Dances With Films: 10 Sundance movies to look out for

The 40,000 discerning cinema fans lucky enough to be in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival during the last ten days of January, would have become privy to the films that will keep the art-house cinematic subculture alive in the forthcoming year. So without further ado, here are some of the films that gained exposure at Sundance 2010.
The Runaways (Dir. Floria Sigismondi)



Think the Spice girls invented girl power? Of course you didn't. Everyone knows that back in the seventies, Joan Jett and her band The Runaways took the music industry by storm, rocking out with a female inflection that inspired a generation of girls to pick up a guitar – well sort of. This is the story of their ground-breaking musical assault on L.A. Kristen Stewart and a now grown-up Dakota Fanning take the lead roles – expect plenty of punkish attitude and the raucous spirit of teen rebellion. Hopefully this will subvert the rudimentary formula for the musical biopic.

The Killer Inside Me (Dir. Michael Winterbottom)



The corking title belongs to the new film by British film director Michael Winterbottom. Okay, so there is nothing more hackneyed than a psychotic killer but Casey Affleck has the central role and his creepy performance in The Assassination Of Jesse James attested that he has the understated sense of menace that could potentially provide tension to a warped story about a dangerous Texan sheriff. Judging by early footage, it seems Winterbottom has shot the film with a sense of earthy grimness. Undoubtedly, this will be raw unflinching and possibly shock a generation notoriously hard to shock.

Hesher (Dir. Spencer Susser)



Joseph Gordon-Levitt has had so many of his movies launched at The Sundance film festival that he is practically the poster-boy for the event. Both Brick and (500) Days Of Summer gained exposure during the festival and now his latest character-driven film Hesher once again flies Levitt's flag. Hesher sees the likeable actor adopt an unkempt look complete with shaggy beard, a slacker manner and nihilism to the outside world to play the eponymous character. Equally as down-trodden is Natalie Portman, who plays a down-on-her luck supermarket assistant. The film follows their mutual compassion for a young boy. Looks like one of those satisfying independent films that appears unappealing on paper but prove to be deeply engrossing and compelling. We will see.

Sympathy For Delicious (Dir. Mark Ruffalo)



No one could accuse Mark Ruffalo of going for a safe topic with his directorial debut: he directs a story about a paraplegic DJ who embarks on a journey into the dubious practise of faith healing. Early footage suggests Ruffalo might have rescued the career of Orlando Bloom who appears to play a sleazy, arrogant rock star with considerable swagger. The film looks edgy and intriguing. Does Ruffalo have a gift for directing? The Sundance panel seemed to respond favourably – this scooped the Special Jury award in the dramatic category.

Four Lions (Dir. Chris Morris)



A terrorism comedy seems something of an oxymoron until you discover it's the directorial debut of subversive satirist mastermind Chris Morris. Controversially, the central characters who will, er, ignite the comedy sparks are jihadists, haplessly plotting dastardly 'death to the West' attacks. Satire has always been a great way to defuse tension surrounding contentious topics and judging from the hilarious teaser footage below, Morris has come up with an original comedy by having the guile to reinvent extremists with a sense of the absurd. Four Lions could well put the fun in fundamentalism.