And we’re now approaching crazy time
And right about the end of the fourth full day, Sundance starts getting a bit psycho. Especially when you’ve seen 18 full-length and several short films, fought to find space on crowded shuttle buses, got by mostly on Cheetos, muffins, Starbucks coffee and Diet Cokes and dealt with the occasionally snotty producer. Here are a few notes from the last 24 hours:
Sunday 4-6 p.m.: At 350 Main Brasserie on Main Street, making our way through the crowd at the Seattle filmmakers party, hosted by Alpha Cine Labs. And while there, Alpha Cine president Don Jensen waxes a bit nostalgic. “I like Spokane,” he says. “I miss living there.” You’d think that, having lived in Spokane for 20-odd years, he would have had enough. But, no, he’s really sincere.
Sunday at 9:30 p.m.: Waiting for “The Machinist” to begin. While we wait for the Christian Bale/Jennifer Jason Leigh feature, we look around and do a quick celebrity check. Bale’s co-star Michael Ironside is here. But also we can see Benjamin Bratt (“Law & Order” and “Pinero”), and over there sitting next to the blonde is a long-haired Guy Pearce (“L.A. Confidential”). Later, friends tell us that Bale was there, too. But as he had dropped 65 pounds to play the movie’s insomniac protagonist, and since gained it all back, we don’t recognize him. Damn.
Monday at 1:30 p.m.: Walking back to the Holiday Village Cinemas to see the imaginative horror film “One Point O,” we see someone familiar standing in front of the theater. He turns out to be David Friedman, the oldest brother whose video remembrances of his family life were the basis of director Andrew Jarecki’s award-winning documentary “Capturing the Friedmans.” We stop and talk, tell him that we saw (and liked) Jarecki’s short film “Just a Clown,” a short about Friedman’s career as a professional clown in New York. He is gracious and outgoing, and he thanks us for seeing (and liking) both films. MP doesn’t admit to him that she was no big fan of Jarecki’s feature.
Monday at 4:15 p.m.: Park City drivers are the worst. If you stand in a crosswalk, you can wait all day and they won’t stop. You have to actually step out and force them to pay attention. And even then, you have to be careful. A car blasts past a guy standing in the middle of the street, just a few feet in front of me. He, being polite, merely makes a “What the … ?” gesture with his hands. I, being more outgoing when confronted by uncaring individuals, yell out a comment about the driver’s anatomy. He doesn’t even look back.
Monday at 7:55 p.m.: We’re in the makeshift theater in the Yarrow Resort Hotel, and the film “Dandelion” has just finished screening. Director Mark Milgard, in the Q&A, explains that he shot his film near Pullman, “In what’s called the Palouse,” in June 2002 because he wanted to take advantage of the time of year when there is both green and gold colors to the wheat fields. Makes sense. When the film is over, I figure the presences in the movie of abusive fathers, crazed Vietnam veterans, suicidal teenagers and pill-popping mothers is a use of basically “what’s called stereotypes”
Monday at 11:16 p.m.: We’re watching a video of “Word Wars,” a film about the national Scrabble tournament. I’m typing as I listen and watch, which isn’t easy because I’m essentially seeing double. We have tickets for tomorrow’s 9 a.m. showing of the film “Trauma” and the noon showing of the film “The Clearing,” which stars Robert Redford. Good. In the time we’ve been here, Bob has been conspicuously missing. Maybe he’ll show. It’s not crazy to hope, right?