Comments on: SUNDANCE 2012 STATUS REPORT

By: Reading Sundance 2012 | IFP

Reading Sundance 2012 | IFP — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:35:12 +0000

[…] like TAKE SHELTER, THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM, TERRI and THE OREGONIAN. Mike S. Ryan at Hammer To Nail champions the independent spirit of the 2011 lineup to cast a critical eye at this year’s festival, but still found some shining talent in the new independent auteurs of 2012, particularly […]

By: SUNDANCE ’12: TULLY’S WRAP-UP – Hammer to Nail

SUNDANCE ’12: TULLY’S WRAP-UP – Hammer to Nail — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:03:46 +0000

[…] and a chunk of late-inning sales have added promise to what Mike S. Ryan so passionately decried in his own status report. But Mike wasn’t the only one. I heard a general sense of bickering that the narrative filmmaking […]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:05:00 +0000

David, I just wanted to clarify that as the site’s editor so that people wouldn’t simply attribute Mike’s critical view of this year’s fest as him being bitter that THE COMEDY didn’t sell while out in Park City (which I am firmly convinced will happen in the very near future). That said, I may not have conveyed that clearly, or I may not have chosen my words appropriately. I likely shouldn’t have said anything at all, though I wanted to clarify for those readers who weren’t previously familiar with Mike’s writing, or who weren’t aware of his lifelong devotion to ambitious, bold personal filmmaking, that they would have no grounds to shirk off his opinion as being angry for the above reason. Clearly, based on your comment, you are not the type of reader I was addressing. As someone who is fighting the fight himself, I agree with what you are saying. But the fact also remains that Sundance is one of the few American institutions that does support independent filmmaking on a year-round basis. For every handful of their institute-supported films that skewer towards the safer side of the spectrum, there is a BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, which reflects the gloriously distinct vision of the Court 13 collective. I’m not sure if this answers your question. Sorry, if not.

By: David Dryer

David Dryer — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:54:00 +0000

So, according to the editor here, this review is publishable only because it doesn’t reflect “personal bitterness”? Hard to know what Mike Ryan could be bitter about (as indie careers go, his looks pretty good) but it would be fascinating to hear this editor explain what the appropriate filmmaker response is to the lack of opportunities, the pre-censorship, and the dominance of the Sundance middle-brow pseudo-liberal ethos, in the making of a very expensive art form which nonetheless loses lots of money thanks to all the geniuses the medium attracts. What, me bitter? What could anyone possibly be bitter about? I mean, what could better than an art form largely shaped by the tastes of Robert Redford and cohorts of like mind?

By: Brent Morris

Brent Morris — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:21:00 +0000

I was at the Sundance showing of “The Comedy” and completely agree with you on the Q&A, so many audience members just want to jump on difficult works for the sake of being argumentative. Great job with the film, I thought it was a truly sad commentary on the modern state of communication.

By: Lazvast

Lazvast — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:29:00 +0000

A few more you may have missed- “Simon Killer” and “The Middle of Nowhere”- personal stories, with a singular vision.

By: Jendra Jarnagin

Jendra Jarnagin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Mike, did you see “The End of Love?” I thought that and “Keep the Lights On” were refreshingly independent and personal. Inspiring Sundance fare.

By: frustratedashell

frustratedashell — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:36:00 +0000

“Maybe SXSW will be able to more effectively shut out the commercially minded mush and keep focused on the formally ambitious personal film” So after 30 or moreyears, we still don’t yet have enough evidence that nobody makes great “personal films” without “professional” budgets? How much more time do we need?

By: Smag998

Smag998 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:23:00 +0000

This is the culture we’ve made. Nobody in power should get off without a whipping. Unfortunately, it never occurs to anyone in this business that’s it not just other people who don’t know anything, that it’s an industry wide epidemic, with no exceptions, including producers disgusted by Sundance.

By: Adam Bhala Lough

Adam Bhala Lough — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:41:00 +0000

GET ‘EM MIKE. Midnight section is always where it’s at.