A TIMES Profile For Sundance Head John Cooper As Fest Hits 30

There's a great NY TIMES profile of John Cooper, the director of the Sundance Film Festival which kicks off it's 30th edition in Park City this week. Though Robert Redford usually serves as the public face of the festival, John has been with Sundance for more than 20 years. I met him back when he was programming the short films in the '90s.

He selected my film POOL DAYS for the festival in 1994 which was quite a boost to my career as a young filmmaker just starting out after finishing film school at NYU. I didn't realize that he actually helped create the idea of screening shorts at Sundance, which originally was playing only feature films when it started. Anyway, he's been such an integral part of the festival for many years as the head programmer that it's great to see him getting more recognition for his tireless efforts promoting independent film as the festival begins it's third decade.

Ira Sach's Film KEEP THE LIGHTS ON In Theaters This Weekend

I've posted here before about my friend Ira Sach's latest feature KEEP THE LIGHTS ON.  It had its New York debut at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year after screenings at Sundance and Berlin. Now the film is out in theaters this weekend and I urge you to check it out. It is one of the best American features of the year. And that's not just me talking....the New York TIMES agrees as well.

It's a love story between two men told over the course of 10 years.  It's intimate and intense and a deeply personal story as well.  And it's also revealing about the nature of intimacy and what happens when that gets tangled with addiction. Finally, it's a story about life in New York and, with its beautifully realistic look, has the feeling of a sharply witnessed documentary at times.

It's opening this weekend in NYC and LA so please check it out. And it will be at other theaters in major cities across the U.S. later this fall. Here's the trailer below to give you a taste of the film...

Joan Jett, Allen Ginsberg and The Sundance Buzz

The Sundance Film Festival got underway in Park City last weekend.  This is the first year that programmer John Cooper is taking the reins of the festival and, if you believe the hype, it's actually proving to be a pretty good year at that.  The big buzz films so far are: 

• THE RUNAWAYS, a Joan Jett biopic starring Kristen Stewart as the 16 year old lead singer of the early 80's LA-punk sensations
• CATFISH, a shocking doc about a Facebook connection that goes so terribly wrong  that reviewers aren't providing spoilers
• HOWL, a star studded movie about Allen Ginsberg and his beautifully profane poem that landed him in an obscenity trial
• THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, a Julianne Moore and Annette Benning as lesbian moms who meet their sperm donor in a movie already getting '11 Oscar buzz

To me, all of these sound great...especially the Runaways movie.  Also, I think it's amazing that actors like James Franco and John Hamm got together to make a movie about an epic poem.  You don't see that in Hollywood everyday (discounting that animated & somewhat bastardized BEOWULF from a few years back). And, of course, James Franco looks great in glasses!