The Sundance Missives - Season 3, Episode 1

Hi everyone!

I got up early to see my second film of the festival, "In Bruges." This was the opening night film last night and I caught the morning screening today. It is about two hitmen (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) who leave London and must hide out in Bruges, Belgium after a hit gone wrong. It's a darkly comic film - lots of laughs but some intense drama as well. Ralph Fiennes also costars as the guy who ordered the original killing. A lot of the humor comes at the expense of the city of Bruges, which Colin's character really despises. But the film was beautifully shot and if it becomes a hit (it's being released in the next couple weeks), I could see a lot of tourists going to visit this medieval city. It was a great film. 4 1/2 stars (out of five). The director, Martin McDonagh, as well as Colin and Brendan were there to introduce the film, but they said that they were going back to bed (after apparently partying after their screening last night), so they weren't there for a Q&A afterwards. They were only there for about a minute, so all I got were a couple blurry pictures that I won't bother posting. Sorry.

I went back to my condo for a quick nap before seeing an afternoon movie. As I was walking in, I noticed three deer right outside our back sliding door. They were just hanging out. I got some pics (but I haven't transferred them to my computer yet). It was quite cool.

Went to see a Spanish film called "Time Crimes (Los Cronocrimenes)" this afternoon. It was pretty convoluted, but enjoyable. It involved a guy who wanders from his yard, ends up getting attacked, and then takes refuge in a laboratory where he ends up getting into a time machine and going back to earlier that same day. It all deals with the consequences of that time trip. Some of twists were clever, but some seemed a bit obvious. The director, Nacho Vigalondo (who was also one of the actors), gave a very animated Q&A afterwards and explained a lot to the people in the audience who didn't get it. (I got it.) 3 1/2 stars.

I'm heading now to my first volunteer shift. Hopefully the computer is working.

Your Sundance correspondent,
Ted