Sundance, Clearly Some of the Most and Best Spent Money
Sundance is over, and it’s kind of a kick in the butt to get back into reality. I loved this false world I was living in, at the same time that it was real life. It was one man’s livelyhood on the line for his film, and another woman’s family backing her entire production costs. Real life and great worlds blended together to create a phenominal experience, and I want to share it with you now.
Friday Jan 16th
“Before Tomorrow” Sundance
Probably one of the most amazing films I have ever seen, it told the story of a family, and later a grandson and his grandmother. It definitely was amazing as my first film, and so beautifully shot. It had me and my seat neighbors in tears at the finale.
“Unmade Beds” Sundance
As I was one of the first to see the film for the class, and this was only my second film, I was excited for it. And I was excited for one of the great films at Sundance this year. While it had little plot line, I loved that it followed only the main characters around their less seen city. It was definitely a great coming of age film.
Saturday Jan 17th
“Brooklyn’s Finest” Sundance
I left the theatre physically unable to speak because of how much this film gave me to think about. I loved it, I hated it, I was wrapped up in it, and it was the greatest film. As a 9 am film where I had to get up early to see it in the furthest theatre from our condo, I definitely was shocked into a daze which I still haven’t been shaken out of. It followed dirty cops, undercover cops, and soon to retire cops who had seen too much. By the end of the film, as one of the lead men we follow finally shoots himself in the serenity of a lake canoe, we feel all of the pain and anguish in which all of the actors felt. If it makes it in the “big time cinemas” I hope that everyone is as shocked as I was, because shocking people into these character’s lives the only way in which we can understand their situations.
“Weather Girl” Slamdance
I really loved this little romantic comedy. The director was able to capture me from the beginning, and while a friend of mine commented her belief that the female lead was not a great actress, I didn’t see this. I loved this cute little film, while it is definitely a chick-flick, I thought it was pretty funny for both ladies and gents alike. As the female lead looses her job over announcing her boyfriend’s cheating actions, on public television, hereby inhibiting her future career, the audience is left wondering where she will end up, and what will come of her moving in with her brother and his best friend. I will not lie when I say this, the brother and his friend are very attractive actors, so it worked out great.
“Mystery Team” Sundance
This film is very childish and in this way, very wonderful. The humor made it less of a horror film, even though the four boys take on a parent’s murder case without help and end up convicting the murder. I loved every minute of it.
Sunday Jan 18th
“World’s Greatest Dad” Sundance
I know a lot of people were very shocked to see this film and see Robin Williams cast as the lead male, but I loved every sick and twisted humorous joke which was thrown at me. It was my unexpected delight which I enjoyed most definitely.
“Against the Current” Sundance
I both loved and hated this film, but really it wasn’t the film I so much hated, as it was the lead male actor who decides to swim the Hudson River before he commits suicide. It was honestly one of the best films I saw at Sundance, and it was really great with its unexpected ending. Sorry, but I refuse to give that ending away, because it is so painfully obvious.
“Black Dynamite” Sundance
To be totally honest, this was the 3rd movie I had seen in a long string of them at the theatre, and I was tired of watching films. I really did like it, but I think I would have enjoyed the references to blacxploitation films from earlier years had it not been after two of the best films I saw at Sundance. It was a truly funny and ridiculous film, and I liked every second of it.
Monday Jan 19th (MLK Jr Day)
“Adventureland” Sundance
In the beginning there was a boy, with large ambitions and great things expected of him, and then his family moved, and he worked at an amusement park called Adventureland. This film was definitely not my favorite film, though I have come to like Kristen Stewart and her awkwardness in all her roles she brings to the big screen. It was an alright film, though it didn’t break some of the walls down I was hoping it would.
Tuesday Jan 20th
“Mississippi Damned” Slamdance
The more I think about this film, the more mixed I become. There were definitely some confusing holes in the plot which could have been fixed up, and there was definitely some parts I thought were unbelievable, but were based on true stories. I liked this film, but its believability still amuses my mind. It went through the lives of this family and their friends, watching them grow up, and showing all of their hardships as well as successes. However, it was a heartfelt film.
“Adam” Sundance
Wow. I think thats about all I can say. I enjoyed it so much, I want to see it over and over again. I loved their awkward relationship, and the way in which it was left to hang and dry off for the end of the film, where it was never really resolved. Adam, the character, learned about his independence, which I definitely related to in my move from my beloved city of Portland Oregon to St Pete Florida. While I may not have the same condition as Adam had, I definitely connected, which is what I loved about it.
“You Might As Well Live” Slamdance
Probably the stupidest film I have seen since Jackass, and while that is rude to say, it had a great message: you need to be yourself. It just could have gotten that message across without all the immature creations.
Wednesday Jan 21st
“Cold Souls” Sundance
I was talking to one of my friends today about this film, surprisingly. I am still unsure if I liked it or didn’t, but it was probably the most sensical dream on the big screen I have seen in a while. My favorite part about the film is the lead man’s soul extraction, which is the basis of the film, and how he finds that it is simply the size of a chickpea, while it is the most beautiful soul ever. Even the smallest things are great.
“Paper Heart” Sundance
I would have loved this film so much better if I had left before the question about Michael Cera and the documented female’s relationship. I would have been in happy oblivion. The basis for the film, however, was fairly great. A woman has never been able to find love in her life, and she goes on a search hoping for inspiration from other’s love stories to encourage her heart into love.
Thursday Jan 22nd
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” Slamdance
I loved how twisted it was. I will however ruin this ending by saying that all the characters become vampires, which is not a typical Hollywood ending (thank God!). I enjoyed it thoroughly, it was creepy in a hilarious way, and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in vampire flicks with Jake Hoffman.
“Drool” Slamdance
It was an unexpected delightful desert, that is for sure. I enjoyed it a great deal. A woman and her husband have one of the worst relationships, and when an African American woman moves in next door, and the two women become romantically involved, the wife murders her husband, and the two women take the kids on a road trip to find where to burry their father and his abusive history. I have to say after “Weather Girl,” this film was my favorite film at Slamdance.
“At Any Second” Slamdance
I liked it, I loved it, I hated it, then loved it again, and it was over. It seems all the movies in which I hate for a fraction of time, end up being my favorite films. It was definitely another oddball film which I never expected would be good, but bought a ticket to so that I wouldn’t have another early night with nothing to do. It follows the story of 3 different lives, and watches as they creep slowly over one another, until all their lives are connected in one way or another, and even multiple ways. I wished that more people had come to see this film, as it was definitely good enough to get into Sundance
Friday Jan 23rd
“Big Fan” Sundance
It was a great movie, but it was not my cup of tea. I followed the biggest fan of football history, probably true even, but I didn’t really love the film. I loved the ending best, as the lead male brings out a gun to what we believe is to murder the biggest fan of the opposing team, and instead the gun is a paintball gun, shooting the red and blue of the opposing team and covering his jersey of green and gold.
“White Lightnin’” Sundance
I am still freaked out by this film, I cannot believe everything I saw. At some points, I was even laughing just to keep from being freaked out. So many people left the theatre, that I found that even funnier. I became as sick and twisted as the main character himself was, however, I do not recommend this film to anyone. It is enough to make a scardy cat like myself in nightmares to this day. While it was made to sound like a light hearted story of a boy following in his father’s steps, while hitting all the bumps possible in the road, it became a twisted murdering spree.
Tags: adam, adventureland, against eh current, at any second, Before Tomorrow, big fan, black dynamite, Brooklyn's Finest, Cold Souls, drool, Lizzy Kirkham, Mississippi Damned, mystery team, paper heart, rozencrantz and guildenstern are undead, slamdance, sundance, unmade beds, weather girl, white lightnin', World's Greatest Dad, You Might As Well Live