After two years of Covid-19 fears, the Sundance Movie Pageant returned to in-person screenings, and exhilaration was within the air. Or so I’m instructed. Given the possibility to display most choices remotely, I attended from my lounge. You may, too; some movies are being made obtainable on-line by Jan. 29.
Lately, with indie cinema nonetheless having hassle attracting ticket consumers, the pageant is turning into increasingly of a shopping mall for streaming providers. The primary large sale was to Netflix, which spent a surprising $20 million for “Truthful Play.” A so-so Wall Road drama with a #MeToo angle, it options “Solo” star Alden Ehrenreich as a younger analyst at a hedge fund who begins to lose his composure when his fiancée and colleague (Phoebe Dynevor) turns into his boss. Drawing an identical worth, this time from Apple for its streaming service, was “Flora and Son,” one other musical drama from writer-director John Carney (“As soon as”). Eve Hewson, daughter of Paul Hewson, aka U2’s Bono, was showered with reward for her star flip as a party-girl Dublin mother who takes up guitar classes remotely with an L.A. musician performed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. One other large sale, to Searchlight Photos, was the comedy “Theater Camp,” a form of junior varsity “Ready for Guffman” by which Ben Platt and Molly Gordon play instructors at a summer season program for stage nerds. Maintaining its titular promise, the movie is totally campy, far an excessive amount of for my style.