Today In Sundance Hell: 'Mo'Nique' And 'Oscar' In The Same Sentence
Our final round-up of news from the Sundance Film Festival brings together at last the Mo'Nique/James Gandolfini combo the whole world has been waiting for.
· Lest the 2008 Oscar nominations leave a sort of bitterly predictable taste in your mouth, look ahead to 2009, when Push co-star Mo'Nique — yes, that Mo'Nique — may find herself among the contenders for Best Actress. Not a terrible turn-out for a woman to whom the director's warning, "Mo'Nique, this could fuck up your career" only encouraged her to fight harder for her role as an abusive mother. Good luck, Mo'Nique; you'll need it opposite Carey Mulligan.
· Variety's Todd McCarthy gets even more specific about the Push vs. An Education counterpoints: "The two emblematic films of Sundance 2009 are about two 16-year-old girls who dedicate themselves to self-improvement in their own ways, one to speed her entry into the enticing adult world of art, romance and savoir faire, the other to simply survive and insure a future for herself and her son." And then something about Obama. Seriously, Todd, quit while you're ahead.
· McCarthy's colleague Anne Thompson deposits her own two cents into the Bank of Sundance Postmortems, nailing precisely what made 2009 such a lovely festival: Everyone stayed home.
· IFC Films made its second acquisition of the week, buying the terrific (and terrifically profane), mile-a-minute British comedy In the Loop.
· And finally, in the spirit of transition, we leave Sundance's last words to Loop co-star James Gandolfini, who yesterday pledged to do a Sopranos movie "if I was broke." But be encouraged, fans! Another few days in arm-and-a-leg expensive Park City might take care of that.