Seattlest at Sundance: Take 2
Sundance is a whole other world---a world in which all anyone talks about is movies; a world where you can easily make the acquaintance of a writer for the Cleveland Free Press, a biotech researcher/filmmaker from San Francisco, or an L.A.-based events planner; a world that has as many Blackberries as ski boots. We've found ourselves falling into the festival's "mountain chic" style. We've taken to wearing bright orange vinyl knee-high boots (urban galoshes, if you will), into which we refuse to tuck our jeans---that scourge on fashion be damned! Additionally, we're willingly wearing a knit cap in the winter for the first time in over fifteen years. Why the hell not? Everybody else is.
We've also started to get the hang of things. We know where to go to get swag (Main Street, 11-3ish), how to find someone to sell you tickets (they'll find you), and when to show up for a film nobody has heard of (early) or a film everybody has heard of (really early). And, we gotta admit: we kinda love this place.
For our first full day of the fest, we saw four films---
1) Art School Confidential: Besides The Science of Sleep (which, dammit all to hell, was physically impossible for us to attend), Terry Zwigoff's latest was the film we were most looking forward to, and thankfully, it did not disappoint. Max Minghella, in his first big role (Bee Season don't count), is Jerome, a creative chap who idolizes Picasso and longs to be the greatest artist of the 21st century. So he enrolls in art school, is molded by their dedicated faculty, takes in a wealth of knowledge, and lives his dream, right? Um, not exactly. Dan Clowes' script, based on his graphic novel of the same name, skewers art school pretensions with bulls-eye accuracy. It's not truly an indie film (made for $11M), but it's the highlight of the fest thus far.
Meanwhile, at this screening we encountered Roger Ebert twice: once when we ran into him making our way across the back of the theater, and once when he sat down in the row right in front of us during the post-film Q&A. Both times we managed to restrain ourselves from punching him in his cancerous thyroid.
2) TV Junkie: The title is a bit of a misnomer. It sounds as if this would be a documentary on a guy who watched non-stop sitcoms. Instead, it's about a guy who constantly videotapes every aspect of his life. Clearly, he's addicted to capturing the minutiae---that, and the crack. Seriously, what Everyone Stares was lacking in drug use, this film more than compensates for. Rick Kirkham managed to juggle a wife and two sons, his job as a newscaster (assuming Inside Edition counts), and constant drug abuse, filming the entire time. Directors Michael Cain and Matt Radecki, along with the rest of their team, combed through Kirkham's 3200+ hours of autobiographic footage to tell his frustrating, powerful story. It reminded us of both Capturing the Friedmans and Grizzly Man, but, while a well-made film, was not as jaw-dropping as either of those Sundance favorites.
-)Now, this is where we would've seen Iraq in Fragments, a documentary with subject obvious, and the only film at the festival made by a Seattle filmmaker. But we had just seen two films back-to-back and had to, y'know, eat. We did however, meet a nice lady from Eugene, Oregon, who had caught that showing. She gave a positive review to the film, noting that James Longley's footage---taken in Iraq mosques, madrasses, and Shia political rallies---was especially impressive.
3) Small Town Gay Bar: This documentary primarily focuses on two gay bars in rural northern Mississippi. Kevin Smith executive produced, and he was on hand to provide a ribald introduction to the film, going into great detail about what comes to mind when he thinks of "gay films." The movie itself, while an interesting examination of the topic (memo to gay people in the rural South: just leave), needed a little more structure. It had editing issues---there were several points in the film when we thought it was over, only for there to be another scene---and when a 87-minute-long film requires further editing, you've got a problem.
4) The Foot Fist Way: We just barely squeaked our way into this midnight showing. Jody Hill's vulgar, outlandish Tae Kwon Do comedy tells the story of Mr. Simmons, a karate instructor who rules his academy like a king. But when his wife cuckolds him, he spirals out of control in hilarious ways, by abusing his students (adults beating up children = funny), cluelessly hitting on women way outta his league, and basically making a even bigger fool of himself than he was in the first place. Not the funniest movie we've ever seen, but a few scenes and some particular lines of dialogue makes it worth a viewing.
