Last Day of Movie Watching

Today was a very exciting day.

1) Most of us got to sleep in
2) Saw two good films, including the U.S. Grand Jury Dramatic Winner, Winter Bones
3) The mountains were exceptionally beautiful today
4) Saw and heard Jeffery Blitz talk, he has directed episodes from The Office and Parks and Recreation
5) Saw and heard Ralph Winter talk, Producer of X-Men and Fantastic Four, among many other things and
6) I walked past Mark Ruffalo and he was about 2 feet away. I almost asked for a picture, but I was in a slight hurry and there were a few people around him, so I didn't.
7) I went to the Sundance 2010 After Party for a grand total of 20 minutes. Enough to last me a lifetime. Plus I recorded some, so I'm good.

Those were the the highlights of the day. I will hopefully be able to post tomorrow at some point before we head on to Indiana so I can explain the movies I saw today.

Another Day of 4 Films

This morning Mark Ruffalo came and discussed his movie Sympathy for Delicious. It was a good discussion. It made me realize that Mark Ruffalo is just like anyone else trying to figure out things in life just like we are. A month before Mark started shooting the film, his brother died tragically and he ended up dedicating the movie to him. The picture of him on the right is not great, but he's the guy on the left. I also learned that Mark Ruffalo had brain cancer.

The first movie I saw was called 3 Backyards and it's the worst movie I've seen at sundance, so I won't spend much time talking about it. I didn't connect with any of the characters, they annoyed me. There also was minimal to zero plot and the movie moved SOOOO slow. Also, the characters made random decisions that didn't fit within the movie. I could have missed the movie though. Maybe if they had taken out the piercing soundtrack, it might have been bearable. It was the place where we started our memorable moments from Sundance, which we have found quite amusing.

The second movie was called Blue Valentine and it's about a married couple who try to fall back in love with each other. There were a lot of unnecessary scenes, but the idea of looking at a marriage and discovering what went wrong is a topic not widely thought about for a movie. There were quite a few good points, especially about communication between spouses, but there were a lot of things you need to overlook in order to get those points. The director is pictured on the left in the front. One of the Sundance programmers is in the back.

The third movie I saw today was called Nuummioq. It's about a guy who is terminally ill and avoids telling his family for a while. It was slow moving, but definitely better than 3 Backyards. It was dark lighting for almost the entire movie which made it extremely difficult to know who was doing what in close up shots. It could have been a lot better, but I don't think I'd classify it as terrible. Ryan G. and I literally ran to the theater to get there in time. We barely made it.

Lucky was my fourth and final movie of the day and it is definitely in my top five Sundance films. It is a documentary about powerball lottery winners after they have received their money. It was really interesting to see how different people handle large amounts of money. The six of us loved it. One quote the captures it is from a friend of William "Bud" Post ($16 million lottery winner), "Winning the lottery is like putting miracle grow on your character defects." That quote is completely true. They made the point that no one teaches you how to suddenly have a lot of money. Different people went about it in different ways. Some didn't do much with it, others completely changed their lives and moved away, some donated a significant portion, and yet others spent almost all of it. The movie made me question what I would do if I were ever in that situation. It's a good question to ask because it says a lot about yourself. We found out that despite economic downturns, lottery ticket sales increase. Perhaps because it's a small hope of something better. As one woman in the film said, "I will not stop until I get it (lottery)." This woman buys lottery tickets twice a day and has been doing this for 30 straight years. It's an interesting addiction. The guy in the black has directed episodes of The Office, including last year's Super Bowl episode in which Angela throws her cat through the ceiling, but it falls through the ceiling. It was one of my favorite Office moments. These two directors will be coming tomorrow (or technically today) to talk to us about their movie. I'm very excited to hear more about it.

Tomorrow is the last day of film watching. I hope it's good. Now for sleep, which Rikki, Ryan G., and I are currently lacking as we stayed up to blog and write papers. We weren't always successful as we were distracted for most of the time. Mostly by YouTube videos. It's a common problem these days. We watched this one, this one, and this one.

Lessons Learned and Collection of Quotes

3 lessons I've learned at Sundance:
1. I don't have the best balance standing up on the bus while it's moving. I lost my balance last night on the bus. It made a tight turn that I wasn't expecting and hadn't adjusted my weight accordingly, so I accidentally kicked the guy in front of me in the leg trying to catch my balance. Thankfully Rikki and Brad were nearby to prevent me from wiping out. Thanks guys.
2. Sometimes I lack the ability to put up a filter in public. On the bus, a couple sitting right next to us were talking about the venue we were on our way to called the Temple. They said, "Oh cool. It's actually a temple." To which I responded, directed toward Brad, but a little too loud, "Yeah, that's why they call it a temple." I blame it on not enough sleep, too much to think about, and it was getting late.
3. There are certain people who talk a lot. Some people may take ten minutes to respond to a relatively simple question. Interesting.

This morning in class, four cast and crew from The Dry Land came and talked to us about the movie. It was a basic discussion about the cast and crew and what it took to get the movie finished. The director did 2 years of moderate research just for his own curiosity and then worked 1.5 years on the script then the process of making the movie. Total it took 4.5 years from start to finish. Altogether they talked to over 90 soldiers in order to try to accurately reflect a soldier's challenge. The director made a point that the movie is very apolitical. It's a human story after a traumatic experience. It's not discussing the topic of war. A person on imdb.com said, "Warning: This film may break your heart." That's very true. Jason Ritter, supporting actor, said, "It's important to continue to break your heart. You can only have your heart broken if you're open to it. It's good to break your heart." Our group talked to him a couple minutes after it ended. We all commented on his Indianapolis Colts jacket and how much we appreciated it.

A group of us hung out at the church for a while talking, then we grabbed lunch, and headed over to the venue where Life 2.0 was being screened. While waiting to line up we saw an actress from one of the films we saw, a few different directors, and someone important looking being interviewed. It was pretty eventful. When we got in line Jonathan and Alex noticed Entertainment Weekly magazines with LOST on the cover. Needless to say, we got so excited and instantly buried our noses into it. Life 2.0 is about the director, (pictured on right) entering into the virtual world called Second Life and seeing the common stories of users. Numbers of Second Life: 19 million users in 2009, $500 million US exchanged in 2009, many users spend 12-14 hours per day on Second Life. The movie was incredibly entertaining as it was so ridiculous that it was funny. Jonathan and I about lost it once or twice. Some quotes:
"Real life partners don't know what we're up to. they just think it's some kind of game."
"You can have the house of your dreams in Second Life without the real life price."
"My avatar took a life of her own...It affected everything about me."
"I'm... I don't want to say it. It'll ruin my day." (She's married and didn't want to say it. She started an affair with a guy she met on Second Life).
"He says he's getting something out of being a childhood girl. I'm not sure what that is, but he say's he's getting something."
"I'm putting everything at risk right now. My job, life, health, family."
"Ayya (an avatar) has said it herself, if I can't spend my time on here (Second Life), then it needs to end."
"I'm not the only person who have found themselves in Second Life."
"I had given up so much of myself that I started looking for myself in other places."
"The trip to come to Law Vegas has been the longest time I've been away from Second Life."
The director spent 3 years in Second Life to make this documentary-it's an addicting game. Also, they have Second Life conferences. Hmm...

The second and last movie I saw, is called A Small Act which is about a Swedish woman who sponsored a young Kenyan boy through secondary school, how that changed his life, and how he impacts other students now. It was a good movie, but at this point complicated and deep films can only garner a portion of my emotion. The director and producer are pictured on left. Director in front and producer in back. Quotes from this movie:
"If you did not have money, you were kicked out of school."
"What encourages me, is that no matter what your life is like, you can succeed."
"I believe education is a life and death situation."
"Now that I have been given scholarships, the burden is on me to work hard."
"If I get the chance, I will push myself to help others."
"Our point of this movie is to inspire people to look at their own communities for small ways to contribute."
Numbers of A Small Act:
200 hours of footage
2.5 years total
3 months in Kenya
10 days in Sweden and Switzerland
$80,000 raised solely at Sundance to sponsor kids
Production crew sponsored the other two main kids who did not receive scholarships.

Alex, Brad, me, and Brent in front of the Egyptian Theater. It's the picture of Sundance and the most recognizable connection to it.

Powerful Films Equal Broken Heart

As excited as I was to come to Sundance, I knew it would also be a time of intense emotions and discussions. Today was no exception. Rikki, Josh, Jonathan, and I went to 4 intense movies today, all right after the other. The films had themes of PTSD, abortion, war, and end of the world and all need to be thought about and processed through.

The first movie we saw was Dry Land, which was about a soldier returning from war, adjusting to home life, and dealing with PTSD. It was a very intense movie and required a lot of emotional strength to watch it. The movie showed the guilt and stress soldiers can feel after going to war and how they deal with it, which usually was drinking. It definitely took the audience on an emotional journey and kicked us in the gut and stomped on our hearts. The director, on the left side of the picture with the main two actors on the right, made this movie to help soldiers in their readjustment period back home and to know that it's ok to ask for help. He said even though it's a dark movie, it's meant to inspire hope, which it did, but only after our hearts were mutilated.

The next movie, 12th & Delaware, did not help our emotions whatsoever. It was a movie about the conflict of an abortion clinic and a pregnancy resource center on opposing sides of the streets of 12th and Delaware. The directors merely wanted to be a fly on the wall and they fulfilled their goal with representing both sides. Within the first two minutes of the film I was fighting the tears because it was so sad to see these girls walk into the abortion clinic knowing what they wanted done. I don't have a picture of the directors, but they will be coming to our class either tomorrow or the next day to discuss the film further. It was just a very hard film to watch and once again my heart was ripped out. Here's a picture I took of the ticket while waiting in line today.

The third film was called Restrepo, which is about the film directors spending a total of 15 months with a platoon in the Korengal Valley in the middle east and just seeing what happens. They wanted an authentic picture of army life and that is precisely what they got. They interviewed multiple soldiers about their experiences and you could just tell it was hard to talk about and you could see the emotional stress they have and the burden they have carried. After a few comrades from another post died, the platoon's captain said, "I want you guys to mourn and then I want you to move on and do your job." This is the approach they need to take in order to survive, but to see grown, strong, Army men break down in tears after one of their own dies, is heart wrenching, to say the least. They did a great job with the film, but the story is just so powerful.

The last film was called Obselidia, which can be found in a previous entry here. After the 3 incredibly powerful films throughout the day, I was exhausted and may have fallen asleep for 95% of the movie. And I may have been sitting in front of the filmmakers. Oops. The team had mixed feelings about the movie, but the main consensus was that the idea of appreciating what we have now, is extremely important. Most thought it was long winded and boring (which is part of the reason as to why I fell asleep), but there were a couple who genuinely liked it. The center two in the picture are the lead actor and actress. From what I hear, they did an ok job. In my moments of consciousness, I was able to fully appreciate the musical score added to the film, which, in retrospect, may have further induced my sleepiness.

After the films we went to Flippin' Burgers for dinner, which was very good. We had discussions about our various positions on abortion and whatever other topics came up relating to the films we saw. Tomorrow won't be as intense so hopefully we'll be able to catch our breath and repair our hearts.

Frozen, Freedom, Dreams, and Toads

This morning was our first official class time at the church. We met with students from Biola and Fuller and discussed films and learned more about Sundance. It was a good class. We then watched a short film called Joburg, which is about a young pregnant woman and a young black man and how their lives intersected and differed from each other. It brought up a couple good questions, but I've seen better. Treat, Kathy, John, and I needed to leave right after the film ended in order to get to our film

The first film I saw was called Frozen. It is coming out in theaters February 5th. It's about 3 college students (actors pictured on right) who scam their way to get cheap ski lift tickets. They convince the chair lift operator to let them up for one more run and that's when they get stuck on the lift. It's a very intense movie and quite gory (I covered my eyes for certain scenes) with these 3 college kids in an impossible and quite honestly, hopeless situation. It was a very well done movie for the kind of movie it is, but I just didn't care for it. The actors were actually on a physical chairlift 50 feet in the air to do all the filming. They said it was brutal because of the cold and they could only get down about every 6 hours since it took so long to get the chairlift down to the ground.

The four of us went out to Quizzno's for lunch and then we waited for what seemed like forever for a bus to take us to our next film, Freedom Riders. It is about the freedom riders who rode buses through the south in order to try and stop segregation. It was very well done and incredibly well researched. The director, Stanley Nelson (pictured left) and his team researched the freedom riders and were able to find a kid that had video taped a bus bombing on his 8 mm camera, which was taken away and the team acquired it again from the government after a long hassle. I liked it, but I felt it went a little long. The audience was very moved. During the Q & A session after the movie, Nelson brought out two freedom riders who were apart of the groups of people standing up for equality. One of them, Jim Zwerg, was a pretty famous rider as he was one who got extremely beaten up and probably most people would recognize when he was younger. It really added to the affect of the film.

John, Kathy, Brad, Rikki, Ryan G., Josh, and I all went out to dinner at a mexican restaurant and talked about film, but specifically Freedom Riders and what issue we would 'ride' for. Other topics and questions were brought up as a result of that causing the conversation to be full of quality thoughts. It's conversations like this that make me fully appreciate films and what can be taken away from them. They cause us to ask ourselves questions we probably would not have asked ourselves otherwise. Also in conversations such as this, it makes me appreciate the people who are on this trip and their contributions and thoughts in our team. The team has the ability to stay up and talk for such a long time about family, life, and of course film, but a lot of other things as well.

After dinner, Rikki, Brad, and I went to the church where we were expecting to relax for a little bit until our next film, but we were unable to fulfill that desire. We walked into the church and realized they were played a documentary called Dreams. It's about interpreting dreams with a Biblical foundation. It was fascinating. It felt new agey, but at the same time there were so many situations that were true that it's hard to disregard what they were saying. There was this one guy who had such a vivid dream about all the teeth on the left side of his mouth falling out that he woke up and instantly started looking for them. He called one of the dream interpreters in the film and asked for her opinion. She said she thought he was biting off something more than he could chew without looking at all the details. That afternoon he had a meeting with his lawyer to thoroughly review a contract he was about to sign for a new salon he was going to open. They found a loophole that would have cost him $50,000 dollars. I realize this sounds absolutely nuts, but it's an idea worth giving a second thought to. All three of us agreed it had at least some truth to it, but we're still trying to figure it out. It's such a weird idea that we can't fully wrap our minds around.

We soon ventured off to our last film of the day called, Cane Toads: The Conquest 3D. And yes it was in 3D. It was probably the best 3D movie I've seen in terms of actual 3D, beating Avatar by the way. I was wondering how the heck they were going to fill enough time for a feature length film all about toads. But they did it and I must say, it was really funny. It's about the cane toads in Australia and how they have basically taken over the country. All of us really wanted to keep the glasses, but they made us give them back. In return, they gave us cane toad pins. Oh boy. Director, Mike Lewis is pictured on the right.

At this point we are all fairly exhausted and tomorrow will be our most emotionally draining day. 4 of us will see 4 films pretty much back to back. Thankfully we'll be finished by dinner. One of the filmmakers said about her movie, "I hope it haunts you for the rest of your days." I'll reveal what movie it was said about tomorrow. And now time for some much needed sleep. We all were a bit loopy by the end of the night...

Sundance Happenings

Thankfully we all got a good night's sleep tonight and Kathy is feeling better, so we're all ready for the craziness of Sundance. This morning Kathy and I dropped off Ryan K., Brad, Brent, and Jonathan off at their film, Wasteland. Then we ventured off to Main Street of Park City to find the box office. We needed to exchange a few of our tickets. Here's what the box office looks like.

Kathy and I picked up the rest of our tickets and attempted to exchange or sell 4 of them. We asked everyone we came across who might be at Sundance and want them. We exchanged two and sold two. It was a little bit of an adventure as we drove around trying to get rid of them. We stopped at a bus stop with a crowd and got rid of the other two.

We also walked around Main Street and saw lots of people wandering around. We talked to a group of filmmakers that made The Imperialists Are Still Alive!. That was kind of cool. They were trying to get us to go to their film, but we had to get going so we declined. We also saw a large group of paparazzi hanging around a building waiting for someone to come out. We never found out who, but it must have been someone pretty important. I know Ryan Gosling was around there at some point so it might have been him. Here's a picture of someone being interviewed. Maybe it was someone famous, but I was too far away to tell.


2 of the 4 of us who were supposed to watch the Shorts Program IV opted out of it because of what the others had said about it, so we had a pretty chill afternoon. We had lunch at Pizza and Noodles. It was a good place to eat and we met up with another portion of our group. The rest of the afternoon a group of 4 of us walked around Main Street. We saw a couple groups of paparazzi throughout the day. In the afternoon we saw a rapper walk by and the paparazzi take a bunch of pictures, so we assumed it was someone famous. We also saw Kerry Washington who we didn't really know who she was until I looked it up when we got back. We encountered a few other directors and actors of short films throughout the rest of the day.

After lunch we went to the filmmaker lodge, sat, and watched the live feed of a discussion about war from the filmmakers Restrepo, which we will be seeing soon. After sitting around for a while trying to find something to do, we went to the Sundance House and there were a bunch of different vendors there such as Honda and HP as well as a few others. We walked through the HP center and saw a massive all touch screen. It was about 5 feet by 3 feet. It was awesome. We also took some pictures on the Sundance backdrop, which made us look really official and important. I'll post those pictures later.

When we were finished getting our pictures taken and walking through the Sundance House (pictured on right), we ventured to the Music Cafe where they only let a few people in at a time. It was nothing to really get excited about, but I guess it was a good experience. I got a free cd of theirs, so that was pretty cool. On our way back to the church on the bus, we got in a hit and run. The bus driver thought the car in front of was moving, but that was not the case and hit him. The driver of the car apparently didn't feel it or didn't want to stop so they drove off while we sat in our position for about 15 minutes so we could wait for the authorities.

At the church we ate dinner with a large group of people from Fuller Theological Seminary and Biola University. The table I was at met and talked to Father Willie Raymond, who works for the Family Theater Production company on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He told us his company coined the phrase "The family that prays together, stays together." Cool little fact. After dinner we watched 4 short films from the Angelus Student Film Festival. It is considered the best student film festival.

The first film we watched was called On the Road to Tel Aviv which is about someone who profiled an Arab in a bus, causing the rest of the passengers to get out. They insist the bus driver search the suspicious woman, but he refuses because he is Arab as well and hates it when people profile. It was a good film. It's still a sensitive topic so I felt the room was a little tense, but it is still a good issue to bring up. The second is called Kavi and it's a story about slavery, which was very powerful. The third is called Desert Wedding and it's about one incident that drastically changed a bride's view of love. It brought up a couple good questions, but I didn't feel it had adequate character development and transformation. The last film is called Waiting for a Train and that is a documentary about a Japanese guitar player who sings American bluegrass. It was a funny film, mostly because of the main subject.

I still haven't seen a film yet, but we did lots of fun things today. 3 films will come tomorrow!

Early Morning Travels

We left Taylor at 3 am this morning to catch our 6:30 flight. It was a late night/early morning, but a lot of us just ended staying up. Here's a picture of the group minus John and Kathy, our professors.

Top row left to right: Ryan K., Brad, Josh. Middle row: Me, Treat, Jonathan. Front row: Ryan G., Alex, Brent, and Rikki.

We were all pretty tired as we traveled to the airport and thankfully we had no real issues boarding the plane. Other than a slight name mix up and a couple pulled aside at security for additional security measures. Almost all of us slept some portion of the trip either to Denver, to Salt Lake City, or both. Here's a picture on the way to Denver outside the plane.


We had a very short layover in Denver, but it was so beautiful to see the sunrise and the mountains combined. Unfortunately, at by the end of the plane ride to Denver, Kathy started having bad motion sickness. Our flight to Salt Lake City was quite a bit shorter than the one to Denver and it was mostly over mountains, which was beautiful. The plane wasn't full at all and a lot of the team had a row all to themselves. After we landed in Salt Lake City, we took our time getting out of the airport as Kathy didn't have much energy.

We made our way to Park City and stopped for lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. They had delicious fries and definitely filled us up quickly. Our condo wasn't going to be ready for a few hours so we had some time to kill. We stopped at the church where we will be having our morning discussions with Fuller Theological Seminary and Biola University. We crashed there for at least an hour and a half, probably more though. My time has been slightly off with the time change. After we all crashed on the comfy chairs the church had, a group of eight went to go see their first film. Or a collection of short films rather. That left Jonathan, Alex, Kathy, and I to do the grocery shopping. We made dinner and then played some intense games of Catch Phrase and Mad Gab. A couple of the guys are going to wait list the movie High School tonight. The four of us are going to watch the Short Programs tomorrow as well as a few student films. More to come on that tomorrow. Overall, it was a really long day with beautiful mountains and snow. I was a little bummed not to see anything today, but tomorrow will be our first official day at Sundance with watching films, so I'm excited

1 Day!

I thought I would take a break from packing to update the blog. I have to say, I still can't believe I'm going to Sundance. This experience will be fantastic and I'm excited to spend time with the team from Taylor. There are 7 films we will all be seeing at various times and we ranked 8 other films.

Guaranteed Films:
-Shorts Program IV (A collection of short films)
-The Dry Land
James returns from Iraq to face a new battle-reintegrating into his small-town life in Texas. His wife, his mother, and his friend provide support, but they can't fully understand the pain and suffering he feels since his tour of duty ended. Lonely, James reconnects with an army buddy, who provides him with compassion and camaraderie during his battle to process his experiences in Iraq. But their reunion also exposes the different ways that war affects people-at least on the surface.
-Obselidia
-Dramatic Grand Prize Winner (Yet to be determined)
-Cane Toads: The Conquest
It's all about toads. In 3-D...
-12 & Delaware
-Restrepo

I will reveal the other films as I see them. I'm looking forward to seeing The Dry Land because I feel like it will give us a picture as to how those in uniform adjust to life back home, which I think is invaluable. We will be apart of the Windrider Forum which takes place in a church. The church opens their doors during Sundance and we'll be apart of the discussion as filmmakers come in a talk to us about what we've seen. Both filmmakers from 12th & Delaware will be there one morning and we'll be able to interact with them, as well as the other directors who come talk to us.

Over the last two days the team has been together most of time getting to know each other and learning how to digest and discuss films. It's been a very good two days because of what all we've learned. We also had two professors come talk to us about Mormons since Salt Lake City is Mormon-central, so to speak. It was very interesting. I'm not sure how many Mormons will be around Sundance, but it's good to know anyway.

We leave for the airport in about 12 hours exactly! Now to finish the packing...

3 Days!

It still seems weird to me that I am going to THE Sundance Film Festival. It's such an incredible opportunity to take advantage of. Today and tomorrow will be orientation related activities and getting ready for the trip. Then Saturday is a free day and then we leave 3 am on Sunday!

This morning has mostly been getting to know each other more than just recognizing everyone. We also heard from a few students who had gone in the past two years, their experiences, and what to expect. It was a very informative time. The condo we have is also very nice. On January 4th we found out the condo we they had signed for us in July was taken because they had cancelled our reservation because of miscommunication, mostly on their part. So we got a better condo for the same price as a result, which is nice of them to do.

This afternoon we'll be watching a movie or portions of a couple movies. I'm not quite sure. And then I believe tonight we will be looking at all the films we have tickets for picking our top four we want to go to. All the tickets that were purchased in our name go into a 'pile' so to speak and then we can choose our top 4. So the ones I had previously listed as ones I'm going to might not necessarily be the ones I am going to. We should know what we're going to watch by tomorrow or Saturday at the very latest.

Most, if not all, of us will actually see a film Sunday afternoon after we get there so we get right into things! We'll be watching 14-15 films during the week and we will probably only have room for one or two more if we really wanted to see something. It'll definitely be exhausting, but it's such a great experience, so I'm perfectly fine with that!

8 Days

4 movies to reveal. Like I said in my previous post, I know of two movies in my top 5 list that I will be seeing. It includes #4 Restrepo and #1 A Film Unfinished. I'm very excited to see what these movies have in store and what I can learn and experience through them. I will also be seeing the grand prize for the dramatic section. I do not yet know what movie this will be, but I assume it will be after judging and we'll know later. Here are my next two movies I will see.

Small Act (U.S. Documentary)
As an impoverished boy in Kenya, Chris Mburu's life was dramatically changed when an anonymous Swedish woman sponsored his primary and secondary education. Now a Harvard-educated human-rights lawyer, he hopes to replicate the generosity he once received by founding his own scholarship fund to aid a new generation. The challenges Mburu faces instituting his new program seem at times insurmountable but lead him down the path to discovery. Who is Hilde Back, the person who signed the checks that gave him a chance to succeed? With clarity and grace, Jennifer Arnold's film bears cinematic witness to the lasting ramifications of a small ripple of human kindness. Using a strong narrative thread, she unearths fascinating accounts and weaves them together seamlessly. It doesn't hurt that her subjects have pure motivations and back stories to match. The secret of A Small Act was destined to be discovered, if only to remind and inspire others to take such a chance-and change a life.

Skateland (U.S. Drama)
It's 1983, and Skateland, the roller rink and local hangout of a small town, is becoming a fading memory of an earlier time, when disco and roller-skating were king. The party scene is getting stale, and 19-year-old Ritchie's romantic life is as cloudy as his future. He struggles to make sense of it all, and decisions do not come easily to the carefree young man. When tragedy strikes his friends and family, Ritchie must face the music-and make the biggest decision of his life. Without the benefit of a studio budget or name casting, Anthony Burns and Brandon and Heath Freeman captures the '80s in startling detail. The result: a cinematic scrapbook of a time and place, a visceral visual, and an aural experience that reclaims the decade for those of us lucky enough to have lived through it once. While the atmosphere is time specific, the themes of the joys and pains of growing up are universal.

Small Act is one of those films made for a greater purpose than perhaps two hours of entertainment. That kind of generosity is not unheard of, but it's special when you do. It reminds me of the movie Pay It Forward. I'm hoping this movie will be just as good. It's an interesting idea and I hope they can pull it off well. Skateland sounds interesting. I'm intrigued by it. It sounds like it could be good. I guess we'll have to see.

The days get closer and I becoming more and more excited.

12 Days

I know of 8 movies that I'm going to see at Sundance so far. After reading the summaries, I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. Two of the 8 were in my top 5 and I'll reveal those and the rest of the movies I know next post.

Obselidia (U.S. Drama)
Believing he's the last door-to-door encyclopedia salesman in the world, George decides to write The Obselidia, a compendium of obsolete things. George believes that love, among other things, is obsolete. In his quest to document nearly extinct occupations, he befriends Sophie, a beautiful cinema projectionist who works at a silent movie theatre. Sophie believes the world's population will be obliterated by irreversible climate change by the year 2100, the two must face the question, if the world is going to disappear tomorrow, how are we going to live today? Obselidia offers a rare and humane lens through which we can view a world increasingly preoccupied with and inhabited by extinction.

Life 2.0 (Documentary Spotlight)
Every day, across all corners of the globe, hundreds of thousands of users log ont Second Life, a virtual online world not entirely unlike our own. They enter a new reality, whose inhabitants assume alternate personas in the form of avatars-digital alter egos that can be sculpted and manipulated to the heart's desire, representing reality, fantasy, or a healthy mix of both. Within this alternate landscape, escapism abounds, relationships are formed, and a real-world economy thrives, effectively blurring the lines between reality and "virtual" reality. Director Jason Spingarn-Koff digs deeply into the core of basic human interaction by assuming his own avatar and immersing himself in the worlds of Second Life residents, whose real lives have been drastically transformed by the new lives they lead in cyberspace. In doing so, he manages to create an intimate, character-based drama that focuses us to question not only who we are, but who we long to be.

It's a Wonderful Afterlife (World Premiere, Comedy)
with nods to Frank Capra, ghost stories, murder mysteries, and screwball comedies, Gurinder Chadha whips up an irreverent caper about the pressures on Indian women to tie the know. Set in West Londong, the film centers on Mrs. Sethi, a doting Punjabi mother obsessively seeking a suitor for her appealing, but (heaven forbid!) rapidly aging, daughter, Roopie. When a string of curious murders involving poisonous curries and chapati dough begins to rattle the neighborhood, things really start to heat up. Detectives and ghosts trample through the Sethi household, Roopie's love live gets an injection of excitement, too. Nothing in this supernatural escapade is as it seems as spicy truths unspool and fate takes its madcap course.

All of these movies sound interesting, but I'm especially interested in Life 2.0. I think it will be an eye-opening movie about how significant number of people use this world to be what they wanted to be in their real life. It will bring up a lot of questions no doubt about role playing games in general, but especially Second Life. Obselidia sounds interesting in that I'm curious to see what is considered to be obsolete and the questions the movie raises. I can't say I was jumping up and down about It's a Wonderful Afterlife, but who knows, it could be a good movie. I'll just need to wait and see.

16 Days

And to think I started my countdown at 90. It's taken a long time to get to 16 days, but it makes the wait seem more worth it.

I've watched a lot of movies throughout my break and I must say, the more I see, the more I have grown to love movies. They can give you a small picture of a life you might not experience otherwise. It can show the director's unique style or the cinematographer's artistic skill and mastery. But above all, it can cause you to learn more about yourself. I'm not saying watch movies 24/7, that's not healthy, but by watching movies you become more knowledgeable with life's situations and you learn a little bit more about yourself as you see various characters on screen that remind you of you. It's an interesting position, but take advantage of a movie and what it has to offer, even if it might not be much.

Some of the most interesting films/TV shows I've seen in the past few weeks:
The Blind Side
At first, I was skeptical going into this movie because I'd heard so many good things from a variety of people. You'd think I would the more good things I hear, the higher expectations I would have for it, but that's not the case. Usually when I hear a lot of people like a movie, I ask why and they might say the story, or the actors, or the action, or just one dimension of a film. What makes a good movie, is all of those put together. A movie cannot rely on just the action or just the actors or else it lacks and is not a complete story or adventure. I had only heard it was a moving story, so I wanted to see what else The Blind Side had to offer. I was surprised as I sat and watched the film and became immersed into the plot and the emotion involved. At the end I sat there for a second thinking about the movie and finally said, "that was a good movie." But then I started to think about why I thought it was good. The movie tapped into your emotion and gradually began pulling it along for the ride, which surprised me. I was continually touched by Sandra Bullock's character and the love she showed Michael. I wasn't expecting the family to be so accepting nor so loyal through the trials they faced. Bullock did an excellent job of acting and being her character, which is partly why the movie was as good as it was. The screenplay and plot were built with thought and care, which is reflected in the final product. Overall, it was a surprising movie filled with funny moments, good characters, and great story.

Julie & Julia
I loved this movie. A lot it had to do with how fantastic of a job Meryl Streep did as Julia Child. Her performances continue to astound me. She deserves an oscar for her performance. If she doesn't get it, I won't be happy. I read somewhere that she should just be guaranteed to get one and then pick another actress as well. I completely agree with that statement. Meryl Streep perfected Julia Child's mannerisms and the plenty other quirks she had. It was a joy to watch her on screen and to see Julia Child's journey. Amy Adams played Julie Powell quite well and was able to convincingly play a housewife going through Julia Child's cookbook. The only part I didn't care for was how they wrapped up the movie. I felt they could have done a much better job with more of a distinct ending. Other than that, I felt it was done well, especially with Meryl Streep. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, but especially anyone who loves Meryl Streep.

August Rush
It's a few years old, but August Rush is one of my favorites and I hadn't seen it in a long time. I absolutely love the music. It's one of my favorite soundtracks. It's creative and upbeat. I love the story of this movie. It's so beautiful to have a boy do what he loves in order to find his parents, which is what brought his parents together in the first place. My only gripe about the movie is at the end when everything is building up, it's a little anti-climatic when that moment finally arrives. It's still beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting a little more. I tried not to give too much information if you haven't seen it. The story and the music together definitely make the movie and a good any time movie.

I just thought I'd mention a couple highlights of things I've seen. Next post I'll talk mention a few of the movies I know I will be seeing. I'm getting pretty excited for it!

Top 50 Films of the Decade and 20 Days

In honor of a new decade, I thought I'd create my top 50 movies that came out between 2000 and 2009. It took quite a while to make this list, but after completing it, I feel it accurately describes my favorite movies. It was hard to make and rank because there are so many good movies out there, but it was also fun to do.

1 The Dark Knight
2 Slumdog Millionaire
3 Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
4 State of Play
5 Catch Me If You Can
6 A Beautiful Mind
7 August Rush
8 Pearl Harbor
9 Bourne Ultimatum
10 Iron Man
11 Gladiator
12 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
13 Ocean's Eleven
14 The Italian Job
15 The Holiday
16 The Prestige
17 Julie & Julia
18 Law Abiding Citizen
19 There Will Be Blood
20 Freedom Writers
21 Counte of Monte Cristo
22 Pirates of the Caribbean
23 (500) Days of Summer
24 Minority Report
25 Cinderella Man
26 Million Dollar Baby
27 Mystic River
28 Breach
29 Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince
30 Remember the Titans
31 The Incredibles
32 Cars
33 Crash
34 Enchanted
35 Casino Royale
36 Dan in Real Life
37 Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire
38 The Blind Side
39 Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone
40 Frost/Nixon
41 Seven Pounds
42 Batman Begins
43 Paycheck
44 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
45 Ratatouille
46 The Majestic
47 Munich
48 Bolt
49 Taken
50 The Pianist

So that's my list. I haven't seen Avatar yet, but when I do, I imagine it will make this list. I hope you enjoyed my list. If there are any movies you think I should have put in my list, let me know and I might reconsider. My next post will be about Sundance again previewing another movie I think would be interesting to see.