~ our world ~
{ash}
On Wednesday, Dan and I went to Ogden to see a Sundance film. The festival is held every January in Park City, Utah, but they also have showings in Ogden and Salt Lake City. Since tickets to shows we wanted to see sold out pretty quickly, our only option was to drive 45 minutes north to see "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" (which I highly recommend).
I try to take advantage of Sundance, even though I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the festival. As a local, I love the chance to actually see films (a few years ago, the only goal my girlfriends and I had was just to get into one of the parties). And since meeting Dan, a major movie buff, I've had fun picking out and watching some pretty great films.
However, I do feel I would be a bit... dishonest if I pretended Sundance is all fun and games. I'm sure it is for the Hollywood crowd. But as a local, you have to deal with less than red carpet treatment: freezing temps, total lack of parking, long lines. But most of all, you have to deal with the utter madness of crazy locals who feel the need to get all Sundanced up. Now, to be clear, I have no problem with locals who head up to Park City to see stars. The problem comes when dealing with hundreds of locals pretending they are stars. I promise you, no matter where you see a Sundance film (yes, even in Ogden), you will encounter an irritating faux star. And 99% of the time, this person will be in all black (with fuzzy boots, if she's female), will be wearing sunglasses, and will be shouting into a cell phone. My personal favorite was a dude on Main Street probably three years ago, screaming into his phone, "I'm at SUNDANCE! SUUUUNDAAAANCE!"
Our local on Wednesday night was just as loud, but at least his friends were with him, so we didn't have to deal with bad cell reception. I was lucky enough to stand next to him in line AND have him pick the seat right behind me. Yay, crazy local! Needless to say, my mental countdown wasn't so much for the movie to start as it was for him to stop pretending he was a movie expert. ("The director of this film? Yeah, I think it's Mark something." Um, Morgan Spurlock. Not exactly a documentary filmmaker no one has heard of. I mean, just saying.)
Anyway, despite two weeks of craziness, I still think it's pretty incredible that Utah gets this much attention each January. I happen to think Salt Lake and Park City are awesome and it's great to be a part of so much creativity and entertainment. And, fine, if the presence of all the stars and filmmakers makes my fellow Utahns happy, maybe I can try to be okay with all the outrageous, furr-lined giddiness. Maybe. ;)
On Wednesday, Dan and I went to Ogden to see a Sundance film. The festival is held every January in Park City, Utah, but they also have showings in Ogden and Salt Lake City. Since tickets to shows we wanted to see sold out pretty quickly, our only option was to drive 45 minutes north to see "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" (which I highly recommend).
I try to take advantage of Sundance, even though I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the festival. As a local, I love the chance to actually see films (a few years ago, the only goal my girlfriends and I had was just to get into one of the parties). And since meeting Dan, a major movie buff, I've had fun picking out and watching some pretty great films.
However, I do feel I would be a bit... dishonest if I pretended Sundance is all fun and games. I'm sure it is for the Hollywood crowd. But as a local, you have to deal with less than red carpet treatment: freezing temps, total lack of parking, long lines. But most of all, you have to deal with the utter madness of crazy locals who feel the need to get all Sundanced up. Now, to be clear, I have no problem with locals who head up to Park City to see stars. The problem comes when dealing with hundreds of locals pretending they are stars. I promise you, no matter where you see a Sundance film (yes, even in Ogden), you will encounter an irritating faux star. And 99% of the time, this person will be in all black (with fuzzy boots, if she's female), will be wearing sunglasses, and will be shouting into a cell phone. My personal favorite was a dude on Main Street probably three years ago, screaming into his phone, "I'm at SUNDANCE! SUUUUNDAAAANCE!"
Our local on Wednesday night was just as loud, but at least his friends were with him, so we didn't have to deal with bad cell reception. I was lucky enough to stand next to him in line AND have him pick the seat right behind me. Yay, crazy local! Needless to say, my mental countdown wasn't so much for the movie to start as it was for him to stop pretending he was a movie expert. ("The director of this film? Yeah, I think it's Mark something." Um, Morgan Spurlock. Not exactly a documentary filmmaker no one has heard of. I mean, just saying.)
Anyway, despite two weeks of craziness, I still think it's pretty incredible that Utah gets this much attention each January. I happen to think Salt Lake and Park City are awesome and it's great to be a part of so much creativity and entertainment. And, fine, if the presence of all the stars and filmmakers makes my fellow Utahns happy, maybe I can try to be okay with all the outrageous, furr-lined giddiness. Maybe. ;)
RSS Feed
