Also check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our roundup of the music and composers of the movies premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
One of the best received films that premiered at the festival is the drama Smashed directed by James Ponsoldt (Off the Black). The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul as s a married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol and whose relationship is put to the test when the wife decides to get sober. The cast also includes Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and Mary Kay Place. Ponsoldt co-wrote the screenplay with Susan Burke and Jennifer Cochis, Jonathan Schwartz, Andrea Sperling (Like Crazy) are producing. The film’s music is written by Andy Cabic and Eric D. Johnson. While the project marks Cabic’s feature scoring debut, Johnson has previously written the music for the Uma Thurman-starring romance Ceremony and co-scored last year’s indie comedy Our Idiot Brother starring Paul Rudd. No distribution deal has been announced yet for Smashed.
A movie that should find distribution because of the star power of its cast members is the dramedy Predisposed directed by Phil Dorling and Ron Nyswaner who is best known as the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for the 1993 Tom Hanks-starring drama Philadelphia. Both directors also wrote the script for the movie starring Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo, Tracy Morgan, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sarah Ramos and Emma Rayne Lyle. The film about a drug addict mother and her piano prodigy son is produced by Nyswaner, Neda Armian (Rachel Getting Married), Brice Dal Farra, Claude Dal Farra, Lauren Munsch and Paul Prokop. Spencer David Hutchings has composed the film’s score. The composer has previously scored last year’s drama Peace, Love & Misunderstandings for producers Brice & Claude Dal Farra, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and has been picked up by IFC Films for release later this year.
Another movie that will likely get picked up following a positive critical reaction is the comedy drama Sleepwalk with Me directed by Mike Birbiglia who also stars in the film as a budding standup comedian who struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control and spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore. Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn, Carol Kane, Cristin Milioti and Aya Cash are co-starring. Ira Glass and Jacob Jaffke are producing the project and Glass also co-wrote the screenplay with Mike & Joe Birbiglia and Seth Barrish. The composer of the film is Andrew Hollander whose previous credits include the 2007 indie hit Waitress and the 2009 drama Serious Moonlight. The find out more about the composer’s work, visit his official website.
Among the documentaries premiering at the festival is Room 237 directed by Rodney Ascher. The movie explores the numerous theories about the hidden meanings within Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining. Tim Kirk is the producer of the film. Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson have written the documentary’s original music. Film and TV composer Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead) performed the clavinet on the score, which has taken as its inspiration the music that accompanied low budget horror movies in the 1970s. To watch a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the music for Room 237, visit YouTube. According to the video, a soundtrack album is in the works.
Another movie that is likely to find distribution is the romantic comedy Save the Date. The movie is directed by Michael Mohan who also co-wrote the script with Jeffrey Brown and Egan Reich. The film stars Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie as two sisters – one who’s happy with her life and doesn’t see any reason to marry her musician boyfriend while the other’s obsessed with planning her upcoming wedding. Mark Webber, Geoffrey Arend, Martin Starr, Melonie Diaz, and Timothy Busfield. Jordan Horowitz (The Kids Are All Right), Michael Roiff (Waitress) and Michael Huffington are producing. The comedy’s music is written by newcomer Hrishikesh Hirway who makes his feature scoring debut on the project. To learn more about the movie, visit the official film website.
A number of movies have already been covered on this site before this year’s festival began (click on the films’ title for more information), several of which have found distribution over the last week:
Arbitrage directed by Nicholas Jarecki and starring Tim Roth, Susan Sarandon, Laetitia Casta, Brit Marling and Josh Pais and featuring music by Cliff Martinez has been acquired by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. The film has received a lot of praise for Gere’s performance, which will likely be pushed for awards consideration next awards season.
Bachelorette written and directed by Leslye Headland and starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, Adam Scott and Kyle Bornheimer has been scored by Michael Wandmacher. An announcement about the movie’s distribution is expected to be made in the near future.
Black Rock directed by Katie Aselton and starring herself with Lake Bell and Kate Bosworth and music by Peter Golub has been bought by LD Entertainment. No release date has been announced yet.
The comedy For a Good Time, Call… directed by Jamie Travis and starring Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller, Justin Long, Mark Webber and James Wolk and with music by John Swihart has been picked up by Focus Features in one of the largest deals at the festival.
Lay the Favorite directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joshua Jackson, Laura Prepon and Vince Vaughn has been scored by James Seymour Brett. No deal has been officially announced yet, but The Weinstein Company appears to be nearing a deal to pick up domestic rights for the movie.
Nobody Walks directed by Ry-Russo Young and starring John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, Justin Kirk, India Ennenga and Dylan McDermott features music by Fall On Your Sword. Magnolia Pictures has just picked up the film.
No distribution deal has been announced yet for the documentary The Other Dream Team by the time this article was published, but several distributors have shown interest in the film, as well as the remake rights. Dustin O’Halloran has scored the film directed by Marius Markevicius.
Shadow Dancer directed by James Marsh and starring Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Aidan Gillen and Gillian Anderson and featuring music by Dickon Hinchliffe. ATO Pictures has picked up domestic rights for the thriller.
The largest acquisition at the festival has been made by Fox Searchlight for the drama The Surrogate directed by Ben Levin and starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Rhea Perlman and Moon Bloodgood. There is already awards talk happening for the film, as well as Hawkes’ and Hunt’s performances. Marco Beltrami has scored the movie.
The Words directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal and starring Bradley Cooper, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Ben Barnes, John Hannah, J.K. Simmons and Nora Arnezeder. The movie scored by Marcelo Zarvos has been bought by CBS Films for a theatrical release towards the end of the year.
