My Favorites from Sundance

 I was lucky enough to be able to go back to in-person Sundance this year with some very dear people in my life. Maybe it was just the excitement of being back in single-degree weather, but this year felt like really something special. Here are my thoughts on my five favorite movies I saw at the festival. 

5. Shortcomings Dir. by Randall Park 

I went into this one pretty excited to see Randall Park behind the camera. I expected the sort of comedy that I’ve seen him perform in, but I certainly didn’t expect it to have the layers of maturity that this did. Justin H. Min and Ally Maki are real standouts here with an especially noteworthy fight scene near the end of the film. Only the second movie I’ve ever seen at Sundance get a standing ovation. This is one to watch for. 

4. Theater Camp Dir. by Molly Gordon & Nick Lieberman 

I truly believe Jimmy Tatro was created in a lab specifically to make me laugh. Every time he shows up on screen, I would just start chuckling. Without a doubt the funniest movie I’ve seen during the three years I’ve attended the festival. Fully stocked to the brim with theater references for those in the know, but it’s not enough to be alienating. Looking forward to when more people see this, as I think it has some streaming hit potential.

3. Going Varisty in Mariachi Dir. by Alejandro Vasquez & Sam Osborn 

Reminds me a lot of Wiseman’s documentary Highschool. Going to school is just as much about learning about the cultures and mores as it is about learning algebra. Edited with a very sharp hand, this thing is always barreling forward at top speed but never fast enough for you to forget about that these are 14-17 year olds trying their best to conserve an iota of themselves in their culture. To my knowledge, this hasn’t been bought by a distributor yet, but I am holding out hope as this one is a real treat. 

2. Lanscape with Invisible Hand Dir. by Cory Finley 

A truly novel concept for an alien invasion movie: What if aliens were union-busting Republicans? With two stellar central performances from Asante Black and Tiffany Haddish, the film really has a lot of heart to it even when it hits the goofiest moments possible. While the central throughline loses me sometimes, the ever-present family drama always kept my interest. and Lyle Vincent really crafted a very believable image of what Earth would look like under total economic control by a third party. 

1. Past Lives Dir. by Celine Song 

“I don’t know when you got taller” - “Garden Song” by Phoebe Bridgers

A truly emotionally devastating film that I, of course, love. Unbelievable that this is Celine Song’s directioral debut. She already shows such a master of the craft and form that I have no idea where she goes from here. Past Lives is expressly interested in the have-nots of someones life. All of those half-successes or half-failures in someones’ life makes them exactly who they are. There are too many scenes that stand out in my head for me to write about, but I beg anyone reading this to watch this as soon as they get a chance. I really believe it to be that special of a movie. 

This will be my first post of the new year. Happy 2023 everyone! Thank you to everyone who read some ramblings of mine the past year. It means a lot. Thanks for reading.