Sundance: Don't Tell #MeToo This Babysitter's Dead

 by Jason Adams

Have you checked on a straight person today? I don't think the straights are doing okay, at least not judging by Babysitter, a Hashtag Me Too themed Quebecois comedy premiering this weekend at Sundance. Dubbed "screwball surrealism" by the filmmakers, which includes leading actress Monia Chokri (who you should recognize from her work with Xavier Dolan) in the director's chair, this movie plays like somebody stuffed a classic French farce into a blender, right down to the wee-wee maid's uniform. It is a lot, too much, and not enough all at once. Tres exhausting!

It all begins with a drunken boys night out at a boxing match. Or at least I think it does...

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Sundance: The quandaries of 'Framing Agnes'

by Cláudio Alves

In the running time discourse, I'm firmly in the pro-long films camp, believing that a short duration is in no way indicative of cinematic discipline. Even so, it's easy to understand where people like Nathaniel come from. Everyone has seen some messy movie and came out thinking it could have been stronger if a dozen or so minutes had stayed on the cutting room floor. That being said, the reverse can happen when a project has great potential but kneecaps itself by being too brief, unable to develop its ideas. Chase Joynt's Framing Agnes is one such effort, full of fascinating information and captivating thoughts, not to mention good intentions. Unfortunately, at 75 minutes, this documentary flies by without time to explore any of its ideas with adequate depth…

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Sundance Review: A Hostage Situation in ‘892’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Chris Witt.It’s probably not the best time to be premiering a drama involving a man walking into a building and taking hostages in the wake of what happened at a Texas synagogue last weekend. There are certainly important differences between the two situations which don’t need to be discussed here, but it’s worth noting that this film may be highly triggering for some at this present moment and, if that’s the case, shouldn’t be screened. But for those who think they can handle this content,  Abi Damaris Corbin's 892 is a well-constructed film with quality performances…

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Tweetweek

Two truths

every single movie at sundance really do be like: pic.twitter.com/YAOaKHLcfP

— the morally corrupt juan barquin (@woahitsjuanito) January 23, 2022

Emma Thompson hasn't had an Oscar nom in over 25 years, and I think we as a society deserve every bad thing that's come to us.

— Robert Daniels @ Sundance aka Marya's apartment (@812filmreviews) January 23, 2022

More after the jump...

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Punditry Madness! Team Experience joins in...

So dear readers, I've been having meetings with the team and they all wanted to join in on the Oscar prediction fun. So before the traditional charts on the Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, and Best International Feature Film pages you can see what each participating team member is predicting. It's fascinating to note the variety of opinions despite the fact that we're now late in the season. 

BEST PICTURE / BEST DIRECTOR
Though Power of the Dog is leading with 11/13 #1 placements (and all #1 placements in Best Director), there are still Belfast holdouts. Ben & Chris think Branagh's personal passion project still has some Oscar oomph in it...

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