Sundance's Premiere Lineup 2014 Includes 'The Raid 2'
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The non-competitive premiere section is filled with movies starring Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Amy Poehler and Ryan Reynolds.

AceShowbiz - The Sundance Institute has just announced its premiere lineup, after previously revealing its competition, spotlight and midnight slates. At least seventeen most highly anticipated dramatic films of the coming year will get their world premieres at the annual film festival.

"The Raid 2: Berandal", a sequel to 2011's TIFF Midnight Madness winner "The Raid: Redemption", is among the lineup. Directed by Gareth Evans, it picks up where the first film left off. It follows Rama as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and expose the corruption in his own police force.

Others include Michael Fassbender's offbeat comedy "Frank", Keira Knightley's coming of age story "Laggies", Amy Poehler's comedy "They Came Together" and Ryan Reynolds' crime horror "The Voices". Closing the event in the premiere section is musical drama "Rudderless" starring Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman and Selena Gomez among others.

Some movies in the lineup are directed by filmmakers who gained success at the Sundance Festival in the past years. Mike Cahill, who got critical praise in 2011 as the writer/director of "Another Earth", returns with "I Origins". Ira Sachs, who won grand jury drama prize in 2005 with "Forty Shades of Blue", is back with "Love Is Strange".

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival will take place January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

PREMIERES:

"Calvary" / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: John Michael McDonagh) - A blackly comedic drama about a priest tormented by his community. Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd.

"Frank" / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Lenny Abrahamson, Screenwriters: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan) - An offbeat comedy about a wannabe musician who finds himself out of his depth when he joins an avant garde rock band led by the enigmatic Frank. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal.

"Hits" / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Cross) - A small town in upstate New York is populated by people who wallow in unrealistic expectations. There, fame, delusion, earnestness, and recklessness meet, shake hands, and disrupt the lives around them. Cast: Meredith Hagner, Matt Walsh.

"I Origins" / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Mike Cahill) - A molecular biologist and his lab partner uncover startling evidence that could fundamentally change society as we know it and cause them to question their once-certain beliefs in science and spirituality. Cast: Michael Pitt, Brit Marling.

"Laggies" / U.S.A. (Director: Lynn Shelton, Screenwriter: Andrea Seigel) - A coming of age story about a 28-year-old woman stuck in permanent adolescence. Unable to find her career calling, still hanging out with the same friends, and living with her high school boyfriend, Megan must finally navigate her own future when an unexpected marriage proposal sends her into a panic. Cast: Keira Knightley, Sam Rockwell.

"Little Accidents" / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sara Colangelo) - In a small American coal town living in the shadow of a recent mining accident, the disappearance of a teenage boy draws three people together, a surviving miner, the lonely wife of a mine executive, and a local boy, in a web of secrets. Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook.

"Love Is Strange" / U.S.A. (Director: Ira Sachs, Screenwriters: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias) - After 39 years together, Ben and George finally tie the knot, but George loses his job as a result, and the newlyweds must sell their New York apartment and live apart, relying on friends and family to make ends meet. Cast: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina.

"A Most Wanted Man" / Germany, U.S.A. (Director: Anton Corbijn, Screenwriter: Andrew Bovell) - John le Carre's bestselling book is adapted into a modern-day thriller. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright Penn.

"Nick Offerman: American Ham" / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Nick Offerman) - A live taping of Offerman's hilarious one-man show at New York's historic Town Hall theater features a collection of anecdotes, songs, and woodworking/oral sex techniques. Cast: Nick Offerman.

"The One I Love" / U.S.A. (Director: Charlie McDowell, Screenwriter: Justin Lader) - Struggling with a marriage on the brink of falling apart, a couple escapes for the weekend in pursuit of their better selves, only to discover an unusual dilemma waiting for them. Cast: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss.

"The Raid 2: Berandal" / Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Gareth Evans) - Picking up where the first film left off, it follows Rama as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and expose the corruption in his own police force. Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian.

"Rudderless" / U.S.A. (Director: William H. Macy, Screenwriters: Casey Twenter, Jeff Robison, William H. Macy) - When a grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles upon a box of his deceased son's original music, he forms a rock 'n' roll band, which changes his life. Cast: Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin. CLOSING NIGHT FILM.

"They Came Together" / U.S.A. (Director: David Wain, Screenwriters: Michael Showalter, David Wain) - This subversion/spoof/deconstruction of the romantic comedy genre has a vaguely, but not overtly, Jewish leading man, a klutzy, but adorable, leading lady, and New York City itself as another character in the story. Cast: Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd.

"The Trip to Italy" / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom, Screenwriters: Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Michael Winterbottom) - It offers delectable food, some sharp-elbowed rivalry, and plenty of laughs. Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon.

"The Voices" / U.S.A., Germany (Director: Marjane Satrapi, Screenwriter: Michael Perry) - This genre-bending tale centers around Jerry Hickfang, a lovable but disturbed factory worker who yearns for attention from a woman in accounting. When their relationship takes a sudden, murderous turn, Jerry's evil talking cat and benevolent talking dog lead him down a fantastical path where he ultimately finds salvation. Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton.

"White Bird in a Blizzard" / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Gregg Araki) - Based on the acclaimed novel by Laura Kasischke, it tells the story of Kat Connors, a young woman whose life is turned upside down by the sudden disappearance of her beautiful, enigmatic mother. Cast: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green.

"Young Ones" / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jake Paltrow) - When a series of events is set into motion, altering his young life forever, Jerome is forced to make choices that no child should ever have to make. Cast: Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES:

"The Battered Bastards of Baseball" / U.S.A. (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way) - Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country - alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks. "Finding Fela" / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Gibney) - Fela Anikulapo Kuti created the musical movement Afrobeat and used it as a political forum to oppose the Nigerian dictatorship and advocate for the rights of oppressed people. This is the story of his life, music, and political importance.

"Freedom Summer" / U.S.A. (Director: Stanley Nelson) - In the summer of 1964, more than 700 students descended on violent, segregated Mississippi. Defying authorities, they registered voters, created freedom schools, and established the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Fifty years later, eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen archival material tell their story. Not all of them would make it through.

"Happy Valley (2014)" / U.S.A. (Director: Amir Bar-Lev) - The children of "Happy Valley" were victimized for years, by a key member of the legendary Penn State college football program. But were Jerry Sandusky's crimes an open secret? With rare access, director Amir Bar-Lev delves beneath the headlines to tell a modern American parable of guilt, redemption, and identity.

"Last Days in Vietnam" / U.S.A. (Director: Rory Kennedy) - During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.

"Life Itself" / U.S.A. (Director: Steve James) - Life Itself recounts the surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert. The film details his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

"Mitt" / U.S.A. (Director: Greg Whiteley) - A filmmaker is granted unprecedented access to a political candidate and his family as he runs for President.

"This May Be the Last Time" / U.S.A. (Director: Sterlin Harjo) - Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo's Grandfather disappeared mysteriously in 1962. The community searching for him sang songs of encouragement that were passed down for generations. Harjo explores the origins of these songs as well as the violent history of his people.

"To Be Takei" / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Kroot) - Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

"We Are the Giant" / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) - We Are The Giant tells the stories of ordinary individuals who are transformed by the moral and personal challenges they encounter when standing up for what they believe is right. Powerful and tragic, yet inspirational, their struggles for freedom echo across history and offer hope against seemingly impossible odds.

"WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger" / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Berlinger) - Infamous gangster James "Whitey" Bulger's relationship with the FBI and Department of Justice allowed him to reign over a criminal empire in Boston for decades. Joe Berlinger's documentary chronicles Bulger's recent sensational trial, using it as a springboard to explore allegations of corruption within the highest levels of law enforcement.

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