CUSTOMARY FESTIVAL BLOG NO. 1 IS ALL BUZZY!
CUSTOMARY FESTIVAL BLOG NO. 1 IS ALL BUZZY!
(Radio from Hell's "movie critic to the world," Jeff Michael Vice, is attending and covering his 17th Sundance Film Festival this year .
yikes! . and will be blogging and Tweeting throughout the festival's 10-day run.)
First off, I'll get my usual bit of festival advice out of the way at the start: Get your hands on a festival catalog (available at all of the festival's venues and ticket offices), try to see as many foreign films and documentaries as possible (many of them don't get the level of theatrical distribution that the star-laden premieres and other features do), don't be afraid to get on the waiting list for supposedly sold-out screenings, and check the official festival Website (www.sundance.org/festival) for updates on screenings and special events.
Now, after having been to so many Sundances (and several of the unrelated festivals and mini-festivals that accompany it here), you'd think I would be tired of all the endless hyping and overhyping. Quite the contrary, though. I've been studying, with amusement, the topics that are currently "trending" on various social media. They include:
-- SEX SELLS.
This year's Sundance selections includes "Kink," a documentary about the infamous Kink.com fetish Website, and "Lovelace," a drama featuring "Big Love" and "Les Miserables" co-star Amanda Seyfried as tragic porn star Linda Lovelace.
Needless to say, Biddy Nation and the Blue Hair Patrol are already in a tizzy about a festival that none of them attend or support. About films that they'll never see or bother to check. Though their protests and indignation should help both films get some degree of notoriety.
-- JGL.
Or, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, to those who aren't "industry" tools. He's bringing his multimedia project hitRECord with him to Park City, is hosting the festival's awards show and is premiering "Don John's Addiction."
Gordon-Levitt wrote, directed and stars in the comedy, which follows a porn addict who is trying to change his ways. (Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Tony Danza co-star.) Again, with the sex . yeesh!
-- DAVE GROHL.
Park City is all abuzz for a supposed "Nirvana reunion," thanks to a Park City Live show that will feature Grohl and former Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, as well as veteran musicians Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac).
Never mind that such a "reunion" already occurred during the Hurricane Sandy charity concert and an electrifying Saturday Night Live appearance, with Paul McCartney. The concert is one of the hot tickets this year, as are screenings of "Sound City," a documentary feature about a California recording studio that played host to some of the industry's major acts.
-- THE FLU IS EVERYWHAR!!!
Park City's health department and related social services are distributing hundreds of bottles of hand sanitizer, which is supposed to help stop the spread of the current, virulent strain of influenza.
(Lousy Hollywood types, bringing their nasty germs to Utah with them!)
In all seriously, if Park City and Salt Lake City officials could do something to stop the spread of rudeness and cheapness (ask a bartender or barista about festival goers' lack of tipping) that usually comes with Sundance, they'd really be doing all of us a favor.
Jeff Michael Vice would also like readers and listeners to follow him on Twitter (@JeffMichaelVice), and to watch his reviews for the Xfinity On-Demand program Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/bigmoviemouthoff).
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