It’s time again to reprint my Twitch Sundance Previews in one easy to scroll through place. Be sure to check out all the originals and lots of reviews and wraps at TwitchFilm.com

 
Sundance 2012 Preview: Dramatic Competitions
Sundance 2012 Preview: Documentaries
Sundance 2012 Preview: Premieres & Spotlight
Sundance 2012 Preview: Midnight & Next
Sundance 2012 Preview: Short Films

 
To kick things off, we’ll be taking a look at a few of the notable films from each of the Dramatic Competition sections. It’s the nature of Sundance (especially the competition sections) to be a bit of a crapshoot guessing at which films will be the hits. Who would have guessed it would be Like Crazy not Little Birds or Another Earth instead of Another Happy Day that would get Park City buzzing last year. We’ll have wall to wall coverage of everything buzzing this year. For now, here are a few films that caught our eyes.

On to the Dramatic Competition.

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Here is a reprint of the SLAMDANCE Preview I ran on Twitch before the festival. Be sure to also check out Andy’s Awesome Round Up from the fest.

Sundance ain’t the only film game in town during Utah’s busiest week of the year. Our Park City Preview Week wraps up today with a look at what’s in store from the Slamdance Film Festival.

We had a chance to speak briefly with Slamdance co-founder and president Peter Baxter. We asked Mr. Baxter for his thoughts on about the competition slate:

 

“The documentary and narrative competitions are very strong this year. In many ways both represent the dramatic times in which we currently live. The filmmakers have drawn inspiration from the daily challenges of life that has provided a great sense of innovation and experimentation. It’s exciting because you are left thinking these emerging filmmakers really are leading us into the next wave of indie film.”

 
While it often plays second fiddle to the much larger Sundance fest, Slamdance is a great opportunity for the smallest of the small independent films to find an audience. Mark Jackson‘s Without from last year’s fest is the perfect example of such a film. Audiences raved about the film, giving particular kudos to star Joslyn Jensen‘s performance. Critics took note, and the film showed up on many year-end best of lists. What will be this year’s Without? Here are a few of candidates that caught our attention:

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It is time again for what has become an annual tradition here at enderzero.net: My end of year Best Of movie post. In years past I’ve created some version of a Top 10 (see: 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 ). 2011 brought a considerably more active year of film festival attendance via my role at Twitch. I was lucky enough to put in serious film viewing time at Sundance, LA Film Fest, Toronto, Fantastic Fest, and AFI Fest. Therefore, I’ve decided to expand things a bit this year and bring you my 50 Beautiful Films from 2011 (and 5 Ugly Ones). I’ve included a few words about each film along with my original impression of the film via my first tweet after seeing it. You’ll also find a link to my full review if one was written. As always, I look forward to your comments below.

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UK clever folks THIS IS IT Collective‘s amazingly hilarious short Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is playing in front of the Zellner Brothers’ feature Kid-Thing at Sundance next week — but you can see it right now, here, for free!! Enjoy! And check out their other awesome videos.

 
THIS IS IT Collective Home

 
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