Patrick Stewart (front) plays the owner of a sketchy nightclub, in “Green Room.”
By Vanessa Zimmer
Spring has arrived, but if you’re lacking color and variety in your life, we at Sundance Institute have your back.
We have carefully selected a slate of diverse films to fill your April with home entertainment. These five films from the Sundance Institute annals — all released to the wider world during the month of April in the years mentioned in each synopsis — are guaranteed to supply the thrill rides, the horror stories, the romance, and the friendship of pets and fellow humans.
Consider these plot points: crime mobs, footwear for drag queens, a life gone to the dogs, a depressed vampire, and angry skinheads. As Sundance programmer John Cooper assured fans of independent film back in 2006 when Kinky Boots came to the Festival: “There is much to learn from the people you least expect can teach you,” he wrote in the Festival Program Guide.
Lucky Number Slevin (2006) — Poor Slevin (Josh Hartnett) just came to town to visit a friend. But his friend is missing, and Slevin’s been mugged, which means he has no proof of his identity. And then some superbaddies — including an assassin (Bruce Willis) and some crime bosses (Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley) — and even a police detective (Stanley Tucci) take an interest in Slevin. Plus, a high-profile murder is in the works. This fast-paced thriller is directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Jason Smilovic. Check here for viewing options.
Kinky Boots (2006) — Charlie (Joel Edgerton) inherits his deceased father’s Northampton shoe factory, only to discover the business is failing due to a lack of new orders. Then he comes up with an idea wherein his new friend Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a drag queen, will design new and comfortable drag footwear — thus saving the factory and the community’s jobs. Directed by Julian Jarrold; written by Geoffe Dean and Tim Firth. Check here for viewing options.
Year of the Dog (2007) — Dog lovers will find laughter and tears in this quirky film, highlighted by Molly Shannon as Peggy, “a woman who radiates enduring optimism, even in the face of hardship and judgment by others,” in the words of the Festival Program Guide. Peggy and her beloved beagle, Pencil, live blissfully together until Pencil goes out to potty one night and the whole world changes. The ensemble cast includes Laura Dern, John C. Reilly, Regina King, and Peter Sarsgaard. Written and directed by Mike White. Check here for viewing options.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2014) — Jim Jarmusch conjures a vampire love story for the ages between Detroit musician Adam (Tom Hiddleston), who despairs of the world he sees, and Eve (Tilda Swinton), his lover for centuries, who comes from Tangiers to comfort him. Their life is further complicated by Eve’s wild and reckless younger sister (Mia Wasikowska). “Only Lovers Left Alive is a sublime, cinematic poem of passion and despair seen through the cool shades of a sly, postmodern master director,” according to the Festival Program Guide. Check here for viewing options.
Green Room (2016) — The punk rockers The Ain’t Rights just want to get home after a gigantic failure of a tour. They take a gig at a skinhead hangout to earn gas money, the bassist witnesses a murder, and the entire band gets locked in the green room while the neo-Nazi gang plots their demise. Patrick Stewart plays the terrifying owner of the club and leader of the skinheads in this horror-thriller. Also starring are Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Imogen Poots, and Mark Webber. Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. Check here for viewing options.
