First look: Mississippi Grind
Two wildly different strangers take a high-stakes gambling road trip from Dubuque, Iowa to New Orleans in Mississippi Grind, a deft, entertaining and messy look at depression, addiction and the highs of winning that debuted yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival at Park City, Utah, United States of America. Ryan Reynolds plays Curtis, a slick drifter who's always ready with a charming, perfectly rehearsed story or joke. Gerry, played by Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn, is an empty shell of man who slumps through life in dumpy trousers listening only to Joe Navarro books on tape. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson) keep the motives and backstories of their leads ambiguous for most of the film, which laces every moment with tension and suspicion.
Nikki Reed is crazy about cats
The actress Nikki Reed was coy when asked about her rumoured engagement to actor Ian Somerhalder, but she was effusive about her love for animals. The entertainer came to Sundance on Saturday to host the third annual Catdance Film Festival, a celebration of cats on screen that benefits the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Reed says she's been an animal advocate since she was a kid. "I learnt how to change a cloth nappy on a raccoon," she said. "I was maybe 8 or 9." Reed currently has nine pets of her own – two horses, four dogs and three cats – and provides foster care for countless other cats and dogs. Check out the Catdance shorts at www.freshstep.com/cat-world.
