Sundance, day seven: What people are talking about

"Hounddog" -- The "Showgirls" of Sundance? Indiewire thinks so, and the Dakota-Fanning-grows-up melodrama was greeted with snickers, then hoots, at its press screening Wednesday. Some are wondering why Piper Laurie is playing Carrie's mom all over again.

Is "Son of Rambow" the next "Little Miss Sunshine"? Of course it isn't, but that hasn't stopped Paramount Vantage from paying $8 million for the small-scale coming-of-age drama. It's the most high-profile of the many, many deals going down this tear, as buyers are stoked with the success of "Sunshine" and hoping it's replicable. Insert jaded horse-laugh here.

The Iraq docu "No End in Sight" is sounding like the strongest yet of the recent wave of anti-war agit-docs, and audiences are coming out of it breathing fire.

Frank Langella's performance in "Starting Out in the Evening" is being buzzed about as having Oscar potential, even if the movie itself is getting pleasant shrugs.

I'll blog later about "Grace is Gone," which I just saw and which I'm still pretty flattened by. John Cusack as a dad whose wife has been killed serving in Iraq. Worked for me but not for everyone. More in a bit; first I have to see a documentary about Russian Orthodox nuns in Denmark. Really.