What a fabulous festival day we had today! Despite waking up to a bit of a snowstorm, we saw great films and had lots of fun on Main Street. Today was the kind of day we've been hoping for all week.

Some trivia I've been meaning to share - there are over 3500 films submitted to Sundance, and only 125 features are selected.

Our first scheduled movie was at noon so we decided to take it easy this morning and sleep in, giving David a chance to recuperate a bit - I think it worked. We were tempted with free tickets to two films first thing in the morning (which we heard were both fantastic) but decided to pass.

First stop was Albertson's for provisions since there's nowhere on Main Street to pick up a quick lunch or snack, and I knew we'd be there for 8 hours. The Eygptian theater, the festival's flagship, does in fact have an Eygptian theme but no snack bar. It does have a cocktail bar so you can buy a bloody mary to enjoy with your movie. They improvise by bringing in sodas and candy and stuff, but nothing substantial to eat.

Walking up Main St I saw Morgan Spulock coming right towards me. He's alone, no one seems to notice him. For a moment I wasn't sure it was him, but I recall the delightful conversation Alyssia and I had with him on the bus right after Super Size Me debuted and figured it's worth a shout. "Hey Morgan". He immediately makes eye contact, comes over and shakes my hand, he is a truly nice guy. I tell him that I was in the audience for the premiere screening and was offered $100 to sell my ticket; I always suspected to a MacDonald's lawyer. Tonight is Morgan's next big premiere, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? is one of the most sought-after films. It sold out immediately. Nancy begged the theater manager to help us with good wait list numbers, and were politely told to piss off. I suspect it will get distribution easily.

Linda joined us for our first film. Her husband Neill wasn't able to, so I sold his ticket on the bus over to the theater. I had purchased these tickets for them on my pass to ensure we'd have at least one film together. It was an Israeli love story called Strangers, and it was a beautiful and touching story of an Israeli guy and Palestinean woman who meet in Berlin during the World Cup Finals in Germany last year. I won't say any more about this original and creative story because I hope you'll get to see it. The audience went nuts for it. I'm definitely going to put in a plug for it at SIFF. I spoke to the producer after the film and he seemed very interested. Just to tempt you, this is the lead actor, Liron Levo, whom I predict will have a long and successful career.


We had a bit of break between films so we popped across the road to this quasi trade show technology area that the festival sponsors every year. David spent some time taking to the Avid guys, getting some help in figuring out his software. There was a most fascinating "factory" operation on Second Life (a 3D virtual world popularized by The Office - at least to us), where customized jeans are created by Second Life members, and then they are printed on this heavy-duty paper in a huge hp printer, cut into patterns, sewn together, and sold. The jeans won't last long, a few months perhaps, But they look like jeans and the models wearing them said they were comfortable. If you have any desire to look cool to a teenager, check out http://www.secondlife.com/

Film 2 today at the Eygptian was a Danish film called Just Another Love Story - and it was anything but. It had a strong noir influence coupled with a thriller format, wrapped in lots of plot turns. Lots of action too and figuring it out - fast moving but not to confusing - a really fun film exerience.

Me and Davey enjoying Sundance:


Our third film was an interesting bookend to the first film. Called Under the Bombs, its about a mother searching southern Lebanon for her son at the end of the war in 2006. With only 4 actors (everyone else in the film played themselves, - taxi drivers, grieving mothers, kids, journalists) and no story line, this filmmaker starting shooting 2 days after the ceasefire, and miraculously crafted a gripping tale. It wasn't necessarily a political film, it was about how war affectes real people. The filmmaker admitted to being against both Hezbollah and Israel. Deborah joined us for the screening as did Nancy. I so enjoy sharing these films with friends.

We got done about 8pm and the plan was to go for dinner at a new Vietnamese restaurant. Deborah had invited us to the Variety party, she had to go for work. But we bagged both ideas and joined Nancy for a press screening. I've never been to one at Sundance. They are in a totally different venue and not accessible to regular filmgoers like us. She knows the theater manager who was very casual about letting us in. The theater was only half full, an odd sensation after continuous packed screenings.

I was intrigued with the film because of the cast - Maria Bello, Rufus Sewell, Jason Patric. It turned out to be a very disturbing and difficult film to watch - Nancy actually left part way through. We stayed, and I had to look away several times. The main character is deeply wounded, and she has to cut herself to feel alive. She has a horrible marriage and an inept therapist. Then she meets a guy online. Enough said. We were very surprised to learn at the end that the story is based on true events.

We are back at the house now, David just took a whirlpool bath to exorcise his cough (guess we're getting desperate and he's running out of cough drops). We have two final films tomorrow and then home. What is so magical about being here is there no other reality other than Sundance (and possibly the local weather). I've not seen a newspaper or TV in a week, I can hardly recall where I work, and couldn't tell you much about my life right now - its been completely back-burnered as I'm totally immersed in the festival. I'd say it's a sign of a successful vacation.