Sundance Review

Well now that I am home and have got a little sleep I thought I would do a little Sundance Wrap up.
I ended up seeing 10 movies, and 18 Shorts.

My 5 favorite feature films are
1.  Rebirth-about the aftermath of 9/11
2.  Circumstance-(which ended up winning the Audience Award) about two girls coming of age in Iran
3.  Martha Marcy May Marlene-with great performances by Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes about a girl who is trying regain her life after being in a cult.
4.   Sound of My Voice-about a couple who try to infiltrate a cult who's leader claims to be a time traveler.
5.  Take Shelter-about a guy who is either having dreams of a coming apocalypse or a psychological disorder.

Worst movie we saw at Sundance was Letters From the Big Man about a girl who trys to protect big foot.

Best Short Movies
1.  Fight For your Right Revisited- start studded short about the Beastie Boys
2.  The Legend of Beaver Dam-a crazy musical horror movie.
3.  Living for 32-a documentary about a survivor of the Virginia Tech murders
4.  Grandpa's Wet Dream-a funny documentary about a 75 year old Japanese guy who stars in porn movies with out his wife or family knowing about it.
5.  Out of Reach- a documentary about two girls who try to reconnect with their mother


With alot of movies playing at Sundance it is interesting to see what themes come out. This year there has been alot made about the cult theme. With something like 5 movies about cults(two of which I saw) it is an interesting theme. But I found a different theme in the movies I saw. The psychology of surviving. With Rebirth, Living for 32, and The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement all documentaries about surviving horrific events and having to deal with the psychological drama. Also, with the fiction movies like Martha Marcy May Marlene where the main character is dealing with her survival of a cult. And even in Take Shelter where a guy is preparing to survive either a coming apocalypse or a mental illness.  The movies I saw this year were a psychologist dream of mental  illness and grief and made for some fun twisted movies. 

Sundance Day 1

Well the day started off a little rough. Got up at 3:30am then had a rough flight from Milwaukee to Houston and almost missed our connection to Salt Lake City.  We had to run from one terminal to the other and when we got to the gate they had the door closed but luckily enough the plane was still there and we were able to board. So, finally made it to Salt Lake City and luggage arrived with no problems. Then  we got on the shuttle to take us to Park City and after driving around the airport an extra time we were on our way.  One of the things I love about Sundance is you never know who you are going to run into.  On the shuttle was an assistant director for Take Shelter which was the first movie on our list to see today. Also, on the shuttle was the stand in for Tobey Maguire in The Details which is on the list of movies to see tomorrow.  

Take Shelter is a movie about a guy who has dreams about a coming storm and is not sure if it is prophetic or he is going crazy.  The vistions are so intense that he decided to build a storm shelter in his backyard.  The movie was a great start to Sundance. Great performance from Michael Shannon and the rest of the cast.  It is a great story about a man struggling with his sanity.  The movie drags a little in the middle and seems to go on a little too long, but it has a good ending.