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Director: Nicolás López Writers: Nicolás López, Guillermo Amoedo Starring: Ariel Levy, Lucy Cominetti, Andrea Velasco, Paz Bascuñan, Leonor Varela, Matías Lopez, Nicolas Martinez, Ramon Llao, Ignacia Allamand, Claudia Celedón Javier (Ariel Levy) is a young advertising professional who has fallen in love with Sofia (Lucy Cominetti). Javier and Sofia's love life starts off a bit rocky, but their relationship matures into two years of approximate bliss. Eventually, though, Javier becomes bored and breaks up with Sofia -- he instantly regrets that decision. Most of writer-director Nicolás López's Fuck My Life takes place after their break up, as Javier alternates between moping pathetically and pathetically attempting to win Sofia back. Throughout his emotional roller coaster, Javier's best friend since childhood, Angela (Andrea Velasco), serves as his sole support; she also has a keen knack for telling him the truth, no matter how brutally honest it is. Most importantly -- at...

What’s in a name?

Apparently, when it comes to the latest film from writer/director Nicolas Lopez, it means a lot.

Entitled Que Pena Tu Vida (Fuck My Life, or Fml from here on out), this marks the third film for Spanish director Lopez, and is his take on one of the most maligned and pastiched genres around: the romantic comedy.

Drawing seemingly direct inspiration from Marc Webb’s fantastic 500 Days Of Summer, Fml follows a couple as they meet, fall in love, break up, and move on in today’s social landscape. Told through a series of flashbacks connected through interviews with the characters, the film is very much a direct descendant of many modern anti-romantic comedies/dramas, and is ultimately a welcome addition to this otherwise stale genre.

Ultimately, the film’s biggest star is its sense of humor. Based on a script by Lopez and script “advisor” Guillermo Amoedo,...

As they say, you can pick your nose but not your family. Old Cats, Sebastian Silva’s farcical yet all-too-real examination of one dysfunctional family in Chile, stars Claudia Celedón and Catalina Saavedra as girlfriends Rosario and Hugo, who attempt to swindle Rosario’s ailing mother, Isadora, to fund their harebrained business ventures and Rosario’s appetite for nose candy.

Isadora, expertly portrayed by Belgica Castro, is suffering from dementia. One moment she stares into space, forgetting who and where she is, and the next, she snaps back into a lucid state, horrified that her once-sharp mind is unraveling. When Rosario and Hugo arrive, though, Isadora makes an extra effort to remain aware of her surroundings. After all, the only reason Rosario would visit would be to borrow – or outright steal – her money.

Rosario barges into Isadora’s apartment, histrionically babbling about her cat allergies before disappearing into the bathroom...

After announcing the 58 films in four categories that would be eligible for awards at Sundance, the film fest has now announced the next 57 movies to be screened this coming January. These 57 films are of course out of competition and will be included in Premieres, Next, Spotlight, New Frontiers and Midnight categories. Most are big name projects from already established filmmakers and some have already made their way around film festival in 2010. The list includes Kevin Smith’s Red State, Tom McCarthy’s Win Win, Morgan Spurlock’s documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Submarine, I Saw the Devil (which had plenty of buzz at Tiff) and my most anticipated film of 2011, Hobo With a Shotgun.

Here is the full list:

Premieres

To showcase the diversity of contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films.

Festival Adds New Native Showcase

As Previously Announced, Slacker to Screen From the Collection

Park City, Ut – Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival out-of-competition sections Next (<=>), Spotlight, New Frontier, Park City at Midnight, as well as a new Native Showcase. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at http://www.sundance.org/festival/.

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming said, “The Sundance Film Festival is uniquely a festival of discovery and we are once again privileged to showcase the work of talented new artists, including a special section devoted to Native filmmakers. But it’s also exciting to see returning directors honing their skills and emerging with dazzling new films. And the Next section highlights visionary work that shows aesthetic creativity is not limited by budget.

Yes, you read that right, they are out of competition but into lesbians courtesy of the midnight lineup.

What do we have to look forward to waiting two years for? Let's see..

Hobo With a Shotgun

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (you had me at lesbian)

Attenberg (I'm loving the coming Greek weird wave)

And many many more films, some of which we'll probably never get to see. Damn.

Full list after the break.

Next ()

Eight American films selected for their innovative and original work in low- and no-budget filmmaking. Each is a world premiere.

Bellflower / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Evan Glodell) - A ballad for every person who has ever loved and lost - with enough violence, weapons, action and sex to tell a love story with apocalyptic stakes. Cast: Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Brandes.

The Lie / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Leonard; Screenwriters: Jeff Feuerzeig,...

Following yesterday's announcement of the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions, the Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the second part of their lineup, which includes the more starry-eyed Premieres section, the best-of-fests Spotlight section, the sure-to-be-culty Park City at Midnight section, the low-budget Next section, and the more experimental New Frontier section (an extension of New Frontier Program, the collection of video art installations which has already been noted here for playing James Franco's dramatic multimedia examination of "Three's Company.")

In addition to the return of filmmakers like "Chuck & Buck"'s Miguel Arteta, "Clockwatchers" director Jill Sprecher, Kevin Smith and "The Station Agent"'s Thomas McCarthy to Park City, the festival will also welcome less frequent or first-time Sundance attendees such as Hollywood types Al Pacino ("Son of No One") and Tobey Maguire ("The Details") and mumblecore alums Joe Swanberg ("Uncle Kent," which announced it's been...

The Sundance Film Festival announced the in competition film line-up for the film festival running January 20th through January 30th 2011 in Park City, Utah.

Today the festival has announced the line-up for the non-competition films and there is one hell of a line-up! There are a ton of great films that will be premiering at the festival, and if you're going you have a lot of great films to choose from!

Each film has an incredible cast and a great story. These films include Cedar Rapids, about a man traveling to an insurance conference, featuring Ed Helms, John C. Reilly and Sigourney Weaver; Kevin Smith's Red State, about a group of misfits encounter extreme fundamentalism in Middle America; The Details, about domestic tensions spawned by raccoons with Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert; I Melt With You, starring Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay,...

Yesterday, we reported the films playing in-competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Today, Sundance has announced the films playing in the out-of-competition lineups for “Next(<=>)”, Spotlight, Native Showcase, and Park City at Midnight. Among the films playing are Hobo with a Shotgun, the critically-acclaimed Submarine, Lucky McKee’s new horror film The Woman, and Meek’s Cutoff starring Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. Each lineup has its own mission statement that relates to the films selected. The festival will also be showing Richard Linklater’s Slacker at part of its “From the Collection” lineup.

Hit the jump to check out the new films announced. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 20 – 30th.

Here’s the press release and lineups:

2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films In Next (<=>), Spotlight, New Frontier And Park City At Midnight

Festival Adds New Native Showcase

As Previously Announced, Slacker to Screen From the Collection

Native Showcase...

Well, yesterday, we saw the full list of films in-competition; today, we get to see those titles that have been selected for Sundance 2011′s out-of-competition lineup.

And as I said with yesterday’s post, I’ll be going over the complete list, highlighting titles that need to be, taking into consideration this blog’s specific interests. The only title that immediately stands out is Brit John Akomfrah’s The Nine Muses, which MsWOO positively reviewed, after seeing it at the London Film Festival in October. Read her review Here.

But look for future posts profiling any other titles I deem worthy. I’ve applied for press credentials to attend next year’s festival. I won’t know until the 23rd of this month, whether I’ve been granted press access or not. If I am, I will attend the festival; and if I’m not, well, I probably won’t.

Well, if the Competition titles at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival don't generate any early year Oscar buzz, I think it's safe to say the Out of Competition titles will. Several films that have already been seen and positively reviewed can be found in the fest's Spotlight Line-Up along with a batch of anticipated hopefuls in the Premiere Section.

Beginning with the festival's premieres, Miguel Arteta (Youth in Revolt) is bringing Cedar Rapids to Park City where it will debut before it hits theaters only a couple weeks later on February 11. "Big Love" co-producers, Jill and Karen Sprecher are bringing an impressive cast for their crime drama The Convincer. Jacob Aaron Estes's The Details, which was shot only a few miles from my house in the Queen Anne district of Seattle, arrives with Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney and Tobey Maguire in tow.

Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies) will debut I Melt with You,...

Wednesday, the 2011 Sundance Film Festival announced the 58 films in four categories [1] that would be eligible for awards. Today, they've announced the next slice of their line up - 57 out of competition films in the Premieres, Next, Spotlight, New Frontiers and Midnight categories. This is generally where you get many of the bigger name projects and this year is no exception. We already knew [2] that Kevin Smith's Red State would be on the list, but there's also Tom McCarthy's new film Win Win, Morgan Spurlock's documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, the highly buzzed-about Submarine, Fantastic Fest darling I Saw the Devil as well as Hobo With a Shotgun and a whole bunch more including films with Al Pacino, Tobey Maguire, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Rudd and others. As we said yesterday, the announcement of the movies playing the 2011 Sundance Film Festival is like looking into our film futures.

Foreign Objects travels the world of international cinema each week looking for films worth visiting. So renew your passport, get your shots, and brush up on the local age of legal consent… this week we’re spending some time with the South American working class. Racquel (Catalina Saavedra) works as a live-in maid for a well to do family, and her duties run the gamut of cooking, cleaning, and child care. She’s introduced hiding in the kitchen as the family tries in vain to cajole her into the dining room to celebrate her own 41st birthday. She’s been a maid to this same family for twenty three years, she’s suffering from migraines and fainting spells, she’s been butting heads with the oldest daughter, and her face is stuck in a permanent grimace. Racquel is one tired and frustrated Chilean. Sympathetic to Racquel’s condition and concerned with her increasing attitude, Pilar...

The Maid (15)

(Sebastián Silva, 2009, Chile) Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola. 96 mins

Less a slice of upstairs-downstairs realism than a black comedy that threatens to turn into a horror movie, this Chilean drama has been scooping awards across the globe, mostly for Saavedra's acting. She's a bravely monstrous creation, a long-suffering help whose resentments rise to the boil, particularly when a younger assistant is foisted on her. But just when we're ready to write her off, this agile, low-budget drama turns it round and confronts us with our own heartlessness. That's us served.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (12A)

(Edgar Wright, 2010 Us) Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong. 112 mins

This tireless tale of modern loserdom, filtered through pop-culture consciousness, will push the buttons of younger fans, with its onslaught of music/comic book/videogame tricks and hipster humour. Older viewers may need a lie down.

The Girl Who Played With Fire (15)

(Daniel Alfredson,...

Catalina Saavedra unleashes a star lead performance in this gripping Chilean thriller

Sebastián Silva's film is an unexpected combination: a gripping psychological thriller, and also a poignant human drama. It really is edge-of-the-seat stuff, with a startling denouement, and an outstanding central performance from Catalina Saavedra. She plays Raquel, the live-in uniformed maid, working for a well-to-do family in Santiago, Chile, in a handsome house with a pool, attending to the needs of the master and mistress along with their lively teenage children. She must also show respect to the children's very haughty and patrician grandmother, who comes to visit and does not hesitate to give her views on how the household should be run.

Raquel is treated as one of the family – that is, like a tiresome, but affectionately regarded cousin or poor relation – and the film opens with an uneasy and embarrassing birthday celebration that the children's...

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

Cyrus: Instant Cult Classic - Ray Schillaci

Run to the theaters before this gem is lost in the summer shuffle. “Cyrus” is the best comedy of the year. It may be the best comedy of this decade, because we have not seen anything like it since the outrageousness of such underground subversive classics as “Harold and Maude” and “Where’s Poppa?” Now mind you, I know those movies are not for every taste, but my lord what a breath of fresh air “Cyrus” is. Both uncomfortable and downright hilarious at the same time, “Cyrus” soars to the heights of cult classic with the combination of talents; its three stars John C Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei and writers/directors Mark and Jay Duplass.

Sebastián Silva’s melodrama The Maid stars Catalina Saavedra as a domestic servant who’s been working for one family so long that they throw surprise birthday parties for her, and even help her with her chores when she needs it. When she starts to feel worn down and achy, Saavedra’s kindly, loyal employer Claudia Celedón suggests hiring an assistant. But the problem isn’t that Saavedra is a little fatigued, it’s that she may be losing her mind. Saavedra sabotages every new maid Celedón hires, framing them to look irresponsible, whiny, and dangerous. Finally ...