Last weekend we took advantage of our flight benefits and my friends Zach and Monica who live in Park City, UT, to go to the Sundance Film Festival. Since I went two years ago, I kind of knew the drill--how to get around (not with a car--traffic and parking are a nightmare), how to see films without advance tickets, etc.
Let me just start by saying that this year's festival was a lot more crowded than the first one I attended, the result being that it was much more competitive to get into films. Zach pointed out that I was there for the Recession Festival. So here's the drill: if you didn't start the ticket purchase process months ago, you have to join the wait list to get in. Two hours prior to the start of the movie, volunteers hand out numbers to people in line. Then 30 minutes before the movie, you line back up in numerical order (if you're not there by the 30-minute cutoff, you have to join the back of the line no matter what number you hold). A few minutes before the start time, they start releasing seats to the wait list. A certain number of seats are previously held for pass holders, volunteers, and people associated with the film. If not all those are taken, of if ticket holders are not in their seats by 15 minutes prior to start time, they're fair game.
Friday got off to a bit of a rough start since I got home from work at 10:30 Thursday night and we were up at 4 to catch the early flight to SLC. But we both got seats and were on our way. We arrived at The Playground (although it's now Zach's full-time residence, not just a weekend/holiday destination)around noon. After lunch and settling in, we set off for an afternoon of wait listing.
The mid-afternoon shows we were interested in already had long wait list lines, so we hopped a free shuttle out to the Eccles Theater to try our luck at The Future. If you've ever heard of Miranda July or read her stories you probably already know what we discovered: she's weird. Very weird. Not necessarily in a good way. The movie had its funny parts early on, but settled into a slow-paced, increasingly trippy non-plot. The weirdness was exaggerated since July wrote, directed AND starred in the film.
Saturday was a total debacle. Had I not had a cold, I would have gone skiing in fresh snow with Z&M which would have made the whole day worth while. But I was not feeling well and certainly not like exerting myself at 7,400 feet with a stuffy head and clogged lungs. So we stood in lines. All day. And did not see a single film. We redeemed ourselves with a soak in the hot tub, a bottle of wine and a delivered pizza.
Sunday morning we actually had tickets to The Devil's Double, a partially fictionalized account of an Iraqi army lieutenant who is forced to become the body double of Saddam Hussein's eldest son. An intriguing and action-packed account starring Dominic Cooper, who did an amazing job of playing two diabolically opposed roles. The best part of Sundance is the post-film Q&A session with the director and actors that offers greater insights and leads to a better understanding of the film than if you just watched the movie and walked away. The producers are hoping to market this film based on the character story and not as just another Iraq war movie. I highly recommend seeing it if it comes to the big screen; if not, look for it on dvd.
Now savvy to the wait list system, Scott and I decided to see Morgan Spurlock's (the Supersize Me guy) latest, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. We drove out to Kimball Junction's Redstone Theater, had lunch at a great Asian bistro where the fire alarm honked throughout our entire meal, then lined up for the wait list line two full hours before the wait list line would officially begin. I knew we were in when Rusty, the volunteer in charge of the wait list knew where Watkinsville, Georgia was. We were the first to arrive and he directed us to an area with tables and chairs where we could be comfortable for the next two hours. We settled in with magazine and Kindle, grateful to not be standing in a cold, drafty tent. Rusty made sure we were first in line and we were handed numbers 1 and 2. Spurlock did a clever job of illustrating the prevalence of marketing and product placement in films by securing funding for his documentary with marketing and product placement, all the while keeping the audience chuckling and not pissing off a single sponsor.
Crime After Crime, a heart-wrenching documentary about a woman serving a life sentence for her part in the death of her abusive boyfriend, brought home the level of corruption, political influence and injustice in our criminal justice system. Although we had tickets to this one, Scott opted out since it was a little too much like work for him. I thought it was very well done and I hope it inspires more states to adopt laws that allow the courts to revisit the cases of incarcerated victims of domestic violence. In the early '80s, evidence of abuse wasn't even admissible as part of a defense.
All in all, a great time was had. By the time we came home my cold had subsided and we were discussing plans to get on the ball and purchase tickets in advance for Sundance 2012, that is if Zach and Monica will be our gracious hosts again.
