Sundance Film Festival 2007 is the new awesome

Every year I go to Park City, Utah to work at the Sundance Film Festival as a volunteer in the Eccles theater.

There are a lot of things that make this one of my favorite vacations of the year:

volunteering
As part of my job, I get to do things like rip tickets, help people find their seats in the dark, and make sure that no one enters places that they aren't allowed.

The best part is that if people don't listen to me, I am allowed to punch them in the face. Right Lee?

movies
I also get to see a lot of movies. I saw some good ones this year, though when I looked at the festival winners this morning, it turns out that I didn't end up seeing many of the films that got awards. Still, I have a few favorites that might not be getting lots of hype that you should probably look out for if you know what is good for you:


Son of Rambow
This is a hilarious story about two imaginative boys growing up in the 80's and the home movie they make about the Son of Rambo. It is just a good, heartwarming film I would recommend to anyone that loves fun ... and the 80s music and costuming is an added bonus.

Dedication
This is a fun film starring Mandy Moore and Billy Crudup, reminiscent of Garden State with the emotionally damaged guy that finds stability in a conveniently attractive and quirky young lady. They are a little more liberal with their use of the F-word, and you can replace the heavy use of the Shins on the soundtrack with Deerhoof, but it follows the same kind of basic humorous romantic comedy routine you might expect it to.




The Savages
I can't decide if I liked this film because I like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney so much, but this was just a straightforward story about two siblings dealing with their father's failing health, and is worth the watch.







celebs
Park City is always crawling with famous people. It is straight out of US Magazine's "Stars - they're just like us" page, because you see them doing normal, everyday things like talking on their cell phones or polishing their sunglasses. Unfortunately, when I see any star worth taking photos of, I am usually too embarrassed to try to snap an obvious photo...which is probably why the only pictures I end up with are photos like this one (courtesy of Emily Cox):


Yes. That IS Gary Coleman at Sundance.

Still, for the record:

best celebrity I peed next to in the bathroom:
Parker Posey

best celebrity I watched buy a bagel:
John Cusack

best celebrity I got so close to i could smell his hair gel:
Billy Baldwin

best celebrity I said "excuse me" to as I walked by:
Mandy Moore

fashion
I know it is cold in Utah in January, but there is something special about the film fest that makes everyone try to dress as much like a yeti as possible. Every store up and down Main St sells these ridiculous fur boots that I can only imagine people wear home and wake up the next morning in a daze, wondering if their neighbors are missing their cat.


The truly committed make sure their boots are paired with an enormous fur coat and hat. I'm not sure who would have a bigger heyday up there - PETA or the hosts from What Not To Wear.

entertainment
The free music they have on the big outdoor Main Street Stage is always a fun activity, if you can brave the cold.

This year I got to see Shiny Toy Guns (give their song le disko a listen) and of Montreal play for free with these fun friends:

Even in the cold, the lead singer of of Montreal still wore a rather revealing little dress that my mother never would have approved of.

At least the other guitarist had enough sense to wear a stylish giant fur thing on his head.


friends
The other awesome thing about spending time in Utah is seeing all the people that I like out there. marsha had an art show:

We all celebrated afterwords at the Provo Bombay House by spelling MARSHA with our fingers.

Marsha and cassian celebrated too.

in their own special way.



Thanks for the good times, Sundance. See you next year.