SUNDANCE 2010

Sundance 2010 Day 8: Winding Down for the Last Few Days

by Alex Billington
January 29, 2010

It's currently Day 8 here at Sundance (although technically I'm writing this the morning of Day 9). That means we've got two more full days of the festival left (or maybe three including Sunday?), and hopefully some more good films, but I don't know. The festival is starting to wind down, lots of people are already heading home, and the crowds are starting to dissipate. While there are still films premiering (tomorrow I'm seeing Joel Schumacher's Twelve), at this point it's starting to feel like the festival is already over. It feels like I've been here for month and I'm ready to go home. But, of course, we'll have more coverage for you.

When you attend a film festival that's 10 days long and see three or four or five films per day, you get burned out very quickly. My good friend Peter from SlashFilm even decided to go home early, something I've never seen him do in the seven or so years he's attended Sundance. It's not that it's a bad year or anything, it's just that maybe the line-up isn't exactly strong as previous. I've seen some fantastic films (like Catfish, Buried, Animal Kingdom, Blue Valentine), but besides those, I've been seeing lots of films that are mediocre to bad. It's a bit depressing, but I'm determined and I'm sticking it out until the end. I won't go home early!

There are people who come to Sundance just for the first half; and there are people who come to Sundance just for the second half. I'm here for the entire thing and I love every last second of it. Sure I'm pretty damn tired right now, working in the very early hours of the morning, but I don't mind. I'm here to see great films and highlight the better ones. And it's actually kind of fun and fascinating to stick around to the end. The crowds are overwhelming the first weekend, but now I can just kick back and enjoy some films. The people left now are either hardcore film fanatics or Utah locals and they're all wonderful people to see movies with.

Anyway, to get back to the films, I've still got a few left that I'm excited about. I haven't see The Company Men yet or Frozen and I have tickets to see both over the next few days. Additionally, I'm trying to get into the screening of Four Lions, a suicide bomber comedy that's getting a lot of buzz, and a screening of the Louis C.K. concert film. Beyond that, I'm waiting to see what films win awards, and if there are any good ones I haven't seen, I'll be trying to catch some of those on Sunday. Then that'll wrap up the fest. There are a few more days left, so bear with us. Let's finish up Sundance with as much energy as when it kicked off!

For those interested, I'm also part of indieWIRE's criticWIRE and I've submitted rankings and reviews as part of their coverage of Sundance. You can find my scores and a complete rundown with rankings for all of the films playing at Sundance right here. They've got the best overall look at all the buzz from the festival.

Sundance 2010 Review List:

Thursday (January 21st):
1. Howl (dir. Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman) - Just Okay
A. Shorts Program I: I'm Here (dir. Spike Jonze) - Loved It

Friday (January 22nd):
2. HappyThankYouMorePlease (dir. Josh Radnor) - Loved It
3. Hesher (dir. Spencer Susser) - Just Okay
4. Boy (dir. Taika Waititi) - Just Okay
5. Animal Kingdom (dir. David Michôd) - Loved It
6. Splice (dir. Vincenzo Natali) - Loved It

Saturday (January 23rd):
7. Welcome to the Rileys (dir. Jake Scott) - Liked It
8. Cyrus (dir. Mark & Jay Duplass) - Liked It
9. Buried (dir. Rodrigo Cortés) - Loved It

Sunday (January 24th):
10. Blue Valentine (dir. Derek Cianfrance) - Loved It
11. The Runaways (dir. Floria Sigismondi) - Hated It
12. HIGH School (dir. John Stalberg) - Loved It

Monday (January 25th):
13. Holy Rollers (dir. Kevin Asch) - Just Okay
14. The Extra Man (dir. Shari Berman & Robert Pulcini) - Just Okay
15. Lucky (dir. Jeffrey Blitz) - Hated It

Tuesday (January 26th):
16. Obselidia (dir. Diane Bell) - Hated It!
17. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (dir. Eli Craig) - Loved It
18. Skateland (dir. Anthony Burns) - Liked It

Wednesday (January 27th):
19. Exit Through the Gift Shop (dir. Banksy) - Loved It
20. Nowhere Boy (dir. Sam Taylor Wood) - Loved It

Thursday (January 28th):
21. Catfish (dir. Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost) - Loved It
22. The Romantics (dir. Galt Niederhoffer) - Hated It

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