Sundance diaries 2009: Day two

Amy Poehler and Sophie Monk in "Spring Breakdown" (Credit: Sundance/Image.net)

There's a certain philosophy about Sundance that the quality of a film must be inversely proportional to its star power. I'm not really a subscriber (give me "Little Miss Sunshine" over "Napoleon Dynamite" or "The Savages" over "Ballast" any day) but there are some films that make me think twice.

Despite a cast led by Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch (with notable support from Amber Tamblyn, Jane Lynch, Missi Pyle and Will Arnett), "Spring Breakdown" carries the distribution label of Warner Bros.' direct-to-DVD division Warner Premieres.

Can a movie starring Poehler really not do any better than a video premiere, even after "Baby Mama" and her Emmy nominated season of "Saturday Night Live"? Yep, "Spring Breakdown" is that (not) good. But even though it's no Sundance standout there are certainly worse movies that still manage theatrical distribution.

"Spring"—about a trio of geeky women who get a second chance at a party-filled spring break—is sweet, just kind of clueless and saddled with a bad case of cinematic ADD. It's possible some small company will step up to the plate and try to make a few bucks off of Poehler's name with a limited release, but don't be surprised to see this on Netflix sooner rather than later.

Not that a less recognizable cast automatically equals a good film, even if indie film purists want to believe otherwise. "Humpday," the latest mumblecore movie (don't know what that is? Just skip to the next paragraph and don't worry about it), has stirred buzz thanks to its outrageous premise: two straight male best friends ("Puffy Chair" director Mark Duplass and "Blair Witch" star Joshua Leonard) make a drunken pledge to have sex on film for an "art porn" festival. The movie never expands on or goes anywhere unexpected with their dumb idea. It scores a few laughs along the way but really suffers from the self conscious tics of improv acting (take a shot everytime someone laughs at themself on camera and you'll be drunk long before the movie's over—which might improve your opinion of it).

"Lymelife" is an even worse kind of Sundance cliche: the period coming of age film. Rory Culkin inherits the awkward-teen-in-an-awkward-indie mantle from his older brother Kieran ("Igby Goes Down," "The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys"), who also appears as, natch, Rory's on screen older brother. Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Jill Hennessy and Timothy Hutton are the parents dealing with issues of their own, and tween star Emma Roberts makes a bid for grown-up cred by swearing and smoking pot. The movie is kinda like "The Ice Storm" warmed over, and never comes into its own.

So is there anything at Sundance yet worth getting excited about? Thankfully yes, especially if you like science fiction. "Moon," starring the ever reliable Sam Rockwell as an astronaut nearing the end of a three year solo space assignment, is ambitious and impressive top to bottom. Spoilers will inevitably leak out before the film hits theaters, but the less you know about this intelligent, emotionally affecting piece of old-fashioned sci-fi the better. Just know that Rockwell gets to play opposite himself (for reasons that shouldn't be revealed) and Kevin Spacey does some of his best work in years as the voice of  space station computer, Gerty.

There's a Sun/Moon pun in there somewhere but I've got more movies to see...