Quiet Nights & Sunny Days: Sundance Film Festival 2009
Sundance was a quieter affair this year with a more intimate interrelation. The spaces were smaller with a graciousness. Dinners were a big things and music always keys in.
Shabbat After making the shuttle trip from Salt Lake to Park City, there was a private Shabbat at the Yarrow Hotel attended by Hollywood power elite as well as rapper Matisyahu. Traditional songs and blessings were sung as bread was broken and wine was drank. Tuna rolls filled the stomach as a starter of cole slaw and salmon followed with a main progression of matza soup, potato pancakes, green beans, orce, stuffed spinach and lamb.
Push & Party@House Of Hype This movie received a lot of attention because of the pedigree of some of its supporting actors in the guise of Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz. However the star is the young girl who plays Precious. In a role and movie which is harsh and poignant, director Lee Daniels doesn't flinch even as fates are determined. Monique breaks from convention playing a mother utterly vicious and street who turns the other way while abusing her own power and allowing her daughter to fall victim. The movie is hard to watch but aspires to capture an experience all too familiar to some angles of the population and show how stamina and ability can overcome a common situation. In paradox, the late night party at House pulsated as absinthe flowed. The stage was set and despite Mariah's presence, the music continued without a performance.
The Killing Room This film is the gem of Sundance for me this year because it is able to balance an aspect of good storytelling, art house cred, wonderful mood and commercial prospects. It follows the recruitment of four test subjects who answered an ad for a scientific experiment. Little did they know what they were getting into. Peter Stormare highlights the cold hearted while Chloe Sevigny embodies the skeptic willing to accept. However it is Timothy Hutton breaking from convention that steals the movie. This is the best we have seen him in a long time: precise, real and cunning in a recognizable way. The movie uses a basic set with high production values. Its tone with music and backdrops makes one think of "2001". The key however is in its commercial aspects. It has a franchise capability like "Saw" but with a high intellectual quotient and the ability to shock without hacksaws and blood.
Parties #1 New Orleans and Jefferson Parish represented with a soiree up top with some great food and music for the Louisiana Film Commission Party. The sequestered booth made the martinis swoon as rice bowls topped with crab soup and seafood pasta made the party beads sway in unison. At the Entertainment Weekly Loft at Village @ The Lift, L'Oreal presented their "Women Of Vision" Party as tales of Kerry Washington wafted through the bars. Upstairs candy flowed as a couch offered structure from which to play. On the bottom corner of Main Street & Heber, the Downstairs Lounge celebrated "Get It Loud", a new documentary about the triumpherate of The Edge, Jimmy Page & Jack White triumvirate briefly stopped by but did not play) in their natural habitat. As the Stella mounted, peanuts chomped all around in the dark shadows. Outside as the moderate weather continued, the "500 Days Of Summer" Party at the EW Loft returned where the mixing of Le Tournament Vert was captured in earnest.
"Tyson" Dinner @ Bon Appetit Supper Club Approaching the Sky Lodge, the warmness of the interior is made all the more inviting as John Besh welcomes us inside to show some of his appetizers. The key to creating a bevy of different dishes rests in the eye of the beholder and watching the preparation of sushi and encrusted oysters, one gets the sense of the passion behind the hat. After the first course of "Soup De Poisson" which interrelated tapioca and blue crab, James Toback, director of the new documentary on his friend, discussed the journey of the man who came from a difficult background and rose up to become a world heavyweight champion. Despite any failings and falls along the way, "Tyson" is still a story of hope and redemption. Mike Tyson himself, dressed in a tux, stood up and spoke very frankly about his shortcomings saying that at times rehab is better for him because there is no temptation. And with the possible success of this documentary and him not having to sell DVDs out of his trunk (his own words) the aspects of "money and pussy" come into play again for him as he puts it. It was quite eye-opening. The second course spotlighted a faux filet of kobe beef which melted in the mouth along with tangy inclusions of mushrooms and potato gnocchi. After discussions with the UK distributors and pats on the back from Brett Ratner ensued, the warm chocolate torte provided ample satisfaction as wine flowed and the quips of Jeff "The Dude" Dowd punctured the night in the view of a melting frog.
Spread In this funny, formulaic yet slick, commercial outing, Ashton Kutcher plays a Hollywood hustler who gets into the clubs, beds older women and throws parties at their houses. The way it is structured though especially with his relationship with a sexy and seductive Anne Heche, the reality of what this showcases is all the more true. This character likes the fast life and its temptations without any of the work designed to get there. Pretty faces abound but consequences lurk. Finally he comes upon a similar visage of the female persuasion who is just as cunning and his perception is altered. The angle that truly works here is that things don't turn out correct all the time. Times are rough and wishes do not always come true.Island Def Jam Brunch @ House Of Hype + Gibson House Early afternoon cigars permeated the outside hangout as the football kick-off neared. The eggs, sausage and pasta offered solace from the brightness outside. Down the street at the Gibson House, mushroom soup offered warmth as Drinkin' Mate, a hangover solution using wild guava, showed the possibilities. Kevin Bacon stopped by and the tortillas fillled with chicken offered a breath of fresh air.
Parties #2 The early evening saw the Absolut Lounge packed when food was needed. Yuki Arashi Sushi with its quick bar, miso and permeation of sauces gave a welcome break as a hard hit on the plasma between the Eagles and the Cardinals held the audience rapt. The "Alliance Of Women" filled at the Absolut/Queer Lounge was a quick affair punctuated by the sloping coolness of an art deco feel. The Canada Party at Coda was packed to the brim with only the milk finding ample conversation despite the percolation of various cheeses. The "Finding Bliss Party" at the Hollywood Life House on Lower Main prooved to be an integrated affair. Sitting on the white couches with a view of all and the food in play, pigtails on models were the thought of the evening. As Jamie Kennedy and Ron Jeremy paraded the dark shadows, the gin and tonic made true as upon leaving we crossed the reality path of "Bliss" star Denise Richards bathed in full luminescence as her cameras rolled. After Billy Bob's asskicking performance at the Sundance House, the true party began for "Big Fan" down below at the Sky Lodge. After much progression entering the small, intimate and teeming red interior, the vodka shots allowed for penetration to the bar where side ward glances of flirting proved mysterious. Upon the witching hour's arrival and the stealthy approach of Bill Hader (quickly in town after SNL the night before), the music started up anew with the 80s in effect. The dance floor heated up with young and old intermingling. Blondes were in full force while one grandpa crossed the floor to new JT tune with a degree of applause. The dance off was triangulated as salsa and techno mixes with an Asian flower hopped in unison before time was called.
Billy Bob Thornton/Boxmasters Performance Upon meeting Billy by chance in the lobby of Festival Headquarters, he invited us to a private performance he was doing with the Lionsgate folks with his band at Sundance House on Heber. In town promoting his new film "Manure" with Tea Leoni, Billy was decidedly honest as is his way. Music has always been his first love. Billy is his own man. His directing shows that and the man shows that. With his band ripping through rockabilly, country and just plain rock in matching suits while the front rows jumped in unison and Tea Leoni danced on the back couch, this was a little slice of heaven away proved the deal making.
Against The Current This intimate character piece which is more soul searching than moralistic journey works because of the chemistry and play between the three leads led by Joseph Fiennes. In essence, Fiennes is the rock but the film works because of the dichotomy of his best friend (Justin Kirk) and a lonely schoolteacher (Elizabeth Reaser). They accompany Fiennes on a swim down the Hudson River from its dammed ass-kicking to the Verrazano Bridge. The backhanded comments that permeate the journey along with a sense of heart make the elements work. One night on their trip in particular when they are staying at the house of the schoolteacher's mother (played with energetic waspiness by Mary Tyler Moore), has life experiences piling with Fiennes hooking up with the schoolteacher and the best friend cheating on his wife with a young seductress (Michelle Trachenberg). Emotional consequences ensue. The ending is a little esoteric and less commercial but the film stays true to its vision.Big Fan While the party had a grand feeling, this tale of a super zealous NY Giants fan who comes into view of his idol is unbalanced at best. Patton Oswalt, who voiced Ratatouille in the Pixar film of the same name, plays a man who lives at home with his mother, lives to talk on AM radio about his favorite team and eventually becomes the center of an investigation after he is beaten within an inch of his life at a Manhattan strip club by the star linebacker of said team. The movie is funny at times but creates too much in terms of where the irony ends and the comedy begins. Now while black humor works in turn, the ability to switch back and forth is very difficult. This exercise falls short of the mark.Deluxe Party @ Cafe Terigo & Departure After a late lunch at the China Panda which is located caddy corner to the Holiday Village Theater, packing was of essence. The Deluxe Party was the last stop before the airport. While wine and cheese flowed, the essence of a short film "Rite" came into play and its Midnight Angle made clear. As the suffused quiet of Main Street became serene, the shuttle departed into the white snow of the night; another Sundance, albeit a quieter one reflects the essence of the new year.