Sundance announces star-studded premieres

Robert Redford will be there, that's a given. But the 2009 Sundance Film Festival may also boast guest appearances by actors Jim Carrey, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Ewan McGregor, Billy Bob Thornton, Winona Ryder, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams, musicians The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White, comedians Chris Rock and Bill Cosby, and boxer Mike Tyson.

All of them are featured in, or were involved in the production of, movies that will be featured in the 2009 event. So, most, if not all, of them are expected to attend the premier showcase for independent film, which runs Jan. 15-25 in a variety of Park City and Salt Lake City locations.

Sundance announced its premieres and noncompetition features, which include the Spectrum, Frontier and Park City at Midnight categories, on Thursday. Among the highlights:

• Hoffman and Toni Collette provide the voices for the title characters in the clay-animated "Mary and Max," which will open the festival Jan. 15 in Park City's Eccles Center.

• Vogue magazine is profiled in the documentary "The September Issue," which will be the featured attraction of the Salt Lake Gala at the Rose Wagner Center Jan. 16.

• Another documentary, the environmentally conscious "Earth Days," will be featured in closing night festivities in Park City Jan. 23. (That event will be hosted by either the Eccles Center or the Egyptian Theater.)

• Carrey plays real-life con artist Steven Jay Russell in "I Love You Phillip Morris," which co-stars McGregor.

• Stewart ("Twilight") and Reynolds team up in the theme-park comedy "Adventureland."

• Spacey appears in both "Moon" and "Shrink" (with Williams). Williams also stars in "World's Greatest Dad."

• Thornton is in two films as well — "Manure" and "The Informers," an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel. (Ryder appears in the latter film as well.)

• U2 guitarist The Edge, Led Zeppelin's Page and The White Stripes' White are featured in "It Might Get Loud."

• Robert Townshend's "Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy" includes contributions from both Cosby and Rock.

• James Toback's "Tyson" examines the professional and personal life of the controversial former boxing champion.

While most of the premieres do have some star power, festival director Geoffrey Gilmore and director of programming John Cooper say the films were selected for their artistic merit, not because of any perceived commercial appeal.

Gilmore added that the features "are not narrowly defined."

"Instead we have a blurring of genres, a crossing of boundaries — geographic, generational, socio-economic and the like," he continued. "The result is both an exhilarating and emotive festival in which traditional mythologies are suspended, discoveries are made and creative storytelling is embraced."

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