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
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