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If you're ready to rock, so is the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Festival organizers announced 38 movies in the Spectrum, Frontier and Park City at Midnight programs Tuesday - and rock music is a common thread for some of the most notable titles.
Three music documentaries are featured in the Spectrum program (formerly American Spectrum, now expanded to allow out-of-competition international films) and two more are part of the Midnight sidebar.
Spectrum includes: "Everybody Stares: The Police Inside Out," an insider documentary on the Police, directed by the band's drummer Stewart Copeland; "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man," a profile of the Canadian singer-songwriter featuring performances by U2 and Rupert Wainwright; and Byron Hurt's examination of gender issues in hip-hop, "Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture."
The Midnight section includes "American Hardcore," a history of underground punk rock, and a Beastie Boys concert film - shot entirely by audience members who were given Hi-8 video cameras - called "Awesome: I F---in' Shot That!" (There's also "Glastonbury," Julien Temple's look at Britain's premier rock festival, which was announced Monday in the World Cinema Documentaries competition.)
Other creative forces are profiled in Spectrum documentaries. "Wrestling With Angels" profiles Tony Kushner, who wrote "Angels in America"; "What Remains" looks at the work of photographer Sally Mann; "A Matter of Degrees" captures Al Gore in his new role as an environmental crusader; Rosie O'Donnell's gay-friendly cruise line is highlighted in "All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise"; and cinematographer Haskell Wexler looks at the problems of sleep deprivation and long hours on Hollywood sets in "Who Needs Sleep?"
The final block of feature films - the 17 titles of the Premiere section - will be released late tonight. The festival launches Jan. 19 in Park City, then runs through Jan. 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and the Sundance resort.
2006 Sundance Film Festival noncompetition slate
Spectrum
"Adam's Apples" (Denmark), a dark comedy written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, tells of a neo-Nazi sentenced to community service at a church - where he clashes with a quite devout priest. This is Denmark's entry for the foreign-language Oscar.
"All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise," a documentary by Shari Cookson, goes along for the ride on a cruise ship with Rosie O'Donnell and her partner Kelli, and 500 gay and lesbian families.
"Battle in Heaven" (Mexico/France/Germany/Belgium), a drama written and directed by Carlos Reygadas, about a couple holding a baby for ransom - and the tragic turn of events when the baby dies.
"Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture," a documentary by Byron Hurt that examines issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in hip-hop music.
"Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon," Peter Richardson's documentary about a timber town torn along political lines when a college scholarship - which has paid tuition for every local high-school graduate for 40 years - is threatened.
"Dreamland," a drama about a young woman (Agnes Bruckner) caring for her father and an ill friend in a trailer park in the desert - and questioning whether to strike out on her own. Co-starring John Corbett, Kelli Garner, Gina Gershon and Justin Long; directed by Jason Matzner and written by Tom Willett.
"EV Confidential: Who Killed the Electric Car?", a documentary by Chris Paine that examines the death and rise of the electric car - along with other renewable-energy technologies.
"Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out," a documentary by former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, compiled from his personal Super-8 footage of the band's days from tiny clubs to giant stadiums.
"Factotum," an adaptation of the Charles Bukowski novel, about a writer (Matt Dillon) risking everything to "make sure his life is poetry." Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei and Fisher Stevens also star; directed by Bent Hamer, written by Hamer and Jim Stark.
"Forgiving the Franklins," about a Southern family who undergoes a spiritual change after an auto accident - to the chagrin of their conservative neighbors. Directed and written by Jay Floyd; starring Robertson Dean and Teresa Willis.
"Jewboy" (Australia), a drama about a young Orthodox man (Ewen Leslie) having doubts about his faith. Directed and written by Tony Krawitz.
"Journey From the Fall" (Thailand/U.S.A.), an epic that follows a family's flight from Vietnam. Directed and written by Ham Tran.
"La Tragedia de Macario," a drama based on true events, about Mexican migrant workers trapped and dying in an overheated railway car crossing the U.S. border. Directed and written by Pablo
Véliz.
"Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man," Lian Lunson's documentary profile of the Canadian singer-songwriter (best known for writing the soundtrack staple "Hallelujah"), featuring performances by U2, Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker and others.
"Man Push Cart" (Iran/U.S.A.), a drama about a former Pakistani rock star now selling coffee from a Manhattan pushcart. Directed and written by Ramin Bahrani.
"A Matter of Degrees," a documentary by Davis Guggenheim, follows former Vice President Al Gore around the world in his new role as a champion against global warming.
"Off the Black," about the friendship that develops between a high-school baseball umpire and the teen pitcher who vandalizes his house. Nick Nolte, Trevor Morgan, Sally Kirkland and Timothy Hutton star for writer-director James Pon- soldt.
"Open Window," a drama about an engaged couple whose lives are altered by random violence. Directed and written by Mia Goldman, starring Joel Edgerton, Robin Tunney and Cybill Shepard.
"The Proposition" (Australia), set in the 1880s, begins with three brothers in a shootout with the law - and what happens when a police captain offers a deal to one of the brothers to end the violence. Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, John Hurt, David Wenham and Emily Watson star; John Hillcoat directed; rocker Nick Cave wrote the screenplay.
"Punching at the Sun," a drama about a South Asian teen in Queens, N.Y., struggling between rage and redemption after his brother's murder and the aftermath of 9/11. Directed and written by Tanuj Chopra.
"Special," about a parking-enforcement drone (Michael Rapoport) who enrolls in a drug study of an experimental anti-depressant. Jeremy Passmore and Hal Haberman wrote and directed.
"What Remains," Steven Cantor's documentary about the controversial photographer Sally Mann.
"Who Needs Sleep?", a documentary by the legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who was disturbed by a co-worker's unnecessary death on a film set - and decided to probe the effects of long work hours and sleep deprivation.
"Wrestling With Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner," Oscar winner Freida Lee Mock's documentary about the personal and political life of the creator of "Angels in America."
Frontier
"A Darkness Swallowed," an experimental work by director Betzy Bromberg, billed as "a bio-metaphysical musical."
"Cinnamon," director Kevin Emerson's experimental glimpse at African-American drag racing, focusing on a bank teller and a mechanic who engage in the sport.
"Old Joy," about an eventful camping trip for two old friends, played by Daniel London and Will Oldham. Directed by Kelly Reichardt, written by Jonathan Raymond and Reichardt.
"Our Second Date," a live-performance installation piece by artists Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, a miniature movie set in which production, editing and exhibition all happen in the same room.
"Pine Flat," a portrait of the children in a town in the Sierra Nevadas, directed and written by Sharon Lockhart.
"Wild Tigers I Have Known," a coming-of-age drama about a 13-year-old boy with a crush on the cool kid in school. Directed and written by Cam Archer.
Park City at Midnight
"American Hardcore," director Paul Rachman's documentary (based on Steven Blush's book) chronicling the history of underground punk rock from 1979 to 1986.
"Awesome, I F---in' Shot That!", a concert film of the Beastie Boys' Madison Square Garden show on Oct. 9, 2004, shot by 50 audience members who were given Hi-8 cameras. Nathaniel Hornblower (an alias of band member Adam "MCA" Yauch) is listed as the director.
"The Descent" (United Kingdom), a horror thriller about female spelunkers trapped in a cave with strange predators. Directed and written by Neil Marshall.
"Destricted," a collection of erotic art films from directors Matthew Barney (the "Cremaster" series), Larry Clark ("Kids"), Gaspar Noé ("Irreversible"), Marco Brambilla ("Demolition Man") and Sam Taylor Wood.
"The Foot Fist Way," a comedy about a Tae Kwon Do instructor's reaction to his wife's infidelity. Directed and written by Jody Hill.
"Moonshine," in which a convenience-store clerk is dealing with a new girlfriend and family troubles - and, oh yeah, he's turning into a vampire. Roger Ingraham directs, and co-wrote with Lori Isbell Salvage.
"Salvage," written and directed by Josh and Jeff Crook, sort of a bloodier "Groundhog Day," in which a college student is stalked and murdered by a serial killer - but then wakes up to relive the day over and over again.
"Subject Two," a thriller in which a troubled medical student signs up for a doctor's eerie experiment - to be killed and resurrected over and over again. Directed and written by Philip Chidel.