Thursday marks the opening of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, which means a whole new crop of indie films will enter the marketplace hoping to eventually buzz their way to the big screen and then maybe (if they’re good enough) land a spot amongst next year’s Oscar nominees. Last year’s Sundance Film Festival produced 2010 awards favorites like Blue Valentine, Winter’s Bone, Exit Through the Gift Shop and The Kids Are All Right, so at the very least we expect a solid crop of new recruits to enter the playing field later this week.
For those at home who aren’t familiar with the big, buzz-worthy films screening this year, here are ten that folks are talking about the most.
Red State
The Buzz: Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) returns to Sundance with a horror film about three kids who find themselves mixed up in a religious cult while out hunting for a little tail. Definitely a departure for Smith, who’s stuck mainly to comedies throughout his career, word is the director will be auctioning off the distribution rights to the highest bidder following the film’s premiere on Sunday night.
My Idiot Brother
The Buzz: Paul Rudd plays a free-spirited hippie who turns to his three sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer) for guidance after losing his dog, Willie Nelson.
Cedar RapidsThe Buzz: Ed Helms (The Office) stars as a boring insurance salesman whose life gets turned upside down when he’s introduced to the hard partying mayhem on display at an insurance salesman’s convention.
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
The Buzz: Morgan Spurlock’s (Super Size Me) latest documentary takes a look at the lucrative world of marketing and product placement. Oh what, you thought that movie character just had a ''thing'' for Diet Pepsi? Ha, think again.
The Buzz: Morgan Spurlock’s (Super Size Me) latest documentary takes a look at the lucrative world of marketing and product placement. Oh what, you thought that movie character just had a ''thing'' for Diet Pepsi? Ha, think again.
Homework
The Buzz: Freddy Highmore and Emma Watson star in this angsty high school flick about a dude who never completed an assignment throughout all four years of school, and the unlikely friendship he forges with one of the school’s most popular girls.
Margin Call
The Buzz: Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons lead this all-star cast (including Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore and Stanley Tucci), which follows a day in the life of a brokerage firm during the 2008 financial crisis.
The Son of No One
The Buzz: This year’s closing night film stars Channing Tatum as a young cop who begins work at a precinct in a blue-collar neighborhood, and begins to uncover secrets that may ruin his career. Al Pacino and Katie Holmes also star.
Silent House
The Buzz: Remember the movie Open Water? Well that filmmaking duo (Chris Kentis and Laura Lau) is back with this ghost story that’s told through one continuous shot.
Hobo with a ShotgunThe Buzz: Rutger Hauer plays a hobo with a shotgun who plays by his own rules. Need we say more?
Terri
The Buzz: John C. Reilly plays the vice principal of a school who decides to take one of his struggling-to-fit-in students under his wing, and in the process the two learn more from each other than they ever expected.
Which of these 10 films looks the most appealing to you?
