The word out of Sundance - so far

Out of the threads of conversation still emerging from 2013's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, one of them has been concentrated on just how many projects have zeroed in on sex.

There's the biopic about adult actress Linda Lovelace starring Amanda Seyfried - a mesmerizing clip for which has been circulating on the Interwebs - and offerings from James Franco that include a "meta-documentary" called "Interior. Leather Bar." (which is directed by Franco and Travis Mathews) and another documentary called "Kink" (which Fanco produced).

While Sundance has been home to boundary-pushing projects before, says the Los Angeles Times, this is a particularly sex-focused slate of cinema.

Franco suggested to the paper that the topic has become a new frontier for filmmakers to explore storytelling, and the Times says that others have agreed.

"There is no single explanation for what's prompted the flowering of sex-themed movies," the Times says. "But in interviews around Sundance, many of the people responsible for the films agreed with Franco that we've entered a new era. Now that the taboos have been broken, it's about character and storytelling."

So perhaps it's no coincidence that some of the buzziest projects are also those that have gotten attention for their more adult fare:

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt's feature directorial debut: In his next film, "Don Jon's Addiction," Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the star, writer and director. It sees Gordon-Levitt portray a porn-addicted Don Juan-type, and he does "everything but tap dance ... I think he does amazingly well," Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum has said of the comedy. "This is a story that I think shouldn't work as well as it does ... there's a certain charm to this thing that carries it through." Relativity Media has reportedly snapped up the film for $4 million.[EW.com: An interview with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on "Don Jon's Addiction"]
• Harry Potter's all grown-up: Along with Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe is getting praise for stretching himself with his Sundance feature, "Kill Your Darlings." The 23-year-old actor portrays Allen Ginsberg in the period film about the Beat Generation, and it's a role that definitely pushes the audience to see the "Harry Potter" star in a new - and, well, more sexual - light. "If there was ever a guidebook for actors looking to break free from billion-dollar movie franchises, 'Daniel Radcliffe' would be the title of Chapter One," Moviefone said in a review. "Radcliffe shines as a younger version of the beatnik icon." [Moviefone]
• "The best movie and the worst movie," all in one: Naomi Watts and Robin Wright star in "Two Mothers" as two best friends and moms who happen to be sleeping with one another's sons. According to New York Magazine's review, "95 percent of the movie is comprised of the following: swimming, staring and sex-having." But is it any good? It seems the jury's out on that. It is, however, being called "the most fun you can have at Sundance." [New York Magazine's Vulture]

Not everything is so saucy. There's "Austenland," a comedy about a woman obsessed with "Pride & Prejudice" who decides to visit a Jane Austen-themed vacation destination to find the man of her dreams. The Hollywood Reporter called it "clever," adding that the "funny, reasonably romantic and wholly commercial" film, written and directed by Jerusha Hess, "should hold fans over until someone musters the nerve to do another straight-on remake of 'Pride and Prejudice.'"

And last but certainly not least is "Fruitvale," one of EW's movies to watch coming out of the festival. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer, the film chronicles the shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant (played by Jordan) in Oakland in 2009.

Spencer plays Grant's mother, a role she called "the toughest ... I’ve ever had to play" in an interview with ABC News. “His family said they didn’t see Michael B. Jordan up there. They saw Oscar.” The film's reportedly been picked up by The Weinstein Company, according to the Los Angeles Times.