20. “Girlfight” (2000)
Screenwriters and filmmakers should be aware that sometimes you can make a well-worn tale feel fresh simply by approaching it with a different gender in the lead, and “Girlfight” is an excellent example of that. Karyn Kusama’s film hits all kinds of familiar boxing-movie tropes, but stands out from the pack because it focuses on a female lead: Michelle Rodriguez’s tempestuously-tempered teen, who finds salvation in a boxing gym. It’s still cliched stuff, but along with the more unusual gender politics, the film stands out through both Kusama’s sturdy direction, and the fiercely charismatic lead performance from “Fast & Furious” star Rodriguez, who debuted here.
19. “Slam” (1998)
As the title might suggest, how you feel about “Slam” is probably affected by your feelings about slam poetry, which Marc Levin’s film revolves around. It’s the tale of a bright young Washington D.C. man (rapper Saul Williams, who’s very good), who finds new hope through verse, and the love of a prison teacher (Sonja Sohn, of “The Wire”). It’s easy to roll your eyes at the poetry-can-stop-violence theme (and at some of Levin’s stylistic tics), but there’s also a fierce intelligence and uncompromising political edge to the film that outlasts its more cringeworthy moments.
18. “Three Seasons” (1999)
The first film in the festival’s history to win both the Jury Prize and the Audience Award, and the first American movie to film in Vietnam since the end of the war, “Three Seasons” is a beautifully shot, if somewhat sentimental look, at a nation adjusting to their changing values as Communism comes to an end, and as it tries to shake off the specter of conflict. Sort of neo-realist in approach, and focusing on a large cast of characters (with Harvey Keitel the sole major Western face), it’s somewhat superficial in terms of its actual content, but is lyrical enough that it’s a shame that director Tony Bui (just 26 when he made the film) hasn’t gone on to more substantial work.
17. “Fruitvale Station” (2013)
Snapped up by the Weinstein Company and touted as an awards possibility (though it was ultimately mostly passed over), Ryan Coogler’s searing account of the final hours of Oscar Grant, killed illegally by transit cops on New Year’s Eve 2009, is decidedly imperfect, tipping the scales in an attempt to make its central figure more sympathetic. But it’s elevated enormously by a star-making turn by Michael B. Jordan as Grant (and strong supporting work from Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer too), and it’s sadly only grown in power after events in Ferguson, New York, and elsewhere.
16. “Frozen River“ (2008)
Though its most lasting contribution to cinema was to land a long-deserved Oscar nod for veteran character actress Melissa Leo (she’d win for David O Russell’s “The Fighter” two years later), Courtney Hunt’s “Frozen River” deserves to be thought of as more than just a one-woman show. Set in upstate New York, it centers on two single mothers (Leo and the late Misty Upham) who team up to stave off economic hardship by smuggling illegal immigrants from the Canadian border. Hunt has some technical limitations to overcome (it’s one of the last Sundance movies shot digitally before the technology kicked up a gear, and isn’t wildly attractive as a result), but wrings every drop of tension out of her tale, and is blessed with a pair of excellent lead performances, with Leo typically and particularly excellent.
