No one foresaw the ultimate collapse of Nate Parker’s “Birth of a Nation” after its stellar reception at the Sundance Film Festival last year, when perfect timing, immense hype and a vigorous bidding war resulted in a record-setting $17.5 million sale. One year later, as Sundance begins again, “Birth of a Nation” isn’t exactly top of mind for many – at this point a distant story as its would-be awards run suddenly dried up.

‘Dog’s Purpose’ author defends set treatment: ‘The dog was not terrified’ W. Bruce Cameron writes on Facebook: ‘The written commentary accompanying the edited video mischaracterizes what happened.’ Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/2ka1Lcs A Dog’s Purpose author W. Bruce Cameron is staunchly defending the movie adaptation’s set treatment of a German Shepherd named Hercules following outcry over a video release which showed the dog in distress while shooting a scene.

Downward Dog, a webisode-turned-network show created by Pittsburgh-based production and visual effects house Animal, Inc., will make its debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, January 19-29. Ordered by ABC-TV for the 2017 season, Downward Dog is the first major network show to ever premiere at Sundance.

They were the power chords that sparked a musical revolution: three growling, fuzzy blasts that made Link Wray’s 1958 banned-by-radio instrumental “Rumble” a rule-breaking inspiration for rock guitarists who followed. The song kicks off the documentary “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World,” from Montreal-based filmmakers Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, which has its world premiere Sunday in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and will air on The Movie Network later this year.

The child is very much father to the man in “Staying Vertical,” a serenely nutty cinematic pastoral that unfolds at the crossroads of life and death, freedom and responsibility, this world and the next. The film follows a screenwriter in his 30s named Leo into the open countryside, where he shacks up with a shepherdess, has a baby boy and soon finds himself dealing with much more than just a crippling case of writer’s block.

Early on in the preposterous romantic comedy Bakery in Brooklyn we hear the line, “Too much sugar is bad for you.” Holy cannoli, ain’t that the truth.

… n a basement? Anyway, I’m of two minds when it comes to Split : McAvoy is excellent, but, for pure squeals and entertainment, the film falls short of Shyamalan’s The Visit from 2015.