Lisa Kudrow thinks she's a dog, Robin Tunney is under house arrest, Philip Seymour Hoffman is a web designer, and Busta Rhymes is an undercover cop -- at least at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
The annual movie feast, which is held in Park City, Utah, announced the lineup of films screening in many of the major categories. The festival, which is being held from Jan. 10 to 20, is often ground zero for the biggest buzz movies of the coming year.
This year's festival was moved up a week so it wouldn't conflict with the winter Olympics, which are being held in February in nearby Salt Lake City, and security precautions have been re-evaluated in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Variety reports that "Friends" actress Kudrow co-stars with Hank Azaria and Vincent D'Onofrio in "Bark" for director Agnieszka Holland ("Washington Square," "The Secret Garden"), described as a black comedy about a woman who believes she has become a dog.
Tunney ("End Of Days") stars in "Cherish" about a woman under a two-year house arrest, guarded by a police officer played by Tim Blake Nelson ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?"), Variety said.
Hoffman ("Magnolia," "Boogie Nights") stars as a web designer coping with his wife's suicide in "Love Liza," under the direction of actor Todd Louiso ("High Fidelity"), Variety said.
And rap star Rhymes co-stars with Ray Liotta ("Good Fellas") and Jason Patric ("Your Friends And Neighbors") in the police drama "Narc," directed by Joe Carnahan ("Blood Guts Bullets & Octane").
Among the other intriguing projects airing at Sundance are:
"Better Luck Tomorrow," about a group of zealous Asian students living in Los Angles, who turn their academic aptitude to crime;
the gritty, documentary-style drama "Manito," about Latino brothers in New York City struggling to deal with an alcoholic father; and
"Pumpkin", about a female college student who finds herself sexually attracted to the mentally and physically disabled man she coaches in the special Olympics, Variety said.
Artistic director Geoffrey Gilmore told Variety that this year's crop of films is, if anything, even edgier than in past years.
"It's genuinely unusual work. There are creative impulses that push you in ways that I think American independent films were prudish about. I don't know how all of these films will play or if they'll be commercial, but they're funny and original and surprising".
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