Sundance/Slamdance Films – New Low, The Perfect Host, Renegades, One Hundred Mornings, William S. Burroughs

December 29, 2009 by J!-ENT 

NEW LOW / Sundance NEXT/First Feature/World Premiere______________________________
Director:                                  Adam Bowers
Screenwriter:                          Adam Bowers
Principal Cast Attending:        Jayme Ratzer, Toby Turner, Valerie Jones
Running Time:                                    82 minutes

The worst thing about Wendell isn’t his slightly balding head, skinny frame, or thin lips; it’s that he’s a bit of an idiot. He just started dating Vicky, an angry drunk, who conveniently shares his lack of ambition and cleanliness. But he might prefer a relationship with Joanna because she’s a selfless social worker who doesn’t have lip acne. Eventually, Wendell is going to have to decide who he really belongs with: the best girl he’s ever known—or the worst.

Twenty-five-year-old Adam Bowers writes, directs, and stars in this deadpan comedic love triangle for questionable romantics, which was shot on borrowed equipment by whichever one of his friends was available that day. This sharply scripted debut feature out of Gainesville, Florida charms with Bowers’s natural comedic timing and endless supply of one-liners while questioning not only who we should spend our life with but who we truly are under all our neuroses.

Festival Screenings: Saturday, January 23, 6:00PM                        Yarrow Hotel Theatre 1
Tuesday, January 26, 9:45PM             Broadway Centre Cinemas
*Salt Lake City
Wednesday, January 27, 2:30PM       Holiday Village Cinema III
Thursday, January 28, 12:00PM         Yarrow Hotel Theatre 1
Friday, January 29, 5:30PM                Holiday Village Cinema 1
Saturday, January 30, 10:00AM         Holiday Village Cinema III


THE PERFECT HOST / Sundance Park City at Midnight/First Feature/World Premiere
Director/Screenwriter:            Nick Tomnay
Principal Cast Attending:        David Hyde Pierce, Clayne Crawford
Running Time:                                    85 mins.

Warwick Wilson is the consummate host. He carefully prepares for a dinner party, the table impeccably set and the duck perfectly timed for 8:30 p.m. John Taylor is a career criminal. He’s just robbed a bank and needs to get off the streets. He finds himself on Warwick’s doorstep posing as a friend of a friend, new to Los Angeles, who’s been mugged and lost his luggage. As the wine flows and the evening progresses, we become deeply intertwined in the lives of these two men and discover just how deceiving appearances can be.

With outstanding performances by David Hyde Pierce and Clayne Crawford, cowriter/director Nick Tomnay takes us on a suspense-filled ride where nothing is as it seems. The Perfect Host is a slippery psychological thriller that exposes true human nature and reveals just how far we’re willing to go to satisfy our needs.

Festival Screenings: Sunday, January 24, Midnight                        Egyptian Theatre
Sunday, January 24, 9:45PM              Broadway Centre Cinemas
*Salt Lake City
Wednesday, January 27, 5:30PM       Holida Village Cinema III
Friday, January 29, 11:30PM              Library Center Theatre
Saturday, January 30, 11:30AM                     Library Center Theatre

RENEGADES / Sundance Shorts
Director/Screenwriter:            Jim Hosking
Principal Cast Attending:        Joe Walters
Running Time:                        12 mins.

Oh them fuckin’ renegades. Pleasurin’ their selves again. Waitin’ for the mighty rain. To purge their souls of all their pain. Try to touch but fingers dead. Want to call but all’s been said. Shot that man in his fuckin’ head.

Festival Screenings: Friday, January 22, 8:30AM               Library Center Theatre
Saturday, January 23, 3:45PM                        Broadway Center Theatre
*Salt Lake City
Sunday, January 24, 3:00PM              Yarrow Hotel Theatre
Monday, January 25,  2:30PM                       Library Center Theatre
Saturday, January 30, 9:00AM                       Holiday Village Cinema IV
Saturday, January 30, 9:45PM                        Broadway Centre Cinemas V
*Salt Lake City

Talent Availability: Upon Request

One Hundred Mornings / Slamdance Narrative Competition
Director/Screenwriter:            Connor Horgan
Principal Cast Attending:        Ciaran McMenamin, Kelly Campbell
Running Time:                                    83 mins.

Set in a world upended by a complete breakdown of society, two couples hide out in a lakeside cabin hoping to survive the crisis. As resources run low and external threats increase, they forge an uneasy alliance with their self-sufficient hippie neighbor. With no news from the outside world they can’t know how long they must endure living in such close quarters, and with such limited supplies.

Unspoken animosity fills the air, and a suspected affair is driving a wedge between them all. Poorly equipped to cope in a world without technology and saddled with completely conflicting worldviews, everything begins to disintegrate. Finally, each of them faces a critical decision they never thought they’d have to make.

Festival Screenings: Saturday, January 23, 12:15PM                      Main Screening Room
Wednesday, January 27, 5:30PM       Main Screening Room

Talent Availability: Upon Request

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within/Slamdance Documentary Competition
Director/Screenwriter:            Yony Leyser
Running Time:                                    90 mins.

The film paints a tender portrait of the Beat author and American icon, whose works at once savaged conservative ideals, spawned vibrant countercultural movements, and reconfigured 20th century culture.

It features never-before-seen footage archival footage of Burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including John Waters, Patti Smith, Genesis P-Orridge, John Giorno, Amiri Baraka, Diane DiPrima, Sonic Youth, Anne Waldman, Gus Van Sant, David Cronenberg,  with narration by actor Peter Weller and an original soundtrack by members of Sonic Youth and the Patti Smith Group.

Born the heir of the Burroughs’ adding machine estate, William S. Burroughs struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems and relationships. He was forced to deal with the tragedy of killing his wife and the repercussions of neglecting his son. His novel, Naked Lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the U.S. government, until the courts eventually overturned their decision in 1966, ruling that the book had important social value. It remains one of the most recognized literary works of the 20th century. William Burroughs was one of the first writers to cross the dangerous boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s, and record his experiences. Eventually he was hailed the godfather of the beat generation and influenced artists for generations to come. However, his friends were left wondering, did William ever find happiness? This extremely personal documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time.

Festival Screenings: Friday, January 22, 5:30PM                Main Screening Room
Wednesday, January 27, 7:30PM       Gallery Screening Room