Day 4 (Sunday, Jan. 24)

I got another nosebleed today. Whenever I get a nosebleed I think I have cancer or a brain tumor, because in movies it’s always a surprise nosebleed that first alerts a character to such a condition. I’ve made a note to worry more about this when I get home.

You’ve probably been concerned about what I’m eating. Burger King is still the only fast food place within walking distance of the Yarrow and Holiday Village, unless you count the Quiznos, which I don’t, because Quiznos, eh. I had a dream a couple weeks ago that a Subway had opened next to Burger King. I literally dreamed of having more nearby food options.

A couple years ago, a place that used to be a burrito place turned into a place with pizza and sandwiches, and there was much rejoicing. We loved Used To Be A Burrito Place, as it was known. But then last year it was gone, its storefront empty, and there was sadness. This year it has reemerged as a Mexican place, and it’s fairly bueno. My Film.com editor, Laremy, and I had dinner there last night, and then he and I had lunch there today with Neil from Film School Rejects. So thumbs up for Used To Be A Pizza Place That Used To Be A Burrito Place.

Laremy, Neil, and I had just come from a screening of “Howl,” about Allen Ginsberg’s beatnik poem and the obscenity trial it prompted. In our modern age of sex tapes and “Hostel” movies and Larry King’s neck it’s hard to believe that anyone ever thought it was against the law to be obscene, but there you go. Previously, my familiarity with “Howl” was limited to not remembering whether it was by Allen Ginsberg or Jack Kerouac, and also not remembering whether those are possibly the same person. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, though. It’s not a straightforward biopic, nor is it a courtroom drama, but a mixture of those. Very jazzy and moody, much like the work of Ginsberg or possibly Kerouac himself/themselves.

Up next was a British film about Muslim terrorists, called “Four Lions.” Oh, and it’s a comedy. A pretty funny one, too. You have to really know what you’re doing if you’re going to make a comedy about terrorism. It’s not for amateurs. The men referred to in the title include three Arabic Muslim extremists and one white wannabe named Barry, all Londoners who are planning an attack of some kind. They are all idiots to one degree or another — except, daringly, for their ringleader, who’s portrayed as a smart, sincere family man. The point, of course, is to take the terror out of terrorists by reducing them to buffoons, the same way humorists did with Hitler and Jay Leno. “Four Lions” does a great job of it, though I don’t know how they’ll ever sell “terrorism comedy” to audiences.

With the press screenings as full as they’ve been, we’ve found it necessary to get in line as much as an hour early. That’s fine for people who haven’t covered Sundance before, as they don’t know any better. But for us veterans, it’s unacceptable. We are old and cranky. We remember the days of sauntering in five minutes before show time. So for the next film, the much-buzzed-about “Buried,” Weinberg, Drew McWeeny, and I told some of the newbies to stand in line for us. We saw this as having two positive effects: we get a place in line, and we haze the new guys. And they get the experience of being bossed around by critics who have been around longer than they have. It’s win-win.

“Buried” was a hot ticket because its public premiere the night before had been well received, and because news had just come that Lionsgate had bought the film for $3.2 million. Also, it’s about Ryan Reynolds being buried alive in a coffin, which is something many people want to see. (I’m apparently not the first person to call the film “D*** in a Box,” but I am pleased with myself for thinking of it.) The reaction from our group was generally positive, though a few didn’t think the film lived up to its potential. Their negative comments led some Twitterers to call it a “backlash” response to the film’s success (which was at this point less than 24 hours old), since why ELSE could someone possibly not love a movie they loved except pure knee-jerk contrarianism?? And so it goes.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Sundance Film Festival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.