It’s beginning to look a lot like Sundance … in less than a week I’ll be getting into Park City, settling into the cozy MCN house, and getting ready to immerse myself in four or five films a day for nine days. Even after this many years of working the long, hectic days in Park City, I’m still not jaded enough to pretend I hate Sundance. I love seeing the beauty and charm of Park City. I always hope for snow, because it’s the one time of year I get to enjoy it. I love perusing the catalog to decide which movies to put on my schedule, but I also I love knowing that my schedule is likely to change on a whim, or later in the fest because I’m hearing buzz on something that wasn’t on my radar and I want to check it out. It’s all part of the fun of Sundance.

Last year’s Sundance featured Shunji Iwai’s Vampire, which in spite of its ambition was probably on a lot of “Worst of 2011” lists. I sat through all two-and-a-half hours of it (I think only two of us lasted out the entire press screening), and I actually thought it was smart and interesting, albeit very over-long and desperately in need of an objective, ruthless editor. Vampire aside, though, Sundance last year was packed with films that ended up on my end-of-year Top Ten lists: Martha Marcy May Marlene, Pariah, The Oregonian, The Off Hours, The Future, Like Crazy, Submarine, Margin Call, Terri … come to think of it, Sundance last year was pretty darn awesome. Here’s hoping this year’s slate is also terrific.

I’ll be running previews of some of the sections of the festival over the next couple days — the films from each category that I’m most interested in seeing … at least at the moment. Here are my picks from the US Dramatic Competition section. (Note: All film descriptions from the Sundance Film Guide.)
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