You would assume that the strongest offerings at Sundance would be in the competition sections, but for my money the two best movies I've seen this festival have been in NEXT, which spotlights daring/quirky low-budget fare. (Last year, Bellflower premiered in NEXT.) This year NEXT featured the touching and funny Sleepwalk With Me, but it also played host to the magnificent Compliance and a terrific film I saw yesterday: 28 Hotel Rooms. The premise couldn't be simpler -- a Seattle woman and a New York man carry out a clandestine affair over the span of 28 separate encounters in different hotels -- but the film burrows deeper into the nature of commitment and passion than just about any other recent love story I can recall. I was entranced, as I hope comes across in my Screen International review.
