We haven’t given up on this newfangled “blog” thingy.
We’re just lame.
We had hoped to file numerous reports at the Sundance Film Festival… but ended up being too busy to do anything (Well, we could have sacrificed some of our drinking time to blog… but that would have gone against everything we believe in… and probably the only entertainment value we provide to our three readers…).
That said, we promise to do a better job of keeping you informed.
So, to start things off… again… here is my belated report about the 2006 Sundance Film Festival:
Films I enjoyed:
I didn’t see a lot of films at the Festival this year. As I mentioned above, I was pretty busy… and pretty drunk. But of the ones I did see, the stand outs were; Thank You for Smoking, Right at Your Door… or is it Just Outside Your Door… or Right Door Outside (Free, unsolicited advice to Lions Gate, who picked up the film: Change the Title… it’s hard remember and although it makes a little sense… it doesn’t exactly pull you in.), and without a doubt, my all-time favorite film at this year’s Sundance was the midnight movie The Descent. Although it’s not without problems, this is one of the most genuinely scary films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also being released by Lions Gate (More free advice: Release it with the original UK ending… I didn’t see it… but someone told me how it originally ended, and I think that’s much better… it would also solve one of my big problems with the film… and I know that the people at Lions Gate want more than anything to solve my problems…).
Beyond that, Sundance was Sundance. And for those of you who’ve been there, you know what I mean. Critics say that the Festival is over commercialized, that the best films don’t necessarily get accepted, and that they do a lot of starf***ing. Sundance counters that they don’t have any control over the commercialization, that they create a showcase for high-quality, independent film, and they deny any kind of cronyism.
I think both things are true.
In the interest of full-disclosure, SAGIndie gives the Sundance Institute a lot of money (for us anyway), so I feel even more comfortable giving them unsolicited advice (But, as with Lions Gate, I don’t expect them to care what I think): I don’t think these things are mutually exclusive, and I think the Festival seems disingenuous when they deny the criticisms leveled against them. Sundance is commercial and crass. Films often get in only because they have big name actors in them (uh.. which is a good thing… ) or because someone “knows someone.” And that means that Sundance often accepts really bad films. But you know what? Sundance also accepts lots of really great films that would never otherwise been seen. And even more importantly, they really support the films and the filmmakers. A film that gets into Sundance is treated like a member of the family. And that’s a really good thing. Plus, it’s fun!
I think Sundance should embrace everything that’s said about it. The good and the bad make it what it is. If it were anything else, it wouldn’t be Sundance.
The Sundance Film Festival: A place where you can see Great Films… and Paris Hilton.
Finally, because I’m also a starf***er, here are some additional pictures from our Actors Only and Filmmakers Brunches:
Me and our Actors Only hosts (I’m the one that’s not famous).
Olympic Ice Dancing Champion, Joe Pantoliano.
Christine Elise wasn’t rushing downstairs to get away from the party. We posed her like this… honest.
This is how Fairuza Balk looks when she’s happy.
Scott loves him his pastries.