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Review Round-Up: Fox Searchlight Pick-Up 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Stuns and Impresses

Festivals

The breakout hit of Sundance, Benh Zeitlin's "Beasts of the Southern Wild," has critics gushing. After acquiring potential Academy contender "The Surrogate" for a cool $6 million for worldwide rights, Fox Searchlight closed a deal for "Beasts of the Southern Wild"as well. (Review round-up below.)

By Anne Thompson and Maggie Lange
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January 24, 2012 1:46 PM
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News

And another Sundance opening night doc gets snapped up: Magnolia Pictures has acquired the North American rights for crowd-pleaser "The Queen of Versailles." Filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield paints an intimate portrait of excess and post-2008 fall-out.

By Anne Thompson
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January 20, 2012 8:57 PM
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Festivals

With some references to the plot of "The Hangover II" (Hollywood Reporter, LA Times), Kieran Darcy-Smith's Sundance opener relates the aftermath of three friends' lives after one goes missing on a trip to Cambodia. Led by Joel Edgerton ("The Warrior" and Baz Luhrmann's upcoming "The Great Gatsby"), the film was criticized for weak plotting, but praised for its performances and production value. (Review round up below). The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney