Sundance Day 4

Sundance Day 4  

1-24-14

Every morning, if I have time I like to visit the Sundance Channel on Main st. for a complimentary coffee or latte. They each come with a cool little travel mug! ( I took 3).

This morning, my new friend and neighbor, Robbie, picks me and Auggie up and we head to the Mark Theatre for A Most Wanted Man 

"Anton Corbijn’s adaptation of John Le Carre’s psychological novel follows German spy Gunther Bachmann as he tracks down Issa, a suspicious Chechen-Russian immigrant on the run in Hamburg. Pressured by his German and American colleagues to capture and interrogate his suspect as a Muslim terrorist, Bachmann instead asks for more time to carefully track Issa’s movements and his relationship with his German immigration lawyer, Annabel Richter. Using his secret contacts and keen skill, Bachmann uncovers a connection between a world-renowned Muslim philanthropist and a terrorist group and devises a plan to use Issa and Annabel in a brilliant ploy to expose the scheme.
In a post-9/11 world, the fear of terrorism grips the globe. Corbijn’s captivating storytelling depicts the underbelly of the often-corrupt business of eliminating terrorists. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of Bachmann is breathtaking as his complicated character strives to maintain his integrity in a grossly depraved industry awash with furtive motives."

The first thing I notice right off the bat are the interesting accents used by Rachel McAdams and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  It was a little unclear where they were from at times. I was so happy to see Robin Wright, I'm currently on a House of Cards kick and she is just incredible. And added a little something extra to the film. Although, by the end of the film I felt like some or most of her scenes must have hit the cutting room floor because what should have been a profound moment with her and Phillip's character in the end fell a little flat. Grigorly Dobrygin played the lead and did an awesome job.

I needed a mini-movie break and some "me" time so I headed to Main Street for coffee, a tote, soup and a free mini makeover with Loreal! The lovely ladies curled my hair and did my makeup.

I hopped over to headquarters to catch the Sundance pane.

I left a little early to make the film, The Sleepwalker. The buses can get a little crowded sometimes so it's always a good time to leave for a screening no later than 45 minutes before the screening.

The Sleepwalker  

"Kaia enjoys a quiet life with her boyfriend, Andrew, on her late father’s secluded, 1920s, Le Corbusier–style estate, isolated from the rest of her rural Massachusetts town. Their restoration of the elaborate, but gutted, home is interrupted by the middle-of-the-night arrival of Kaia’s sister, Christine, followed the next morning by Christine’s WASPish fiancé, Ira. Immediate friction develops among the quartet as Christine announces her pregnancy, questions Kaia’s relationship with Andrew, and objects to the relics of her and Kaia’s shared childhood being discarded.
In her feature debut, director Mona Fastvold visually and aurally creates a destabilizing atmosphere, lulling us into the unraveling sisters’ fractured experience of the world. The art direction enhances this dreamy, but unsettling, mood, juxtaposing the sharp exterior angles and the interior decay of the house with its idyllic wooded surroundings. A study in contrasts between Christine’s raging brokenness and Kaia’s repression, Ira’s mild-mannered propriety and Andrew’s bitter blue-collar machismo, The Sleepwalker weaves these compounding clashes into a powerful portrait of the battle to separate the young women’s personal fictions from realities."

I can't remember the exact number, but Mona Fastvold (Director/Writer) (far right) said this film took about 20 something days to shoot. I'm use to short film schedules only taking a weekend to film. And I realize features will take much much longer. But 20 days is not long at all! For a feature? 

The film ends with many questions unanswered and sometimes I take that well and sometimes I don't. This time I didn't really mind because I appreciated the over-all sharing from the Director from the beginning. I didn't feel cheated. I did however, appreciate that someone in the audience had the same questions I had. I just didn't have the balls to ask, and I was right not to because she didn't answer. 

I recognized Christopher Abbott in the street a few days earlier, but no one I was with knew who he was. I had no idea he was here for a film. He is still just Marnie's boyfriend to me. 

There was an infamous film with an infamous photo in the catalogue that was right up my ally. Wetlands. Everyone was talking about it which only meant one thing. I had to see it.

Auggie and I head over to RedStone for some Cafe Rio burritos and to RedStone to see Wetlands.

Wetlands

"Bodily fluid–obsessed teenager Helen describes herself as a living pussy hygiene experiment. After an intimate shaving accident, she ends up stuck in the hospital, where she skateboards through the halls and reminisces about her culinary masturbation experiments, the seductive powers of her unwashed scent, and used-tampon swapping with her equally uninhibited best friend, Corinna. All the while, she charms a handsome male nurse with her nasty sex talk and schemes to reunite her mismatched parents.
Like its protagonist, Wetlands expresses a profound distaste for following the rules and an exuberant playfulness, making this adaptation of Charlotte Roche’s novel a journey that is as joyful as it is raunchy. Carla Juri tempers her character’s bold sexual confidence with an underlying sweetness and sincerity, while director David Wnendt maintains a tone of acceptance and affection for Helen and her provocative antics. Wetlands asserts, as Helen does, that repulsive is nothing more than the new sexy."

It was everything I wanted the film to be and more. I know it's weird, and films like this are not for just anyone. But that is what I love about films. That sometimes I can be taken away from my usually boring life and dropped into people like Helen Memel's. A girl who enjoys rubbing herself on dirty, public restrooms. Who has hemorrhoids and doesn't care. Apart from the very gnarly aspects of the film, there was actually a very charming story. At times, yes, I felt like Wetlands was trying it's best to send you running from the theatre. But it also succeeded in making me care about Helen and the people are her. Easily one of my favorite films thus far.

I have a bit of a marathon of films tomorrow, so it's off to bed for this one. (After a looooong shower.)