• Deals, deals, deals: Strand has acquired Bruce LaBruce’s gay zombie satire Otto or Up With Dead People; Miramax will release Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky in North America.
• David Hudson gives the Leigh film, which he calls “the only real out-n-out comedy to screen in Competition so far,” a B+. More letter grades at the link.
• AJ Schnack has a round-up of reviews of Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure. He’s found two raves to offset Todd McCarthy’s almost-pan.

Yesterday, I made a list of five films amongst Sundance’s four competition slates that I’m particularly excited to see. Today, here’s a look at another film films that I’m looking forward to, culled from the Spectrum, New Frontier, and Park City at Midnight sidebars. This list was MUCH harder to weed down to five, and as you’ll see, I had to cheat a bit. Here we go…

Momma’s Man (Directed by Azazel Jacobs, Spectrum)

Excerpt From the Official Synopsis: “Humorous and poignant, Momma’s Man wrestles with universal themes, but its strength lies in its deeply personal details. Writer/director Azazel Jacobs cast his own parents and shot the film in their apartment, where he grew up.”

Why I’m Interested: Jacobs “own parents” are Flo Jacobs and experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs; in the film’s press notes, he says he cast his own family because he “couldn’t picture anyone else in their bed, in their kitchen, or in their place (although Peter Falk and Shelly Duval would be in my movie-movie version of it).” If the notion of the guy who made Star Spangled to Death channeling Columbo isn’t enough for you, I don’t know what would be.

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