I used to be in a lesbian chorus that had a gay male director. One evening before rehearsal, this incredibly talented Doctor of Music excitedly reported that he'd discovered a female singer that he thought we'd love: Patti Smith. I hope our collective inner "duhs" didn't register on our faces. How could a person whose life work is music not know one of its pioneers?

Granted, Smith took a hiatus through most of the '80s to be a mom. But a new documentary, Patti Smith: Dream of Life, that premiered at Sundance earlier this year, at least will give people who don't know her a chance to catch up. The intimate, 16mm documentary, shot mostly in black and white, was made over the past 12 years. Even the trailer reflects Smith's intense and personal approach to her music.

In the film, Smith pays tribute to the artists who influenced her life and work over the years, from William Burroughs to Bob Dylan to Jim Morrison. She had a close friendship — maybe more — with Robert Mapplethorpe and credits him with encouraging her at the beginning of her career. … continue reading

Never let it be said that the Fanning sisters are trying to slide by on cuteness alone.

Oh, they're cute all right, but they also are freakishly good actors. (Dakota freaks me out, period, but that's another matter.) At last year's Sundance Film Festival, a rape scene from Dakota's film Hounddog was so disturbing that the film still doesn't have a distributor. The scene itself was not graphic, but Fanning's performance was so powerful and convincing that conservative groups called for the arrest of Fanning's agent and mother.

This year was Elle's turn in a less-disturbing, but equally gripping, performance in Phoebe in Wonderland. Elle plays Phoebe, a nine-year-old girl whose wild imagination and obsession with Alice in Wonderland alienates her from classmates and gets her in trouble with teachers.

Sounds like a sweet little Disney-like film, right? But several things made me take another look. First and second, Felicity Huffman and Patricia Clarkson. What would you pay to be Elle Fanning in this next photo? … continue reading

A while back, I gave you several reasons why I wished I could travel to Utah this year for the Sundance film festival. After the awards ceremony this past weekend, I'm really kicking myself for not finding a way to make it happen. As it turns out, one of the films I was jazzed about, Frozen River, walked away with the Grand Jury Prize for best U.S. drama. The film, written and directed by Courtney Hunt, stars one of my favorite actresses, Melissa Leo.

Frozen River tells the story of a single mother in dire need of cash who falls into a smuggling ring as a means of supporting her family. Her connection to the ring is a Mohawk woman, played by Misty Upham. And they're smuggling people, not drugs. The title comes from the fact that the ring smuggles illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence river from Canada into the U.S. Not only did the film earn the Grand Jury Prize, but it also secured a distribution deal following the Sundance showing. And based on the reviews I've read, the success of the film is due in large part to Leo and her performance in it.

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