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It was a surprisingly good year
at Sundance for films, music and star-spotting
BACK WITH A
VENGEANCE: The Cult plays at Harry O's. /
Photo by Ben Hansen
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By Ben Hansen, special contributor
February 3, 2009 | PARK CITY -- The season is
over. The plug has been pulled on the lights for
the year, and my small resort town of Park City
is back to being a small resort town. It felt
as if the 10 days of Sundance came and went incredibly
fast this year -- almost like a comet. All that
we were able to do were catch random bits and
pieces that fragmented off of the comet.
So what came out of the festival this year? Are
there any must-see movies that will make it to
theaters? What musical acts performed during the
week and a half? And most importantly, what did
we learn from the events?
If you enjoy Sundance for the celebrity aspect,
this year's fest was again frequented by many
celebrities enough that their numbers entered
into the triple digits. Renown artists and actors
were everywhere, including Mariah Carey, Uma Thurman,
Kevin Bacon, Sting, Kevin Spacey, James Gandolfini,
Mike Tyson and Jack White, to name a few. Your
chances at star spotting on any given day were
pretty good, even beyond the celebrated first
weekend of the festival. |
STARS COME OUT:
Plenty of big-name actors, including Jodie Foster,
visited Sundance despite fears that the poor economy
would make this a down year. / Photo by Ben
Hansen
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Movies selected for the festival this
year provided film fans with a wide assortment of choices
and options. From award winning drama films such as
Push to soon to-to-be cult classic horror movies
such as Dead Snow, this year seemed to have multiple
offerings for each individual taste. Many of the shows
this year will make it into theaters, many still will
not. Regardless, the artistic outpouring for audience
consummation even if just for these 10 days of glory
was huge. Out of the dozens of films in each genre,
there were definitely some real winners. Some of the
other noteworthy films of the year, and definitely worth
checking out if they make it to a theater near you,
are It Might Get Loud, Spring Breakdown, In the Loop,
Rudo y Cursi, World's Greatest Dad and Humpday.
Music was once again exceptional during this year's
run. Three venues in particular shined above the rest,
delivering a wide assortment of choices for festival
patrons.
The ASCAP Music café shined with a great mix of middle
of the pack to big name talent, and was free for any
festival holder willing to fight lines to get into the
concert tent. With the mediocre lineup last year, names
like John Rzeznik, Rachael Yamagata, Wynonna, and Montel
Jordan were a welcome change of pace, and each delivered
a show worthy of a much bigger venue, yet packed into
the intimate little venue.
Downstairs at the Filmmaker's Lounge was hopping nightly,
with the myspace.com parties taking a front seat in
the very late night/early morning events. It is hard
to beat a lineup with celebrity DJ's such as Perry Ferrell
and Jonathan Davis scratching and mixing tracks for
party goers.
Harry O's for many years has become a legendary site
for concerts and secret events. This year was no exception,
appealing to several different genres with artists such
as Macy Gray, Young Jeezy, Nick Cannon, Camp Freddy,
Robin Thicke, T.I., and the triumphant return of The
Cult. There is a reason why this club is called "The
World Famous Harry O's." Once again, these guys take
the cake for the best place for live music during the
festival.
The big questions to answer following this year's
events had to be, "With people in hard financial times
and a growing recession, would the festival be attended?
Will there be enough interest to consider this festival
still relevant?"
These questions were both soundly answered. Tons of
movie goers, tourists, people watchers, and cold-weather
maniacs wandered the streets throughout the festival.
Parking was close to impossible on some days. Wrestling
an alligator would have been far easier than getting
a reservation at a good Main Street restaurant on a
Saturday night or getting into Club Tao. Stars were
everywhere, and the events that made this year the gem
that it was helped the stars shine brightly, regardless
of the economic haze in the air.
Even during times of financial troubles, we seem to
turn to those who can make us smile, to those who can
cajole a good laugh out of us, and to those who can
make us feel secure in knowing that we could always
be worse. It was a time to celebrate being able to slip
out of the everyday into a different world, enabling
us to become consumed in watching a good story or two
unfold. This truly was a Sundance to remember.
MS
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