ROTTEN TOMATOES: Official Fundance at Sundance 2007 Blog

Group Created On:: 1/17/07
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Number of Members:: 569

Dispatches by Rotten Tomatoes' agents at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Jen, Tim, and Senh brave freezing temperatures to bring you reports from Park City, Utah.

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Showing 1 - 10 of 16 Topics

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Topic	Date Started	Started By

Celeb Photo Blog: Efren and Chris' Excellent Sundance Adventure!	2/6/07	RT-News
2 Comments Report to Moderator RT-News on 2/6/07 at 5:46 PM Curious to see Sundance through the eyes of a Hollywood player? Filmmakers Efren Ramirez ("Napoleon Dynamite") and Chris Barrett ("The Corporation") shared their 2007 stint in Park City with us. Read on to see the sights of Sundance through the eyes of two guys with VIP access... The final stop on the day's tour was a surprise performance by Efren Ramirez on Harmonica, Garrett from G Love and Special Sauce on Vocals and Rhythm Guitar, and Tyler Hilton on Acoustic Guitar. They jammed for about 20 minutes and it was flippin sweet. Thanks guy. Chris Barrett and Efren Ramirez 1 Reply Report to Moderator RonGetz on 3/20/07 at 6:58 AM I can't tell you how impressed I am with the both of you. Efren Ramirez-Still holding on to that ND claim to fame and the unfortunate EOTM and TC. Chris Barrett-TC and AS..come on. I could not get further than what you had to eat. Thanks for the pictures of the "celebrities" you met. Basically it looks like you did nothing productive. Perhaps commenting on the films would be a good idea? Keep up the..."work". 0 Replies Report to Moderator
Stars of Sundance Darling "Once" Sing Live -- Watch it on YouTube!	1/29/07	Jen Yamato
1 Comment Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/29/07 at 12:23 PM Everyone who saw "Once" at Sundance has been raving -- the little Irish musical that could stars real life musicians Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Marketa Iglova (check out their band The Swell Season on MySpace) -- and you can watch them perform al fresco during Sundance for HP (via YouTube)! "Once," about a pair of strangers who begin to make music together, won the World Cinema Audience Award at the end-of-fest honors last weekend. The micro-budgeted pic (shot for a rumored $150,000) will be distributed worldwide by Summit Entertainment, although a North American deal is still being hashed out. It's also Hansard's first film since that other Irish musical, 1991's "The Commitments." Read Senh's review here, and watch that YouTube performance!! 0 Replies Report to Moderator
MCN's Dave Poland Calls Out Sundance	1/27/07	Jen Yamato
2 Comments Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/27/07 at 12:18 PM MCN's Dave Poland rips Sundance a new one (he's called this year's lineup the worst Sundance all fest) for the "Focus on Film" contradictory mantra -- namely, the (necessary) presence of so many commercially viable/studio flicks/not-really-indie entries at Sundance. He's not alone on the soapbox; even web nemesis Jeffrey Wells has called it "one of the worst in memory." But there's no doubt Poland's a vet when it comes to these things, and he makes more than a few points in this 4-minute diatribe (including a funny bit involving the Sundance vagina dentata movie "Teeth," Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan). Note that despite his disappointment, he's seen a few good ones and is hopeful (at least, he was four days ago when he uploaded the video and there were a few days left of screenings). Watch, via YouTube. 1 Reply Report to Moderator EDouglas on 1/31/07 at 5:31 AM Unfortunately for everyone's favorite web nemeses, this is a case where they're BOTH wrong. I saw so many good movies at Sundance that when I came back, I've had a hard time bearing the movies that already have distributors/studios. Wells didn't see Son of Rambow and Poland didn't see Once, and probably neither saw War/Dance or Joshua... so I can't take either their opinions seriously. It was my first Sundance and I was pretty happy with the selection even with couple dogs I saw. (which conveniently had "dog" in the title) 0 Replies Report to Moderator
Last Hours at Sundance; Tim Meets Crispin Glover	1/26/07	Jen Yamato
1 Comment Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/26/07 at 12:19 PM Our flight home is at 4:20 today (insert "Smiley Face" joke here), so we're spending our last remaining hours at the Marriott HQ, using free wifi and handing out our new RT t-shirts to random people in the filmmakers lounge. Ambassador Tim has made it his quest to unload our handful of shiny new red Certified Fresh swag to millers about in this room, and the results of this social experiment have been incredibly, bizarrely serendipitous. Consider: Gentleman #1, in a scarf and a cap, turns out to be none other than punk legend John Doe of the band X; Giftee #2, sitting in front of a laptop at the next table, is filmmaker/actor Crispin Glover (ok, that one wasn't so random); Guy #3, posted in a corner chair, is screenwriter Nick Griffin, who wrote such films as "Matchstick Men." Meanwhile, the Film Threat twosome of Mark Bell and Zack Haddad are typing furiously away at their computers a few feet away. We're gonna try to lift the new Wholpin DVD Zack snagged before they ran out. Wish us luck. 0 Replies Report to Moderator
Sundance 2007 Trend Watch; Or, Enough With the Voice Over Narration!!	1/26/07	Jen Yamato
2 Comments Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/26/07 at 1:19 AM I think it's official. There seem to be a number of rules this year that qualify a movie to be a Sundance selection -- rules that scream "indie" and "pick me, buyers, pick me!" And though we're often told that life necessitates rules, when it comes to movies (and movies with a lot of the same traits shown en masse at a festival), these rules should be ignored or broken so that festival audiences (who probably watch an average of 4-5 flicks a day, remember) don't leave the theater after two hours wishing they'd seen something else. That is, if they even stayed for the whole show. This declaration has been building in my head for days now, but it wasn't until today -- coincidentally, our last full day in Park City -- that I truly came to despise these mind-numbing, "didn't-that-happen-in-x-movie-too?" rules. The list of offenders: 1. Voice-over narration: This includes not only straight-up characters-addressing-the-viewer narration, but also semi-narration (you think it's a typical v.o. but aha! it's really a phone conversation/inner monologue/imaginary friend talking). 2. Starting the film with the end: A film opens with a shocking act of violence, an unexplained scene with characters we're about to meet, yada yada yada, and the rest of the movie goes about telling us how we got there. Or tells how we got there via out-of-sequence pieces (how clever). 3. Substitution of story development/character development/other important stuff with extended shots of scenery/close ups on intensely acting actors: This includes using all manner of tricky cavalier photography (your overexposed film/color filters; sped up/slowed down sequences; a crazy symbolic dream inserted for no apparent reason) to add "style" to the flick. 4. Stuffing as many cameos into a film as possible because hey! It's an indie with a colorful cast of kooky characters: These range from the usual (Lili Taylor/Parker Posey types) to the recognizable actors in one-scene parts (Abe Vigoda as...the holistic New Age marriage counselor!) to the nearly ridiculous "Hey, it's that guy" roles ("Hey, it's that guy from Predator!" "Hey, it's Screech from Saved by the Bell!"). 5. Going to extremes to find a compelling real-life subject: Is it a documentary? Better make it either very, deeply depressing (nuclear attacks! Political oppression!), or a feelgood flick about weird, but lovable, eccentrics (we already did spelling bees and crossword puzzles). Of course, there's probably many more of these rules, and many more examples. I should hope, too, (and the festival successes so far have proven) that plenty of new films debuting at festivals like Sundance have the bravado to violate these cumbersome tenets. Or else I'll be getting a lot more sleep in the screening rooms. 1 Reply Report to Moderator Bill D 2007 on 1/28/07 at 8:24 AM Thanks for the great, pensive post. It's quite disturbing. But perhaps we have to accept that Sundance may be at the end of its life. At least its life as we knew it. It used to be a place for fresh ideas. Now it seems a formula was built around it. Time to move on to something else. Fresh ideas won't be sprouting from Utah anymore. Copycats always swarm to places where new ideas are sprouting. They've swarmed over Sundance and destroyed it, it seems. So time to move on! 0 Replies Report to Moderator
"Black Snake Moan," "King of California" Screen	1/25/07	Jen Yamato
1 Comment Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/25/07 at 3:03 PM Thank goodness Tim and Senh volunteered for early morning screening duty today, cause there was no way I was getting out of bed to trudge through the snow -- even for Sam Jackson, Christina Ricci, and a little bit of Justin Timberlake. I made it in to the Yarrow in time to catch them directly afterward; most seemed to like it, there's a great bluesy soundtrack, and Tim was excited for at least 4 subsequent hours. Currently in the Yarrow hallway having just seen Michael Douglas play crazy dad and Evan Rachel Wood play overly responsible teen in "King of California," which was funny at times, occasionally insightful and clever, but suffers from inconsistent pacing (I fought a battle with myself trying to decide if I should nap during the first half hour; I should have opted for sleep) and a way too convenient, pat ending. That makes the highlight of my day when Film Threat Zack told me Mr. Eko from "Lost" was in the press lounge at the Marriott. (I looked, it was him.) Perhaps the next screenings will bring better things: "The Go-Getter" and "Smiley Face," a stoner comedy starring Anna Faris. How could that disappoint?? 0 Replies Report to Moderator
Winding Down the Fest; Online Critics Gone Wild	1/25/07	Jen Yamato
1 Comment Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/25/07 at 12:46 AM After last night's woofer ("Hounddog," at which I'm told people hissed), today's screenings did a bit better, in my opinion: Luc Besson's black and white rom-com "Angel-A" (decent), Justin Theroux's "Dedication" (also decent), Adrienne Shelley's posthumous dram-com "Waitress" (surprisingly great) and the much talked-about Irish musical on-a-budget, "Once" (which Senh liked). I also hear fantastic things about the Kiwi flick "Eagle vs. Shark" and the techno-horror "The Signal" (which Scott Weinberg tells me I'm too wussy to see). Timmy had more interviews today: director Andrew Currie (zombie comedy "Fido"). Senh spoke with "Finishing the Game" cast and crew, including director Justin Lin, actors Roger Fan, Dustin Nguyen, McCaleb Burnett and Mousa Kraish -- and the ultimate celeb meeting, MC muthaf***ing Hammer!! We capped what was a great day of screenings with the best social experiment ever: online critic beer pong. Suffice to say certain onliners who will remain unnamed (until we post pictures, that is) participated, RT represented to the fullest (reps on each winning team), and Beer Pong at the Yarrow: Part Two just might go down tomorrow night. 0 Replies Report to Moderator
"Hounddog" Strikes Out	1/24/07	Jen Yamato
2 Comments Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/24/07 at 2:05 AM The much-anticipated "Hounddog" screened for critics tonight, and word is they had to turn people away at the door, there were so many viewers hungry to see what the fuss was all about. You know, the "child porn" Dakota Fanning-rape scene fuss. Turns out, a few hours later, all of the hubbub was for naught. Everyone we talked to after the press screening hated it, and not even because of the rape scene (which Tim writes is tastefully done). Craig Brewer Tim got a hat from Brewer when he interviewed him today. It's brilliant, with a slogan riffing on Brewer's hit "Hustle & Flow": "It's hard out here for a nymph." 1 Reply Report to Moderator Defmonkey on 1/24/07 at 9:31 PM Sweet! I like a child rape scene that has good taste! 0 Replies Report to Moderator
Celeb Sightings: They're Everywhere, Everywhere!!	1/23/07	Jen Yamato
1 Comment Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/23/07 at 11:33 PM It's totally true that in this town during Sundance, you can run into almost anyone at any time; the random stranger sharing your taxi could be a film buyer, an unknown actor, a studio head on his way to the ski lifts. Or, like last year, you might run into someone like Nick Cave outside the Marriott (Tim's big celeb meeting of 2006). So we've decided to log all of our sightings so far -- not many, but hey, we've been holed up most days in the press screenings with fellow internet nerds. So without further ado, our sightings (not including red carpets and interviews): Ian Ziering picking up his wristband for the MySpace party Laura Linney at the Heineken Green Room waiting for interviews Robert Downey Jr. bundled up, walking down Main Street Nick Cannon coming out of a gifting suite (swag!) Teri Hatcher coming out of the same gifting suite, minutes later Matt Leinart coming out of -- you guessed it -- a gifting suite Diddy everywhere Winona Ryder (we hear) bumming a cigarette from Scott Weinberg Matthew Lillard drinking a red bull in our hotel lobby Christian Slater twice in the press-infested Yarrow hotel Emile Hirsch in our hotel lobby, waiting for a taxi We've got a few more days here, so we'll keep our eyes open for more innocent celebs walking the streets. I hear Dustin Diamond is in town. 0 Replies Report to Moderator
What Day Is It? Losing Track of Time in Park City	1/23/07	Jen Yamato
1 Comment Report to Moderator Jen Yamato on 1/23/07 at 8:23 PM I'm told today is Tuesday. I can't say for sure. These days are all running into one another...when was that frozen night on Main Street? What did I see today? When do we go home? Nah, I suppose it's not that bad. We are here to watch movies and take pictures and talk to filmmakers, after all. Plus, there are some cool onliners here to hang with. Cinematical's Kim, Rocchi, and our own Scotty Weinberg. Erik Childress. The Film Threat trio: Mark, Zack, and Jamie. Forget those print critics: nothing beats drinking beers at the Yarrow with jaded dot com folks. On to the recaps: in no particular order, since my brain is completely shot right now... Today was my day of asking questions to famous people. I started the day with interviews for the upcoming New Line release, "The Last Mimzy": Timothy Hutton, Rainn Wilson (AKA Dwight Schrute, Dunder Mifflin's #3 employee), and Bob Shaye. THE Bob Shaye, founder and CEO of New Line Cinema and the director of "Mimzy." I've got to say, Hutton's an Oscar winner. Shaye's kind of a big deal. But the highlight of my day? Meeting Dwight. Next I met Adam Bhala Lough, whose "Weapons" debuted days ago to somewhat mixed reviews. He's waiting to see if offers get made. Then I watched "The Last Mimzy," proceeded by an hourlong Q&A with Bob Shaye on the 40 year history of New Line. Now I'm headed to eat food and drink a Stella or two in the Yarrow, then possibly off to a party on Main Street for the doc "For the Bible Tells Me So." 0 Replies Report to Moderator