Yesterday Nicole and I made all our independant film dreams come true by attending the Sundance Film Festival '09. What an event! Navigating the festival smoothly requires a Master's degree in online ticket buying, bus routes, road maps, and pretending to love the "World Documentary" category.
We decided to see a movie called Arlen Faber, starring Lauren Graham (you know, from Gilmore Girls) and Jeff Daniels (you know, from Dumb and Dumber and Space Chimps). It's the story of a man named Arlen Faber (Daniels) who writes a best-selling book about conversations he's had with God. This is remarkable because no one in the world has ever heard of prayer. Everyone looks to Arlen for answers to life's deepest questions, but he is one messed up guy. Ah, the irony!
On a scale of 1 to Taxi (Taxi being the worst movie, ever) I'd give it a 4. I think the word I'd use to describe it is "uneven." There were some genuinely moving scenes and some really poorly written scenes. Seriously, have any of you or anyone you know ever said to someone, "Hey, can we just start over again?" And then they reintroduce themselves? If I see that one more time on any screen, I'm going to vomit.
Below is a staged picture of me enjoying the movie.
After the movie, the producer (Kevin Messick), the writer/director (John Hindman), and the actor who played Lauren Graham's son (Max Something) all got onstage and answered questions about why they are so awesome.
It was a great experience and now that I have some wisdom to share, I will. Here are some helpful hints if you are planning to attend Sundance in the future.
1. The dress code is "homeless." (Unless you are French women traveling in pairs, in which case the dress code is "clown.")
2. Noon on a Thursday is not a great time to spot celebrities in Park City. You will, however, see plenty of rude teenagers.
3. Movie reviewers who watch four or five festival movies in one day are not the most objective critics. Therefore, if a critic refers to a movie as "poo," it might not be completely true.
4. Avoid an extra hour or two of travel time by figuring out exactly where you are going.
5. While riding the bus, talk about how much you love documentaries. Documentaries, that's your new favorite.
6. Eat first.
If I think of more, I'll pass it along. Between all the bus riding and The Inversion, I'm having a bit of trouble breathing today. (I'm not totally clear on what The Inversion is. Something about all the pollution in the world settling in The Valley instead of in China where it usually is. I think it's something akin to the black smoke monster on Lost.) I'll be lucky if my baby isn't born with two heads. But even if he is, he'll look super cute in his Sundance onesie.
