Sundance Part One
Hello from beautiful (and cold) Park City Utah.
I am here for the Sundance Film Festival 08. And it is off to a glorious and glamorous start. I went to the Opening Night Gala- The film In Bruges starring Colin Farell and written and directed by Martin McDonagh was a funny, gruesome wild ride of a movie. Typical of McDonagh– fast-paced dialogue, violence mixed with humor and whacked out characters, the film was indeed a thrill. And Farrell and McDonagh (both gorgeous men) were on hand to intro the film.
Sundance seems even more electric this year…and certainly more crowded. I wonder if this is due to the fact that many people have nothing else to do because of the WGA strike?!
Well Mainstreet and Prospector’s Square are teeming with film folks. Friday the LGBT festivities kicked off the opening of the new Queer Lounge (back on Main Street). Now housed in a three-story building right in the middle of all the action, the Queer Lounge and partners GLAAD and Absolut did a really nice job of making a comfortable, welcoming and fun place to hang out, meet and network and have a cocktail or two. See www.queerlounge.org for pix and video of all the goings on.
There are several events lined up for the Queer Lounge all week long and I am looking forward to attending as many as I can.
Another part of the Sundance experience, of course, is the parties. There were so many parties every night it can make your head spin. And a mere walk down the street can turn into a paparazzi’s dream. Such sightings included Mary Kate Olsen, Angelica Houston, Colin Farrell, Maria Bello and that is just the first couple days.
I kicked off my party going at the Queer Lounge for the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards. It was the perfect way to kick off the circuit.
Then I attended the Outfest Filmmaker’s party at the Heineken Lounge. It was fun, crowded, packed and a veritable who’s who of the gay film world… the party rocked on til late serving Heineken Beer and sushi!
It was a cold, cold night so we scurried back to our condo, lit a fire and planned out the schedule of festival events to come.
Saturday morning I woke up early and high-tailed it over to the press screening of the much talked about film, Savage Grace directed by gay indie film icon Tom Kalin (Swoon) and starring Julianne Moore as Barbara Baekeland. The film is the dramatic (and sometimes SHOCKING) story of Barbara Baekeland and her gay son Tony. They have a very intimate relationship and she is not convinced that her son is actually gay, so through myriad of ways (including an on-going incestuous relationship) she works to prove she is right. Well this is all well and good until the emotional impact of said relationship is too much for young Tony to handle and he, well…I do not want to give the ending away, if you are not already familiar with this infamous story…but suffice to say, it will leave you shocked and amazed. This film defines the term ‘thought provoking.’
I spent the remainder of the day preparing for the Queer Brunch and the madness that was about to ensue.
More later!!!
-Josh
