Top 5 – Most Anticipated Movies of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival

The 2018 Sundance Film Festival kicks of this week, which officially kicks off the 2018 movie year!  This is my eighth time attending the festival and it is a place and experience I hold very close to my heart.  Every year I meet tons of new people and see an incredible amount of movies from all over the world from all different genres and 201bb8 looks no different.  There are hundreds of movies at this festival and I wish I could see them all, but unfortunately, I cannot.  But, from those hundreds of movies, these five are the ones I have my eye on the closest.  Here are my picks for my most anticipated movies of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

5 – DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT (Gus Van Sant)

This is arguably the most high profile film at the festival this year.  Oscar nominated director Gus Van Sant’s new project brings together Oscar nominees Joaquin Phoenix and Jonah Hill come together for a true story about a man who finds a new meaning to life after he gets in a car accident that confines him to a wheel chair for the rest of his life.  Phoenix and Hill are sure to give great performances, but it’s Van Sant who is the real wild card.  When Van Sant is good, he’s great (Good Will Hunting, Milk) but when he’s bad, it could be catastrophic (Gerry, Sea of Trees).  It’s going to be interesting to see which Van Sant we get here, but I’m feeling (and hoping) it’s the great one.

4 – THE CATCHER WAS A SPY (Ben Lewin)

I was introduced to director Ben Lewin in 2012 with his delightful film The Sessions, a film which garnered a lot of buzz post festival and earned Helen Hunt an Oscar nomination (star John Hawkes was criminally robbed that year).  The Catcher Was a Spy is the perfect mix of espionage thriller and sports drama, as it follows Major League Baseball player Moe Berg (Paul Rudd) as he does from playing in the majors to becoming a spy in World War II.  The story alone is enough to get me excited and I really hope that this is the film that can break Paul Rudd out of the comedic limbo he’s been in and into the dramatic side.

3 – MANDY (Panos Cosmatos)

I mean, the picture alone should get anyone hyped.  A deranged Nicolas Cage smothered in blood?  What’s not to be excited about?  The movie follows Cage as he goes after a religious sect that murdered the love of his life.  This movie is prime for Nicolas Cage insanity and the fact that it is in the Midnight category guarantees it is going to be a bloody, brutal, rowdy time.  Chalk this one up as must-see for any Cage or Midnight fan.

2 – ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND (Marina Zenovich)

I would that for me, much like many kids growing up in the 90’s, Robin Williams was the actor for our generation.  With hit after hit after hit, the man continuously put a smile on our faces.  And even when we got older, listening to his raunchy stand-up and understanding his dirtier jokes just made him even greater.  His untimely death in 2014 broke millions of hearts and is still something I can’t believe is real.  This documentary looks to highlight the very best of Williams and show us the brilliance of the legendary comedian with interviews and archival footage.

1 – AMERICAN ANIMALS (Bart Layton)

When I read the synopsis for American Animals, it immediately jumped on my radar as a movie I needed to see.  Looking at a group of college students who decide to pull of a heist of rare books based on the movies they’ve watched.  Being a movie lover, this is something that I’ve always thought about.  Can I take what I’ve learned in movies and pull off these heists and robberies like they do?  I am looking forward to seeing Evan Peters take the next step in his career, as he takes the starring role here.  This coming-of-age heist film should be a thrilling, unique, stylish time.

Make sure to check out all my coverage of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival by checking me out on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, and on Facebook by searching Kevflix.