The Sundance Missives - Season 3, Episode 2

Hi all!

The first volunteer shift went quite smoothly last night. The computer worked fine (the fax machine - not so much) and it was a relatively quiet night. Our first screening was from the Sundance Collection - a 1992 film called "The Living End" (which I've seen before). I don't think the Sundance Collection movies are as well attended since they are not "new." Then the second screening was for a "Frontier Shorts Program" which was made up of experimental or edgy short films. The theater was about 1/3 full for that and about a quarter of those people ended up leaving early. It's not for everyone.

I got up this morning and got a ticket for a movie and then headed down to Main Street. The Paul Mitchell Salon is once again giving free haircuts, so I got mine done. I just went as myself (not as John Henry), so I didn't get anything except a good shampoo and haircut this year. I really need my entourage around me!

The movie I saw this morning was called "Momma's Man" and it was about a guy who visits his parents in New York and ends up staying for an extended period of time (while neglecting his wife and baby back in California). From the description, I thought it might be somewhat comedic, but it was just kind of sad. The main character was just annoying and despicable with his lying to his wife, to his parents, and to his job back home. The parents were played by the director's real-life parents and it was mostly filmed in their New York apartment. That part was kind of cool, but overall the movie was slow and tedious. 2 1/2 stars (out of 5).

This afternoon's movie was "The Great Buck Howard" which starred John Malkovich as Buck Howard, a mentalist (not a magician) who had his hey day in the 70s, but who is still traveling around doing his act. He hires a law school dropout (Colin Hanks) to be his road manager and the story is told through the manager's perspective. Buck Howard is a demanding and unpredictable boss and is somewhat unaware that he's not as popular as he once was. It was very entertaining and John Malkovich was hilarious (much as he was in "Being John Malkovich"), but the story was a little lacking for me. I didn't think that enough was resolved by the end of the film. Despite that, I'd still give it 4 stars.

Tom Hanks, who produced and had a small role in the film, introduced the screening and was very funny in describing what all of the cast and crew were wearing. The director (Sean McGinly), Colin, and Emily Blunt (who played a love interest of Colin's character) were there for a Q&A afterwards. Apparently the director had worked as a road manager for the Amazing Kreskin and based a lot of the story (but not all) on his adventures.

Had another smooth volunteer shift tonight – the fax machine even worked. There was some drama with some unruly producers and writers of one of the shorts, but I didn't have to deal with any of that.

Off to bed…

Your Sundance correspondent,
Ted