The cinematic doldrums of January are beginning to thaw out, thanks in part to the action at Sundance. If two clips from festival selections are a sign of what’s to come, movie goers should look forward to a particularly interesting year.
First, Amanda Seyfried poses as the legendary Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace in the eponymous biopic, Lovelace; she’s joined by Wes Bentley, who enjoyed a successful comeback last year as Seneca Crane in The Hunger Games. Here his photographer character oversees a revealing photo shoot with the ‘70s porn queen – in previous coverage, there were hints at Seyfried’s transformation into the tragic Lovelace, but the footage allows for a better look at the nuances she injects into her performance.
Lovelace premieres at Sundance on January 22nd. See the clip below:
Next is a scene from Escape From Tomorrow, a bold independent film generating massive amounts of buzz at the festival. And justifiably so, since director Randy Moore shot his Disney World horror fantasy in secret, sneaking cameras and equipment into the park to tell the story of a dad who goes insane at the happiest place on earth. The pristine black-and-white arthouse footage looks better than expected from something that stems out of guerrilla filmmaking, as seen in the clip of family man Jim White (Roy Abramsohn) casting some pervy stares at two teen girls. If Moore can avoid legal action from the Disney corporation, the surprise hit is sure to become one of the most talked about films of the year.
Take a look at the footage below:
Escape From Tomorrow, which premiered at Sundance over the weekend, has yet to find a distributor, most likely because studios fear the inevitable wrath of Disney. If a theatrical release is beyond its grasp, hopefully the small film can endure through VOD and web exposure, especially since social media and news outlets already sparked the public’s curiosity.
What do you think of the clips? Do these two Sundance selections look like winners?