Sundance 2012 Wrap Up - Day Three

More bad movies. Me at the Zoo seemed promising. It was meant to be an exploration of fame derived from youtube and other online avenues. This premise is quickly abandoned once the movie settles on Chris Crocker, the transgendered Tennessee teen who famously posted a video of him crying in agony over the treatment of Britney Spears by the media. Pretty soon, you realize that the movie is nothing more than a bunch of his youtube videos strung together with little to no narrative. Crocker is a lunatic and not a lovable one. Saying something about this kind of fame and using him as an example would have been a fascinating idea. Letting the movie be 90% him ranting and raving in his exaggerated, drag queen preening makes you want to kill someone (him, especially). He was at the Q&A and I remember him saying he was glad the movie was out there so people could see he isn’t a total crazy person. Sorry to break it to you Chris, but that is the one thing we’re certain of now. The guy had no sense of how he relates to other people. I came out feeling angry. SCORE = 2

This was actually supposed to be the second movie of the day, but there had been a snafu that we didn’t realize until late the night before. Brooke, Farrah’s sister, bought our tickets and didn’t realize til then that they had given her tickets to the wrong movie. So, we had tix to a movie that took place 4 days earlier and didn’t have them to the one we wanted. No biggie. It happens and it all worked out fine in the end, but I’ll be double checking whatever Sundance gives us from now on.

From here we waitlisted for a movie called Bachelorette, which was weird because it feels like we’ve done a lot of that in year’s past and yet this was the only time we waited this year. In fact, this year went by in a flash. We rarely waited, we rarely had long gaps between movies, we hardly had much time to eat now and then. I liked it, but I sort of missed the down time. Btw, we were with Brooke and Jake and the four of us were the last ones let into the theater.

Bachelorette was a pretty blatant rip-off of The Hangover and Bridesmaids. It’s the night before one of the girl’s wedding and chaos ensues for Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan complete with the usual suspects: sex, drugs, and close calls. It was fun, the formula is pretty Teflon, and I did laugh once I got over how derivative it all was. I’d be more descriptive, but just know that any joke you saw in The Hangover was probably recycled here. I’m sure it will be released at some point. SCORE = 6

In prior year’s we’ve always had tickets to whatever the Grand Jury Documentary Prize winner was. This year we went with the Grand Jury Dramatic. The risk you take is that the winning film will be something you’ve already seen. We were killing time with Brooke and Jake when the announcement came that the winner was something they’d already seen. So, they sold their tickets quickly and headed back home. Well, a couple minutes later we realized that Brooke misread and the winner was Beasts of the Southern Wild and the movie she thought won, won something else. Overall, not a great couple days for Brooke, sadly. It would have been fun to close out the fest with those guys.

Beasts of the Southern Wild sounded lame, but ended up being an extremely emotional and visceral experience. It centers around a young black girl and her absentee father deep in the southern bayou of Louisiana. I’m talking as deep as it gets, like out of the third world deep. The young girl is pretty much on her own all day, just surviving as best she can. The depiction of life in this community was fascinating, you can’t believe this is happening in America. Eventually, Katrina hits and destroys the paper-thin existence they knew. The father is dying, the mother’s already dead, and so it’s up to the girl, who’s about 10 to figure life out on her own.

It’s not for everybody. It’s very textural, more cinematic than linear. Reminded me in some ways of The Tree of Life. But, it’s really beautiful, from the camera work, to the score (amazing) to the odd special effects (there are Beasts afterall, but it’s more like they live in a dream). It will be interesting to see how it’s received when it comes out. SCORE = 8

In between shows we got to see our good friends Jon and Natalia Anderson, and enjoying the festival with Joe and Leslie and Brooke and Jake always adds to our fun. This tradition has become the highlight of our year and we’re especially grateful that Farrah’s folks watch the kids so we can get away. I'm excited for next year within seconds of the last film. There's nothing like it.

Sundance 2012 Wrap Up - Day Two

Unfortunately, it kicks off with more of the same. The End of Love is ANOTHER movie with no script! This time, writer/star/director Mark Webber fixes the camera on his relationship with his toddler son, Isaac. Mark is a single father who is trying to land acting jobs in LA after his wife dies. Isaac is played by his real-life son, so that makes it more interesting and the kid is cute, which helps. It just so obviously seemed like it was ambling to somewhere, but never getting anywhere revelatory. Again with the long shots of nothingness! I appreciated the difficulties this guy has in raising a child by himself without a steady income and I empathized when he was dealing with roommates and girls and love etc. But, after three movies that mistake vast nothingness for deep, cerebral meaning, I was over it. That being said, Farrah and our friends Joe and Leslie that saw it with us, liked it a lot more than I did. SCORE = 4

This movie marked the one and only time I saw a star not affiliated with the movie we were watching. In this case it was Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie who sat a couple rows behind me. I overheard bits of his conversations and he sounded like a totally decent guy, which is always nice.

Finally things pick back up with the best movie of the weekend. Bones Brigade is a documentary about the Bones Brigade, which were the first stars of skateboarding in the late 70s/early 80s. The most famous member of the brigade is Tony Hawk, who’s the most recognizable face in skateboarding, but he’s just one of about 7 guys who made up the group and watching them tell their story mixed with the usual frenetically artistic style of filmmaker Stacy Peralta (who also gave these guys their start back in the day when he ran Powell Peralta skate gear) made for the perfect jolt of life (as is often the case with a Peralta film).

Everyone but Tony Hawk were at the Q&A afterwards (he had another commitment, he wasn’t ditching or anything) and for some fanboys in the audience it was like seeing Jesus. It made me wish I had been more of a boarder back in the day so that I could have fully appreciated having these guys in front of me. The adoration from some of the guys in the audience (“you guys formed my whole life, you taught me how to talk”) was emotional. I actually got choked up.

They all seemed like really decent guys and seeing how the fame they enjoyed as teenagers has impacted the rest of their lives was fascinating. Loved every minute of it. SCORE = 9

From here we barely make it to the last film of the day, Smashed. I enjoyed it, but of all the movies we saw it’s the last one that comes to mind when I recollect the trip. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (so hot in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) plays a young, married alcoholic who decides to break away from her toxic but comfortable life with her enabling husband (Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul). Her road to recovery, which includes some funny interaction with her sponsor played by Nick Offerman (Parks and Rec), is good, but the movie brings nothing new to this type of genre. You’ve seen the cycle before. They hit bottom, they get help, they start to get sober, they trip up, they tentatively try to come back and it all ends in a subtly ambiguous way so that you’re hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst. It was pretty good and it’s only problem was being so normal. SCORE = 6

Sundance 2012 Wrap Up - Day One

It all started badly, as it often does, because we were running late for our first movie. We didn’t allow enough time to get from Bountiful to Park City during morning rush hour and began snapping at each other as the time slipped away and we were stuck on the freeway. Thankfully, we managed to get to Eccles with about 5 minutes to spare which put us near the front row to see Price Check starring Parker Posey and Eric Mabius.

Price Check hit really close to home for me. Uncomfortably close. It’s the story of a guy (Ugly Betty’s Mabius) in an unchallenging, safe job with a wife and young baby who’s world is turned upside down when the new high-strung, workaholic boss (Posey) comes in to turn the place around. The new culture and intensity level throws off the whole comfortable balance he’s been enjoying.

Posey takes a liking to Mabius, gives him a big raise, makes him a VP and begins to mold him in her image. Suddenly, he’s working nights and weekends, he’s alienating his former equals at work, and his home life is affected. BUT, he’s reaching a new level of success in his career, so there’s good and bad. Eventually, this leads to an affair, a firing, and a near-collapse of his marriage.

These are very present themes in my life. How hard can I work and still maintain balance? If I go for the brass ring at work, will I become corrupted in the process? Will it cost me my family? Is it worth it? Am I selling myself short if I don’t at least try? Is a comfortable job better or worse than a challenging one? I am constantly feeling heavy with the burden of these questions, no joke, so watching it play out negatively on screen made my insides twist. Mabius worked in music earlier in his career, so when things get bad he considers starting his own label and getting back to what he really loves. Now, I know better than to think like that, but it doesn’t mean I DON’T think like that!

The ending falls a little short, the repercussions of everyone’s actions don’t seem big enough, but it was an excellent ride up to that point. And Posey is her usual quirky, enchanting self. They were both at the Q&A afterwards and the crowd really gave her hell for such a despicable character, completely ignoring how funny she was (the movie’s a black comedy, did I fail to mention that?). I hope this gets released because it’s a gem. SCORE = 8.5

Next up was Love Free Or Die: How the Bishop of New Hampshire is Changing the World, the story of openly gay Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson and the sea change his rise has brought to the Anglican Church.

Robinson’s profile has increased over the last few years. He even gave the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration. As one can imagine from a staid and traditional organization like the Anglican Church, his mere presence is threatening to throw everything they’ve known to be true and right for the last few hundred years into chaos (geez, where have I heard of this problem before?).

Robinson is a pretty amazing man, extremely lovable and humble, and can’t imagine a life outside of the church, even though their position flies in the face of what he feels to be right and Christian. The movie shows the annual conference the Bishop’s attend where a vote will take place on whether or not to allow gay Bishops and the potential restrictions on their service. The whole time I’m watching this, any time someone refers to “the church” I, of course, switch theirs for mine because the exact same dialogue is happening for us too. I wish big decisions like this could be put to a diplomatic vote and that policy could change just like that. We know it doesn’t, leaving the LDS church even behind the Church of England in the “get with the times” race.

As important a topic as this is, it deserved a slightly better movie. The doc was pretty by the numbers, more of a feature on 60 Minutes. Still, it should be required watching for any religious person who is conflicted over the emergence of homosexuals in their religion. You have a choice: you can love and embrace them or you can continue to shun. I vote for love. Oh, and I got to shake Gene’s hand on the way out and tell him how much I admired him. That’s what Sundance is all about, if you ask me. SCORE = 7

Here’s where things go downhill into “typical Sundance garbage” mode. The next movie was called The Comedy, even though it lacked what the title promised. It stars comedian Tim Heidecker (a poor man’s Zach Galifianakis) as a New York trust fund brat who wastes away his days hanging with his other trust fund buddies and getting high. I only know this because that's what the marketing materials said, not because it was obvious to the viewer.

I didn’t know who Heidecker was, but I guess he’s part of the comedy pair Tim and Eric who have a big cult following. The entire movie was made up, no formal script or structure, and it’s obvious from the first scene when the camera stays fixed on Heidecker’s face as he eats a cookie for about 5 minutes. There are many many scenes like this, most of the movie in fact. At one point, he picks up a girl and brings her back to his boat to get high. They get flirty and start to take their clothes off when she has a seizure. You see it start to happen, but then you just hear it as the camera stays on a close up of Heidecker as he just sits and watches it happen. Again, this goes on for like 5 minutes without a cut.

As painful as it was, there were maybe two or three funny scenes that had me laughing out loud. I could see it being a hit with the right kind of audience and under the right circumstances. There is a slight glint of a shabby charm that some may be more forgiving about. But, mostly it was just repellent and unpleasant. SCORE = 2

And now, for the final film of day one, we come to the worst one of the festival: For Ellen. It starred Paul Dano as a nobody rock star going through a divorce who is trying to negotiate for more time to spend with his estranged daughter that he hardly knows (that’s who Ellen is, btw). These negotiations take place in a nameless small town in the heartland that is cold and wet and covered with snow. Dano’s lawyer is played be Jon Heder (Napolean Dynamite) of all people.

Talk about a movie with long stretches of close-ups of forlorn, sad faces meant to evoke a deep reservoir of emotion! With all that snow, there’s plenty for Dano to stare at for hours and hours. And, it’s another movie with a thin, skeletal script that is largely improvised and made up on the spot. Why do aspiring filmmakers feel like that is attractive to viewers? It never is.

There isn’t much to say about For Ellen. It’s really lethargic and slow. The thing I couldn’t stop thinking about was why would Heder break his rule of no rated R movies for this piece of junk? There’s a scene of him and Dano drinking in a bar (where Dano does the weakest, most lifeless lip-synch to Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night” that is humanly possible) and then they share a cigarette afterwards that Heder doesn’t want to smoke (“I just like holding it”). My guess is the roles are drying up and this was a chance to be seen in something, anything, so he grabbed it. I don’t blame him, he probably was going to need to do that at some point, but why this inconsequential movie? Sad all around. SCORE = 1

Sundance: Day 3

"The Son of No One" was another complete waste of time and yet it was the one with all the stars! You got Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Channing Tatum, Katie Holmes, Tracey Morgan, and yet it's total garbage. I should have known this because it was directed by the guy that did "A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints" another Sundance hit that I saw and hated passionately. This guy's style is lots of brooding and insular tension with a completely overwrought score. Lots of scenes of actors looking glum and intense. Hate that.

And, it had my biggest pet peeve in movies, that thing where if the main character just talked about the problem or told his secret, there would be no point to the movie. Like "I'm going to get close to this person for an article I'm writing on love and then not tell them until I do fall in love with them and they hate me because I kept it from them and they feel our relationship is a fraud and based on inorganic motivation". Whatever. I hate that so much. In this case, Channing Tatum grows up in the projects and accidentally kills a couple of druggies, but Al Pacino lets him get away with it because he was partners with his dad and that's what cop friends do for each other. So, he grows up and decides at the age of 30 to be what? A COP! Of course! But, someone knows his secret and begins leaking it to the paper and the police and it ruins Channing's life and marriage because, of course he's never told his wife, Katie Holmes, any of this. Anyway, the ending is just as stupid as the whole rest of the movie and no one acts or behaves in a way that makes any sense at all. This movie comes out later this year, so maybe you'll see for yourselves. Score: 1

By this point, I'm getting pretty frustrated. Too many disappointing movies in a row is a drag, especially in one 24 hour span. I need some good news and I need it now before I go postal on one of these lame ass directors. And, just like that, it came!

The movie I had wanted to see more than any other was a documentary on A Tribe Called Quest by actor Michael Rapaport called “Beats, Rhymes, and Life”, but all shows were completely sold out. We had a few hours to kill and a lot of movies we’d like to see all starting at around the same time, which meant going all in on the one we stood the best chance of getting into and wait in line. If we didn’t get in we had two hours to waste until the next round (and it meant not getting into anything else we may have wanted). We decided to go with Tribe and take our chances and the bet paid off. We were the last group allowed in and got to meet Michael and shake his hand, our first star sighting. He was very nice and appreciative, humble and funny.

The movie was your basic Behind the Music episode, which is fine for me since I’m a sucker for that. I love that band and I loved getting to know them better. Taken all together, however, it made for the highlight of the trip and epitomized exactly what you want from a Sundance experience. Seeing stars who are cool and nice, seeing a movie you’re dying to see that is a hot ticket, and taking a bit of a risk to make it all happen. Perfect. As a cherry on top, before we left the screening, I spotted TJ Miller, who is an up and coming actor/comedian from films like “She’s Out Of My League” and “Gulliver’s Travels”. He walked by and I grabbed his shoulder and said “you’re hilarious”. He introduced himself by saying “Hi, I’m TJ” to which I replied “I know” and then thanked me very emphatically and then said hi to Farrah. Again, just what it’s all about. Score: 8

From here it was back to Flippin’ Burgers for some amazing chili cheese fries (Farrah couldn’t get enough) and a little down time with the Tippets before closing out the night with two more shows.

First up was a British film we had very low expectations for called “Perfect Sense”. The description didn’t sound like our thing, but it had Ewan McGregor and Eva Green and sometimes, after a while, you just want to see something with people you recognize. Good thing we did. It was an extremely unique spin on a disaster/virus movie where people all over the world suddenly get very depressed, then lose their senses one by one. Ewan is a chef and Eva is a doctor who meet when it's just starting and come together as the virus slowly takes hold and it all makes for one of the most human, sexy, inventive and captivating movie experiences I’ve had in a while. A lot of that is due to my low expectations and general disinterest in this kind of subject matter. But, it showed me that you can’t underestimate the visceral power of beautiful actors and a unique idea. It’s gold. If/when this comes out be sure to track it down. A hidden gem. Score: 8.5.

A quick note about seeing stars. In the crowds of people that show up for these movies, you’d swear half of them are small character actors. It’s like looking through dense fog at people you may or may not have gone to junior high with. Every now and then you see a face and think “in a different context that may have been that one person from that one show”.

Our last tickets of the festival were for whatever film won the best documentary prize. Last year it ended up being “Restrepo” which was just nominated for an Oscar. There were many in the running that we really wanted to see, especially one about the guy behind Elmo. We were bummed when the winner was announced to be “How To Die In Oregon” about people who take advantage of the physician-assisted suicide that is allowed in the state, one of the ones we were not jonesing for. However, it ended up being extremely heartfelt and involving. One of the primary participants is a sweet lady named Cody Curtis, a 50 something year old mother of two who has stomach cancer. We follow her for about a year as she prepares to die, says goodbye to friends, gives her belongings away, and even lives longer than she was initially told she would which causes some consternation over whether to go through with the suicide or when. You come away feeling very blessed that you got to get to know this amazing woman during her last days on earth and feel of her love and spirit.

I have issues with documentaries that don’t adequately or fairly show the opposing view of whatever the topic is. Interestingly, the director of “Oregon” didn’t even bother to tell both sides of the issue. It’s pretty fluffy overall and would probably be a big hit on Lifetime at some point. But, I didn’t care. I was pretty overwhelmed by it all (not to mention I completely agree that people should be allowed to have these suicides if they want to). I’m glad I saw it. Score: 8

So, that’s it. Another successful trip to Sundance. We plan to make this an annual event, as long as family or friends are able to watch the kids, which we’re so grateful for and couldn’t do it without. It’s truly an experience any film lover should take part of at some point in their lives. And, now that we’ve turned on the Tippets, we’re hoping we can add a friend or two each year. Makes it that much sweeter.

Sundance: Day 2

Friday and Saturday ended up being 14 hour marathons of movie indulgence with several highs and lows along the way.


We kicked off Friday morning with Joe and Leslie at an early morning showing of "A Family Portrait in Black and White" which is the story of a Ukrainian woman named Olga that raises orphans, especially colored and mulatto children that society has completely rejected. The first half practically builds a case for Olga to receive sainthood with the life and love she provides to these unloved and unwanted children (27 of them in all in a house with no toilet or hot water).



However, as the story continues along, you see moments where Olga is actually sort of suffocating these children and thwarting their progress. She won't allow most of them to attend schools that are away and would help them get a good education. The kids all have foster families they visit in the summer, many of whom would like to adopt them, but she won't allow it until the kids are 18, even though these families could provide a much better home for them. So, it's all a big dichotomy - what she offers is certainly better than what an orphanage would provide, but she stubbornly stunts their growth in the process. In her words "birds may fly away, but a bird only has one nest".


The film was fascinating and heartfelt, if slightly formless. Many scenes could have been cut easily. Also, all the filming took place during the summers, which is fine except that it would have been interesting to see how everyone endures a Russian winter in a house with no hot water. Still, well worth seeing. Score: 8


Next up was the movie I was most looking forward to of the whole festival- "Black Power Mixtape". It's a Swedish documentary on the Black Power movement covering the years 1967 - 1975. This is a topic I've found fascinating for years and have always watched anything I could get my hands on. Well, this was a slight disappointment.



First of all, I should have been tipped off more that the film is Swedish. Not that it matters too much, after all Swedes can tell the Black Panther story too, but it felt more like some footage that had been laying around and turning it into a film gave it a reason to exist. It's basically a composite of news reports filed by Swedish journalists reporting back on the American equal rights situation. That's fine, it just amounted to an ultimately serviceable, but not crucial, telling of the Black America story. A unique trick they used that I wasn't a big fan of, was having modern day commentators like Angela Davis, Talib Kweli, and Melvin Van Peeples talk over parts as if it was a DVD commentary. Nice idea, but I'd probably rather see these people's faces as they told the story. Maybe that's nitpicking. Overall, it was fine, but not essential. Score: 5.5


From here we went to another drama called "Benevidas Born". It's the story of a high school female power lifter in a largely Hispanic Texas town who is trying to find a way out, not just out of town, but out of her culture and the life she knows.



A film about a female power lifter sounded fascinating to me and it was, despite the very amateurish acting and film making, for the first 30 minutes or so when that was the focus. All of a sudden the film begins taking turns and the lead begins down a path of self-destruction that seems so foreign to the premise and character we were investing in. She goes from pursuing her goal to taking steroids, quitting the sport, starting a fire and going to jail, transporting illegal aliens, and pushing her boyfriend and family away. It just didn't ring true. It was like the filmmakers wanted to throw in any obstacle a poor Hispanic family would come up against and throw them all at this girl. I didn't buy it. Score: 4


We saw this with Joe and Leslie too and afterwards we went to Flippin' Burgers for some dinner and to meet up with Jon and Natalia Anderson, our good friends from our ward that moved to Park City last year so Jon could go to work for Skull Candy. It was so good to catch up with them again. It doesn't hurt that Jon has a cool job and brought some schwag for us, including some sweet headphones at a discount, some cds, stickers, and hats. Love those guys.


The last movie of the day was another I had high hopes for called "Knuckle". It's an Irish documentary about some interrelated Traveler families (think Gypsies) that have been in a heated battled since a fight broke out at a wedding in '92 and someone died. Since then, every few months a member of one clan will challenge someone from another clan to a bare knuckle fight for a purse of money. The winner basically claims bragging rights, but since these fights just keep going and going and younger generations have begun to adopt them, there isn't an end in sight. In fact, they've become a tradition and part of their new heritage.


All very cool, right? You'd think. As cool as the fight scenes were, there was almost no sense of narrative. The director had been following them for 12 years, but never really tells a story. It just goes from one fight to another. The Q&A afterwards was way more informative than the film itself. For instance, he starts out by saying "I assumed when I made this that everyone would know what Travelers are, but I'm learning no one does. So, let me explain..." No kidding! It didn't occur to him to explain that? Another example - two guys fight and the younger, fitter guy breaks the rules and bites the other guy several times so the fight is called. They do a rematch nine years later and in the Q&A, the director explains that the one guy had been embarrassed for the biting and been living in regret ever since. Don't you think that's exactly what an audience would like to know so they can add some context to these fights? Overall, a real missed opportunity. The fights are cool to watch, but there's nothing else there. Score: 4


We finally get home Friday night around midnight and have to be up by 6:30 Saturday morning to get to our first movie, "The Son of No One". I mention this because it's what these trips are really like. A few hours of sleep and then a movie marathon, eating when/if there's time, and then back to bed for a bit to do it all over again the next day. Can't be beat!

Also, notice I've yet to mention any star sightings. That's because there haven't been any. Kinda disappointing.

Sundance: Day 1

Sundance 2011 kicked off in the worst possible way - with one of the most skin-crawlingly bad movies I've ever seen. "I Melt With You" stars Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane and Jeremy Piven as three of four best friends that reunite every year to relive the glory days of college. It turns into a week of complete debauchery - drugs, sex, etc - as they escape the inert disappointment of their normal everyday lives. On this particular trip, it comes out that 25 years ago they had made a blood vow that if they ever lost the plot on what life was really about, they would all commit suicide. So, one by one, each one offs himself as a means to escape the ruin their lives had become. A promising cast, a perfect soundtrack of 80s post-punk classics, and a potentially relatable premise of middle-age ennui doesn't do a bit of good from stopping me to, literally (and I can't stress that enough), hate every single second of it. It's over-long. It's over-acted. It's over-dramatic. It's ugly and vile and loud. I don't remember the last time I had this sickening a reaction to a film. You know it's bad when the only person affiliated with the film who's available for the Q&A afterwards is a girl who was the 6th lead. Score: 0

To make matters worse, we attended this film with our good friends, Joe and Leslie Tippetts. Now, we didn't drag them to this or talk them into it, but listening to obscene sex convos with your good church friends sitting in the next seats makes the whole thing even more painful. It nearly soured me on even being here and I began to wonder if the positive energy of the past was lost, like the innocence of the men in the movie we'd just seen. Luckily, everything went back to normal soon.

From there we went to a documentary about 9/11 called "Rebirth". Not exactly an original premise, and certainly a well that's been drawn from aplenty, "Rebirth" stands out because it follows the lives of five people who were deeply affected in some way by the events (either a loved one died or they were severely injured) from 2002 thru 2009. You get to watch the way these people cope/grieve/progress with what remains of their lives. They all go through huge ups and downs and each has a process that's unique to them - some find a sense of humour and some barely clear a path for forgiveness. Everyone started over on 9/12 and these five describe a moving travelogue that will probably have you in tears from start to finish. Score: 9

Lastly, the prevailing mood of the day switched, gratefully, to something light and funny with the documentary "Shut Up, Little Man". Two guys from the Midwest move to San Francisco after college and live next door to a couple of old, insane alcoholics, Pete a homosexual and Ray a redneck homophobe, that engage in hilarious screaming matches when the liquor takes over, which is pretty much every night. The two young guys, Eddie and Mitchell, begin taping these outbursts and giving copies to their friends, which kicks off an old-school underground viral sensation of bootlegging among fans of something called Audio-Veritae, which is, basically, found sounds. I've never heard of these guys or was aware of the many comic books, plays, songs, websites, or cds that Pete and Ray inspired. Neither did they, as a matter of fact. So, the movie goes from telling their story, to the legalities, rights, artistry, and legitimacy of using other people's normal lives as art.

The movie is a lot of fun and brings on the nostalgia of a much more innocent time. What's mildly frustrating is how little is truly known about Pete and Ray. They're both dead with no living relatives and both basically drank their lives away. A better understanding of them and more from the fans and people who were influenced by them would have rounded out the picture. Still, it's fun and worth a watch, so long as you find old drunks calling each other co******er over and over funny. Score: 7

We debated whether to try and get into a 4th film, but we hadn't eaten all day, or slept much last night, so we decided to end it today and go big tomorrow.

I'm Sundancing As Fast As I Can

If anyone is on the fence about whether Sundance is worth the expense, or the time, or the effort, my answer to that is a resounding “YES”. You have to do it at least once, assuming you’re a film buff. If you’re not, I wouldn’t bother. As much as star searching is part of the fun, it’s a secondary bonus to actually seeing the movies in packed houses with a captive audience.

Our trip began bright and early Thursday morning. The first film, “Sympathy for Delicious” was starting at 8:30, so we needed to leave Farrah’s parent’s house in Bountiful by about 6:45 to get to Park City, park the car, walk to the theater, and get a good seat. This turned out to be easier than we thought it would be. Parking was 10 bucks each time, so we stayed in one spot all day, and the free shuttle service is excellent. And, at the very worst, the many theaters aren’t that far apart so even walking from one film to the next is some nice exercise.

“Delicious” was directed by Mark Ruffalo (his directing debut) and written by actor Christopher Thornton. They had been friends in acting school 16 years ago when Chris became a paraplegic in a climbing accident. Since then, he’s only gotten sporadic acting gigs, all for guys in chairs, while Mark has become a star. Mark did him a solid by directing his screenplay, though they would never admit that. The film is the story of a recently disabled homeless former DJ (Thornton) who lives out of his car on Skid Row where Father Joe (Ruffalo) works to provide shelter. All of a sudden, Delicious wakes up with the power to heal, which has Father Joe lining up the poor folks of Skid Row to be made whole by D’s hand. D is too cynical to believe his gift does anyone any good. While this is happening, D also gets asked to join a band by Juliette Lewis (the best part of the movie by far). The band’s gimmick is to heal fans in concert, which D plays along with for a while, thus becoming a sell out.

The movie is like four different films in one and none of them work that well together. There’s even some courtroom drama near the end. I’m sitting there thinking the thing is a total mess, and realize Mark and Christopher are on the other side of the room gauging the audience’s reactions. That was surreal. I like Mark, but I don’t see a promising career as a director in his future. The sadder thing is, as weird as this movie was, after seeing some really bad ones afterwards, it ended up not being that bad by comparison. 4/10

We didn’t have tickets to anything for a few hours, and rather than taking our chances at another theater, we stayed at this one with the hopes of getting into a documentary called “GasLand”. The story of the environmental hazards of natural gas drilling didn’t sound very enticing at all, but we didn’t have anything better to do. The other bonus was the guy at the ticket counter let us in for free. Little did we know it would be the best film we saw by far.

I knew nothing of natural gas and assumed, based on the term “natural” that all was well and on the up and up with it. Not so. The real story plays out like “Erin Brockovich” or “A Civil Action” where the people and communities living near the drilling end up drinking contaminated water full of chemicals that decimates their health, all while large corporations like Halliburton and EnCana sit back and get filthy stinking rich. People were literally lighting the water coming out of their faucet on fire. Corporations sit back and claim innocence, refusing to do anything unless these people can prove something they did caused the problem. Of course, these people can’t. So, they live out their days heading to WalMart every week to fill up thousands of gallons of clean water so they can bathe, cook, drink, and live. Filmmaker Josh Fox has the muckraking spirit of a young Michael Moore, but without the political bent. Required viewing. 9/10

From there we had some time to kill before our next show so we got lunch at Pizza Hut. I haven’t had Pizza Hut in years and haven’t liked it for longer than that, but this was delicious. Maybe the pizza in the restaurant is better than what they deliver. Whatever it was, I loved it.

The third film of the day was called “3 Backyards” and played at Eccles, which is the main theater and seats about 1200. This was one of the dumbest movies I’ve ever seen. Just the kind of movie you’re afraid you’re going to see at a film festival. All overly-precious artistic indulgence, no story and no entertainment. It shows the lives of three different characters, but goes nowhere, gives no reason for anyone’s behavior, and offers no resolution. One is a guy who’s leaving for a business trip and also leaving his wife. His flight gets canceled so he wanders around town for a day, calls his wife from his own backyard to watch her body language, follows a girl he sees in a café, and ends up going home. That is it. The second story is a little girl who passes through some weird guy’s backyard on her way to school, only to see him in the shed out back whacking off to porn (although she’s probably too young to comprehend that). The third is played by Edie Falco and is a woman who gives a movie star that’s just moved into her upstate New York neighborhood a ride to the fairy. The star, played by Embeth Davidtz, is distraught over something, it never says what, and it irritates Edie, so she gets angry and distraught herself. None of these go anywhere.

In the Q&A after, the director said he wanted to make a sort of nature documentary, but with people. That’s about spot on. Also, the music was the all-time worst film score I’ve ever heard. The rest of the crowd wasn’t too enthusiastic either (although I heard the guy went on to win some kind of director’s award for it which baffles me). 1/10

We had another couple hours to kill before our next show, but none of the options were really compelling us. Farrah wanted to see something called “The Dry Land” with America Ferrera, but that didn’t appeal to me, so we settled on a documentary called “My Perestroika” about what the generation that saw the transition from USSR communism to the current regime and philosophy. The film wasn’t terrible, but it really only focuses on four different people, all of whom grew up and went to school together. Once you realize you aren’t getting anything, but what these people think, it gets pretty boring. They were all friends of the filmmaker, which shows a lack of imagination to me. She said in the Q&A afterwards that she wanted to show a side of Russia that wasn’t grey and dismal like it was depicted in most movies. I suppose she did that, but it still wasn’t very compelling. 4/10

Incidentally, while walking to this theater I passed Joel Schumacher (director of “Lost Boys”, “Batman and Robin”, “A Time To Kill”) which counts as my second star sighting, unless you count Katherine Erbe from one of the “Law and Orders” who was in “3 Backyards” and at the showing. I’ve always liked her, but she isn’t exactly a household name.

The fifth and final film of day one was another doc called “Family Affair”. This one is basically a real life “Precious”. Black family torn apart by the incest and physical abuse of the father. In this case, the dad perpetrating on his three daughters and wife and the film is made by his one son. There’s no question this is an intense topic, but I really didn’t like the way the film was constructed. It was extremely vague in its storytelling. The son/filmmaker shot his one sister in the leg when he was 10 years old, which may or may not have anything to do with the abuse. One daughter is schizophrenic and another has battled cancer, as if these are also possible results of the abuse. Of course one gets pregnant. There’s even a deathbed sort of apology by the dad, except that he doesn’t die (I assume, the movie never closes that loop).

I guess the point is that the family continues to interact (the mom left years ago and has avoided all of them ever since) in spite of the stories that swirl around the air. It plays like an episode of “Intervention”, but without the placards that come up every few minutes to give you the backstory and explain what’s really happening. The director plants a lot of potential bombs in a mine field, but then proceeds to get to them very leisurely and never completely. Plus, in the Q&A after he seemed like kind of a douche, thanking his lawyers for their help. 5/10.

The drive home was going to get us back to the house at around 12 as it was, but there was a wreck or construction or something on the interstate that left tons of us sitting completely still for a good 45 minutes. Cars turned off and everything. We ended up not getting back until around 1:15. Steve came over to stay the night because he was going to be watching the kids for part of the next day, so by the time I finished hanging out with him and got in bed it was 2:15. AND, of all days for this to happen, Georgia decided to wake up the next morning at 5:30! We put her back to bed a couple times, but it only lasted until 6:15 when we were all up for good. Knowing we’d be spending the day in dark movie theaters on less that four hours sleep was torturous.

Day 2 began with “Holy Rollers” a film written by a friend of Farrah’s and a member of the church named Antonio Macia. It’s a story that was new to me, Hasidic Jews in NYC being used as drug mules trafficking Ecstasy into the states from Europe. The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg (who I love, but am convinced can only really do one thing well, from an acting perspective) and Justin Bartha from “The Hangover”. As much as I wanted to like the movie, feeling I had a stake in it knowing the writer and everything, I didn’t love it. It’s a total by the numbers. Young Jew lives uneventful life until his friend turns him into a mule. He gets attracted to the money and lifestyle, turns his back on his family and traditions, only to get into trouble and learn what’s really important in life. We’ve seen it in a dozen “Behind The Music’s”. 4/10

From here we saw the film with the least known cast of all the dramas we saw, “Skateland”. This one is basically “Adventureland”, only the hang-out is a skating rink instead of an amusement park. I actually really enjoyed this one. It’s the typical “what am I going to do with my life after graduation” type thing that we saw in “Adventureland” and “Dazed and Confused”, but it had some fresh moments, an attractive cast (good GOD Ashley Greene is gorgeous), and some really good laughs. The end credits say the film is dedicated to John Hughes, which comes as no surprise. My only issue with these kinds of films that are popping up all the time now, is that they all feel too much like copies instead of originals. Get a soundtrack from 1983, put people in retro band t-shirts and muscle cars, and put cool old posters on their walls, and you’re set. Of course I’m all for that, but it isn’t original. Look more at a movie like “(500) Days of Summer” that takes the John Hughes vibe and makes something new out of it. Still, a copy of the best is better than an original piece of junk. 7/10

We had no more tickets for shows that day, but we weren’t ready to head back yet, so we waited in line to see another doc called “Smash His Camera”. Luckily, we got the last two seats. This was the story of Ron Gallela, who I hadn’t heard of before, but is considered the first and proudest paparazzo. I wish I loved anything as much as he loves stalking celebrities. He’s the perfect subject for a film like this because he’s all New Joisey accented and attitude. The guy’s in his 70s now, but still pounds the pavement and races through traffic to get the right shot. His photos are beautiful and have been shown in the MOMA, which brings up the argument of whether this is really art, whether what he does is decent, whether what he does is lawful, etc. It was made by a guy that won an Oscar for “When We Were Kings”, so the guy has his bona fides. It was a fluffy, sweet confection that isn’t good for you, but so very very enjoyable. 9/10

We headed home after this and were both asleep in bed by 9:45. I managed to stay awake long enough to watch the Jazz beat Sacramento, which is another bonus of trips to Utah. We needed the rest because we were back at it early on Saturday morning.

Oh, while we were walking around on Friday, we were approached by some people working for GMC who offered us Starbucks gift cards if we just sat in the car with them for a minute and listened to their spiel. I was impressed, both with the guts it takes to guerrilla market like that, and the car. Honestly, I’ll consider a GMC next time we buy a car. Isn’t it amazing how that works?

Saturday kicked off with the least indie film of the festival, “Twelve”. It was directed by Joel Schumacher and starred Chace Crawford, so you know an official release date is eminent. I have no problem with seeing mainstream movies masquerading as indies while at Sundance. In fact, it made for a nice change of pace. The movie was nothing special, very Hollywood formulaic, but that’s what you should expect from Schumacher. It’s the story of privileged kids in Manhattan that kill time doing drugs and partying. The cast is all perfect and beautiful and the story is typical. Chace and Joel did a Q&A after and it was good to hear from Joel especially. All the other filmmakers are so nervous and timid and humble during their Q&As. Joel’s a pro, he’s been in the biz for a while, so he knows to quit the pandering and be present. I liked that. 6/10

Farrah’s sister Brooke and her husband Jake came to the movie as well. We like them, so that was fun. They also stuck around and went to the next one with us, which was a documentary on Jean-Michel Basquiat called “Radiant Child”. When Farrah bought tickets a couple of weeks prior, this was the one I was most adamant about seeing. I’ve been curious about him for years and have been on a big art from that period kick for the last couple years. The movie did not disappoint. I’m not sure why I’ve never considered Basquiat’s art anything special, but the second you see it on the big screen it all makes total sense. Had I been an art dealer in the early 80s and been a room full of up and coming artists, I wouldn’t have been able to see anyone but him either.

The film was directed by Tamra Davis, who also, believe it or not, made “Billy Madison”. Davis new Jean-Michel back in the day and had filmed an interview she did with him, which ended up being one of the only interviews he ever did and it wasn’t even “official” it was just friends talking. That footage is like gold, so the movie builds off of it to tell his story. Afterwards we were debating whether it was the age-old story of power and fame corrupting someone, or whether what drove him to drugs and, ultimately, death was the fear of becoming irrelevant. I’m in the latter camp. I loved this film. I would buy it and watch it over and over just for the sensory experience of seeing his work and hearing the music and seeing the fashion of the time. 9/10

While sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start, America Ferrera walked in and began speaking with someone sitting behind us. It took me a second to recognize her because she’s tiny and very pretty and normal looking in real life. She was wearing a puffy parka, so she may have been bigger than she appeared, but I would guess not. We overheard them say that “Ugly Betty” is getting canceled. It’s too bad for her because that should have been an iconic role. She did it well, but the writers were too all over the place and ABC mis-marketed the show.

We tried, but couldn’t get into anything after this. We had tickets to the Grand Jury prize winner for documentary, but it wasn’t til 8:30. We tried getting into a documentary produced by Adrian Grenier called “Teenage Paparazzo”, but they ran out of seats about seven people ahead of us. The last person to NOT get in was one of the stars of “Twelve”, Emily Meade, so it made me feel better knowing actors and actresses don’t always get special treatment. Granted, “Twelve” was one of Emily’s only credits, but still. At one point, Adrian himself came out and handed out tickets to some of the people in line and was very gracious and nice to everyone, which was a classy move.

The last movie we saw, and the Grand Jury prize winner, was called “Restrepo”. It was made by the guy that wrote “A Perfect Storm” and it shows a troop of Iraq soldiers that have to take over a valley I’ve forgotten the name of. While not being as good as some of the other docs we saw (Farrah hated it), I liked that it was a true, unfiltered look into the life of a soldier under extreme circumstances. We’re so used to seeing movies like “Jarhead” or “Stop-Loss” that dramatize the situation, but this was the real deal. You see them cope with fear, death, boredom, combat, and everything else in between. “Restrepo” was the last name of one of the soldiers in the platoon that died in battle, so they named one of their camps after him. I’m pretty sure two things went into influencing the judges to give it the award, 1) the success of “The Hurt Locker” which has made movies and discussions on the war from an apolitical perspective ok again. And, 2) the danger involved in capturing the images, which is no small feat. Personally, I would have voted for “GasLand”. 8/10

So, that’s pretty much everything. It was an incredible time and I’d do it again in a second. Seek these films out when you can, even the bad ones. It will be interesting to see what the public opinion is. But, if any of you try to defend “3 Backyards” to me, we’re finished.