The Sundance Missives - Season 3, Episode 5

Hi all!

Got up early again today to see a movie at 8:30am. Only here at Sundance does that seem reasonable. The movie was called "Choke" and it starred Sam Rockwell (my gym buddy from last year) and Angelica Huston. Sam's character is a sex addict who is dealing with that as well as his mother's (Huston) growing dementia. This was certainly a drama, but with many comic touches - including many of Sam's scenes at a Colonial Williamsburg type park where he works. I liked it, but certainly not as much as "Fight Club" with also based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk. 3 1/2 stars. Chuck Palahniuk was there for the Q&A, along with one of the costars, Brad William Henke, and the director/costar, Clark Gregg (from "The New Adventures of Old Christine).

I then went straight into my next movie, "The Last Word", starring Wes Bentley as a writer who makes a living writing suicide notes for people. He meets the sister of one of his clients at his client's funeral and they end up dating, although she doesn't know the true circumstances of how he knew her brother. Of course, she eventually finds out and that doesn't go so well. Ray Romano plays another client who is working with Bentley's character on various drafts of his note. I normally don't like Ray Romano, but I found him to be very funny in this movie (probably because he didn't write his own material). So, yes, this was also a drama with many comic touches. Very similar in tone to "Choke". 3 1/2 stars. Ray Romano and the director, Geoff Haley, were present for the Q&A.

This afternoon was a time to catch up on some sleep and to get some laundry done (which means it's about the halfway point for the festival). The volunteer shift tonight was mostly uneventful. For those couple of "Veronica Mars" fans on my e-mail list, I forgot to mention that last night I sold a wait list ticket to Ryan Hansen who played Dick Casablancas. He wasn't as much of a jerk as his character. I often wonder how many actors in shows that I don't watch have passed through as well.

Until the next report…

Your Sundance correspondent,

Ted