Seattlest at Sundance: Final Cut Pro

In some ways, we wish we could experience Sundance every week, but on the other hand, we're pretty f-ing exhausted. So it's a good thing that this is our last day here. We've had a great time with both the movies and the festival-goers. We've had film discussions with strangers everywhere we went, we've argued with film critics, and we've interacted with some really remarkable people, including two Lauras from Portland, a Bermudan film festival programmer, and a wonderfully chatty fag from NYC. Normally, we hate people. We tend to avoid meeting new people (most of them suck), and we definitely aren't prone to striking up discussions with strangers. But at Sundance it's different. Film really can bring us all together.

We kicked things off on Thursday with Grace is Gone, starring John Cusack as a Midwestern dad who finds out his military wife has been killed in Iraq. Of course, he reacts as any guy would: major denial. He throws his daughters in the car and takes 'em on a roadtrip to Florida, during which time he and his family deal (and don't deal) with their personal tragedy. Cusack gives a strong performance---nuanced to the extent that even the manner of how he carries himself is dramatically different---and by the end, this movie had the audience weeping big sloppy baby tears. However, the film seems to be fairly divisive; we did encounter a journalist who thought it was emotionally manipulative and completely reprehensible. Of course, that guy also really liked United 93, so what the hell does he know?

And then another film made by a woman: Away From Her, the directorial debut by actress Sarah Polley. Unlike the other femme-centric films we've seen at the fest, this one didn't concern young women. Instead, it's a moving portrait of one individual's descent into Alzheimer's and the effects it has on both her and her caregiver/husband (Gordon Pinsent). That the woman in decline is the radiant-as-always Julie Christie makes it that much more devastating. It's a surprisingly accomplished debut from Polley, though we doubt we'd recommend that anyone rush out and see that totally kick-ass Alzheimer's movie.

Red Road is, you got it, also born of woman. Scottish director Andrea Arnold took home a Special Jury Prize at Cannes for this one, and it's easy to see why. This intense, not-at-all-what-you'd-expect thriller follows Jackie, a public camera surveillance employee who becomes obsessed with the activities of one particular man, with whom she soon becomes romantically entangled as well. Red Road is not nearly as straight-forward as it seems, and we always enjoy a film with major moral ambiguities. It's certainly among the best films we've seen at the fest.

For all the man-hating feminists out there, we've got four words for you: vagina dentata gore comedy. Hello, Teeth! This 11:30pm showing was completely sold out, but through hard work, dogged persistence, and a dose of luck, we were able to finagle our way in. It's a good thing, because Teeth was awesome. We were expecting it to be so-bad-it's-good, but in fact, it's highly restrained camp, brutally graphic and over-the-top when it needs to be, and at other moments subtle and sly with its humor. Hey, considering the (male) director had Camille Paglia as his college adviser, you're gonna get some smart critiques of culture. It's already been purchased as a Lions Gate/Weinstein Company joint venture, and they have vowed to distribute the film as is (that is to say, ahem, uncut), which should result in either an NC-17 rating or an unrated release. Not for the faint of crotch, but we were more than satisfied.

This morning, we were able to catch a couple last films. First up was Life Support, starring Queen Latifah as an HIV-positive community outreach worker. While we think the film is covering a very important topic (HIV in the African-American community), at times it attempts to do too much. Drug use and men on the down low? Women's empowerment and men's incarceration rate? Plus family troubles? You just can't cover everything well. What we did find moving were the scenes at the women's support group, where the HIV-positive women discussed their issues, and which was shot in an intimate documentary style. However, that was nearly offset by the aggravation we felt about all the Coca-Cola product placement in this message film. Mmmm, Dasani...my favorite AIDS treatment.

We ended our Sundance experience on a harrowing note: Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. The documentary is an in-depth look at the infamous scandal and its multiple causes, from the mismanagement and incompetence which has become the trademark of this administration to the individual's willingness to just follow orders. Some of the notorious images shown here we've seen so much that they no longer register. Yeah, it's that hooded dude on the box again, and oh hey, it's Lynndie England with a leash. But there's other footage in the film that still cut us to the quick. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is set to debut February 22nd on HBO, so set your TiVos now.

Farewell to thee, Sundance. See you next year for sure.