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Jane and I just got back from the Sundance Film Festival out in Park City, Utah–had lots of fun watching the films and meeting so many nice folks along the way.  That’s the bonus to Sundance…you find yourself meeting so many attendees on the bus and in line, talking about movies and life in general.  We didn’t even ski…a real different vacation, kind of like camp for adults.  Check Sundance out some year…we’ll post some tips we learned to help you out.

Right to the movies…below are photos from Hellion, starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, with a wonderful performance by newcomer Josh Wiggins.  Set around Galveston TX, it’s the story of a family’s struggle with death, parenting and the acting-out of its 13 year old.  Very Sundance in its emotional, dysfunctional themes.

Skeleton Twins: Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig star as twins alongside Luke Wilson and Ty Burrell in this drama with lots of funny riffing.  An emotional story about coming to terms with both adulthood and one family’s mental illness and dysfunction.  Hader especially shines here. This movie got picked up for a later summer release.

Lambert & Stamp:  Who knew?  The story of odd couple Kit Lambert (gay posh Oxford boy) and Chris Stamp (straight working class Joe) in 60s London who discover The Who (known as the High Numbers back then) and wheel and deal their band to stardom.  Fantastic movie with all kinds of vintage footage, and honest “looking back on life” commentary by Stamp along with Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry.  Nice retrospective on where rebellious rockers came from in post-war Britain.  Seek this out, it’s not just for Who fans.

The Trip to Italy: Another Brit flick, this follows on 2010’s The Trip, which pairs comedian / actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on an Italiano road trip, eating their way from the Piedmont to the Amalfi Coast.  Lots of impersonations and humor along the way.

The Lunch Box:  Set in Mumbai, this movie stars Irrfan Khan (from Life of Pi and many other Bollywood films) and premiered at Cannes last spring.  It focuses on isolation and human connections in modern Indian urban life.  Starting with a lunchbox mix-up (some 6,000 men work in Mumbai delivering metal lunchboxes from homes to offices), a real relationship develops for two lonely souls.

Life After Beth:  A most welcome light-hearted Sundance movie, with lots of “names” in the cast, including John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, and Anna Kendrick who star alongside the leads, Aubry Plaza and Dane DeHaan who are terrific.  File this in the zombie love story category, managing to add something funny and new to the ever popular zombie genre.

Lastly, check out this video made by Sundance about the 10 days of the Festival…great insights into what Sundance is all about!

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