The 2012 Sundance Film Festival drew to a close over the weekend with a flurry of additional distribution deals, as well as a Saturday night awards ceremony. The fest’s out-of-nowhere buzz hit Beasts of the Southern Wild was among the big winners, nabbing not only the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, but the US Dramatic Excellence in Cinematography award. The Documentary Grand Jury Prize went to The House I Live In, an examination of the war on drugs from director Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight). The Israeli film The Law in These Parts won the World Cinema Jury Prize for Documentary, while the Latin American musical drama Violeta Went to Heaven won the Dramatic World Cinema Jury Prize.

True to my history of excellent scheduling judgment, your humble correspondent saw not one of those films during my eight days in Park City, though I did take in — and greatly enjoy — the US Audience award winners The Invisible War (Documentary) and The Surrogate (Drama); the latter film also won a richly-deserved US Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting. My favorite film of the fest, Mike Birbiglia’s warm, winning comedy Sleepwalk With Me, won the Best of NEXT Audience Award; another favorite, the wry time-travel comedy/drama Safety Not Guaranteed, won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

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Today at Flavorpill, we identified perhaps too strongly with this supercut of Parks and Recreation‘s April Ludgate not giving a “$&!#.” We allowed this tilt-shift video of holiday-season Los Angeles as a snow globe to melt our icy hearts. We followed @realshitgirlsay, the feminist answer to the viral sensation of the month. We learned that Alec Baldwin really, really isn’t running for mayor of New York, because he’s not “horny” for the job the way other candidates seem to be. We were impressed by Spin‘s “20 Best Avant Albums of 2011″ list. We decided that John Krasinski and Sesame Street are almost as adorable together as Jason Segel and the Muppets. We agreed that Banksy’s latest sculpture is “a little on the nose.” We watched a five-minute sneak peek of NBC’s new legal drama, The Firm, even though we’ve yet to find the TV legal drama that thrills us. We were relieved at the news that the Joss Whedon-free Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie that’s been in the works for about a year may not happen after all. And finally, were amused that The Fresh Prince of Bel Air cast reunited — without either of the two actresses who played Vivian Banks.

Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. We’ve got ten new trailers this week, from biopics to historical epics to documentaries to thrillers; check ‘em out after the jump.

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1. R.J. Reynolds plans to turn Camel cigarette packs into an homage to Williamsburg for the month of January. According to a spokesperson: “We believe that [Williamsburg] represents a lot of the belief of the Camel brand. It helps illustrate the break-free attitude that Camel is about, breaking free to be your own person.” [via NYDN]
2. Natalie Portman and her friend Laura Moses have been shopping around a script for a raunchy comedy that’s being described as “a female-themed Superbad.” [via LAT]
3. “Working at the warp-speed of a 24/7 news operation, we now add the versatility of being able to develop ideas and investigations that require a different narrative pace suited to the medium of print. And for Newsweek, The Daily Beast is a thriving frontline of breaking news and commentary that will raise the profile of the magazine’s bylines and quicken the pace of a great magazine’s revival.” – Tina Brown on the Newsweek/Daily Beast merger
4. The new Muppet movie may involve Lady Gaga — or at least Eric Stonestreet, John Krasinski, and Ed Helms playing members of her entourage. [via Vulture]
5. Christie‘s is auctioning off one of the very first computers ever made by Apple — more specifically, it was built by Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs‘ garage. It’s considered the first personal computer, and is expected to fetch between $159,800 and $239,700. [via Bits]

Bonus link: Oprah Invites Hundreds Of Lucky Fans To Be Buried With Her In Massive Tomb

John Krasinski’s adaptation of the wonderful David Foster Wallace’s short story collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is out in theaters. Well, theater really, since in New York it’s still playing exclusively at the IFC Center. But no matter. The real story blowing up the blogs is that Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard makes his acting debut in the film, looking like a cute potato as always.

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It has been a little over a year since the ineffable David Foster Wallace left us for the hereafter. Ululate if you must. Of course, his spirit lives on through his ruminative, pomo oeuvre — death, as e.e. cummings poeticized, is “no parenthesis.” In fact, the dark, surging, circumlocutory monologues in Wallace’s 1999 short-story collection, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, inspired John Krasinski (yes, he of The Office stardom) to adapt them for his behind-the-camera debut of the same name. Read More »

Imagine my glee when a screening invite to Away We Go, a romantic dramedy directed by Sam Mendes, with a screenplay by my favorite authors (Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida), and an ensemble cast helmed by John Krasinski from The Office and former SNL star Maya Rudolph, landed in my inbox. Impossible that this won’t be fantastic; it’s like a movie made specifically to appeal to my demographic! (Just look at the poster.) The premise was equally promising: A 30-something couple gets pregnant and takes a trip to several cities where they’ve got friends and family to figure out where they want to raise their child. Sadly, I was way off. Read More »

Aside from stalking the halls at Flavorwire, Erik Davis contributes to Fandango.com and is also the editor-in-chief of AOL Moviefone’s Cinematical.com, one of the longest-running and most popular movie blogs online. He’ll be bringing us his industry reports from Sundance throughout the festival, and can be reached with tips or questions at erik [dot] davis [at] gmail [dot] com.

The quiet on Main Street, the beautiful weather and the very good films have thus far proven the 2009 Sundance Film Festival a success. Never have I been to a film festival (let alone Sundance) where I’ve actually liked — and in most cases, really liked — the first several films I’ve watched.

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The 2009 Sundance Film Festival marks an important anniversary: The Big 2-5. However, not everyone is celebrating. In this economic climate the buyers seem to be exercising caution before placing the golden bet. [NYDN]

Evidenced by to the multitude of stories referencing it, the economy is surely having an effect on Sundance, but has it gotten bad enough that Emmy Rossum has given up acting to wait tables? Her short-lived waitress gig at the MySpace Cafe is actually to benefit Global Green, an environmental charity. Rossum is in Park City supporting Dare, a drama which costars Zach Gilford. [LAT]

Jim Carrey has had a plethora of roles in his day, but we see him in a new light in I Love You Philip Morris, where he plays Ewan McGregor’s gay lover. The film, a poignant and unique love story with enough twists to keep the audience enthralled, appears to be getting good reviews, but perhaps more importantly, what was Carrey’s review of McGregor’s kissing skills? “A dream come true,” he jokes. [HuffPo]

Speaking of witty retorts to reporters’ questions, John Krasinski had an interesting answer when asked what it was like directing himself. Krasinski panned, “I’ve never worked with a bigger diva.” The film in which The Office star plays dual roles is an adaptation of the late David Foster Wallace’s work, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. The author, who took his life last fall just after the film wrapped, never had the opportunity to see the finished product; Krasinski, a longtime fan, hopes it honors his memory. [NYT]