Sundance Film Festival

[Green Lantern]

Did anyone on the board get out and see any Sundance screenings this past week? The festival ends today and by all accounts, it was a good one. I saw a couple films yesterday that I posted about in another thread but thought it might be worth mentioning again:

One was an animated shorts collection. They're always fun because they include such a wide range of material. Last night was no different. There were some comic shorts, some emotionally powerful ones and a couple that were just completely bizarre.

The other was called WINTER'S BONE. I'm glad to hear this one got picked up by a distributor because it was excellent. It's about a 17 year old girl in the Ozarks who has to confront a bunch of scary meth-cooking relatives in the search for her bail-skipping father. Excellent performances, excellent direction and entirely engrossing. Watch out for it when it finally makes the rounds to theaters.

Anybody else have any Sundance experiences to share?

[Coach McGuirk]

Did anyone on the board get out and see any Sundance screenings this past week? The festival ends today and by all accounts, it was a good one. I saw a couple films yesterday that I posted about in another thread but thought it might be worth mentioning again:

One was an animated shorts collection. They're always fun because they include such a wide range of material. Last night was no different. There were some comic shorts, some emotionally powerful ones and a couple that were just completely bizarre.

The other was called WINTER'S BONE. I'm glad to hear this one got picked up by a distributor because it was excellent. It's about a 17 year old girl in the Ozarks who has to confront a bunch of scary meth-cooking relatives in the search for her bail-skipping father. Excellent performances, excellent direction and entirely engrossing. Watch out for it when it finally makes the rounds to theaters.

Anybody else have any Sundance experiences to share?

I've lived here for 16+ years now and have yet to go. How does one go about setting themselves up to experience Sundance?

[Green Lantern]

I've lived here for 16+ years now and have yet to go. How does one go about setting themselves up to experience Sundance?

I'll definitely do a post on this when the time comes around next year. There are significant advantages for locals and it's worth checking out a movie or two if for no other reason than because you can see things that may never make it to theaters. One nice thing is that locals can buy tickets a few days before nationwide sales start. Another is that there are lots of screenings right in Salt Lake City, so you don't actually have to head up to Park City (unless you want to do some celebrity spotting, in which case Park City is a must.)

And then, every morning during the festival, the Sundance box offices (one in Park City and one at Trolley Square) release more tickets to that day's films. So it's almost always possible to get into the movies you really want to see, provided you're willing to wait in a few lines. I always have fun going to at least a couple movies and I don't like to go to a lot of effort to do so. The screenings I saw yesterday were at the Rose Wagner Theater and the Tower Theatre, and I bought the tickets that morning.

[Commando]

I did 7 movies this year-- including a marathon session yesterday where I did 5 movies.


I did the Animation Program, too. I wasn't super impressed w/ it this year as I don't think it was as good as it's been in years past, but it's always a sure thing at Sundance.

I saw "Skateland" - a nice coming-of-age dramedy set in 1983 that I really liked,

"Countdown to Zero" -- a very engaging and well-done doc. about the danger of a very possible Nuclear attack by terrorists,

I caught "Jack Goes Boating"-- Phillip Seymore Hoffman's directorial debut about an awkward dude working through his issues to make his lovelife tick;

I saw the documentary shorts program which was very impressive, and included shorts on a 4-way marriage; a hilarious bit entitled "drunk history;" a bit about 2 american high school kids that reminded me a little of beavis and butthead; a sad bit about a village in cambodia affected by arsenic poisoning; and a fascinating short about a daily border ceremony that takes place between India and Pakistan.

I also caught "Cyrus," a HILARIOUS movie starring John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei. I was doubled over laughing the whole movie. It's gonna make some money.

I also caught HIGH School, a hit and miss crude weed comedy that strangely enough stars adrien brody as a burnt out drug lord.

All in all, a great run for me. The only movie I would have done differently is HIGH School. I should have caught something else at that time.

I am headed up to Sundance resort tomorrow night to catch the Best of Fest, where they'll show 2 screenings out of the prize winners. Hopefully it'll be something I haven't seen.

[Surfah]

I've lived here for 16+ years now and have yet to go. How does one go about setting themselves up to experience Sundance?

http://festival.sundance.org/2010/bo...ticketing_faq/

My favorite part of Sundance is the concert series at the bottom of Main. They typically bring in decent artists for the free shows every night much like the SLC summer concert series at Gallivan. It's a cool atmosphere as it's outside, outdoors, at night, in the cold. Everyone is bundled up and jumping around. It's fun just to cruise up an down Main also with the crowds. It's fun to people watch.

They have really good shuttle services going so you don't have to park anywhere near Main Street. You probably couldn't even if you wanted to anyway. It's tough to find parking at the HS too because they screen movies there. I usually just found a parking spot on the road and walked to the closest shuttle pickup. They're all over and they have the city buses running nonstop to Main Street.

[Green Lantern]

I did the Animation Program, too. I wasn't super impressed w/ it this year as I don't think it was as good as it's been in years past, but it's always a sure thing at Sundance.

Yeah, it wasn't as good as years past. How about that "Meatwaffle" short? WTF?

I saw the documentary shorts program which was very impressive, and included shorts on a 4-way marriage; a hilarious bit entitled "drunk history;" a bit about 2 american high school kids that reminded me a little of beavis and butthead; a sad bit about a village in cambodia affected by arsenic poisoning; and a fascinating short about a daily border ceremony that takes place between India and Pakistan.

I regretted missing the documentary shorts. That's the other "secret" of Sundance: Documentaries have a much better batting average than the dramatic films. You'll rarely be let down.

[Green Lantern]

Very cool! The movie I saw yesterday, WINTER'S BONE, just won the Grand Jury Prize at the Festival. Commando, did you get up to see any of the Best of the Fest screenings?

I hope people are going to be hearing a lot about this movie. It's really fantastic.

[Commando]

I got tickets for tomorrow @ Sundance. They are screening Waiting For Superman and Contracorriente.

[Commando]

Yeah, it wasn't as good as years past. How about that "Meatwaffle" short? WTF?

That swinging penis was epic. Actually, I liked the rainy one and the one w/ the gay frog. I fell asleep during the Bruce Lee one (it was a midnight showing)

[Green Lantern]

That swinging penis was epic. Actually, I liked the rainy one and the one w/ the gay frog. I fell asleep during the Bruce Lee one (it was a midnight showing)

Dude, were you at the midnight showing at the Tower on Saturday night? That's the one I was at. Yeah, the animal one with the gay frog was the funniest of the night and I liked the Bruce Lee one too.

I think I may need to start inserting the phrase "that swinging penis was epic" into everyday conversations.

[Commando]

Naw I was at Holiday Village last Friday night. Crappy drive in the snow.

[MarkGrace]

Green Lantern, I need full reports on Mud and Escape From Tomorrow. I'm sure I'll see Mud at some point, but I'm really curious about Escape since it sounds like it may never see the light of day due to potential legal issues.

[Green Lantern]

Green Lantern, I need full reports on Mud and Escape From Tomorrow. I'm sure I'll see Mud at some point, but I'm really curious about Escape since it sounds like it may never see the light of day due to potential legal issues.

Ask and ye shall receive...

By the way MG, you have my eternal thanks for turning me on to Escape from Tomorrow, which was completely off my radar. After you mentioned it, I put it on my list when I went to the box office Sunday morning. I refrained from reading anything about it so I didn't really know what the controversy was and was thinking it was just getting noted for being in some way extreme or off-the-wall. About 30 seconds in, I understood what the big deal is.

For those of you wondering, the film is about a guy on the last day of a family vacation who starts to have some kind of mental breakdown after being informed that he's losing his job. The kicker is that the vacation is taking place at DisneyWorld and the majority of the film is filmed in the park! They shot the thing on the sly with digital cameras with a tiny cast and crew so, outside of the main players, all of the "extras" are just other tourists. It's a truly surreal experience to see this somewhat David Lynchian, darkly comedic story of the seedy underbelly of "wholesome family entertainment" play out against the backdrop of Mickey, Donald, Disney princesses and It's a Small World. Kind of a genius move.

The film isn't wholly successful. It's a bit choppy and it kind of goes off the rails a few times but it's definitely now one of my favorite Sundance outings, just for the sheer weirdness of what I was seeing on screen.

The director, DP and a bunch of cast members were there for a post-screening Q&A and the first question gave voice to what everyone in the theater was thinking: "How did they let you do this?" To which the answer was, "Uh, well, nobody ever stopped us."

When asked if he was worried about the consequences of filming a dark comedy about madness and lust against a backdrop of the crown jewel of one of the world's most litigious corporations, the director Randy Moore deferred saying only, "Well, right now we're just seeing how the festival goes."

Of course, the film has a negligible chance of ever getting distributed. Disney won't want something like that tied to their "brand" and they have scores of scary attorneys to make sure it gets shut down. But good Lord is it a ballsy movie. I guess in the end it's kind of a sad commentary on the state of our corporate-loving society that I'm treating a film that merely offers some social commentary against the backdrop of a famous theme park like I would something that was smuggled out of North Korea, eh? Crazy world.

Thanks for the recommend MG. Tonight I'm seeing In a World..., which features a lot of my favorite people from Childrens Hospital. I'm trying to snag tix to Mud tomorrow.

[MarkGrace]

Awesome! I read an article about it the other day and was totally fascinated. Really hoping there'll be a way to see it.

PARK CITY - Probably a half-hour into "Escape From Tomorrow," I turned to William Goss, another critic who was at the screening with me, and whispered, "How does this exist?"

Perhaps the most unusual thing I've ever seen at a film festival, "Escape From Tomorrow" is a slow descent into madness, told from the perspective of a father who finds out that he has lost his job on the final morning of a family vacation. As he spends the day with his family, trying to make them happy, his grip on reality seems to come gradually unhinged, leading to… well, I'm not sure I could describe what it leads to even if it weren't a spoiler. Shot in black-and-white, the film has a strange disassociated vibe to the storytelling, and writer/director Randy Moore has a very clear authorial voice. It is not an understatement to say that it is one of the most unsettling things I've experienced in a theater in quite a while, and part of that is because, even now, even after seeing the Q&A with Moore, even after talking it over with Goss while we ate dinner, even after going over it in my head, I still don't fully understand what I just saw.

All I know is Walt Disney's lawyers are probably climbing onto helicopters and planning a raid on Park City right now.

See, the entire film is set inside the property at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and a fair amount of the film appears to have been actually shot on the property, during business hours, without anyone's permission. It is largely stolen feature film, and while they were careful to change all the music so they're not playing anything in the film that they could get sued over, they are still including tons and tons of familiar Disney iconography. Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck… all the costumed characters appear. We see huge chunks of the "Snow White" ride, portions of the "Winnie The Pooh" ride, material shot inside the Haunted Mansion. There's an entire sequence built around waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride. They go to Epcot, and Spaceship Earth is prominently featured and even blown up at one point. It feels like someone saw "Eraserhead" and said, "Hey, why don't we get that guy to shoot an infomercial for the Magic Kingdom to get more families to come?" and this is the oh-so-not-what-they-wanted result. It is a magnificent, impossible nightmare.

It is not possible that this film exists. It is not possible that they shot long scripted sequences on the actual rides. It is not possible that I just saw a film in which it is suggested and then shown that the various Disney princesses all work as high-priced hookers who sell their wares to wealthy Asian businessmen. It simply cannot be true.

I grew up in Florida, and I have been going to Walt Disney World my entire life. I worked at that park. I've been there as a child, as a teenager, as an employee, and as a parent. I've done Disney sitting on my father's shoulders, and I've done the Disney parks with my kids sitting on my shoulders. It is a huge part of my DNA, and I can tell you that there is no way Randy Moore pulled off what I saw tonight. It is a film that should not exist by any rational definition.

And yet… not only does it exist, but it's fascinating. Reading Moore's statement in the press notes, he also grew up around the Florida theme park, the child of a broken marriage, and he spent most of his holiday time with his father in those parks. He has very strong feelings about his family, about his father, and about Disney, and those memories are all tangled up together for him. He cannot think about his relationship with his father without thinking about Disney. To his credit, the easiest way to do this would have been to make it a found-footage movie so there would be an excuse for everything being staged in front of a consumer grade single camera. He didn't do that, though. Working with his cinematographer, Lucas Lee Graham, Moore shot on the Canon 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera, and the results are miraculous. This looks like a "real" movie, and yet it had to have been shot under the most insane conditions, and there was no way for them to do any traditional set-ups or lighting.

Roy Abramsohn plays Jim, the father who is losing his mind, and it's one of those performances that I find hard to describe in traditional terms. He has to play things perfectly natural in places, and he has to play this crazy heightened reality in other places, and somehow, he has to make it feel like all of this makes perfect emotional sense because his reactions are in many spots in the film the only "normal" thing we have to hold on to. The film taps into all the nightmares that are inherent to modern parenthood, all the pressures and the private worries, and it works as a bad dream if that's how you want to read it. There is an upsetting thread running through the film about two teenage girls who he notices early in the day. Jim can't stop looking at them, and as his very strange day wears on, he keeps running into the girls, keeps following them. He practically pants after them. Danielle Safady, one of the girls, really is a young teen, and she looks it. Her friend, played by the gorgeous Annet Mahendru, also looks young, but is evidently in her early 20s. Doesn't change the way Moore makes you feel complicit in Jim's transgressions, constantly ogling the girls, making it uncomfortable from the very start.

The movie also serves as a very wry commentary on the entire nature of the pre-packaged family fun park experience, and in some ways, this is what is most upsetting about it. By using the real Disney parks and then by tweaking it in small ways, Moore turns this familiar space into something both oppressive and surreal, and he seems to be fascinated and disgusted in equal measure by the sort of plastic happiness that the Disney parks sell to the public. It is genuinely sinister, and I am sure the next time I have my own family at one of the parks, lots of the imagery from this film is going to linger with me.

The movie is undisciplined at times, rough around the edges in places, technically uneven, and there's no sense of pacing to it at all. Even so, there is a sort of naive charm that makes it impossible to look away. I don't love every element of the film, but I love that this is a movie, that I actually saw this thing, and that Moore was deranged enough to make it the way he did. I'm no fool… I can tell that there were sections they accomplished by shooting background plates and then performing some scenes in green screen, but there is far more of it that they shot in the real locations without anyone's knowledge, and that stuff has an energy that's unlike any other movie I've ever seen.

I honestly feel like this is never going to see the light of day. I can't imagine any other studio or distributor wanting to tangle with Disney's legal department on what could or couldn't be shown. There will be changes made, and I'm guessing there's a chance it'll just vanish. But I think the film's existence raises some fascinating questions about how you can use something shot in a public space, what control Disney truly has over images shot on their property, and the nature of what constitutes a legitimate use of a trademarked figure. Is this social commentary? Pointed satire? Legitimate anxiety that should be protected as free speech about the world we all live in? I'm not sure. All I know is that Moore has made something singular, a completely original film, and he's done it in a way that feels like a magic trick. Here's hoping he gets a chance to share it with more audiences.

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/motion-capture...2tAlGw667Dz.99

[Commando]

Sweet. ^^ Maybe I can sneak into a screening this weekend.