Two hours of my life I will never get back

Park City

This morning we saw an absolutely beautiful film. This afternoon we saw the antithesis: a completely inane experience lasting an hour and 45 minutes but feeling more like three. Another world premier at this year’s fest, Noise had a lot going for it. It’s an Australian film that’s a feature debut for Matthhew Saville, a guy who’s done a lot of short film work over the past few years. The basic story centers around a young police constable who’s assigned a night shift at a mobile police station placed near the scene of a pair of heinous crimes that occur in the opening minutes of the film. The twist is that Graham McGahan, the police constable, suffers from a chronic, debilitating hearing problem thought to be caused by a possible brain tumor. The first fifteen minutes of the film were fantastic. Lots of suspense, lots of really nice textural detail and a huge potential for some really amazing things to happen. And then…. it went nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. Great setup and then an hour and a half of some of the most boring cinematic work ever produced. I’m really disappointed. And I feel really bad for the director, considering he got up before the screening and blubbered about what an incredible dream it was to be screening his first feature film at Sundance. After the screening finished, 80% of the audience left before the credits had even finished rolling. The Q&A must have been depressing with so few people remaining to congratulate the director on his work. Most people, like Kit and myself, felt the need to bold as quickly as possible so as to avoid any additional exposure to such inane tripe. Unfortunately… I’d say stay the hell away from this film *if* it ever finds an American distributor (and that’s a big if).

Best film of the fest so far!

Park City

We're now sitting back at the Egyptian just a few minutes away from a screening of Noise have just grabbed some food after getting out of Waitress. So what about Waitress… I was very pleasantly surprised. There's been a lot of hype surrounding this film, mainly because of director Adrienne Shelly's untimely death this past year. This film, premiering at Sundance, now marks her final directorial effort. I'm always wary of hype, particularly Sundance-related hype. But this film really stood out as a beautiful piece of cinema. Simple in plot yet extremely complex in character and style, this is definitely a film befitting of its place as Adriene's last work. It’s a film that really captures her style in a beautiful way. Genuinely heartwarming and even though you know where the film is likely to end up at, the journey there is unexpected and a joy to experience. I’d best describe the feeling walking out of the theater as euphoria.

We learned from the Q&A following the film that it’s been picked up for US distribution by Fox Searchlight, so this one’ll be in theaters sometime in the coming months. Definitely make this one a must-see.

Have tickets, will travel

SLC

Aight... two hours in line and countless solitaire games later, I have tickets to everything I wanted for the day. Now, back to the apartment for a quick nap, a much-needed hot shower and a second pass at breakfast.

Another day, another line

SLC

Bright and early, I'm back in the line at the festival box office in SLC. At least there wasn't any new snow last night and the cool weather, at a frigid 11 degrees, definitely forces one wake up.

Assuming enough day-of-show tickets are released (all films are considered sold out at this point, but the fest releases a handful of tickets the day of if you're early enough to grab them), we plan on seeing Waitress, Noise and Hear And Now. Two dramas and one doc - should be a pretty good day of screenings.

Damn it’s cold

Park City

We're now huddled under a propane heater waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to the Eccles parking lot having just gotten out of Save Me. Damn. That was a really good film! Quick synopsis: Mark is a lost, young, gay man who leads a wild life of meaningless sex and drugs who gets checked into a 12-step, Christian, “ex-gay” ministry specializing in healing “sexual brokenness” by his brother after he “hits bottom.” While in this program he develops a close relationship with out of the other guys in the “program“ that challenges both themselves and those around them. The result is a really poignant tale about love, understanding and personal and spiritual growth. And I don’t mean that in a cliché way at all. The film is really quite beautiful and would be so even without the sensitive subject matter. Deep down, it’s really a story about love and acceptance of self regardless of sexual orientation. I think Kit really hit the nail on the head when she described it as “the film that did everything Brokeback Mountain was supposed to have done but failed miserably at.” Meaning… it’s not a film that is only interesting or noteworthy because there’s a scene of man-on-man action. I highly recommend seeing this film if it gets picked up for US distribution.

So... the rundown on films for the day:
On A Tighrope – Good documentary. Well received. Check it out if you have the opportunity.
Tanju Miah – Don’t go out of your way.
The Legacy – Nice film, but lacking in character substance.
Save Me – You have to see this.