Ryan Gosling & Michelle Williams
Blue Valentine
Indie darlings Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling captivate audiences in Blue Valentine as Cindy and Dean, a young married couple fighting to keep their sinking marriage afloat by escaping to a theme hotel. Flashbacks tell the tale of how the couple first fell in love, contrasting with their troubled present. Prepare for racy scenes in this compelling drama (Gosling took his mom to a screening but covered her eyes and gave her an iPod to listen to during the more scandalous moments). Hailed as one of the best films of the festival, Blue Valentine was snapped up by The Weinstein Company for a reported seven figures.
Naomi Watts
Mother and Child
Naomi Watts stars alongside Kerry Washington and Annette Bening in Mother and Child. In this drama intertwining the lives of three women dealing with different aspects of adoption, Watts gives a delicate and thoughtful performance as Elizabeth—a demanding, self-assured lawyer who was given up for adoption as a child. This story will surely captivate female audiences, and, as a bonus, a percentage of proceeds from the film goes toward charities for women and children.
James Franco
Howl
Howl pays homage to the late Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, played by James Franco, and his epic and groundbreaking poem Howl, for which his publisher was put on trial for obscenity. The story weaves together a complex narrative of the events that shaped Ginsberg’s art and the 1957 San Francisco trial, and employs animation to illustrate the poem. Franco—a longtime fan of Ginsberg—effortlessly steps into the role, bringing the poet’s work to life with his widely acclaimed depiction. Perhaps the actor garnered inspiration from his recent experience as a film-school student at NYU, where he made short features based on poems.
Adrian Grenier
Teenage Paparazzo
Directed by Adrian Grenier, Teenage Paparazzo documents the story of 13-year-old photog Austin Visschedyk. Premiering in front of a sold-out Sundance crowd, this film tackles our culture’s voyeuristic obsession with celebrity. Grenier also turns the lens on himself, capturing the relationship he develops with the young photographer. This is the second documentary Grenier has directed in which he is both in front of and behind the camera; the first was 2002’s Shot in the Dark. HBO—home of Grenier’s other gig, Entourage—nabbed the television rights to this doc.
