Sundance 2008 Day 2: Tom Hanks and Zombie Porn

January 20, 2008
by Alex Billington

Yet another day has gone by here in Park City, and yet again it's been amazing. I kicked off the day with a morning screening of Blind Date, Stanley Tucci's remake of the Theo van Gogh film - what a disaster! Within 15 minutes, about 30 press had walked out. By 30 minutes, another quarter of the theater had left, too, including a certain friend of mine who runs another website that has a diagnol character in the name. Thankfully the day did improve over time, but all-in-all I didn't see much that really amazed me.

Now I'm sure you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about with Tom Hanks and zombie porn. Don't worry, they're not part of the same story - although that would be cool. Tom Hanks himself introduced the cast to The Great Buck Howard, a movie that not only he has a cameo in, but that his son Colin Hanks stars in. Although it was a pre-written introduction, it was one of the funniest Sundance intros I've heard - hitting on all the comical perks of the Sundance experience. It makes me wonder if he wrote it himself… And another note: Emily Blunt is absolutely gorgeous!

After The Great Buck Howard I stuck around the lobby of Eccles to try and see if we might get an extra ticket to What Just Happened? that was starting right after. Jeffrey Wells was poking around chatting with some folks, and Peter from SlashFilm and I talked briefly with Lou Lumenick of the New York Post, but I'm not often phased by people like that. What did impress me was when I glanced at the badge of the guy standing next to me - Samuel Goldwyn himself of Samuel Goldwyn Films. He's the son of the Goldwyn that founded MGM, and now heads up that studio which distributes through Sony Pictures Classics. Later while walking out of Eccles I also caught Harvey Weinstein heading into the screening, too. It's obvious What Just Happened? is attracting lots of studio attention.

Another great Sundance perk I've got to mention is a cell phone texting service called ChaCha. I got a lot of press releases beforehand but didn't really know what it was or care about it until I was actually here. With ChaCha you just text a number with a question, any question, and get a response back. It's a human service where someone actually answers it based on data and info they have. So I can text it and ask what movie has the most buzz, or where a good, cheap restaurant is in Park City, or anything like that and get a proper answer. The only issue is that every movie I've asked for a "reaction" to has been rated A+. Seems a bit skewed, because some of the crap I've seen remarkably still has an A+ on there. But this thing is one hell of a fun service, I use it all the time - bravo ChaCha!

And last but not least, zombie porn! I decided to catch German filmmaker Bruce LaBruce's midnight movie Otto; or Up with Dead People. Wow, just wow. It literally is a gay zombie porn, not even kidding. There was a particular "scene" that within 15 minutes caused droves of people to march out of the theater. My review is "in the works", even though I am so… disgusted… that I don't have much to say. But it seems a lot more fun to watch people leave movies than it is to watch them sometimes. Anyway, more to come tonight straight from Park City!

Sundance 2008 Review List:

FRIDAY (JAN 18)
In Bruges - 8.5/10
The Yellow Handkerchief - 5/10
The Wackness - 9/10
Sunshine Cleaning - 6.5/10

SATURDAY (JAN 19)
Blind Date - 3/10
The Great Buck Howard - 8/10
Sleep Dealer - 5.5/10
Otto; or Up with Dead People - 0/10

Discover More: Sundance 08

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