The Latest Rave

I thought I was seeing a climbing movie. Boy was I wrong. Or at least, I've never seen a climbing movie LIKE THIS! At the Q and A, someone stood up and asked: "this is so dangerous, why do you guys do this?"  Wait, did they just walk in off the street? Were they on their phone for the whole time?  Did not we just see an intense, deeply personal movie that is PRIMARILY about this very topic?

I try to see one horror movie each year at Sundance. Not that I am into horror movies, but heck, if I am going to see one, it oughta be a good one, and in a crowded theatre. I saw a quite good one a couple years ago, so maybe I am trying to recreate the past. This year's choice was Hellions, mostly because it fit into my schedule...

Not all Sundance films are tiny scrappy foreign low-budget affairs. Hey, WHITE GOD  had a fairly substantial budget, though I'm not sure it is going to get picked up and shown in theaters in the USA.  BROOKLYN is not a low-budget film. Showing independent but real-budget films at Sundance bumps up the film's serious cred...

I was somewhat less psyched for Sundance this year than I SHOULDA BEEN, and did almost zero preparation. Alicia called a couple weeks ago and said - "I can buy you 5 tickets in the next half hour - what do you want". Well, basically, she made some suggestions and I accepted...

A coming of age story of a young woman, with an interesting premise. Leia was kidnapped at age 4 and held in a basement for 17 years. She was told the outside world had essentially ended, and she had to stay in. Ben took care of everything, until discovered. Leia is rescued and returned to her "family" - what happens next?

My oh my. This is some seriously messed up stuff. More deserving of profanity than Mr. Cobain's personal torment, but since I've had a couple days and movies to get extracted from the evil madness of Warren Jeffs, I can speak without profanity. But first, what this movie is NOT about...

While my range of movie genres is large, sex comedies are not usually within my circle of interest. Something about being a frustrated guy of a certain age, I kinda don't need more stimulation in that arena. But I got a ticket for this one so...

Oh my Heck. This is some seriously f***ed up shit! Told via the stuff found in Cobain's archive - journals (he kept tons of journals), home movies, concert footage, tasteful and sparse interviews with bandmates, mother father and sister, old girlfriends and the widow... developed into a tight, amazing, crazy (as in, clinical), extremely personal look inside the life and mind of Kurt Cobain.

Second movie of the year is this drama from Lithuania.  Laura Dahl and Shelley Carver joined me for this one. Here are Laura's impressions:

I knew nothing about the film before arriving at the theater.  In fact, I wasn't even sure of the title of the movie -  this is what happens when someone else does all the planning for your first Sundance Film experience...

When dogs look upon us, they look upon us as like Gods...  and we are white (at least, in Hungary); thus "White God" What an amazing film, and so hard, deliberately, to characterize. Coming of age film?  Check!  Eleven year old Lili is pushed off to live...

Sundance is divine. Sundance is my chance to see real movies on real screens, in rooms with every seat filled with excited, interested, intelligent people.