PARK CITY, Utah — As the Sundance Film Festival rounds the proverbial third base, there are still good movies to be seen. And what started out as a slow buying season has gathered steam with at least 12 movies acquired by major studios as we head into the festival's final few days.

With that in mind, I will spare you detailed reviews of other bad films of the week except to say run for the hills if you hear that The Pursuit of Loneliness, Smashed or Elena is playing in a nearby theatre. Looking on the brighter side, here are three films you must see all of which have been bought and will be shown this year.

Ethel: A daughter's loving portrait

Talented filmmaker Rory Kennedy, whose past Sundance documentaries include the Emmy-winning Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, tells the story of her mother, Ethel Kennedy through Ethel’s own recollections as well as those of her siblings. Although Ethel does not share any groundbreaking disclosures other than telling how she fell in love with Bobby Kennedy at first sight but had to endure his two-year relationship with her sister before he turned to her, the documentary is nonetheless a delight.

Kennedy interlaces reams of home movies and historical film footage with warm, funny and sometimes sad memories from five of the Kennedy children. Ethel is clearly uncomfortable talking about herself in the documentary but her love of her filmmaker daughter who was born six months after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated shines through.

And Ethel herself is quite the character—an awful cook, highly competitive, slightly rebellious, and committed to her late husband’s causes. Expect to see this on HBO later this year.

Under African Skies: Music and Politics

In 1986, Paul Simon recorded Graceland, which won him a Grammy after a musical dry spell. The album generated massive political fallout, with many believing he sold out the South African musicians in the face of a UN anti-apartheid boycott against the country to resuscitate his own career.

Under African Skies chronicles the making of Graceland along with Simon’s 10-day return to South Africa last summer to both reunite with his African artists for an anniversary concert and to start a new dialogue on the unresolved conflicts from that time.

Many of us had forgotten that the Graceland tour was threatened by violence, bomb threats and racism. In the Q&A following the film, director Joe Berlinger (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Crude) emphasized that he was not interested in making a puff piece and believed it important to show that hard feelings still existed from a number of leaders in the anti-Apartheid community and have Simon address those disagreements.

While Simon does not back down from his belief that music should triumph politics, it was interesting and reaffirming to see him give his detractors space to disagree and yet find common ground. Berlinger balances the conflicts with accolades from Oprah (“my favorite album of all time”), Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Belafonte and Paul McCartney, though all McCartney said was essentially “He had to do what he had to do."

And the music—does anyone need reminding of what a seminal album it was? The film is filled with so many feel good moments. The artists’ visit to NY for Saturday Night Live and Simon’s seamless reunion with these musicians 25 years later brought many in the audience to tears.

Indeed, at its premiere, the film received three standing ovations. Tentative plans are to release a 25^th anniversary concert DVD in May with the documentary, which could give Simon his mega hit.

About Face: The Supermodels Then and Now: Frank talk about aging

In About Face, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, portrait photographer and documentary maker (Grammy winner American Masters: Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart) interviews 19 of the world’s most legendary models whose work spans six decades. These beautiful women open up about aging, life in front of the camera, the culture of modeling, what beauty means now against the backdrop of their careers and the aging process itself.

Greenfield-Sanders supplements model interviews with elegant archival footage showing each model in her early career and interviews with designer Calvin Klein and agency head Eileen Ford round out the film. Models appearing in About Face are Paulina Porizkova, Christie Brinkley, Christy Turlington, Carol Alt, Jerry Hall, Beverly Johnson and 80-year-old Carmen Dell’Orefice (the world’s oldest working model), whose first line in the film is “If the ceiling was falling down in your living room, you would fix it wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t you do the same for your face?”

Also, Isabella Rosellini is filmed dressed in a man’s suit and tie and complains about not being invited to the cool parties anymore (actually given her current look, this is sort of understandable).

This elegantly and beautifully styled film is both informative and funny. With so many topics to cover with so many women and a tight 80-minute script, I found myself wishing for more. The film only brushes on how the lives turned out for the women. One model is shown with her college-age daughter but for the most part husbands and children are not seen or heard from. Additionally many in the audience wondered why every mega model appeared except Cindy Crawford.

This film was purchased by HBO and will appear this summer.