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"facebook dialogPinterestPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.org\n\nThe Sundance Film Festival has drawn to a close, and a year's worth of cinematic buzz has been set in motion. After a week spent in darkened Park City theaters, we offer the best of the fest\u2014and a few notable busts.\n\nFive of the Best\n\nLike CrazyLast year, director Drake Doremus made only a blip on the Sundance radar with the micro-budgeted, dubiously titled Douchebag. This year, he delivered perhaps the most buzzed-about film of the festival. Starring Anton Yelchin and newcomer Felicity Jones, Like Crazy explores the highs and lows of long-distance relationships and deserves the inevitable Blue Valentine comparisons (and the Grand Jury Prize it won).facebook dialogPinterestPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgAnother Happy DayFamilial dysfunction is a well-trodden topic at film festivals and megaplexes alike, but this emotionally charged drama, about a woman (Ellen Barkin) dealing simultaneously with a sick father, a judgmental mother, a drug-abusing son, and self-mutilating daughter, manages to up the cinematic ante without dipping into melodrama.facebook dialogPinterestreagan_blog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgReaganFilmmaker Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight, The Trials of Henry Kissinger) takes on conservative demigod in a documentary that spans the Gipper's life and presidency, from Hinckley to Grenada to Iran-Contra and everything in between. Ronald Reagan's most compelling screen time since Bedtime for Bonzo.facebook dialogPinterestmyidiotbrother_blog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgMy Idiot BrotherPaul Rudd is a long-haired hippie screw-up who, after going to prison for selling pot to a uniformed police officer, crashes with his sisters and creates some problems (ultimately solving most of the big ones). Broader than your average Sundance comedy, but also funnier.facebook dialogPinterestwinwinblog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgWin WinPaul Giamatti plays a struggling lawyer and high-school wrestling coach who assumes the guardianship of an elderly client and ends up raising his grandson in this touching, smart comedy. Plenty of spandex singlets but, mercifully, none worn by Giamatti.\n\nFive Disappointments\n\nfacebook dialogPinterestPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.org\n\nSalvation BoulevardIt's a sin that a film with such a quirky premise (a Deadhead turned born-again Christian finds himself on the run from the followers of a mega-church after he's blamed for a shooting his pastor committed) and such a hefty cast\u2014Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear\u2014could be so light on laughs. Director George Ratliff should repent.\n\nfacebook dialogPinterestredstateblog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.org\n\nRed StateSundance's hottest ticket\u2014a highly secretive horror film about a group of teens who encounter Christian fundamentalists\u2014was discussed for all the wrong reasons after director Kevin Smith held a \"live auction\" for the distribution rights, which merely involved \"selling\" the film to himself for $20 and then ranting for 30 minutes about the state of independent film. Silent Bob, we miss you.facebook dialogPinterestknuckle_blog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgKNUCKLEIan Palmer's documentary about the Joyces and the Quinn McDonaghs, two Irish families whose longstanding feud has led to countless bare-knuckle street brawls, should have been a glimpse into the curious and indefatigable pride of the traditionally nomadic Irish Travellers (think Brad Pitt in Snatch). Instead, it resembled a compilation of backyard punch-up videos you'll find on YouTube.facebook dialogPinterestimeltwithyoublog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgI Melt with YouKudos to director Mark Pellington for casting the story of aging college friends who endure a weekend reunion of hard drinking, hard drugs, and self-destructive behavior with actors (Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven) who (we'd imagine) have lived pretty hard themselves. But this bleak film\u2014call it a bromantic tragedy\u2014never gets as deep as it does dark.facebook dialogPinterestbobbyfisheragainsttheworld_blog.jpgPhotos courtesy of www.sundance.orgBobby Fischer Against the WorldIt's not easy to make a documentary about chess interesting\u2014especially when you're relying on the scintillating anecdotes of a bunch of chess players\u2014but director Liz Garbus almost succeeds. But then there's the problem of Bobby Fischer himself. History remembers him as a reclusive, unstable anti-Semite, and\u2014spoiler alert\u2014yep, that's pretty much what he was.\u2014David Walters\n\nRead More:\n\n The 9 Most Insane Sundance Movies We Haven't Seen Yet\n\n Why Superstars Keep Bringing Their Heroes Back\n\n Three Must-see Documentaries"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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