It's so great to put some effort into your appearance, don some shades and a confident expression and have people stare at you when they walk by, thinking you might be someone famous. Oh, don't get me wrong, kids. I don't say this because I think I look like Jessica Biel or Robin Wright Penn. I say this because part of the fun of walking down the street at Sundance is that everyone is on the prowl to bump into a celebrity (unless you are a celebrity, I guess) so everyone looks at each other - really looks at each other - as they pass in the street. Given our dispassionate world today of neighbors simultaneously taking out the trash without so much as a nod and people who have a door held open for them out of courtesy who don't even bother to say "Thanks", I find this kind of conscious "seeing of others" a bit refreshing. Even if it's for a fluffy purpose.
Anyway, the films.
First and foremost, Grace is Gone was a hit. It was a Sundance darling and I don't say this just because my friend Becky was in it (opening scene - hurrah for not getting cut!) The audiences honored it with the Audience Award: Dramatic. And the judges graced it (ha ha) with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. It was a warm-hearted film about a man whose soldier wife dies in Iraq and he just can't bear to tell his two girls. So what does he do? He takes them on a road trip to Enchanted Gardens (a fictitious Disney). On the way, their relationship with each other deepens and grows. The actresses who played the daughters were amazing - especially the older one. No overacting child actress in this girl (you know who I'm talking about). I hear John Cusack, who plays the lead, will be put up by the Weinstein Company (who purchased the film) as an Oscar contender. It's about time they rewarded him (is Say Anything not on anyone's Top 15 film list?! "You must chill! You must chill!") Go John Go...
I have to say this was the first year where I enjoyed about every movie I saw for one reason or another. Refreshing.
Picks:
- Interview with Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller. An almost psychological chess game between a celebrity and a political reporter forced to take on the interview when he'd rather be in Washington covering "important stuff." Quite dark and erratic, but in a good way. And I have to admit, I have heard of Sienna Miller for a long time, but I never actually saw her act in anything (see why celebrity gossip sucks? No one knows you for your "actual" talent.) Anyway, she blew me away, she was so good.
- Black Snake Moan with Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and (in a very nice turn) Justin Timberlake. Loved, loved, loved. I could feel the sweaty Dixie vibe just oozing off the screen and the audience enjoyed a wild ride of imagery, cool camera angles, intense acting, and a moody soundtrack. This was done by the same guy who did Hustle and Flow (also loved). It is quite controversial and could be offensive in a mysoginistic kind of way, but I just loved the fearlessness of it. I saw this at 11:30 pm, and believe me, it takes a lot for me to be pumped for a movie that late.
- Joshua with Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga. Modern day Damien without the religious undertones or scary darkness. This is present-day New York and the bad seed in this film is a piano prodigy. Sam Rockwell added just the right touch of humor and realism to this story. Very edge of your seat.
- Never Forever with Vera Farmiga (I know I've seen her before but had no idea she was a Sundance darling). Heavy, slow-paced drama about a white woman married to a Korean man. He can't get her pregnant and wants to kill himself over it, so she makes a deal with a Korean stranger to get her pregnant so she can pass off the child as her husband's. Hard not to predict what happens here, but Vera's intense, real, fragile performance was worth the price of admission. I absolutely loved the nebulous and symbolic last scene.
- Manda Bala: a documentary about political corruption and street violence that is ultimately linked together in Sao Paolo. This was a very disturbing look at the criminal activities of those in power, as well as how those actions impact the country's poor populations who end up moving to Sao Paolo. Destitute and desperate, these folks then resort to violence and all-too-frequent kidnappings to make money in the slums. Very well done storytelling and editing, but I will not be paying a visit to Sao Paolo anytime soon. I'll stick to purse-snatching gypsies in Rome.
I also saw Broken English with Parker Posey (who I adore) and Adrift in Manhattan with Heather Graham. Both had their moments. Broken started out as a cliche chick-flick about a "woman who dates losers" but actually turns out to be a more enriching story of self-discovery. And Adrift had some amazing interwoven stories of hope and loss. Special shout-out to Dominic Chianese (Junior of The Sopranos) who plays an artist losing his sight. The scene where he needs to ask the young man for help in a subway station actually made me cry. I was touched by the stories in Adrift and left wanting to know more about how everything gets resolved - it seemed to frantically wrap up in the last minute of the film, leaving the audience a little like, "Huh? It's over?
Another non-film highlight was a panel discussion about translating NPR's This American Life from radio storytelling to TV's visual medium. Very interesting and entertaining discussion about how stories need to be told differently visually vs. orally and all the approaches they tried to capture the show's essence. The panel featured the host (can't remember if it's Ivan or Ian Gross) and his producer and director of photography. These guys get along great and it shows. They interspersed their hilarious anecdotes with footage from the show that will premiere in March on Showtime. I will definitely be tuning in to these folksy takes of unique Americans.
And finally, I got to see Shorts V and one of the Animation Spotlights. It was really fun to see innovative short films and also see such a variety of animation. This is the kind of stuff you may not see anywhere else - except the Sundance site.
As it is every year, Sundance was a blast. A little film, a little skiing, a lot of wine drinking and friends I don't often get to see. I even got to attend the Fox Home Video/Netflix party for the launch of the Little Miss Sunshine DVD and left with a DVD, T-shirt, and custom cookie of the LMS VW van from the film. Who could ask for more when staying in Utah?
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