I will never in a million years forget the experience of my first (and hopefully not my last) visit to the Sundance Film Festival. In all honesty, it wasn’t quite what I expected, but it never let me down. Each and every little thing contributed to the experience: the 200+ stairs that MUST be climbed several times a day, the theater loop shuttle that exceeded maximum capacity almost every time, duplicating that sardines-in-a-can feeling. Even paying $20 for a sandwich and a soda (!!!) had its own special influence.

Park City is an iconic mountain town. Surrounded by snowy mountainous terrain, the bitter cold demanded layers upon layers of clothing.

Sundance is what you make it to be, and I don’t know if I could write enough in one blog to convey how much fun I had… I enjoyed most of the films I saw, and I can only hope now that some of these great works are picked up and distributed so one day I can say “I was there for the premiere!”

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AHHH!

There has been nothing in my life that compares to Sundance Film Festival. End of story.

Only kidding… Here’s what I mean:

I’ve formed some unforgettable memories during our little excursion here in good ol’ Utah. My first encounter with fame was having Dominic Monaghan walk past me in the street, and listen-I’ve had pictures of him in my room since I don’t know when. I couldn’t speak. Alex was the nearest person to me and I grabbed his shirt collar and gaped to myself. He probably thought I was having a heart attack or something, but no… It just exploded a little bit, that’s all…

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At the start of every film shown at Sundance they show a short clip with various directors sharing funny stories about Sundance (OK funny the first time, not so much after the 15th time…). So here is our own version…

Ben Hamburger should be credited as the editor of this clip.

It’s no secret that if you want to eat out in Park City, you have to be willing to drop a fortune on what may seem to be less-than-gourmet cuisine. Of course, some of it IS the bombest, tastiest food, and I was more than willing to spend 20 bucks to get a decent meal. But some of it is the blandest, most unappetizing food I’ve been served, and it’s never less than $10 a pop if you want satisfaction.

Davanza’s Bar & Grill on Park Ave. was one of my personal favorites here in Park City. An appealing local joint where the walls are lined with rows upon rows of beer cans. It’s quite a sight to see. I went there on a few different occasions and everything I ordered proved more than satisfactory. The tacos come highly recommended for a reason: they are delicious. If you haven’t been, then go. If you’ve gone, then I’m sure you agree: Davanza’s is prime eating for little $$

Bandits Barbeque on Main St. was another favorite of ours (mine & the boys, to be clear). Best nachos in town. Maybe even in the state! (But I’m not qualified to make that distinction)

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The story of Britain’s most infamous prisoner is awkwardly & poetically depicted by Nicolas Refn’s film Bronson. When I first heard the synopsis, I thought it would be another pseudo-documentary type film with the usual ‘based on a true story’ message, of course not necessarily sticking to all the facts. Although I was partially correct in my assumption, (”based on true events”), the movie blew me away with its artistic take on the weird life and unique personality of Charlie Bronson.

bitch, i'm the boss

If I told you that the phrase of choice for the main character (Sorry, Prof. Andersen) was “f***ing c**t”, that Bronson is commonly nude and extremely violent, or that in one particular scene a loony man takes a dump in his hand and proceeds to use the excrement as face paint, maybe you wouldn’t want to see it. You might even think I’m freakish for liking it! But honestly, in my opinion, it was a great piece of performance art.

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http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/18/obama-trumps-sundance/

martin strel

Big River Man was the first film I saw at Sundance, only because during a box office visit, members of the crew practically pleaded with us: “Go see Big River Man! It’s Wonderful! Great! Do it!” So we did. And it was AMAZING! It follows 52 year old Martin Strel of Slovenia, the only man to ever swim the Mississippi, Yangtze, and Amazon rivers. Not your typical athlete by any means, he is overweight, old, and drunk most of the time. He regularly drives at high speeds while intoxicated, multitasking by learning English on tape and expanding his lungs with some weird breathing contraption. But you know, if he was a Michael Phelps-type swimmer, this story would be nowhere near as mind-blowing. He’s just a regular guy with a big dream.

I can’t explain how many times my jaw dropped and eyes grew wide during this movie. It’s truly incredible… This guy is hilarious and down to earth, but at the same time it’s like he’s from a whole different world. After watching one of the most inspirational stories I’ve ever heard, I couldn’t believe I got to walk down and shake his hand! (Not to mention his son’s hand as well as the navigator’s)… I almost cried I felt so lucky, meeting the greatest swimmer in the world.

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In my semi-to-not-at-all professional opinion, Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000) is one of the most unique and jaw-dropping movies of all time. Guy Pearce spectacularly plays Leonard Shelby, whose short-term memory was stolen from him in a fight to save his wife. Ever since, he has used his body as a stickie note in order to recall the key facts of his life so to never forget his purpose. The gripping tale rightly won the Sundance screenwriting prize when it was shown, and the film fast became a hit all over the country.

Of course, fame didn’t knock on the door straightaway… Nolan has said: “When we were trying to put Memento out there, all of the things that made the film distinctive, and that eventually made it very successful, were the things that the independent distributors were afraid of, which was pathetic–I mean, that’s what they’re there for.”

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So this really isn’t a new blog, but I just wanted to let everyone know that my mom is making/sending us ‘business’ cards to take to Sundance! They’ll list the name of our school and our website so if you meet any cool people you can write your name on one and give it to them & they can check out our awesomeness

Everyone will get like 15 or so (I think)….

If you don’t want to use them, don’t worry. No biggie.

See you all bright and early tomorrow!!!

Sam Raimi

The name sounds familiar… Perhaps it’s only because I developed an interest in Spider-Man a few years back (and excitedly attended the opening of the feature film). But there’s no way I could’ve told you who was in charge of weaving that web… Until now.

Born in Michigan in 1959, typical nerd Sam Raimi grew up to become arguably one of the most creative directors in Hollywood, earning his fame through acclaimed cult classic film, The Evil Dead (1982).

His fathers’ hobby of piecing short home movies together (into a coherent whole) jump started Sam’s journey with film: “Sometimes, when he [dad] got the reels back and cut them together, they’d be out of order, so I’d see the birthday cake being blown out, then I’d see a shot of my house and the first kid arriving for the party. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s manipulating time!’ Not only could he capture reality, but he could manipulate the sequence of events, the order in which the time flow ran. I realized I had to explore this; it was unbelievable to me.” (phillyBurbs)

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