Days 5 and 6

Day 5 and 6 Thursday The best day of the week came on Thursday. I had a ticket for a noon showing in Park City — the ski town that served as the primary locale for the festival — so this was to be the day I would check out what Sundance was all about. It didn’t start off great. Overnight there had been a change in weather that resulted in ice rain. It caked a layer of ice over my car unlike anything I had ever seen — my poor Mazda 3 literally encased in a perfect sheen of ice. This took me about ten minutes to scratch off and amazingly, the ice came off in large chunks as if I had smashed a puzzle to bits. The roads were similarly treacherous which is fantastic news when driving to a ski town. However, I made it alright. In prepping for my trip to Park City, I had read in numerous blogs that parking can be a nightmare but I opted to drive anyways and park on the fringes. Turns out, I called the festival’s bluff — parking was a breeze. The weather undoubtedly helped. However, as I will mention in a bit, the parking ease had an odd reverse effect, as well. My film was at the Yarrow Hotel which had fashioned a conference room as a theatre. The film was Blue Caprice, made by a French filmmaker and based on the Washington sniper from 2003. The film was excellent. It was quite a chilling vision and perhaps the best film commenting on the conditioned violence of the United States I’d seen. After the film had ended, I walked down Main Street towards the downtown. Here’s where the parking situation backward in an odd way: due to the weather and being later in the week, the attendance was so low I walked 20 blocks of which at least the first 15 had free available parking. Damnit. Regardless, I made it downtown in no time and walked the length of Main Street. Park City has a cool downtown, lined with little shops and the like. A neat feature is a chair lift that runs directly over the street because the ski hill is next to the city. Along Main Street I also passed the famed Egyptian Theatre. It was a neat experience and the low attendance made it easy to traverse, though I wish it had been a tad busier and thus, more interesting. I walked back to my car — which had avoided towing, booya — and drove back to SLC. The road back is amazing because it goes straight through the middle of a canyon. Unlike in Kananaskis, the canyon is the only way through the mountains and you travel the length of it in and out of the mountains. That evening, I had my sights set on the only film showing at the festival I absolutely needed to see: Before Midnight. The third film by Richard Linklater that starred Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, the first two are a pair of my favorite films — rivaling even The Godfather duos. I was unable to buy a ticket at the box office, so I opted to waitlist. A quick rundown of how the waitlisting works: two hours prior to the film, everyone lined up in the waitlist line is given a number based on their spot. You are then to return at least a half hour prior to the film and re-enter the line in that order. I got there two-and-a-half hours early and was seventeenth in line. I returned and got my place in line. As the regular ticket holder were being escorted into the film, the volunteer in charge of the waitlist line was making wisecracks to playfully unnerve us all. After the ticket line had gone in, there was a painful wait in which we would all determine how many people got in and learn our fate. Someone behind me said, ‘The average waitlist entries is 16...’ and I thought, oh no, what’s my number again? 17. The funny-guy volunteer returned and started to count off the people in line who would be admitted. ‘...12, 13, 14, 15 aaaaaaand 16...in ya go.’ Leaving me standing as the first guy to be turned away. I was losing it. This was the only film I wanted to see. Thoroughly stressed, the volunteer told me to hold on as they do a double-check. I was literally sweating. After a moment he returned, and with a big sigh...he admitted me. What a relief. I got into the theatre and there at least still 20 available spots. What a dick that guy was. Regardless, the film was wonderful. I was content. I slept like a baby that night. Friday Today was lax. I woke up late, had a long chat with my new roomie (who I had an earlier long chat with the day before; a way cool dude), then went to the coffeeshop to read and write. I was there for a few hours, then returned to my hostel to relax. My film was at 9 p.m. so I had a lot of time to kill but felt like taking it easy. At 5 p.m. I walked to the library only to sit down and instantly have a guy walk by and announce, ‘We’re closed in ten minutes.’ Sonofabitch. I walked back and wrote until 8 p.m. before driving to the Broadway Cinema for my sixth film, Pit Stop. The thing about the festival circuit is most of these films are on that circuit for a reason. Whether in trying to lure prospective distributors or simply being pet projects of the festival institute. Sometimes, it's because they aren't likely to break through into theatres and the mainstream. In Pit Stop's case, the latter applies. It wasn't very impressive. I won't commit too many words to it, but had I got outta there as soon as she was done. Didn't wait for the Q and A. I felt I had appreciated the filmmaker enough just by staying in the theatre. That was my day.