The Films

A total of 15 films (some great, some not so great) thanks to my handy dandy press pass:

Hellion (Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins)
“…a film that stands on the shoulders of the actors performances much more the story itself that ebbs and flows without carving a completely definitive dramatic course. The film concludes on a satisfyingly moving ending but struggles to justify the time it took to get there.” [C]

The Sleepwalker (Brady Corbet, Christopher Abbott, Gitte Witt)
“Unfortunately, the film suffers most from not delivering on all the tense and taunt moments promised to us.” [C]

Infinitely Polar Bear (Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana)
“What comes from it is a very tender yet playful family drama, that offers one of the best performances from Mark Ruffalo to date.” [B+]

The Skeleton Twins (Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig)
“I find that Wiig isn’t faring greatly compared to her SNL counterpart with the transition to more drama as evidenced by her latest films. I think she is having trouble conveying how they all differ. This film is very much a Hader moment.” [B]

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I flew into Salt Lake City the morning of January 17, officially the second day of Sundance 2014 but my Day 1 of my 6 day planned trip. 

I spent my first afternoon at Sundance 2014 having lunch with my very good friend who was the reason I starting going to Sundance in the first place. Through updating my Facebook status to find someone willing to fly across the country and hang out with me in Utah watching films for a few days, a girl I knew briefly in high school reached out and informed me that she actually moved to the Park City area for college and has been there ever since. She invited me to come stay with her during the festival. I get to see her every January now. I stayed with her that first Sundance in 2011. In 2012 she was pregnant but still accompanied me to a screening and geeked out with me when Donald Faison (Clueless) and Angela Kinsey (The Office) was standing next to us in the theater lobby. It also snowed a lot that year so we had a lot of adventures digging her car out of all that snow. In 2013, I got to meet and bond with her daughter who I gotta admit kinda liked me, too. I say all this to say that I owe her a lot of all my great times at Sundance. 

Later I hoped over to the Stella Artois day party for some beer and waffles and live music from Capital Cities before heading over to my first screening…

“Hellion”

To know me is to know that I’m a huge fan of Breaking Bad and consequently, a huge fan of Aaron Paul. So naturally, when he is being billed as a star one of the official selections of the festival, I just had to see it. His debut at Sundance with the 2012 film Smashed was a solid effort. With his new film, Hellion directed by Kat Candler, I wondered what he would do with a role that was dependent on him mustering up all the emotional veracity he must have learned on the Breaking Bad set. 

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…for the film Hellion— A 13-year-old delinquent must get his act together, along with his emotionally absent dad,
in order to bring back his little brother, who’s been taken away by child protective services. 

In the meantime… watch his performance as a alcoholic boyfriend in the 2012 Sundance film Smashed. 

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>> Aaron Paul: From me, the admiration started with his recent, more serious turn into indie film with the 2012 Sundance hit Smashed (which recently ended its theatrical run) and it continues as I make my way through the seasons, by way of marathons, of the critically-acclaimed TV show Breaking Bad. Let’s just say I’m coming to understand the Emmy win. I hope to see more of him in the future. 

>> “Pride & Prejudice” (2005):  I adore it, which is evident by the fact that I have rewatched it at least 20 times since Christmas. Yeah, yeah, many people feel that this one was inferior to the 1995 BBC miniseries with Colin Firth, but I wholeheartedly disagree. It stands as a brilliant modern interpretation of the story yet still retains that beautiful romanticism, innocence and decorum of the time. Sure, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy take on slightly different characterizations; Knightley doesn’t hide her dislike behind polite smiles but harbors alittle more hostility, and MacFayden (who has been given a bum rap; he’s so great in this, just pay attention to all his subtle movements) captures more vulnerability of the character. It all works for me though. Couple that with the stunning score that heightens the emotions of the tale and the beautiful direction by Joe Wright as the camera effortlessly moves through rooms to capture looks, interactions and exchanges, and you have a masterpiece. As this year (specifically January) marked the 200th anniversary of the publishing this Jane Austen work, I think this film deserves some recognition. 

Robert Downey Jr. & co and the power of song. 

Claire Danes: Funny or Die’s White Person of the Year

Andy Samberg will host the Indie Spirit Awards. Here are the nominees.

Quentin Tarantino is not finished with slavery-spaghetti westerns but is with Kill Bill. 

Watch The Fifth Element in full on YouTube.

Rebooted Fantastic Four. 

Don’t you love it when actors bash their own movies? Or other actors?

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My time at the festival continued after my first couple of days…

Day 3 [Jan 22]: I’m back on the business of watching movies. My first order of business this day was to get on the waitlist to check out the premiere of Nobody Walks, starring John Krasinski (such a cutie) and Olivia Thirlby (a film about a sexually-charged artist whose brief stay with a couple endangers their marriage). I knew it would probably be a long shot to get in but I wanted to try. Usually the best bet is to get there about 1 ½ before they pass out waitlist numbers in order to get in the front of the line. I didn’t make it that early (it was alittle hard to get out of bed that morning!) but I did get #40 or so I thought I had a good chance to get into Eccles (a 1200 seat theater). Of course I ran into the girls I met the day before (they called out to me - “you’re slacking this morning!”, lol). While waiting, I met more people, a couple that was in town for the festival and one of their best friends. We talked for awhile and exchanged info (I love this festival!).  I was almost heartbroken because when I came back to the theater after a break to await waitlist ticket sells, they call everyone up until my number. But fates were on my side and I got one of the last tickets because some reserved people didn’t show up. I enjoyed the film alot though unfortunately it didn’t blow me away. Great scenes though between the two leads, and of course it was great having John Krasinksi on the Q&A panel. He’s just as funny as you would think he would be. After the film it was more hanging out on Main Street for me. In the few hours I walked up and down the street, shopping and people watching, I saw Jason Ritter (again) twice - once when he was getting off a shuttle I was waiting to get on and the second time he passed me on the street. I think the guy is stalking me. :) I’m telling you, you can hang out in Park City all day and have a blast. Most of the film screenings are in Park City but there are a few in the surrounding areas (Sundance, Ogden, Salt Lake). I had a ticket that a showing of Twenty-Eight Hotel Rooms, starring the ever great and totally underrated Chris Messina, in Salt Lake. The film had a great concept about a man and a woman who has an affair by meeting in hotel rooms over the course of an extended period of time so I really wanted to see it. This year, there was a shuttle available between the two cities (score!), so I hoped on and got to hang out in Salt Lake for the first time. I loved the film. It created the perfect balance of intimacy, intrigue, and emotional complications. It was probably my favorite of all that I had seen. Big ups to Chris Messina! I try and follow his film career (I saw one of his last films, Monogamy, at the Tribeca film festival last year; not a great film overall but he was good in it) since I think one of these days he’s going to get a really great role and blow up. He has it in him. 

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