Sundance Kicks Off With Big Applause for Bloody Nazi-Killing Revenge Movie ‘Freaky Tales’ and a Heartfelt Tribute to Angus Cloud

variety.com:

Sundance soaked up the sun on Thursday’s opening day. With plenty of powder to lend an idyllic backdrop to selfies and social media updates, the festival crowd was buzzing in line for the day’s largest film opening: “Freaky Tales,” taking the coveted early evening spot at the Eccles Center.

Dozens of stand-by hopefuls were left in the cold for the popular event though, which kicked off the festival with a riotous screening.

The film marks a Sundance homecoming for director Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, whose breakout hit was the 2006 Sundance favorite “Half Nelson”; the pair most recently helmed the decidedly not indie 2019 superhero flick “Captain Marvel.” “Freaky Tales” is a return to their scrappy roots: An anthology horror-thriller-comedy that pays tribute to ’80s Oakland, the film stars Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Normani, Dominique Thorne, Ben Mendelsohn, Ji-Young Yoo and the late Angus Cloud — not to mention a secret A-list cameo from an actor with Oakland ties that brought the house down.

The anthology film unfolds as a collection of stories, including a punks-vs.-nazis spin on Walter Hill’s “The Warriors” and a rap battle featuring Normani and Thorne.