ChaCha Pulse/Buzz: Top 25
Our top vote getters from informal audience polls, as of this afternoon on Saturday Jan 26, just before the awards!
Now using a new calculation that combines Pulse + Buzz to get you to the best and hottest films. Updated Daily through the Sundance Fest.
| Name | Code | Reviews |
Frozen River  |
FROZN | 'Phenomenal acting- very realistic!', 'Leo gives the performance of a lifetime in "Frozen River'' - indieWIRE, 'Absolutely amazing', 'unusually local and global in perspective...personal touches, geographical specificity, feminist references and Native American social realism' - Variety |
| Phoebe in Wonderland | PHOEB | 'brilliant, magical, and beautiful - standing ovation', ' Phoebe in Wonderland is one of my favorite films at Sundance so far this year... First time writer/director Daniel Barnz knocks it out of the park with Phoebe in Wonderland, an imaginative, layered tale about a young girl struggling to fit in and find her place' - Cinematical, 'Phoebe has incredible art direction, a couple nice performances, and a nice third act twist which you probably won't se coming. 7/10' - SlashFilm |
| Choke |
CHOKE | 'Rarely can it be said that the film is better than the book. In this case it is.' - AICN, '7.5/10 - some great laughs [but] it doesn't have that fully immersive tone' - FirstShowing.net, 'Choke never rebounds after its great opening' |
| Quid Pro Quo | QUIDP | 'beautiful film...best under the radar film I've seen', 'Worth seeing for the two leads alone, Quid Pro Quo has some pretty insightful things to say about the nature of being disabled.' - Cinematical |
| American Son | AMSON | ' Heart-wrenching... reverberates with its blunt insights' - Variety, 'blessed with a powerful, honest screenplay' - Cinematical, 'Expect a heart-wrenching movie, but a beautiful film.' - Nick Cannon (Producer) |
| The Linguists | LINGU | 'Great', 'Very good', 'excellent', 'this is in line to be a winner!', 'Fascinating insights about the many uses and varieties of human communication -- and the suppression of rural cultures' |
| Sugar | SUGAR | 'Amazing film!', 'Dominican baseball player, is the best film I've seen at this year's Sundance. Solid writing and directing.', 'The "Sugar" audience applauded vigorously after the nearly two-hour, subtitled film...' |
| The Order of Myths | ORDER | 'Great insight into the still segregated south.', 'examines the time-honored tradition of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, where celebrations remain segregated between white and black residents', 'may find an audience, but it will likely be because of the derisive nature of its portraiture rather than the weightier issues of race and class' - Variety, 'Moon Pies play a surprisingly significant role...' - SpoutBlog |
| Fields of Fuel |
FIELD | 'If you are a fan of "An Inconvienient Truth," "SICKO," or any Michael Moore-esque film than you are going to love this film. It urges the power of the vote, the power of change, and the power of you.' - MTV, 'I liked it, but it felt long...', 'received a long standing ovation at its first public screening Monday', 'Crunchier than a vegetable oil-burning big rig dragging a trailer load of Grape-Nuts, "Field of Fuel" addresses the issue of alternative energy and biofuels...' - Variety |
| The Merry Gentleman | MERRY | Intense and keeps you on your toes. |
| Smart People | SMART | 'Great family film!', 'Fabulous cast- very believable!', ' SlashFilm Rating: 8 out of 10' |
| Strangers | STRAN | this movie needs an award. Everyone is RAVING! |
| The Wave | WAVEE | 'Phenomenal', 'Astonishing', 'absorbing and chillingly effective... enormous narrative power' - AICN, 'I liked The Wave, despite the fact that it was brutally obvious and painfully didactic' - Chud, 'Tragic finale, which departs in a big way from what happened in the real-life experiment, feels at once calculated and predictable, leaving the viewer with little more than an unpleasant whiff of didacticism.' -Variety, 'a glossy, pulse-pounding thriller' |
| The Wackness |
WACKN | good one liners "will become a big hit" "it was very good" "good music", SlashFilms: 9/10 |
| The Great Buck Howard | BUCKH | 'Cute and Funny!', 'Predictable', 'Still, it's a crowd pleaser. Malkovich is funny as the preening, arm-pumping Howard, Emily Blunt is luminous as the obligatory love interest, and while Colin Hanks will probably never be the acting genius his father is, that Hanks charm still shines through.', 'a smoothly, strongly appealing comedy' - Cinematical, 'McGinly's efforts to spoof both trendoid celebrity culture and the bush-league entertainment circuit are broad and obvious, and Buck, by far the most interesting character, is never really the center of the story.' - Salon |
| American Teen |
AMTEE | 'by the roar of approval from the audience at the end (not to mention the huddles of potential buyers both inside and outside of the auditorium), I'd say the fest has perhaps its first true hit.' - EW, 'best movie', 'you have to see it', Nanette Burstein (Director/Writter) - 'Inciteful look into the life of highschool that will illuminate to the audience their own high school days.', 'Don't see what all the fuss is about. Maybe people forgot what high school was like.', 'It's absolutely my favorite movie of the festival.' - Cinematical |
| Roman Polanski | ROMAN | 'It really is an amazing story . . . ', 'Engrossing and well-researched documentary reopens the Polanski case with surprising results' |
| Baghead | BAGHE | 'one prominent critic said that it was "the best dramatic feature I have seen in the festival"....The joy of discovering a film like "Baghead" really is (or at least should be) the reason people put up with the weather, the crowds, the traffic and all the attendant hassles of Sundance.', 'a one of a kind experience which will fill your stomach with joy... Puffy Chair and Baghead just might be the Slacker and Clerks for the youtube generation. /Film Rating: 8 out of 10' |
| Sleep Dealer |
SLPDL | 'awesome', 'Unlike anything we've seen before'. 'Sleep Dealer is sure to become a cult classic with the sci-fi geeks, and rightfully so. It's so ambitious for its price-tag, you can't not admire the indie spirit that went into this film. /Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10', 'At least 20 people wound up walking out on it. General consensus is that it had neat ideas but poor execution' - Cinematical, '[SciFi] as a subtle background for a thoughtful drama about love and making up for mistakes... If this film is director Rivera's THX, I can't wait to see his Star Wars.', 'a film with lofty dramatic aspirations, an ambitious visual palette and a folksy heart... have come up with something unique and yet engaging.' - indieWIRE |
| The Escapist | ESCAP | 'good if you like prison movies', 'Arty prison-break film intrigues and irritates. But Escapist plays more like Memento. The time sequence is jumbled...' - HR |
| U2 3D | U23D | 'Absolutely amazing', 'Takes the well-traveled concert film to exhilarating new heights', 'Sets an awesome new standard for rock flicks with an all-engulfing sensory bonanza.', TomatoeMeter 89%, '. . . headache-free 3-D technology.' |
| Anvil! The Story of Anvil | ANVIL | 'We laughed. We cried. We laughed again. We cried again. Go see it.', 'awesome brilliant standing ovation a must see no bad reviews', 'sold-out crowd bestowed a standing-O to the Spinal Taptastic film' - Chris Garcia of Austin360, 'It's better than most music documentaries. It's better than most documentaries, period. I am about as metal as your aunt, and I was spellbound by Anvil! The Story of Anvil -- laughing, yes, but also inspired to think feel and literally moved to the edge of tears by the complicated-simple, stupid-smart, goofy-serious story that it tells thanks to Sascha Gervasi's inspired and impressive direction.' - Cinematical |
| Transsiberian | TRANS | 'Transiberian was excellent. Suspenseful and gripping to the end. Great acting, phenomenal writing, a real winner.', 'great ending', 'I wouldn't say this is as good as Anderson can be, but I really enjoyed it. The mood, the performances, the cinematography... all top notch.' |
| Triage: Dr. Orbinski | TRIAG | 'very good, but very sad', 'Given what he saw, his outlook is both dizzying and inspiring.' - Variety |
| Trouble the Water |
TROUB | 'amazing movie; will probably win...', sustained standing ovation at premiere |