Well, it’s over. That’s right, stick a fork in it, Sundance 2007 is DONE!! And I’m not even hung over.
O.K, anyone who doesn’t know us, must be reading all these references to drunkenness and think that we are a bunch of lushes, more interested in drinking excessively and debauchery than in doing the serious SAG/SAGIndie business at hand.
I don’t have a response for that, I’m just noting that that must be what those people think.
Actually, we pride ourselves in being able to do both. We educate, we entertain, we consume without getting sloppy, and we leave a place having more fun than before we got there. Just ask the people of Blind Dog Restaurant where we had our annual “Last Night of the Fest” Dinner. This is where I take the whole staff, our publicist, Rene, and our Sundance Sponsor Liaison, Cynthia, out to dinner to thank them for a job well done. I have to say, and I know we have the head of Sundance’s Sponsor Dept., Ben Kim to thank for this, but we have always had the coolest sponsor liaisons in Sundance. Strangely, we never seem to have the same one, twice. (hhmmm, is it us? can’t be!) This year, our gal Friday was Cynthia, who turned out to be a gal after our own hearts. She looks shockingly like a younger Catherine Keener (who the SAGIndie group collectively find both talented and hot). Dinner was a great time, and everyone was, I believe, sufficiently thanked.
Now, for my last full day of Sundance, I saw a couple of movies that I had great hopes for. First, Broken English by Zoe Cassavetes (dang, that’s a talented family). This film, starring Parker Posey, Drea De Matteo, Justin Theroux (he was everywhere in this festival) and a Frenchman named Melvil Poupard (not to mention, Zoe’s mommy, Gena Rowlands). I liked this film, though I by no means feel is will set cinema on fire. It’s a story about a 30 something (Posey) who is stuck in angst over getting older, wanting a relationship, and just surviving the general fear she feels about her life. Nothing new, but still an enjoyable film.
Not so for The Ten. A virtual who’s who is in this film, and I can only assume that extortion had a part in casting. The director, David Wain, and two of the actors, Paul Rudd and Ken Marino, all produced this film that is a series of vignettes that represent the 10 Commandments (should that be capitalized??). Let’s just say that they made me miss Charleton Heston. Really. There wasn’t a funny vignette amongst them – unless you consider it hilarious to do a story where every sentence is designed to include the term, ass-rape. O.K., it’s a prison vignette, and that fact doesn’t make it any funnier. However, the people they got in this film? Unbelievable! Gretchen Mol (arguable the one who came off the best), Jessica Alba, Janeane Garafalo, Famke Jannsen, Winona Ryder, Liev Schreiber, the list goes on! I just don’t get what they thought they had, but they didn’t. It was a lousy way to end my film going experience at Sundance. So here is my list of films that I saw, and the order in which I like them.
1. Rocket Science (go see in August!)
2. Dedication (Billy Crudup – fantastic)
5. Weapons
6. Teeth
7. The Ten
All in all, I’ve seen more films here this year than every before. Our events went great, with people like Kevin Bacon, Regina King, Nick Cannon, Mizuo Peck (Night at the Museum and really, people, totally hot babe!), Christopher Kennedy Lawford, and more all attending the Actors Only Brunch. Jeffrey Blitz (ROCKET SCIENCE) was the perfect co-host for the Filmmakers Luncheon.
We had a good time, Sundance. But after 8 days, we are going to catch the first thing smoking out of this place. Los Angeles, here we come!!