Sundance Film Festival — A–Z of films

Good-natured goofiness.

It is impossible not to be charmed.

If this is a true representation of what Russian reform schools can achieve, it is remarkable.

Like a succubus, Burstein simply attaches herself to the teens’ volatile emotions; it never seems to occur to her to pull back and examine a larger, more nuanced canvas.

Not long into this documentary, you begin to think in double punctuation marks, namely ?!

Ballast is absorbing because it bravely avoids dramatic cliches to deliver a more positive experience than might be expected.

The problem is, you are left wanting to know far more than Fedda tells you.

This is a very moving story, and I wish I could give the film more praise.

Oddball, endearing, and very, very funny.

The will they/won't they nature of the romance - as different in essence to your average Hollywood hug-in as chalk from chihuahuas - is beguiling for those who can cope without the usual romcom signposts.

Sawalha excels as the mouse who at least contemplates a roar as he tries to make a difference in the lives of his young audience.

Despite the busy plotwork, surprisingly little actually happens.

Though this is a funny, engaging film, I found myself asking how much of it is in good faith and how much is deliberate hyperbole for the camera.

What lifts Déjà Vu above the crowd is the raw emotion emanating from the musicians to audiences who are often shocked by the uncompromising nature of their stance.

Romero has started all over again as though his other films exist in some parallel universe. Just to prove anything a younger director can do, he can do better, the whole thing is shot cinema-vérité style.

As paper-thin friendships tear apart and allegiances ebb and flow, the body count climbs in a spirited and inventive fashion.

It's the bare faced pretension of the exercise that overwhelms.

Proficient entertainment that marks debut writer/director Wyatt out as a filmmaker to watch.

Fear(s) of the Dark is a collection of great animations, but while each of its chapters are great, the overall film doesn't gel brilliantly.

Haneke once again delivers intellectual, challenging and bravura filmmaking.

Highly recommended.

What this film shows, by visiting communities around the world, is that issues of pollution are often intrinsically linked to issues of ownership.

Although it is an actual river which divides the two countries, Hunt aims to explore societal divisions that run much deeper than that.

Gibney portrays the man’s excesses in a way that is not excessive and wisely lets the writing speak for itself.

Despite dealing with some very heavy issues Palka has a surprisingly light touch, levening the more bleak moments with some rich, dark comedy.

This comedic and profane tale of not-so-cold-blooded killers seems to be the fusion of two movies, a very funny buddy comedy and a ruthless gangster thriller.

Breathing life and spirit into the undead.

If a member of cast could save a film, Michelle Williams would be the person to hire, since her central performance in this muddle of a movie is the only thing that stops it being unwatchable.

This is a tiny film at just two minutes in length, but it's a lot of fun.

While some of the testimony, from the likes of Steve Earle and Mos Def is powerful, many of the parallels Francome and Evans attempt to draw feel slightly spurious and their conclusions lack sufficient back up.

Just as An Inconvenient Truth was able to reach a wide audience thanks to a strong message well presented, this film has the potential to do the same.

Benchetrit keeps a firm hand on the tiller, despite some of the film's more wild flights of fancy - including a perfectly pitched homage to silent film.

Beautifully shot and well acted.

What begins as an amusingly dysfunctional take on the coming-of-age drama... founders when the tone switches to something much darker.

Familiar situations are the order of the day. Chalk and cheese personalities are thrown together and must overcome some ordeal, which is normally an old flame.

This tale of elderly amour, centering on a Jewish New York author, is sweet enough.

The art direction is simultaneously gorgeous (beautiful lighting and well-crafted sets), yet lumpen, curved and ugly, as though exorcised from an exaggerated Expressionistic dream.

This little gem has a narrative structure that Hollywood movies seem to have forgotten how to employ - all the ingredients for a classic thriller are here.

There is both a warmth and a reserve to this film which, while covering serious ground, has a gentle humour running throughout.

My patience with the central character expired long before the film eventually dragged itself towards the end of its running time.

Problems that only seem like problems to folk under the age of 25 and the hint of forbidden sexual fruit are not enough to hold the interest.

Daniel Robin demonstrates how bare images can conceal all manner of secrets about the past and lessons for the future.

Sikumi is certainly stark, and yet there is room even in this cold, austere backdrop for the warmth of the human spirit.

This may well be the best avant-garde gay-zombie porn film I have ever seen – although, I admit, it is also the only avant-garde gay-zombie porn film I have ever seen.

Some sections of the film feel like a soapbox for her to stand on, to proselytize her personal politics; to bolster her image as a radical poet.

It's a brilliant piece, almost wasted in a cinema because it's only seen once.

Cox delivers the best onscreen monologue seen outside of a Shakespeare adaptation for years.

Always engrossing, at times decidedly uncomfortable viewing, Savage Grace is accomplished cinematic storytelling that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.

There is no justice in poverty and there is no justice here.

The unlikely phrase, 'a thermos full of warm oysters,' used to describe the supposedly attractive qualities of a feverish vagina, may just give rise to a whole new sexual fetish.

Made on a minuscule budget the feature took eight years to get from script to screen, one wonders how much more innovative it might have seemed back those eight years.

This is clever writing, smart filmmaking and excellent acting. It grasps your nerve endings and gives them a twist.

Anyone who believes there’s also a place in cinema for old-fashioned stuff like a good script, top-notch acting and the occasional attempt to ask (if not always answer) some of the Big Questions should make a bee-line.

A lesson in how to build atmosphere and wrong-foot an audience.

While Adams and Blunt scrabble for subtext and a depth that simply isn’t there, the movie congeals around them.

Energetic, immediate and defiantly hopeful.

One increasingly unlikely incident follows another, saddling the characters with exceptionally dumb behaviour and silly dialogue until the whole thing goes off the rails.

Something of a wasted opportunity, this is nevertheless a powerful reminder.

It may not be flashy but there are flashes of cleverness sparkling throughout.

If you are a fan, or enjoy new cinematic encounters, this is an intermittently awesome experience.

This film is not a hectoring polemic, rather a passionate plea for understanding and empathy.

Chang’s sensitive observational style allows the contrast between the unreality of the ship and the crushing hardship of the lives of Yu Shui’s family to develop naturally.

McCarthy’s script is spot-on, enchanting us with its characters and giving us food for thought with its wry comment on our world of immigrants and neighbour-strangers.

What really hold the attention in this playful comedy are the central perfomances.

The message is clear and the message is strong: How To Build A Fascist Movement works.

Whatever you think of Morgan Spurlock’s incisiveness when it comes to issues, there’s no denying that the man has style.

It’s the cinematic equivalent of Morris dancing: there’s lots going on, it’s entertaining enough – but you’re not entirely sure what the point is.

Never has old age seemed so young and alive.