Sundance Institute has announced its full slate of programming for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and while it's not quite the bumper crop that comedians earned last year, there are a couple of big highlights.
Louis C.K.'s latest stand-up effort, Hilarious, will make its world premiere at the festival — reportedly the first stand-up concert film to make the trek to Sundance.
In compeition, the festival will feature Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Directors: Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg) — described in the program as "A rare, brutally honest glimpse into the comedic process and private dramas of legendary comedian and pop icon Joan Rivers as she fights tooth and nail to keep her American dream alive."
Also of potential interest: The Runaways, the film about Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) in which Tig Notaro plays Jett's mother; Bill Murray co-stars with Robert Duvall in Get Low, about a 1930s Tennessee hermit who plans a rocking funeral party for himself while he's still alive; The Freebie, with Dax Shepard and Katie Aselton (who also wrote and directed) as a married couple who gives each other one free pass. I'm also curious to see Adrian Grenier's Teenage Paparazzo, which is the "Entourage" star's look inside the world of celebrity tabloid gossip and the impact celebrity has on our culture (it's one of two such docs on the festival docket, btw).
Compare that to 2009's Sundance comedies. Sketch group Derrick has been making the rounds, one city at a time, with its romp of a debut feature, Mystery Team — it opened officially in New York City last night and enjoys a weeklong run at the Quad Cinema. Black Dynamite, meanwhile, has taken midnight screening slots in several cities this fall. Comedians Mo'Nique and Patton Oswalt garnered praise for their dramatic turns in Precious and Big Fan, respectively — with the former also generating Oscar buzz. Chris Rock got lots of attention, most of it positive, for his documentary Good Hair. And Bobcat Goldthwait captured a darkly funny performance out of Robin Williams and other comedians for World's Greatest Dad. All of those films found their ways into cinemas this year.