Movie Cricket

In Wednesday's announcement of the Sundance Film Festival USA program — which will bring the fun and films of Park City to eight American cities on Thursday, Jan. 28 — there was another bit of buried news: We now know the title of one movie playing the festival.

That movie is "The Shock Doctrine," a documentary by filmmakers Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross ("The Road to Guantanamo") based on Naomi Klein's book of the same name. The movie makes Klein's case that corporations engage in "disaster capitalism," pushing economic change to their own benefit while people are reeling from shock in their societies — whether it be war, natural disaster or terrorist attack.

A work-in-progress cut of "The Shock Doctrine" played at the Berlin Film Festival in February. The Sundance screening will be the film's North American premiere. The screening will be followed by a discussion featuring Klein, Winterbottom, Whitecross and Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford.

The Cricket had a lovely time Wednesday night, playing onstage interviewer for a Sundance Institute-sponsored screening at the Tower Theatre.

The movie was "Don't Let Me Drown," a touching drama that premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It tells the story of two Brooklyn teens — a Mexican-American boy (E.J. Bonilla) and a girl of Dominican heritage (Gleendilys Inoa) — tentatively reaching out to each other in the days after 9/11.

The movie's director, Cruz Angeles, flew in to give presentations to schoolkids about the movie — and sat for a Q-and-A with the Cricket after Wednesday night's screening.

Our discussion was quite interesting. Angeles said he was tired from a long day and jet lag, but he was relaxed and animated when talking about the movie. The conversation touched on 9/11, Brooklyn, fathers, mothers, and the process of getting his movie made.

A good chunk of our talk was about the Sundance Institute, because "Don't Let Me Drown" is definitely a Sundance baby. Angeles attended the January Screenwriters' Lab in 2005, the June Directors' Lab after that, and received funding both through the Sundance NHK Filmmakers award and a Sundance Fellowship.

Attending the directors' lab, Angeles said, was a major benefit to the movie. For one thing, it's where he found Bonilla, who was cast to portray the male lead for the workshop — and earned the role in the film.

Mainly, though, the lab gave Angeles confidence that he could work with actors. Angeles said he came into the lab feeling self-conscious about dealing with actors, because his methods didn't jibe with what he learned in film school. But when he had a one-on-one meeting with one of the lab's advisors, Robert Redford, the Sundance Kid told Angeles "you know what you're doing."

"Don't Let Me Drown" should hit theaters next spring, with a DVD/VOD release later next year. See it when you get the chance.

(Photo: Jill Orschel)

Can't get to the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in Park City?

Sundance will bring the festival to you — if you live in eight American cities.

Sundance organizers today announced "Sundance Film Festival USA," bringing festival films and special events to eight cities on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 — during the festival's run in Park City.

The program aims, according to Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford, "to ignite dialogue as people across the country engage in a collective film experience. It is an extension, really, of the work we have done for decades: supporting the independent voice, bringing artists to the table and inserting art more and more into the social context of how we live."

Titles for the films to be show in the eight cities has yet to be announced (the festival's slate won't be released until early December). Here are the cities and theaters where the events will take place:

• Ann Arbor, Mich. — Michigan Theater
• Brookline, Mass. — Coolidge Corner Theatre
• Brooklyn, N.Y. -- BAM
• Chicago — Music Box Theatre
• Los Angeles — Downtown Independent
• Madison, Wisc. — Sundance Cinemas Madison
• Nashville — The Belcourt Theatre
• San Francisco — Sundance Kabuki Cinemas

Meanwhile that night, in Park City, Sundance will host the North American premiere of the documentary "The Shock Doctrine." Directed by Michael Winterbottom ("Tristram Shandy," "A Mighty Heart") and Mat Whitecross (Winterbottom's collaborator on "The Road to Guantanamo"), and based on Naomi Klein's book, the movie exposes "how shock is used to implement economic policy in vulnerable environments." The screening at the Eccles Theatre will be followed by a conversation with Winterbottom, Whitecross, Klein and Redford.

Good call. Good choice.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were tapped to co-host next year's Oscar ceremony on Tuesday — and the hopes for a light, funny show went up significantly.

Martin has hosted before, and well. Baldwin's new to the emcee game, but his comic bluster on "30 Rock" should translate well.

The guys will get a lot of time together, too. Before the Oscars, the two will be working the press for the movie in which they co-star, Nancy Meyers' "It's Complicated," in which both actors romance Meryl Streep (who's got a lock on her 16th nomination for "Julie & Julia").

If the Oscar producers, Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman, are smart, they'll compliment Martin and Baldwin by hiring Tina Fey to lead their writing team.

People attending the 2010 Sundance Film Festival will notice one of Park City's familiar guideposts will be different this year.

Officials for Utah-based Associated Food Stores announced Monday the new name of the state's 34 Albertsons supermarkets the company recently bought: Fresh Market. (This is not to be confused with The Fresh Market, a chain operating in the South, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.)

The new name went into effect Monday, though Associated officials said it won't be until January that new Fresh Market signage will be installed at the stores.

The new signs will go up early, though, in Park City — to take advantage of ski season.

The Park City Albertsons is a familiar stop for Sundance Film Festival visitors — the most visible place to get groceries and beer. The Albertsons' parking lot is infamous during the festival for its tow trucks waiting to pounce, vulture-like, on drivers who stay too long.

The bus stop outside the Park City Albertsons is also a central transfer point for the festival's shuttle-bus service — a pickup/drop-off spot for the Holiday Village and the Yarrow, and often used for those going to the Eccles, the Racquet Club or the Temple Theatres.

Sundance regulars will have to reorient themselves to find the bus stop without the big "A" to guide them.