Here Comes the Sundance!
I HAVE GOLDEN TICKETS SWEETIES. Well, silver, they are silver this year, but I have lovely lovely silver foiled tickets for Sundance!
So here's the story. I signed up for an Sundance individuals ticket lottery and a Utah locals ticket lottery, even though I had been warned by fellow Sundance ticket goers last year that they were a waste of time. Despite this word of caution, guess who got spots on both lists! Yes, that would be me. Since the locals one came first, last Sunday, versus the individuals which was yesterday and would have happened right when I would be flying out to CT, I took the Sunday one, requiring me to show up in the box office in person to score my ticket selections.
My time slot to get my tickets was at 9. It turns out that I indirectly knew someone working the box office this year, and was able to ask them questions about the ticket process. She said that I didn't need to show up ridiculously early for my time slot, a half hour before was just fine. And that I had a good shot at getting the tickets I wanted since I was going to the theatre in Ogden. (Ogden is so far away and has a HUGE theatre, over 800 seats. It is the second largest theatre being used in the festival, and the farthest away from the Park City action, so I figured we'd have a better chance of getting tickets there.)
Nyu drove down with me at around 7 am Sunday morning. There had been icy snow the night before, which had been problematic to drive in and caused me to worry, but by the time we left the roads were lovely. Not so lovely? The dense fog that was everywhere-even when it lifted you could see ribbons of it floating above your head, taunting you with the threat of dropping upon you to yet again obstruct your vision-and the slushy, icy highway roads in Salt Lake. But we made it to Trolley Square (site of the SLC Sundance Box Office) in one piece, phew. Nyu waited in the car (and slept, hah) while I headed into the mall, to see what I could see (and what tickets I could score.)
The Sundance people were all set, very organized and professional and wonderful; this is only my second year attending but I've been impressed both times now. After I got in my time slot line, all roped off and waiting, they handed me a program booklet and a ticket sheet, and checked my name off a list (the gal checking me off was my contact person, hah! Good to see her.) There were about ten or so people in line ahead of me, and by the time nine o'clock rolled around there were at least twenty or so behind me. The girl lined up right behind me had two coffees, waiting for her friend to show up; I guess he was on call all night and had barely gotten off work, and the coffee was so he could wake up, hah. (I took it they were both med students at the U.) He did finally show up, hooray, and the two of them began intensely discussing film choices.
I filled out the ticket sheet with the info about the films I wanted to see (Margin Call and Like Crazy in Ogden) and perused the program booklet. It doesn't just list the films being shown, though that is of course important, but it also lists the music lineups, panel discussions, art exhibits and installations, you name it, being performed while the fest is in session. And what did my eyes behold but an intriguing panel I could attend! Two words: Julie Taymor. Talking with other brilliant creators about the process of creating stories and collaborating with other artists to get a vision across. And this panel is occurring on the same day I will be down there for Like Crazy! Yes please; I added the panel to my list.
Then nine o'clock finally arrived, and we were ushered into the box office . I got a nice, friendly girl as my cashier, who when she saw I was aiming at tickets for Ogden was like, nice, good choice. And that choice did indeed turn out to be a good one, because there were tickets available for all the screenings I wanted! :D
Happy, I paid in cash and headed beck to the car at 9:15, off to other SLC adventures.
Here is the full list of Sundance films I have tickets for. My only concern is getting from the panel in Park City to the Ogden theatre in two hours, but unless there is an intense snowstorm I do not see this being a problem, huzzah. But it will be worth it; to see these creators in person, these films on the screen, you can't ask for much more excitement than that (well, unless Zach or Anton decides to nonchalantly stroll into our movie palace for the screening...) And yes, full reviews (with plot spoilers galore) and a typing up of my notes will be in full order. Like I would do anything else, hah.
Power of Story: The Big Idea
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/powerofstorythebigidea_sundance2011
When we talk about the magic of movies, what are the mechanics of that magic? There are few things as mystifying as the creative process. Ideas are the building blocks of any creative endeavor, but where do they come from? How do we shape them using process and craft? And how do many creative minds come together to form a singular vision? In gathering a writer, editor, director, and composer together, we hope to peer behind the curtain of creativity and see the way to get from good idea to great film.
Jill Bilcock is a frequent collaborator with directors Baz Luhrmann, Sam Mendes, and Fred Schepisi. She has edited more than 25 feature films, including Moulin Rouge!, Elizabeth, Road to Perdition, and Muriel’s Wedding.
Thomas Newman is an award-winning composer and conductor who has scored more than 50 films, including American Beauty, The Shawshank Redemption, and Finding Nemo.
Sam Shepard is one of the most celebrated playwrights, screenwriters, and actors of our time. His work includes the screenplay for Paris, Texas, and his plays True West, A Lie of the Mind, and Buried Child, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Julie Taymor [I do not have her bio from the site but it was in the program; I'll add it later. Hopefully she is still coming, despite Spider-Man delays? That had not occurred to me when I bought the tickets. We'll see; it will be amazing no matter what, that is for sure.]
Like Crazy
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/likecrazy_sundance2011
Like Crazy is a film from and about the heart. Jacob, an American, and Anna, who is British, meet at college in Los Angeles and fall madly in love. It’s the purest kind of romance-they’re each other’s first significant attachment. When Anna returns to London, the couple is forced into a long-distance relationship. Their perfect love is tested, and youth, trust, and geography become their biggest enemies.
Taking a complete tonal departure from his last film, Douchebag, which screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, cowriter/director Drake Doremus poetically reveals the intimate details and daily struggles of Jacob and Anna’s love affair as it stretches between time and distance and changes course. Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones are enthralling in their sweetness and honesty as the young couple. An original, contemplative look at first love, Like Crazy strikes a universal chord as it explores the bittersweet beauty and impermanence of relationships.
Margin Call
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/margincall_sundance2011
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.
Propelled by a stellar cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, and Demi Moore, writer/director J. C. Chandor’s enthralling first feature is a stark and bravely authentic portrayal of the financial industry and its denizens as they confront the decisions that shape our global future.