a film to describing their relationship. Emily contracted serious illness shortly after they became involved with each other, coloring their relationship thereafter and changing the film from light comedy into something deeper. The couple wrote the film, Michael Showalter of The State, Wet Hot American Summer, and Hello, My Name Is Doris directed and Judd Apatow produced. Geoff Berkshire of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-big-sick-review-sundance-kumail-nanjiani-1201965554/) says Showalter here "has not only delivered his best work yet but reintroduced himself as a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on".
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/BD.jpg
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET AND ARNIE HAMMER IN CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Call Me By Your Name
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Not so much an American film, obviously. Guadagnino is the Palermo-born director known for the lush extravagances of two previous films distributed in this country, the Italian-language I Am Love/Io sono l'amore (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2857-I-AM-LOVE-(Luca-Guadagnino-2009)&p=24523#post24523) (which I had doubts about but was impressed by) and the English-language A Bigger Splash (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4146-NEW-YORK-MOVIE-JOURNAL-(May-2016)&p=34688#post34688) (which I just didn't like, and made me say his films were "annoyingly overwrought"). Here, sticking mostly with English again, but in a more personal film, he works from a screenplay cowritten with James Ivory based on André Aciman's coming-of-age and coming-out novel, an unexpected romance between an adolescent boy and a hunky twenty-something summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. This is being described as a gay story with universal appeal, and every review is glowing. The young innocent is played by Timothée Chalamet, whose dad is French, mom American, and who was a finalist for the new Spider-Man but lost out to Tom Holland. Arnie Hammer (the hunky guest), Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar are featured in adult roles. In the Premieres section at Sundance 2017. Already bought by Sony Pictures Classics. Peter Debruge in Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/call-me-by-your-name-review-1201966646/) says this is on "a par with the best work of Pedro Amodóvar and François Ozon."
The Discovery
Directed by Charlie McDowell
The director, son of Malcolm and Mary Steenburgen, previously made the 2014 sci-fi film The One I Love. This is another one, co-scripted with Justin Lader and set in a world where the afterlife has scientifically been proven to exist and be nice, so millions are offing themselves to get right to it. Rooney Mara and Jason Segel play two people who go to the afterlife island. Robert Redford (aha!) is the scientist who proved it all.Todd McCarthy in his Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/discovery-review-966857) review calls this "intriguing bbut unsatisfying" due to unresolved issues that come up in the second half. Already bought by Netflix for release later in 2017.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/agh.jpg
ROONEY MARA IN A GHOST STORY
A Ghost Story
Directed by David Lowery
David Lowery went blockbuster with Disney's Pete's Dragon remake, but is back with his dreamy, hard to follow Ain't \Them Bodies Saints (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3587-AIN-T-THEM-BODIES-SAINTS-%28David-Lowery-2013%29) stars Rooney Mara (again) and Casey Affleck (who've both grown larger in the public eye than at the time of earlier Sundance appearances) for an A24-bought tale where Affleck returns as a ghost to surveil his grieving lover. Jordan Hoffman gives this 4/5 stars in his GUARDIAN coverage (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/23/a-ghost-story-review-casey-affleck-david-lowery-rooney-mara), though his description makes it a little hard to see why. A.A. Dowd of AV Club (http://www.avclub.com/article/casey-affleck-and-rooney-mara-reunite-amazing-sund-248922) also gave it high marks and makes clearer what's unique and interesting - and different from Lowery's previous film - about this new one. Dowd says he breaks away more from the influence of Terrence Malick and has made a " big creative leap" this time.
Golden Exits
Directed by Alex Ross Perry
The director of the satisfyingly acerbic Listen Up Philip (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3800-New-York-Film-Festival-2014&p=32832#post32832) (NYFF 2014)[/URL] and the less successful Queen of Earth makes a dysfunctional family film about two Brooklyn families thrown for a loop by the visit of a young Australian girl. Jason Schwartzman is back with Emily Browning, Chloë Sevigny, Adam Horovitz, Mary Louise-Parker, and Lily Rabe. But AV Club's (http://www.avclub.com/article/casey-affleck-and-rooney-mara-reunite-amazing-sund-248922) Sundance correspondent A.A. Dowd calls this "a bizarre, clumsy misstep."
I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore
Directed by Macon Blair
Blair played the vengeful protagonist of Jeremy Saulnier's gritty, intense second feature Blue Ruin (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3735-BLUE-RUIN-(Jeremy-Saulnier-2013)&p=32295#post32295) (reviewed here earlier). He makes his directorial debut in one of Sundance's opening night films, a dark comedy starring Sundance regular Melanie Lynskey as a depressed nursing assistant who goes out seeking thieves who broke into her house and stole her laptop. Elijah Wood plays an oddball neighbor. In his glowing review, Peter Debruge of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-review-1201964507/) calls this " the sort of fresh indie voice people come to Sundance to discover."
Landline
Directed by Gillian Robespierre
The team behind the upbeat abortion comedy Obvious Child (ND/NF 2014) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3686-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2014/page3) writer/director Gillian Robespierre, cast member Jenny Slate) rejoin for a comedy set in Nineties NYC about failing relationships and secret loves. Cast: John Turturro, Edie Falco, and Jay Duplass, plus Robespierre and Slate, featured in the director's previous film. Owen Gleiberman in Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/landline-review-jenny-slate-1201965047/) explains how this film justifies its focus on a period just before cell phones and the Internet changed everything and says she's moving up the ranks of directors like Lisa Cholodenko, Ira Sachs, Nicole Holefcener, or Craig Johnson, who excel at "anthropological ensemble comedy" but is still "a little wobbly and rambling" so not quite there yet.
Manifesto
Directed by Julian Rosefeldt
A movie in which Cate Blanceett plays thirteen roles including readings of “the most influential and emotional artist manifestos in history” wit a housewife, factory worker, and TV anchor. Note: this isn't a new film. A Dec. 2015 GUARDIAN (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/dec/09/julian-rosefeldts-manifesto-review-13-cate-blanchetts-in-search-of-a-meaning) review of its debut in Australia, where it was presented as a multi-channel video work, gives it 4/5 stars though.
Marjorie Prime
Directed by Michael Almereyda
Lois Smith plays an older woman with Jon Hamm as a holographic younger version of her deceased husband in this sci-fi film; Almereyda's biopic Experimenter premiered in Sundance 2014. Variety calls this "intelligent but airless, but Hollywood Reporter says it's a "rare recent stage-to-screen adaptation that actually improves on the source."
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/oo9.jpg
STILL FROM MUDBOUND
Mudbound
Directed by Dee Rees
Rees made Pariah, (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3032-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2011&p=25908#post25908) portrait of a young black lesbian (ND/NF 2011) and directed Bessie for HBO. Now she presents a drama of post WWWII South where two rural Mississippi families are shocked when two returning soldiers, one white the other black, become friends on returning from the war. Cast includes Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks, and Jason Mitchell of Straight Outta Compton. Also exciting: Mudbound was shot by Dope and Fruitvale Station cinematographer Rachel Morrison, and promises a stunning look.
The Polka King
Directed by Maya Forbes
Husband and wife writing team Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky are a comedy combo: Forbes worked on The Larry Sanders Show; Wolodarsky was a mind behind "The Simpsons" at its peak. Both worked on Monsters vs. Aliens and The People vs. O.J. Simpson. This collaboration features Jack Black in a biopic about Jreal life person an Lewan, "King of Pennsylvania Polka" who was also, unfortunately behind a Ponzi scheme. Jordan HOffman in the GUARDIAN (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/23/jack-black-polka-jason-schwartzman-sundance-film-festival) gives this only 3/5 stars but says Jack Black "shines" and calls this a "weirdly enjoyable film about terrible deeds." Features Jason Schwartzman playing the clarinet, which may sound fun. It sounds similar in a way to Jack Black's role as an amiable murderer, Richard Linklater's Bernie.
Whose Streets?
Directed by Sabaah Folayan
A very political documentary lineup this year at Sundance includes films on Syria, a Kalief Browder docuseries, and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel. In Whose Streets? Brooklyn filmmaker Sabaah Folayan travels to Ferguson, Missouri for the uprising following the 2014 police killing of Micchal Brown and talks to residents, organizers, and activists to get their various perspectives on events. Dennis Harvey of Variety (http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/whose-streets-sundance-film-review-1201964636/) calls this" a pulse-taking of one community’s response — variably constructive, occasionally chaotic — to perceived institutionalized abuse by law enforcement."
Wilson
Directed by Craig Johnson
Based on a 2010 graphic novel by cartoonist Daniel Clowes, whose Art School Confidential (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=606) debuted at Sundance a decade ago. His cartoon autobiography was the basis for Terry Zwigoff's terrific Ghost World in 2001. Johnson previously made the Sundance-debuted dramedy The Skeleton Twins, a feel-bad comedy featuring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Wilson , for which R-rated trailers are already showing in theaters, is a sure thing starring Woody Harrelson as the title character, a "misanthropic dog lover" gets another chance at happiness. This concerns a man offensive to everybody (Harrelson) who seeks out his wife when he discovers he has a grown daughter by her whom she put up for adoption long ago. Jordan Hoffman of GUARDIAN (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/24/wilson-review-woody-harrelson-and-laura-dern-in-mostly-charmless-adaptation)calls this a "charmless adaptation" and gives it a horrible 2 our of 5 stars. TRAILER. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2nSI6jx36E)
Wind River
Directed by Taylor Sheridan
Actor-turned-screenwriter Sheridan is the writer behind Sicario and Hell or High Water, very different films, both successes. We'll see if he does as well playing both writer and director simultaneously in this new film, involving the manhunt for a killer on the Wind River Indian Res by a Fish & Wildlife agent and FBI rookie, with a cast that includes Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, and Jon Bernthal. The story involves a Fish & Wildlife agent and an FBI rookie searching for a killer on the Wind River Indian Reservation.