Now that the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival has come to a close, it's time for me to let you know which films you'll probably wanna keep an eye out for down the line. Not all of these have distribution deals, but based on the buzz dripping off their festival premieres, there's a very good chance you'll see more of them at some point in 2010.
One Liner: A comic adaptation about an ordinary geek who decides to become a superhero and fight crime…minus any kind of superpowers.
Review Quote: "KICK ASS does. At its most elemental level, it's tremendously exciting to see a superhero flick that embraces unadulterated bloodshed and violence while promoting the idea that deranged destruction can happily co-exist with responsible hero-hood." -- Twitch
One Liner: Based on the popular Saturday Night Live sketch, Will Forte stars as a MacGuyver-like ex-special operative who's called back into action to help defeat his arch-nemesis, Dieter Von Cunth (played by Val Kilmer).
Review Quote: "The best gags are the most repeated (check out MacGruber's rocking car stereo system) and the perfectly eighties soundtrack (which tracks like a best-of compilation of songs overused in actual eighties movies – hello, Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings"). " –
The People vs. George Lucas
One Liner: A very fair and balanced documentary about the positive and negative impact Star Wars – not to mention George Lucas' many changes and sequels – have had on us all throughout the years.
Review Quote: "That deep-seated love and respect for the man who dreamed up Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and the rest of the Star Wars universe beats at the heart of the movie. If Lucas' films weren't so important to so many millions of people, there would be no backlash to the director's endless tweaks and questionable creative decisions over the years." -- Wired
One Liner: In a future where alien monsters have taken over parts of South America, one reporter must escort his boss' daughter through an "infected zone" and across the border without being harmed by…ya know, awww.fandango.com/GlobalSearch.aspxny monsters.
Review Quote: "The story might be small-scale, but the world of Monsters surely is not. It's a more cohesive and fascinating alternate reality than most large budget Hollywood sci-fi films manage to pull off, a feat made all the more impressive when one realizes that Edwards was the writer, director, cinematographer and sole visual effects artist." – SciFi Squad
One Liner: From the director behind the fan-favorite Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) comes this new whimsical crime caper about a ragtag group of morons who attempt to pull off an Ocean's 11-type revenge scheme against two filthy rich weapons makers.
Review Quote: "Micmacs is truly cinema-specific. The experience of seeing it cannot be paralleled within any other medium, and one gets a sense throughout that Jeunet is working purely within his element here. He possesses a magnificently detailed vision, and I can't stress enough how fun it is to watch those details at play onscreen." – Film School Rejects
One Liner: The Grand Jury winner of the fest, the Diablo Cody-esque Tiny Furniture follows a 22-year-old girl with no real life experience who moves back in with her mother and sister and begins hanging out with some of her old, broke friends.
Review Quote: "The story has a natural, familiar rhythm to it, even when it seems like the pacing slows down to let the characters breathe. It's first-person filmmaking in narrative terms." -- indieWIRE
The Parking Lot Movie
One Liner: Described as "Clerks, but a documentary", this film follows several folks who work at a parking lot and all the goings-on that take place there.
Review Quote: "This documentary does a great job of showing the camaraderie of the parking lot attendants in their own private "war" against the elites, the pretentious and obnoxious customers who park their BMWs, Hummers, Suburbans and other vehicles." -- Slackerwood
Saturday Night
One Liner: Actor James Franco turns filmmaker for this documentary about the making of one Saturday Night Live episode.
Review Quote: "… if you're a fan of SNL, this will only heighten your appreciation of it as it pulls back the curtain and lets you see a few very delicate, raw, exposed moments of artists mid-creation." – Film.com
For Once in My Life
One Liner: Documentary about a touring band comprised of folks who are physically and mentally challenged.
Review Quote: "When you think of the way disabled people are treated in our society as a whole and how they are often segregated, if not totally forgotten, it is amazing to see these 29 people performing music at as high a caliber as professional musicians with absolutely no disabilities." – Smells Like Screen Spirit
Cherry
One Liner: A college freshman gets more than he bargains for when he falls for a much older student returning to school for some adult education…and then falls for her teenage daughter, too.
Review Quote: "If you take a little of the Duplass brothers' Cyrus playing at this festival and mix it with a dash of Art School Confidential and Real Genius, you might get Jeffrey Fine's Cherry, an interesting and often funny coming-of-age inappropriate romantic triangle kinda thing." -- Cinematical
