The weakness of the big Hollywood releases hitting screens has been a bit of a running theme for the last few weeks and, being Canadian, I find myself fighting the urge to apologize for that fact.  But, really, while Hollywood likes to blame declining viewership numbers on the general public why the hell should I buy in to that fact and blame myself for the fact that they're not making anything I want to see right now?  I mean, come on ... Four Christmases topping the box office?  Is this really a world we want to live in?  But hope is coming ...

Over the past few years the Sundance Festival  has come under fire for increasingly pander to the Hollywood suits filling up the party scene in Utah but yesterday the competition lineup for the 2009 edition of the fest was released and, hot damn, unless my eyes greatly deceive me it looks as though there's not a single studio picture in the lot.  And not only is the festival getting back to its indie roots but it's doing so while also tracking down a stack of films that I - and I assume others - might actually want to see. 

Examples!  The Wrestler writer  Robert Siegel turns up with his own directorial effort, Big Fan.  And speaking of big fans, I personally think pretty much anything starring Paul Giamatti is worth checking out and Russian mob flick Cold Souls fits that bill nicely.  Like a good afro?  Chris Rock explores the history of the 'fro in Good Hair.  On the international front Nicolas Winding Refn - director of the flat out brilliant Pusher trilogy - turns up with British crime flick Bronson, Kanji Nakajima's The Clone Returns To The Homeland looks like Tarkovsky by way of Japan and Chile's Sebastian Silva - writer / director of the stunningly under appreciated La Vida Me Mata - gots to play with the big kids thanks to his sophomore picture The Maid.

But if I may, I'd like to point the way to a couple things that don't appear in this announcement because they're included in non-competitive sections.

First, Black Dynamite.   Michael Jai White - Spawn himself and a fantastic martial artist who unfortunately had his character entirely dropped from Tarantino's Kill Bill - stars in a full on blaxploitation throwback that I've been lucky enough to see and declare absolute buckets of fun.  The trailers are brilliant but don't be watching these at work.  You might wake the other bitches.

Second, Stingray Sam.   The new project from American Astronaut writer / director Cory McAbee is, like his debut, a full on scifi western musical, though this one was originally intended to be viewed as a cell phone serial.  McAbee's one of the great undiscovered gems of the world and deserves some big time love.  Give it to him.