Sundance 2022: I’m Staying Home Due To Omicron

While the 2022 Sundance Film Festival currently presses forward with in-person, Solzy at the Movies will be covering the festival from home. In light of the Omicron surge and after listening to medical professionals in my circle, I’ve decided against attending the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in person. I’ll still cover the festival virtually and hope to get back to Park City in 2023. (Edit on January 5: The Sundance Institute announced that in-person portion…

"Sundance 2022: I’m Staying Home Due To Omicron"

Palm Springs Cancels 2022 Fest–Is Sundance Next?

The Palm Springs International Film Society has announced that the Film Festival will not take place this year from January 7-17, 2022. Palm Springs fest organizers made the decision based on the current rise of Covid-19 cases. Many of these cases are tied to the recent arrival of the Omicron variant in the US. I might not be in California but speaking for the Chicago area, the positivity rate is double what it was from…

"Palm Springs Cancels 2022 Fest–Is Sundance Next?"

Sundance 2022 Needs To Pivot To A Virtual Film Fest

As the Omicron variant disrupts awards season and closes Broadway, the 2022 Sundance Film Festival is lowering capacity and requiring boosters. (Edit on January 5: The Sundance Institute announced that in-person portion of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival is now cancelled.) But should they? I get lowering theatrical capacity out of an abundance of caution but with all the disruptions, is it even a good idea to hold a physical film festival? Look at the…

"Sundance 2022 Needs To Pivot To A Virtual Film Fest"

Sundance 2022: Initial Lineup Announced

The initial lineup for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival was announced today for the Feature Film, Indie Episodic, and New Frontier categories. The Festival will take place in Park City, Salt Lake City and the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah, as well as digitally via our enhanced online platform at Festival.Sundance.org; on The Spaceship, a bespoke immersive platform; and in person at seven Satellite Screens venues around the country during the Festival’s second weekend. The…

"Sundance 2022: Initial Lineup Announced"

Matt Yoka talks Los Angeles documentary Whirlybird

Matt Yoka spoke with Solzy at the Movies during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival about the new Los Angeles documentary, Whirlybird. Yoka’s feature debut, Whirlybird, is about helicopter reporting pioneer Zoey Tur along with then-wife Marika Gerrad. They forever changed broadcast news as we know it when they reported on the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Two years later, they hovered above the O.J. Simpson Ford Bronco pursuit during the 1994 NBA Finals between the New…

"Matt Yoka talks Los Angeles documentary Whirlybird"

First Date: Sundance Interview With Cast, Crew

The cast and crew of First Date spoke with Solzy at the Movies before the film premiered during the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Co-director Manuel Crosby, producer/actor Brandon Kraus and stars Tyson Brown and Shelby Duclos joined over Zoom to discuss the film. First Date premiered during Sundance in the Next section and since went on to be acquired by Magnet Releasing. The film opens in theaters and VOD this weekend. Crosby co-directs and co-wrote…

"First Date: Sundance Interview With Cast, Crew"

Sundance 2021: Passing

Actress Rebecca Hall marks her directorial debut with Passing as she beautifully adapts Nella Larsen’s Harlem-set novella for the screen. When I found out that Rebecca Hall was making this film her directorial debut, I thought how is she qualified to tell a story about two Black women.  I never looked up Hall’s background before.  I would subsequently learn that her mother is opera singer Marie Ewing.  Ewing happens to be of a mixed racial…

"Sundance 2021: Passing"

Sundance 2021: The Sparks Brothers

Edgar Wright brings Ron and Russell Mael’s story to the screen in The Sparks Brothers and their impact on rock music after 50 years. There’s a chance that you’ve probably never heard of Sparks.  But what you don’t know is that they are an inspiration to your favorite band.  Or at least one of them, anyway.  Ron and Russell Mael’s story starts in California.  It later takes them across the pond to the United Kingdom. …

"Sundance 2021: The Sparks Brothers"

Sundance 2021: Wild Indian

Wild Indian is a compelling thriller about a Native American who has essentially rebuilt his life in order to move beyond his past. Makwa (Michael Greyeyes) has long since moved away from the reservation where he grew up.  It isn’t only that he grew up there but he covered up a classmates murder decades earlier.  But here’s the thing about covering up a murder, nobody is ever really safe.  Even if one thinks they are…

"Sundance 2021: Wild Indian"

Sundance 2021: Misha and the Wolves

Misha and the Wolves tells the story of Misha Defonseca in this-really-happened documentary that is truly stranger-than-fiction. Misha Defonseca was only 7 years old when her parents were arrested and taken by the Nazis.  They were taken to Auschwitz.  Sadly, we all know what happens next.  You cannot blame her for doing what she can to survive.  From watching films like Defiance, we know that many Jews would turn to the woods and hide.  Misha…

"Sundance 2021: Misha and the Wolves"