Sundance 2007

I've mentioned my love for cinema before, so attending Sundance has been on my "to-do" list for a number of years. Due to all the time I have lately with my recent "retirement" I decided to attend this year. My friend Trieste, a fellow movie aficionado, took vacation time to attend too. Neither of us had been to Salt Lake City or Utah before. We knew that the city was the HQ for the Mormon church, which in turn has helped establish strict state liquor laws. Living in the microbrew capital of the world we thought it was important to read up on these liquor regulations in advance. However we where not prepared for the reality of it's application. It's bad enough that you have to buy a temporary membership to each bar, and beer is limited to 3.2% alcohol. To make matters worse, liquor bottles are topped with what's called 'meter plumbing' which prevents the bottle from pouring unless the bartender slides an electronic ring around the bottle neck. The computer then limits the pour to an achingly precise single ounce. I'm sure this also prevents the bartender from serving past the early 1am last call. Although on our final night at our favorite pub (name disclosed to prevent incrimination), the bartender showed us there are ways around that . It was nice to drink after closing, it felt like a personal victory over the states ridiculousness. In general we found it extremely hard to get drunk in this town. On the nights that we decided to drink hard, we had to resort to chasing every drink with a shot of Jägermeister. I was surprised that I actually found a decent local brew, Chasing Tail Golden Ale.

Before the trip we did some research on the films we wanted to see and bought tickets to four of them. Below are my thoughts/reactions to the films, you can read the films synopsis' on IMDB (links provided on film title):

Angel-A (Trailer): We knew nothing about this film beforehand other then it was directed by Luc Besson who has yet to make a film I haven't enjoyed, this one including. This film has a classic Luc Besson plot, scruffy guy saves girl ending with girl saving scruffy guy from himself (ie. Wasabi, The Fifth Element, Léon, etc.). This is likely a reflection of Luc's own life as he is a scruffy guy who ends up with some gorgeous women (ie. Maïwenn Le Besco, Milla Jovovich, etc.) The B&W production of the film was perfect, I don't think it would have been as emotionally effective in color. When you take away the color visual from a film you cause the viewer to focus more on the characters and the drama that is unfolding. Since the film revolves around the interaction between Andre and Angela without a large support cast, numerous scene locations, or lots of action it works perfectly. I read that this is supposed to be Luc Besson's last film as director, I was pleased he went out with a strong film, and one that feels like it was meant for his fans, not some huge Hollywood show case. This film reminded me of another love short series that I strongly recommend, Sadness of Sex.

Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade: This was a must see for me as an arcade addict of the 80's and as a retrogaming hobbiest. Unfortunately I was a little too young during the golden age of arcades and in turn missed the whole Walter Day & Twin Galaxies hype. So watching this film was very educational. It helped tell a story of happenings from when I was little. Overall this was a great film, a bit sad though. Seeing the lives of these professional arcade kids was depressing. Almost all of them have done nothing with their lives. They were minor celebrities back in the day, the best of the best arcade players in the country. I would have figured at least one of them would have gone on to become a successful game creator or consultant. It seems the most successful one is now a minister. Some are just bizarre, spending every waking hour watching hour after hour of video game high score proof videos, under the facade that they are doing something that makes a difference. I used to know guys like these, they where the brain washed, social retard, home schooled kids. One aspect that I particularly liked was that whenever they talked about a different old arcade game that someone was the master of, they explained the game play and showed a nice 3-D animated walkthrough of it. Really helped explain it to people who never saw it, or may have forgotten. I think the filmmakers conveyed the arcade feel right in the movie. Aspects like "being in the zone" while playing arcade games, kids standing in line just to watch the arcade master, idolizing a set of high score initials, etc. These are aspects that my son's generation won't know due to the death of the arcade.

Black Snake Moan (Trailer): This was the only movie that we saw from a large distributor, Paramount. The screening had a completely different feel to it. Right before the movie started Paramount execs made an announcement that everyone needed to turn off their phones and electronic devices, not just silence, but off completely. They said they would be looking for anyone recording video or audio and anyone giving they reason to question would be immediately booted from the theater. I was delighted when everyone immediately boo'ed them off the stage. Throughout the showing I could see the execs moving around the theater scoping out everyone. It was sort of intimidating, like we should kiss their asses and just be happy we get to see their film early. Definitely not in line with the celebration of art that is conveyed else where with Sundance. Considering some of Samuel Jackson' recent works (ie. Snakes on a Plane) I really didn't have any expectations for this film. It turned out to be a decent drama in a little twisted sort of way. It definitely could have been better though. I still don't get why Samuel Jackson's character decides he needs to "fix" Christina Ricci's character. Now if he was more of the preacher type instead of the "been burnt by god too many times" kind then it would have made more sense. Maybe it would have been better if they did more back story on each of the characters. I dunno. I guess the more I think about it, the more I don't like it. I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a must see in theater, more like if you got nothing better to watch and it's on TV.

Viva: This was actually the first film we saw, we caught the showing at Tromadance. Tromadance was a fun event held at Brewvies. It was nice to have such close interaction with the film makers and cast, even if they are novice and small budget. I expected to see a bunch of cheap horror films that Troma has been famous for. That is why I was so taken away by the main feature film, Viva. This was amazing. It's a period 60's sexploitation film told from the womens side. The sets and costumes where spot on to the era and the richness in their color made the film very eye pleasing. This film was definitely upstaged Tromadance, can't wait to see more works by the do-it-all female director Anna Biller. After the screening for Viva we hanged out in the bar and saw Lloyd Kaufman in person. I don't sweat celebrities, but it was good to see him, since I've read two of his filmmaking books (1)(2).

In all it was a good trip. SLC is a lot trashier then I thought it would be, and the inversion was horrible. Los Angeles is the only place I've seen smog worse. I was disappointed we didn't make it up to Park City for the "real" Sundance activities, although it was nice to save money and energy and do it all in SLC. Next time I'll do it better, and bring more people.