Eccles Theater this morning in the snow.Whew! That's more like it. Back to three movies, with a break from 2:00-6:00 where we went to our favorite sit-down restaurant, Windy Ridge. You know you are on vacation when you have a glass of wine with lunch -- even if it is a chintzy Utah pour. Plus, to make matters worse, we haven't been able to buy any wine to take home for two days because yesterday was Sunday and today was a holiday. And people wonder why I go through the hassle of packing wine when I go to Utah! OK, I'm not here for the booze and enough Utah bashing ... Here's my movie recap:
The Last Word
If you get a chance, see this movie! It stars Wes Bentley, Winona Rider and Ray Romano. It's the story of a man who lives a very solitary life and earns his living writing people's suicide notes. The story evolves when he lets some people get close to him. While suicide is an unlikely topic for a comedy, this film is loaded with laughs and never crosses the line between comedy and good taste.
Ray Romano and a twelve-year-old girl who has a small part were the only cast members there, but the Q & A was great. Romano and the Director, Geoff Haley, (of American Beauty and Six Feet Under fame) practically had a stand-up comedy routine going.
Ballast
Ballast is an independent film in every sense of the word: new director, a cast of first-time film actors, shot on location, simple story line, etc. This director wanted to capture the sorrowful, bleak feel of the Mississippi Delta in winter. In casting it, he scoured community centers and churches in the area to find local actors. It has no soundtrack and long lonely shots of the area. The story follows several characters who are trying to find themselves after the suicide of a family-member. (Have you noticed there are a lot of films with a suicide theme in this year's festival?)
The story is as sorrowful as the setting, making it a difficult movie to watch. I also had trouble with the fact that it was all shot with a hand-held camera. The jumpy footage was very distracting for me, especially since we were sitting in the third row. In general, the rawness of the film probably will preclude it from any extensive release, so I think it will be tough to find after this ... and that's OK.
Diminished Capacity
I loved this movie, but I felt a little guilty seeing it without my husband because it takes place in Missouri (his old stomping ground) and is full of baseball references. (I called him after it and promised to see it again with him.) It's about a young man (Matthew Broderick) who suffers a head injury and is experiencing short term memory loss. He is asked to look in on his aging uncle (Alan Alda) who is starting to show signs of senility. During the visit, his uncle shows him a rare baseball card that they decide to sell at a card show in Chicago.
If you are a baseball fan from the Midwest, you will love the references to Cardinal fans vs. Cubs fans. If you know of someone who is getting senile, you will appreciate Alan Alda's performance. If you enjoy a heartwarming story, world class acting and smart comedy, this is the movie for you. It now holds the position for best film I have seen so far.
Many of the cast (Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Louis C.K. and Virginia Madsen were there), so the Q & A was terrific. I have great photos, but I'm still having trouble loading them. Stay tuned.
The Last Word
If you get a chance, see this movie! It stars Wes Bentley, Winona Rider and Ray Romano. It's the story of a man who lives a very solitary life and earns his living writing people's suicide notes. The story evolves when he lets some people get close to him. While suicide is an unlikely topic for a comedy, this film is loaded with laughs and never crosses the line between comedy and good taste.
Ray Romano and a twelve-year-old girl who has a small part were the only cast members there, but the Q & A was great. Romano and the Director, Geoff Haley, (of American Beauty and Six Feet Under fame) practically had a stand-up comedy routine going.
Ballast
Ballast is an independent film in every sense of the word: new director, a cast of first-time film actors, shot on location, simple story line, etc. This director wanted to capture the sorrowful, bleak feel of the Mississippi Delta in winter. In casting it, he scoured community centers and churches in the area to find local actors. It has no soundtrack and long lonely shots of the area. The story follows several characters who are trying to find themselves after the suicide of a family-member. (Have you noticed there are a lot of films with a suicide theme in this year's festival?)
The story is as sorrowful as the setting, making it a difficult movie to watch. I also had trouble with the fact that it was all shot with a hand-held camera. The jumpy footage was very distracting for me, especially since we were sitting in the third row. In general, the rawness of the film probably will preclude it from any extensive release, so I think it will be tough to find after this ... and that's OK.
Diminished Capacity
I loved this movie, but I felt a little guilty seeing it without my husband because it takes place in Missouri (his old stomping ground) and is full of baseball references. (I called him after it and promised to see it again with him.) It's about a young man (Matthew Broderick) who suffers a head injury and is experiencing short term memory loss. He is asked to look in on his aging uncle (Alan Alda) who is starting to show signs of senility. During the visit, his uncle shows him a rare baseball card that they decide to sell at a card show in Chicago.
If you are a baseball fan from the Midwest, you will love the references to Cardinal fans vs. Cubs fans. If you know of someone who is getting senile, you will appreciate Alan Alda's performance. If you enjoy a heartwarming story, world class acting and smart comedy, this is the movie for you. It now holds the position for best film I have seen so far.
Many of the cast (Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Louis C.K. and Virginia Madsen were there), so the Q & A was terrific. I have great photos, but I'm still having trouble loading them. Stay tuned.
These two sat next to us during the screening of Diminished Capacity. He is one of the writers and he and his wife both have small parts in the film. The woman next to him (not his wife) plays the neurosurgeon in the film. It was fun chatting with them before the show.
My big accomplishment today was to approach Geoffrey Gilmore (the Director of the Sundance Film Festival) and, rather than ask him for a job like I wanted to, I thanked him for all his hard work, told him we were thrilled with the films we were seeing and commended him for not looking completely exhausted. He was nice about it as he inched slowly away from me -- I think he's more tired than he looks.
My big accomplishment today was to approach Geoffrey Gilmore (the Director of the Sundance Film Festival) and, rather than ask him for a job like I wanted to, I thanked him for all his hard work, told him we were thrilled with the films we were seeing and commended him for not looking completely exhausted. He was nice about it as he inched slowly away from me -- I think he's more tired than he looks.
Tomorrow we have to be up by 6:30 AM to make an 8:30 movie, so it's bed time for me!
5 comments:
Woo! Well, I've been hooked on the blog since before you left but have not been savvy enough to figure out how to post. Your lovely spouse told me how this evening, Anyway, I've been checking at least daily and I have really enjoyed reading your movie reviews and hearing about your adventures. Woo hoo!!
- john
I'm so glad you got to see Alan Alda, I know you were looking forward to that. Sorry about the chintzy pour. :) We can make up for it on tapas night.
Dana:
Great blogging and recap of your adventures. It was a nice escape for me after coming into work this morning after a three day weekend. Enjoy your time away and we'll see you with our tapas off!
Mike and Nanci
Dana: Great blog. Sounds like a fabulous trip. Good thing you have such as supportive husband at home! (OK, he paid me to write that!) Have a great time, and if you run into Demi Moore, please tell her to quit texting me, it really is over and I'm not going to take her back!
Hey! So glad Scott reminded me to look at the blog—my intentions are always good but alas, my life is full and I tend to be a bit forgetful on these things.
Love the blog! Love the pics. Love the movie reviews. I'll have to check back later once the movies hit the "big screens."
So, Shaun Levy and I worked together at/on nike.com for a while. He IS a nice guy actually.
Another FUN fact for you—Kevin Sorbo grew up across the street from me! He was my older brothers age and we have movies of him at my brothers b-day parties when he was a little boy! So there you have it.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
-Joan
Post a Comment