Sundance 2013 Preview: Midnight, Next, Spotlight, & New Frontiers

Sundance is kicking off tomorrow! Have you packed your long johns yet? We've spent the last two days walking you through all four competition slates and the dramatic and documentary premieres. Today we finish off the program with a look at the Midnight, Next, Spotlight, and New Frontiers sections. Let us know what you're excited about and keep an eye right here for all kinds of reviews and news from the Sundance Film Festival.

Midnight


S-VHS
This V/H/S follow-up with shorts by Gareth Evans & Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisener, Eduardo Sanchez & Gregg Hale, and Adam Wingard & Simon Barrett is going to be the genre filmmaker equivalent of USA For Africa's We Are The World.


THE RAMBLER
Calvin Lee Reeder's follow up to The Oregonian is this XYZ-produced thriller starring Dermot Mulroney, Lindsay Pulsipher, and Natasha Lyonne.




MAGIC MAGIC
Sebastian Silva's second Michael Cera film set in Chile at the fest is this tourist midnighter co-starring Juno Temple, Emily Browning, and Catalina Sandino Moreno.


ASS BACKWARDS
This beauty pageant road-tripper by Chris Nelson stars co-writers June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson alongside Vincent D'Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, and Brian Geraghty.


HELL BABY
The State/Reno 911 alumni Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon direct Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, and Rob Huebel in this haunted house exorcism comedy.


WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
Jim Mickle turns his attention to cannibals in his third feature, which follows Mulberry Street and Stake Land.


VIRTUALLY HEROES
GJ Echternkamp's debut feature tells the story of two self-aware first-person shooter characters. Mark Hamill co-stars.


KINK
This James Franco-produced documentary by Christina Voros takes you behind the scenes at pleasure dungeon hardcore BDSM website Kink.com.


IN FEAR
Jeremy Lovering's (2nd Unit Director of Hot Fuzz) feature debut tells the story of a couple who are terrorized while driving through the English countryside. Could this be the companion piece to Ben Wheatley's Sightseers?

Next


IT FELT LIKE LOVE
This coming-of-ager by directorial debutante Eliza Hamilton tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who tries to fit in by sleeping with a college-aged loser.


THIS IS MARTIN BONNER
Chad Hartigan's sophomore feature (Luke and Brie Are on a First Date) is the story of a man who moves to Reno and forms a friendship with an ex-con. Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, and Robert Longstreet star.


COMPUTER CHESS
"Mumblecore Godfather" Andrew Bujalski's (Funny Ha Ha) latest is the story of the first computer programmers to teach computers chess. Don't be fooled by the cryptic title.


BLUE CAPRICE
This directorial debut from Alexandre Moors takes a look at the 2002 Beltway sniper murder spree through the eyes of the young boy killer. The impressive cast includes Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, and Tim Blake Nelson.


ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW
Randy Moore's feature debut is likely best described by its catalog entry that calls it a "postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of family entertainment."

Spotlight


SIGHTSEERS
Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace, Kill List) is three-for-three with this spectacularly entertaining story of an awkward couple on an even more awkward road trip. IFC shold be bringing this bad boy to theaters in the US soon.
Read Todd's review from TIFF.


MUD
Jeff Nichols's Take Shelter follow-up has played nowhere since its mostly positive reception at Cannes. Michael Shannon reteams with the director, who adds Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, and Reese Witherspoon to the mix. Lionsgate/Roadside will be bringing this one to theaters soon.


GANGS OF WASSEYPUR
Annurag Kashyap's Cannes Directors' Fortnight-premiering 5-hour-plus Indian gangster epic has left a trail of fans everywhere it's played.
Read Kurt Halfyard's Review from TIFF.


NO
Pablo Lorrain's Cannes Directors' Fortnight winning take on Chile's 1980s revolutionary ad campaign was recently nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. Gael Garcia Bernal stars in this Sony Pictures Classics video.
Read Eric D. Snider's review from Telluride.


STORIES WE TELL
Sarah Polley's third feature (Away From Her, Take This Waltz) is a documentary-esque exploration of the filmmaker's own family. The film played Venice, Telluride, and TIFF before it was picked up by Roadside.

New Frontiers


WRONG COPS
Quentin Dupieux's (Rubber, Wrong) web series-turned-feature about wacky cops in an LA with no crime stars Marilyn Manson, Mark Burnham, Steve Little, and Eric Wareheim.


CHARLIE VICTOR ROMEO
Robert Berger and Karlyn Michelson's interesting-sounding theatrical-documentary is derived from six black box recordings from real airline emergencies.


THE METEOR
Veteran French Canadian director Francois Delisle's (Twice a Woman) latest is this story of a guilt-wracked crime family.


INTERIOR, LEATHER BAR
Travis Mathews and James Franco reimagine the 40 minutes of graphic homosexual S&M that William Friedkin excised from his 1980 Al Pacino film Cruising. Oh, Franco.

Check back in tomorrow when we raise the Curtain on the 2013 Sundance Film Fest!