The Devil and Daniel Johnston – The masses probably best know the subject of Jeff Feuerzeig's Sundance-winning documentary (Director's Award) indirectly at best for designing Kurt Cobain's "Hi, How Are You" frog shirt that we wore when punk was breaking.  Those who are actually familiar with Daniel Johnston's music must already know his heartbreaking story of mental instability, which is displayed here via a downright shocking amount of home video from Johnston's life (his audio cassettes serve as the film's narration, as well).  The Peter Brady-voiced singer/songwriter was a talented artist in high school, flirted with manic depression in college, and finally wigged right the frick out after dropping acid at a 1985 Butthole Surfers show in Austin.

Despite this, Johnston achieved cult hero status as a very young man, all while cleaning tables at McDonalds.  I'm not going to give away any of the craziness for those in the dark about Johnston, though his story follows a similar trajectory to that of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.  But Johnston's is tougher to take because he doesn't have any of that mad Beach Boys money to make things easier on his life.  Look for appearances from fellow indie darlings Half Japanese (the subjects of a previous Feuerzeig doc), Mo Tucker, and three-quarters of Sonic Youth, who spend their stint in The Devil searching the streets of New York City for a suicidal Johnston in 1988.

Even if you can't get into Johnston's music (count me in that group), this is to be filed under "must-see."

Eleven Men Out – Björn Hlynur Haraldsson plays Ottar, the star player of the first-place soccer team in Iceland's top league.  He shocks friends, family and teammates by suddenly coming out of the closet in a magazine interview, leading to some fairly Stone Age responses from those closest to him.  Told he's no longer welcome playing for his club, Ottar joins an amateur team that happens to have a couple of gay players.  Fearful they'll be falsely labeled as a gay team, that club's straight players head for the hills and are replaced by queer footballers from all over Iceland.  Other teams don't want to play "Gay United," and after many forfeits, they end up playing Ottar's old club in The Big Showdown Finale (which happens to coincide with a Gay Pride march).

Nothing particularly subtle or different here.  Like Footballers Wive$, there is very little soccer shown here.  And Haraldsson seems kind of a-sexual to me.  He's handsome enough, but in that cold, unemotional, Mark Darcy way.  And that's the same vibe Out gave me.

Shopgirl – It seems like every time you start hatin' on Steve Martin for making really bad career choices, he follows it up with a happening self-penned screenplay.  Sgt. Bilko and The Out-of-Towners were followed by Bowfinger.  And now, Bringing Down the House and Cheaper by the Dozen are followed by Shopgirl, which was based on Martin's best-selling novella.  Unfortunately, the film is little disorganized, with parts that make little sense and it has some fairly awful music to boot.  But how can you rag on a film that casts Red House Painters' Mark Kozalek and gives him lines?

Claire Danes stars as Mirabelle Buttersfield, a Vermont native working in the formal gloves department of Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.  Her life is pretty empty, aside from churning out an occasional piece of art here and there.  This changes when she meets the scruffy, ill-mannered Jeremy (Bewitched's Jason Schwartzman, in a role originally given to the yucky Jimmy Fallon), who she brushes off after succumbing to the advances of an older, more distinguished customer at her store (Martin).  What unfolds is messy in terms of storytelling.  I'm not sure if Martin's book had the same feel (he adapted the story for the screen), but a girl having to choose between a pair of boys who are polar opposites isn't exactly cutting-edge stuff.  A step backwards for Martin's writing career, but a big step forward for Danes, who is pretty damn delightful here.  Directed by Anand Tucker (Hilary & Jackie).

L'Enfer – Or, for those of you not down with French, Hell.  This is the second film in a Heaven/Hell/Purgatory trilogy originally conceived by the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski and his writing partner Krzysztof Piesiewicz (the latter gets the screenwriting credit here) – you might remember Tom Tykwer's stab at the first.  Comparitively, Danis Tanovic, writer/director of the Oscar-winning No Man's Land, injects a much meatier edge to this picture, with a final reel that gave me goose-bumps from both its content and its quality.

Hell is about three sisters who don't keep in touch because they're too busy with a myriad of man trouble.  Céline (Karin Viard) is being stalked, and she kind of likes it.  Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart) is convinced her husband is cheating on her, and is intent on uncovering proof.  Anne (Marie Gillain) is having an affair with a married university professor, who also happens to be the father of her best friend.  Since the three women have no contact with each other, you'll be wondering how everything comes together at the end, and brother, when it does, your jaw will be in your lap.  The Festival's first genuine contender.

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic – This is a concert film, and your ability to enjoy it will be based on how funny you think Sarah Silverman is.  I think she's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and who wouldn't feel the same about someone who tackles subjects like race, lesbians, AIDS, religion, 9/11, retards, and rape . . . just in the first ten minutes?  There are about a half-dozen breaks for little sketches and some very hysterically un-PC musical numbers, too.  Very, very funny, and very, very wrong.