Sundance 2011 Day 3 - Party Time

Finally found some time to sort my photos and writings. Here's the last installment of my Sundance trip:

Day 3. The last and final full day at Sundance.

Today I was so glad to sleep more hours than I can count with one hand.

The morning was slow to start but eventually we all got our lazy asses out of bed for some breakfast (cereal, muffins, juice) and then a stop over to our friend's hotel, which was a lot fancier than ours:

That's Mike S. taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking a photo of me

I was getting a bit antsy to get to Park City, so I jumped into the driver's seat and waited for the others to finish up. As soon as everyone got in, we drove off through the mountains. The drive from SLC to Park City was beautiful:

I miss my sunnies. When I got back to Cali, they were missing =(.

Also, we had a chance to visit the Olympic Park where we got some good shots like this one:

After spending a good 1/2 hour looking for parking, we finally gave in and paid $20 for parking and we were able to make it in time for the San Francisco Film Society Party at the Gateway Center:

The party was really fun. We met some nice people and there were some awesome hors d'oeurves (too bad we arrived having eaten). The life of the party, of course, was James' chain:

Here's me drunk against the 2011 Sundance logo:

Here's the other James, not drunk at all, posing with a cop car:

After the party, we went back to SLC to watch a Mexican film called "The Cinema Hold Up". This film has potential but it ultimately didn't pull through. The film starts off with a very LONG exposition of Mexican urban youth culture (graffitiing, freestyling, drinking, taking drugs, hitting on older ladies...not that much different from urban youths in other countries). It eventually leads up to a very well planned hold up of a cinema. The film feels lopsided, the lead up and the fallout of the climax show too much and doesn't do much to accentuate the climax thus making the film unfocused and wandering.

That was the last film we watched at Sundance. Now it's time to party! We grabbed a quick dinner at McD's and then back to Park City where I got this essential shot:

As well as this other essential shot at the Playboy bar:

Right now it was just James, Mike S. and I. We found an empty red room inside the club and couldn't help but indulge in some photo taking. Here's the best photo that came out:

The party at the club was losing life so we decided to step out and walk around Park City:
Park Bear:

We got into the Filmmaker's lounge later that night and got to talk to some other filmmakers and actors which was awesome. When that party ended, it was really late and we decided that we would have to call it a night.

After a whole weekend with no snow, we were greeted with this the next morning:

Mike S., the most experience snow driver out of the three of all of us, took the wheel and we made it safely to the airport.

Reflection: Prior to going to Sundance, I had all these weird conceptions of what it would be like. I thought that it would be in a gated city where you'd have to have a special invitation, a password, and know film history to get in. But no, it's not like that at all. Sundance is open to everyone that loves film. There are some venues that need a pass, but the overall "Sundance Experience" is open to anyone whose willing to rent a room, a car, and buy some movie tickets. Now that I've been, I feel as if I've learned something very important. It's like going to a foreign country and learning how different that country is compared to the one you imagined in your head or read in the books.

It's been fun. Hope to go back some time in the future.

Sundance 2011 Day 2 - Microphone Check Day Two What is This?

Longest day ever.

Woke up at 430am in the morning to stand in line at the Sundance box office. We got there a little after 5 and there were already a few people lined up in front of us with sleeping bags, books, and chairs. Seeing this I felt fully unprepared, the only possessions I had on me were my digital camera and some post-it notes.

We waited until 6am when we expected the box office to open. We were in for a surprise. Mike had taken a look at the business hours and said to us, "Dude, they open at 8am."

We settled in for the long haul.

By 730am the line looked like this:

And that's when an even bigger surprise came. One of the Sundance people came out to the line and said, "Hey guys, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but a key broke off in the lock of the door so we can't get in. We won't be able to open up the door until 830a when the locksmith gets here."

SHIT.

I say that not because we have to wait an extra 30mins, but because we're trying to get limited tickets and the sister box office in Park City would have a 30 min lead on us.

One guy was so disgruntled by the news that he tried breaking into the office himself but failed:

Eventually the locksmith came and was able to unlock the doors. A cheer rose from the crowd as we all scurried in like feverish mice.

When it was our turn we were only able to get tix for 1 out of the 3 films we wanted to see (we got tix for Shunji Iwai's "Vampire", but not for the Tribe Called Quest doc "Beats, Rhymes & Life" and the doc our friend Barbara was a Line Producer for "These Amazing Shadows").

Needless to say we were a bit down after waiting all that time and only getting a 1/3 of what we wanted. But as we were exiting the box office I realized we should get tix for another film I wanted to see, "Win Win" starring Paul Giamatti.

Regret came over us as Mike* and I went to the back of the line. "Dang, I should've thought of this when we were in the front," I thought to myself.

When it came to our turn again we got tickets for "Win, Win" and then Mike on a whim asked, "Would there be any tickets that opened up for the Tribe Called Quest documentary?"

The ticket lady said no, and we were about to head out again dejected when the lady helping us said, "Wait, let me check with my manager."

The manager came back, looked up some info on the computer and said, "You're lucky, we got some tickets for you."

Mike's main purpose for waking up at 430am and waiting for 4 hours was to get those "Beats, Rhymes & Life" tickets. He let out a "Yes!" with such joy that it made everyone smile.

The events of that morning set the schedule for the day.

At noon, we went to watch "Vampire" which was a big disappointment for us. The film is a disjointed story about a man that drinks the blood of girls that want to commit suicide. It's filled with long cuts, silence, eerie instrumentals, and sparse dialogue. It felt as if these elements were put together just for aesthetic effect and not to enhance the story.

Afterwards we had a bad Thai lunch, took a quick nap and then went off to see "Win, Win". This film was a much welcomed break from the last two depressing films that we saw. It's a family comedy about a lawyer (Giamatti) that lets the grandson of one of his clients live in his house and join the high school wrestling team that he coaches.

The theatre it showed in was quite nice:

After that we made our way to Park City to get ready for the "Beat's, Rhymes & Life" doc. Park City was all dolled up for Sundance:

Here's my friends who're really hyped for the screening:

Prior to the screening, we were able to get double shots of Belvedere for free at a local pub. I was a bit out of it after that and vaguely remember throwing snow at the other James.

The documentary "Beats, Rhymes & Life" was awesome. What was even awesomer was that after the screening, there was a Q&A with the director and Phife Dawg from the Tribe and they stuck around for photos.

Here's James and Phife Dawg:

And Mike with Michael Rapaport ("Beats, Rhymes & Life" director).

The day started at 430am and ended at about the same time the next morning when we finally fell into bed. Hella tired, but fun.

3rd and last day coming up.

*Mike's a talented cinematographer and friend of mine. For his reel check out his site: http://www.michaelsolidum.com/michael/reel.html

Sundance 2011 Day 1 - Arriving in SLC and Martha Marcy May Marlene

I'm writing from a Day's Inn in Salt Lake City. It's currently 2:30am Mountain Time, Sunday morning and in 2 hours we're going to wake up to get tickets to some more screenings from the box office. AW YEAH!

So a quick recap of Saturday:

Arrived in SLC at 5pm Mountain Time. There was four of us, two James' and two Mikes.

Here's one of each on the plane to SLC:

Plane ride was short and fun. We made friends with two ladies on board and one of them threw an orange condom at us (still in the package). That was very jarring to me (this has never happened to me before) but funny.

Here's what it looked like when we arrived:

The mountains and the clouds here in Utah are very majestic. So are the highways. They are WIDE. The temperature was cool, but wasn't as cold as we expected it to be. It was fairly comfortable. After getting a rental we made our way to the Sundance box office:

We picked up tickets to our advance purchase screenings and bought some new tickets.

One of the advance tix that we got was for a film being screened that night called: Martha Marcy May Marlene

It was a good film. It's about a girl named Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) that has just escaped a cult and the 2 week adjustment period she has after moving in with her much more socially acceptable older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson). Elizabeth Olsen did a really good embodying the main character and I believe has a bright future ahead for her (she has another film being screened at Sundance, a horror film called "Silent House"). We had a real treat after the screening cuz her and the director, Sean Durkin, came out for a Q & A:

She has a strong film presence and has a style all her own that I like much more than her two older sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley (they're sisters, crazy huh?).

After the screening, we drove around in circles before finally finding our hotel.

Time to crash.

I look forward to the coming day.

A VERSE

For the first post of the new year, I'm actually going to bring something out from the archives. This is a very short rap/poem I wrote two years ago after watching the film "Hustle & Flow" (which is a great film by the way). It's titled - A VERSE:

Wandering around this world without a sound

Is like the living dead living above ground

I can't stand the fact maybe this is all there is

Just trying make that money and just have a couple kids

But there's a verse inside me thats gotta get out

A universe inside of me that wants to scream and shout

I want to find my place in the scheme of things

There's more to life than this and THAT is what I bring