Sundance with Dor 2006

People we miss and dont want to leave

2006-02-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

People we miss and dont want to leave
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Call 911

2006-01-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

Call 911
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Non chain restaurant!

2006-01-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Non chain restaurant!
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Arches National Park, yesterday

2006-01-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

Noodles saves the day

2006-01-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

Noodles saves the day
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

In the hot tub..

2006-01-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

In the hot tub..
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

In the heated pool

2006-01-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

In the heated pool
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

New Photos

2006-01-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

On Main Street:

At the Eccles:

Shannyn Sossamon at the Wristcutters Q&A:

Patrick Fugit <3<3 at the Wristcutters Q&A:

Autographed Car on Main Street:

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney at the American Blackout Q&A:

Oooops

2006-01-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

Oops! Sorry I've been bad at updating.

I'm happy to report that on this, the final day of the festival, we have seen a total of 43 films. And we still have one or two more left to see!

Some of my favorites from the past few days have been:

The Secret Life Of Words
Right At Your Door
Wristcutters: A Love Story
God Grew Tired OF Us
American Blackout

Those last two are documentaries, and WOW. I dare say, documentaries have been the strongest program of the festival this year. I didn't see anything in the Dramatic competition that blew me away, but God Grew Tired Of Us, American Blackout and So Much So Fast (all docs) were incredible.

We have two more movies to see today and then we're going to get a really good night's sleep and start driving tomorrow. We'll drive around New Mexico and Arizona and in a few days end up in L.A. Woo.

Taken at the hp store

2006-01-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

Taken at the hp store
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Audrey does art in snow

2006-01-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

Audrey does art in snow
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

New photos!!

2006-01-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Joe Fiennes at the Darwin Q&A:

Winona Ryder at the Darwin Q&A:

The Don't Come Knocking Q&A:

Winona again:

Tilda Swinton at the Stephanie Daley Q&A:

Rosie at her Q&A:

Amber Tamlyn at the Stephanie Daley Q&A:

Justin Kirk at the Puccini for Beginners Q&A:

Wednesday

2006-01-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

We had a long, full day of movies today. They were:

Puccini For Beginners - Funny, cute, mainstream-ish and very accesible Lesbian romantic comedy. I can see this easily finding a wider audience. I liked it a lot.

Stephanie Daley - One of my favorites of the festival. Superb performances from Amber Tamlyn and Tilda Swinton. Engaging story. Seeeeee it.

Crossing Arizona - A documentary about the dangers facing illegal immigrants crossing into the US through the desert. I was upset by how many blatant racists they interviewed, going on about how illegals will destroy our society. But I was inspired by the many humanitarians also featured, including one guy who lives on a reservation who makes it his duty to go place hundreds of gallons of water on trails in the desert every day. The film made me want to get involved.

The Darwin Awards - We got tickets! For all of us. The movie was funny. Winona Ryder was at the screening and they talked a lot about Chris Penn, who just died today, and was in this film. Apparently Winona has known him since she was 15.

Finally, we went to see This Film Is Not Yet Rated which exposes the MPAA. The secrecy, the inconsistency and lack of standards, and so much more. I really loved the movie and it sparked some great conversation amongst us afterwards.

So, GREAT movie day. So far, the second-half of the festival has included a lot higher quality of films. Really looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

What a cutie

2006-01-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

What a cutie
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Waiting for the movie to start..

2006-01-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the movie to start..
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Just checking in...

2006-01-25T00:44:00.000-07:00

We saw four movies today. We woke up early, early, early to go and see The Hawk is Dying at the Eccles. Typical Sundance fare - fucked up, misfits out in the middle of nowhere doing something weird. And slow-moving. But good! Heh.

Then, it was Quinceanera. Sweet story. Cute movie. Won't change my life, but I'm glad I saw it.

Next we saw All Aboard - Rosie's Family Cruise. This was quite an experience. The film itself was a joy to watch. I recommend you all try to catch it when it's on HBO in April. She and her partner started a gay cruise line and the film chronicles the first annual cruise where they were joined by 500 Gay & Lesbian parents & children. It was touching and hopeful, and the Q&A that followed made me LOVE Rosie even more than I did before.

Then, we went to go grab a bite to eat on Main Street. Me, Shiri, Audrey and Bill. Ended up at the Wasach Brew Pub which, as always, had pretty good food and crappy service. That's okay.

Our last movie today was Wim Wenders' Don't Come Knocking. It was weird, and pretty good. I kept nodding off, though, because I'm so sleep deprived.

Tomorrow we're seeing Puccini for Beginners, Stephanie Daley, Crossing Arizona, The Darwin Awards and... something else, I forget what.

More photos...

2006-01-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Sherrybaby Q&A:

Shiri with Justin Kirk (who wins the award for NICEST actor we've spoken to this week so far):

Thank You For Smoking Q&A:

Matt Dillon at the Factotum Q&A:

How gorgeous is this photo? Lili Taylor with my sweetie...

Now here's Lili and I. She's always so kind to me. She asked me about Shiri. She was like "Are you guys friends? Cause I don't remember seeing her last time I saw you." She said she's doing a new play in March or April called Landscape of the Body, in NYC. I forget where. She's great.

Frances McDormand on Main Street:

The Friends with Money screening:

Finally a decent photo update!

2006-01-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

Here goes. All photos taken by the lovely and talented Shiri.

Lili Taylor:

Justin Kirk and me:

Terrence Howard:

Dennis Hopper:

Snowing!

Aaron Eckardt on Main Street:

Fairuza and I on Main Street:

Ally Sheedy reading from her book at the Starbucks Salon:

At the Little Miss Sunshine Q&A (Toni Colette & Steven Carell):

Aisha Tyler on Main Street:

John Malkovich at the Art School Confidential Q&A:

Shiri with Toni Colette after the Night Listener Q&A:

Look who is here...

2006-01-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Look who is here...
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Shiri took all of these...

2006-01-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

To make all the gay guys jealous...

2006-01-24T02:42:00.000-07:00

Don't Kill Me!

2006-01-24T02:16:00.000-07:00

I know, I have hardly been updating. There is a good reason for this, I swear! I saw six freaking movies today and haven't been back at the condo since like 7:30 AM!

Here's what we saw:

Who Needs Sleep - a documentary on the long hours that they work on TV and movie sets, and a cinematographer who's trying to change it from a grassroots leve. The film was very entertaining but I think it was too specialized to find a broader audience.

Sherrybaby - in the Dramatic Competition, and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal (co-starring her boobies). Her performance was VERY impressive but besides that, nothing I haven't seen before MANY times. Recovering drug addict. Relapse, recovery, relapse, recovery. Blah.

Factotum - The Lili Taylor movie! Based on Charles Bukowski novels. Also starring Matt Dillon. Lili was fantastic as a poor alcoholic sex maniac. I forgot to mention that I spoke with her yesterday when she did a reading on Main Street. She was adorable and seemed very happy to see me.

Art School Confidential - directed by Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) and starring Max Minghella and John Malkovich. It was fine. Nothing amazing. Notttt as good as Ghost World or even close. But I'm glad I saw it.

So Much So Fast - a documentary about a family affected by ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Easily my favorite of the festival so far. Extremely moving without every being sentimental. SO SO SO SO good. www.somuchsofast.com

The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez - a documentary about the life of the first soldier killed in the Iraqi war. Complete and total snooze-fest and I wanted to cry I was so bored.

It was overall a GREAT day even though the films (except one) were just mediocre. We made the rounds to Main Street for more free stuff from Volkswagon and Atkins.

I do really plan on posting photos soon. It's so hard to find time on the Internet.

Bill in ear muffs

2006-01-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

Bill in ear muffs
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Too tired to post!!

2006-01-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

We saw five movies today:

The Night Listener (LOVED IT)
KZ (not my cup of tea)
Wordplay (SO entertaining)
The Science of Sleep (trippy and good)
Wide Awake (just fine)

The waitlist is working better for us. I will write something more detailed soon and really hope to post photos also. But I'm dying of sleep deprivation!!!!

Nappers.

Lili taylor

2006-01-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Lili taylor
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

A photo update

2006-01-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Second Day

2006-01-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

We're in the middle of our second day at the festival. The first Saturday is, traditionally, the craziest day, and this year is holding true to form. We've seen only two movies today and are really hoping to catch at least one more.

We woke up early for a film called DeNADIE, an international doc about Central Americans trying to cross into the US who must first make the long and dangerous journey through Mexico. It was well-done, shocking and disturbing.

Next, we stayed at the Holiday Village for Wild Tigers I Have Known, which was also well-done, but I didn't enjoy it very much. I was hoping for more of a plot. The actors (especially the lead which was a kid) were great but I was just wanting something to follow along with, instead of what felt like a series of dreams. It accomplished what I feel it was trying to, though.

After that, Shiri and I wandered around Main Street for a few hours, which was actually a lot more fun than it sounds. There are beautiful, huge flakes of snow falling on Park City today. The ground is slippery and the air is crisp but our spirits are up, despite only seeing two films today. We met a handful of celebrities and I'll be posting pics soon.

Dead tired

2006-01-21T01:10:00.000-07:00

Dead tired
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

First day

2006-01-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

This has been my first chance to log on since arriving in Park City.

We've seen three films so far. We've gotten shafted by both wait list and most-admired actresses.

Friends With Money (Nicole Holofcener) - LOVED IT. I laughed a lot. I believed the characters 100%. Frances McDormand was hilarious. Everyone else was good, too, including Jennifer Aniston.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - This was pretty good. The performances were stunning, particularly Robert Downey Jr. It had Melonie Diaz in it (from Raising Victor Vargas) and lots other people. What I liked about it was that it was a true story, and that it was not the slightest bit cheesy or sentimental, when it very well could have been. What left me with a bad taste was the Q&A. The director avoided nearly every question, by making a joke and not answering it at all, particularly the ones that innocently addressed the level of trueness of the story.

Solo Dios Sabe (Carlos Borado) - Eh - it was okay. It was fine. Diego Luna and Alice Braga are gorgeous and were lovely as the two romantic leads. There was just something I didn't quite believe about the story. I liked, but didn't love it.

Little Miss Sunshine - Hit or miss. It's a comedy, with Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell and more. I laughed maybe three times. The audience seemed to love it, but you can never tell at those world premieres when like half the audience is somehow related to the film. The premise was funny but it was just a little too silly for my tastes.

Lucky Number Slevin - Great movie! SO entertaining - I didn't look at my watch ONCE. I'm usually bored and annoyed by mob/ganster/gambling type of movies but this one drew me in and kept me there. Josh Hartnett was very un-Josh Hartnett like (which is great) and Lucy Liu's character was very cutesy and witty and funny which I enjoyed. Shiri disagrees, but I can see this doing well when it's released in theaters.

As for NON movie stuff....

It's frozen fucking solid here. And tickets are proving VERY difficult to procure. It's depressing! But I walked by my Lili Taylor on the street today, which makes me excited about seeing her movie and saying hi in a few days.

Tomorrow, my only ticket is for DeNADIE, a foreign doc, at 8:30 AM. I better get to sleeeeeep.

01-20-06_1748.jpg

2006-01-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

01-20-06_1748.jpg
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Our first wait listing was a success

2006-01-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

Our first wait listing was a success
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Where is the line?

2006-01-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Where is the line?
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

Change of plans...

2006-01-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

The Sundance Film Festival begins later today, Thursday the 19th. We were going to drive last night just to Cheyenne and then drive the rest of the way to Park City today, but we weren't tired, so we did the entire drive in one shot. It ended up taking from 9:15 AM Central time Wednesday until 7:15 AM Central Time Thursday. WOO long drive. Dying of sleepiness. We just checked into a relatively fancy Super 8 in SLC. The timeshare in Park City does not start until Friday.

Stressor #1: Car is making a DREADFUL, constant, FAST ticking noise under the front driver side wheel well. It started happening (that I could hear) when I turned it off after finishing the drive. I will pretend it's not happening until I get a full "night's" sleep (from now until like, 1:30 in the afternoon) and then I will deal with it in some fashion at that point.

On the agenda for when we wake up:

* Go up to Park City (provided the car cooperates) and pick up my tickets at Will Call
* Stand in line for the waitlist of Friends With Money. This looks like a GREAT film, directed by the woman who did Lovely and Amazing, and starring Catherine Keener and Francis McDormand (among others).

Hopefully I will have a short review of it posted tomorrow night. Do not expect anything fancy - I'm here as a fan and I'm NOT a critic.

Nebraska sunset

2006-01-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Nebraska sunset
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

On the road..

2006-01-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

On the road..
Originally uploaded by dordotson.

A St. Paul Pitstop

2006-01-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

We're on the road to Sundance. Shiri and I left NYC at noon on Sunday (1/15) and we arrived in Minnesota 19 hours later. We've enjoyed lovely naps, quality time with the sweetest toddler this side of the Mississipi, and a nice two days with mom and dad. We exchanged Christmas presents and my biggest and best present was a new windshield (YAY). Tomorrow morning we climb back into my dear sweet Saturn, which is now pushing 125,000 miles, and hope to make it to Cheyenne before we sleep. More later!

A Look Back...

2006-01-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

On this, the eve before we begin driving, I wanted to take a quick look back at my favorites from last year. Three of them have been released and can either be seen in a theater near you or rented on DVD. So get on it.

Mysterious Skin was the most powerful and moving film I saw last year. I'm surprised Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn't being recognized for his performance which was stunning. Mysterious Skin is now available on DVD, so buy or rent it if you haven't already.

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical was HILARIOUS. It ended up being shown on Showtime. The DVD is out for rent/purchase, so if you missed it (which I suspect you may have), I would remedy that situation ASAP if I were you. Ana Gasteyer has a few particularly hilarious-in-an-inappropriate-way lines and Alan Cumming is delightful.

The Dying Gaul was an excellent story, told in a melodramatic and haunting tone that I felt perfectly fit with the theme. It's based on a play, which I wish I'd seen, but oh well. Peter Sarsgaard shows off how talented he is yet again, and Patricia Clarkson and Campbell Scott are as great as you'd expect. The Dying Gaul will be on DVD March 21st. Add it to your Netflix Queue.

Strangers With Candy! I've seen it three times so far and I adore it. Will it win any Academy Awards? Doubtful. Will even all hard-core fans of the TV show love it? Probably not, but I did. My friends and I had been dying to see it and did everything short of buy/cheat/lie/steal to get into the world premiere of it at the Festival last year. There were countless "oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-pee-my-pants-from-laughing" moments. Although the film has had some issues with its distributor, rumor has it you'll finally be able to see it at a theater near you in the Spring of 2006, according to this website.

Cool blog

2006-01-13T00:27:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled upon this blog tonight and will definitely be reading lots more of it in the coming few weeks.
http://www.cyndigreening.com/

Advance Tickets

2006-01-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

My ticket selection time was this morning, and I didn't actually forget about it, like last year (although I almost did, ner).

Here's what I scored. Not bad. Not great, but not terrible.

SELECTED SCREENINGS:
16 : item(s):
==========================
Sun 1/22/2006 11:59 PM Holiday Cinema II: Wide Awake
Section
2x FULL
Mon 1/23/2006 3:15 PM Eccles Theatre: Factotum
Section
2x FULL
Tue 1/24/2006 9:15 AM Eccles Theatre: The Hawk is Dying
Section
2x FULL
Tue 1/24/2006 12:00 PM Eccles Theatre: Quinceanera
Section
2x FULL
Tue 1/24/2006 3:15 PM Eccles Theatre: All Aboard! Rosie's
Section
2x FULL
Tue 1/24/2006 11:30 PM Library Center Theatre: Puccini for Beginner
Section
2x FULL
Wed 1/25/2006 9:30 PM Eccles Theatre: This Film Is Not Yet
Section
2x FULL
Fri 1/27/2006 12:00 PM Eccles Theatre: Wristcutters: A Love
Section
2x FULL

Sundance Goals

2006-01-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

Some things I hope to do this year:

Lay off of the Premieres (hi, they either suck or will be coming out soon)
See more documentaries
Meet Francis McDormand (think she'll be there?)
Make out with Lili Taylor (ok, not really. I don't see her that way.)
Get more fun free stuff for Janis
Spend less than $200 on merch
Actually make it to the festival (provided my car doesn't break down on the way)
Not be seduced by peanut butter and jelly sandwiches like I was last year

The reason for the season

2006-01-11T00:29:00.000-07:00

A list of the movies that I'll beg/cheat/lie/steal to get into somehow:

Independent Film Competition: Documentary:

American Blackout
Crossing Arizona
A Lion In The House
small town gay bar
So Much So Fast
Thin
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
TV Junkie
An Unreasonable Man
Wide Awake
Wordplay
The World According to Sesame Street

Independent Film Competition: Dramatic:

Come Early Morning
Flannel Pajamas
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
The Hawk is Dying
Puccini for Beginners
Quinceanera
Right at Your Door
Sherrybaby
Stephanie Daley
Wristcutters: A Love Story

World Cinema Competition: Documentary:

5 Days
Black Gold
DeNADIE
Glastonbury
KZ
The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez
Songbirds
Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst

World Cinema Competition: Dramatic:

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
The House of Sand
Solo Dios Sabe

Premieres:

Alpha Dog
Friends With Money
Art School Confidential
The Darwin Awards
Don't Come Knocking
Little Miss Sunshine
Lucky Number Slevin
The Night Listener
Thank You for Smoking
This Film is Not Yet Rated

Spectrum:

All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise
Dreamland
Factotum (LILI TAYLOR!!!!!)
Who Needs Sleep?
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner

Midnight:

Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That!

Frontier:

Wild Tigers I Have Known

Et Cetera:
Animation Spotlight

Shorts Program I
Shorts Program IV

How am I going to cram all of those into ten days?!

The journey is about to begin!

2006-01-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again.

More anticipated than Christmas, involving far more inebriation than New Years (it's the altitude).... I proudly proclaim ... It's Sundance Season!

I have selected my films (there are 49 I'm dying to see)

I preregistered for my ticket selection time (and received a crappy, crappy one).

Time-share is booked (thanks MP).

The driving route is planned (Sure... St. Paul is KINDA on the way from NYC...).

I AM SO EXCITED!

TEAM SUNDANCE 2006 IS:

My gorgeous girlfriend Shiri

Matt Page and his Tim

A cameo appearance by the windy city's newest resident: Berry

AUDGE!

Shaggy (internationally renown webmaster of ParkerPosey.org)

G-Town

Bill!

We will be sorely missing Elissa and Thomas (on whom the working world has a choke-hold), and of course the Jedster, and John John.

More updates you say? Soon, I'll share with you what films made my "must see" list. And, if you're lucky, I'll post some photographic gems from last year's fest.