Results tagged “joshualeonard”

                     

Other than The Cove, I didn't see a better film this year at the Sundance Film Festival than Humpday (review here). It's inventive; it's challenging; it's odd but, most of all, it's funny. Very, very funny. The premise may scare some away -- two straight friends decide to have gay sex for a porn film festival -- but the treatment of the material is so perfect that I can't imagine anyone not loving it. While not quite as laugh-out-loud funny as Humpday, In the Loop is as smart a comedy as you will ever see (review here). A barely-veiled satire of the run-up to the 2003 Iraq War, In the Loop features at least a half-dozen brilliantly venal performances, especially Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker (nee the Prince of Fucking Darkness!) See these two movies!!

The first time I attended the Sundance Film Festival in 2007, I stayed until the festival's conclusion on Sunday. Never will I make that mistake again. While it did allow for a more leisurely pace, all the excitement (and most of the people) had left Park City by mid-week. So this year I once again planned an early Friday morning arrival and a late Tuesday night departure. I was able to see thirteen films, party three nights out of four and sit five feet away from Damien Rice during his amazingly casual concert at the ASCAP Music Cafe.

The first day at the Sundance Film Festival is always a frantic rush. We arrive in Salt Lake City at the reasonable hour of noon and are on our way to Park City in our rental car within 30 minutes. Once we reach town, we decide to quickly shoot down to Main Street and grab a bite at one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Bandits Grill & Bar. The BBQ is good and, more importantly, the Wasatch beer is served in 25 oz. mugs (trust me, you need to drink that much since the alcohol content is watered-down by government fiat.