Films, parties, snow, little sleep

This morning at 9 a.m. I settled into a theater seat with a cup of coffee when a gentleman from Estonia introduced his film by telling us to "get ready for two hours of depressing, bleak, black-and-white film. Feel free to laugh, if for no other reason than to stir your blood." Ah yes! What a way to start the day.

So where are we here at Sundance? About the mid-point, I guess. And whether it's the fact that the pace has picked up or we've found our film going rhythm or that Tom's big blog update was lost, it seems like there's a lot to update. A few parties, Ricki Lake, Elton John rumors, Maryland Film Festival Director Jed Dietz, Joan Rivers, and, oh, films!

Tom and I've seen two particularly good ones together - Grown Up Movie Star and Winter's Bone. Interestingly enough, they shared some common traits. In particular, a specific connection with the place where they were filmed, always a unique and remarkable thing in film. When it works, the experience of a film can move beyond being set in a generic "city" or "small town" and become a true geographical as well as an emotional journey. In this case, both films also featured casts that were made up largely of actors from the same region, giving them an even stronger sense of place.

Grown Up Movie Star is the story of a family in upheaval set in Newfoundland Canada, anchored by a remarkable performance from Tatiana Maslany (you'll be hearing more from her). A very real and visceral journey through the arc of a teenage girl’s "rough period" when sexual awakening and rebellion become the order of the day. The brutal, windswept landscape lent a certain desperation and isolation to the characters, sharpening their hunger for the far-off, unreachable Disney World feel, sharp and poignant. We spoke with both the star and the writer-director, Adrianna Maggs, after the film, so who knows? Perhaps we'll be able to secure the film for CFF.

Winter's Bone was the next morning. The story of 17-year-old Rhee's desperate journey through family loyalties and secrets in backwoods Missouri mountain country...filled with startlingly strong performances, particularly from Jennifer Lawrence (Rhee) and John Hawkes (Dead Wood, etc.) as her dangerous, loyal uncle. Some friends and acquaintances on the team--editor Affonso Goncalves, actor John Hawkes, production designer Mark White, so it was great to see such strong work from them all.

Other films include Skateland, a charmer about a group of high school friends coming of age in the 80s. Very well received, great music. I'm guessing you'll be hearing more about this one. Last night, Tom saw Cane Toads, a documentary about (what else?) toads. In 3-D no less!

At the Sundance Channel party, I spent some time with Maryland Film Festival Director Jed Dietz, learned about his connection to Joan Rivers (more about that--with photo--later), and had a nice chat with the head of the Sundance Institute Feature Filmmaking Program, Michelle Satter, as well as with Christian Vesper of the Sundance Channel. Heard that Elton John was at the party (didn't see him) and bumped into Ricki Lake. Jed introduced us and snapped a pic. Later that evening I found myself at another party. This one for the launch of a company that does...internet something. After an hour of eating hors d’ouvres and drinking their beer, I can tell you that the company is deeply invested in the next generation of revolutionary web something or other. Stuff that's going to change everything about film. Or not. Tired, I polished off the day with Russian Lessons, a full-blast documentary indictment of Vladimir Putin and Russian motives and means in the recent war with Georgia and beyond. Wrenching stuff.

Today Tom saw a documentary on Pat Tillman, and I tried, but was unable to get into Restrepo, a documentary about a year in the life of the 2nd Platoon in Afghanistan. I did speak with one of the directors and I'll try again Saturday.

And so it goes. Thus far, we've only had one moment where we realized we were in for a long ride. During one film in particular, I predicted to Tom that it was going to take forever to end the film. Sure enough, all major points of the film were summarized once more. At the time, I guessed it would have three endings, but it actually managed four. As for the dark two-hour black and white film I started today with, it was actually pretty remarkable. Stunning images--unlike anything I've seen, a reminder of film's broadly expressive potential beyond straight narrative.

Enough from me. I know Tom has seen all sorts of others and has many thoughts and some photos to share, so I'll encourage him to jump back on here ASAP.

Doug