It has been puking every day here in Park City. This is the snowiest it has been during Sundance in recent years and the transit system has slowed to a crawl. After a very lengthy ride, we make it just in time to catch our first midnight screening, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. This campy horror flick pits a group of college students camping in the woods against two “hillbillies” who they mistakenly believe kidnapped one of their friends. In a hilarious twist, the students go after the unsuspecting hillbillies with disastrous results that suggest the college kids are not as smart as one would imagine. The story is a clever take on the slasher genre and is more comedic than anything else – especially when it is peppered with lines such as, “These college kids keep killing themselves!”
Because we’re in a rush to catch the last shuttle at 2:30am, we unfortunately miss the Q & A for this highly amusing film. Director Eli Craig ends up as one of the “guest tweeters” on the Sundance Twitter feed the next morning so we read about his thoughts about last night’s premier there.
Any discussion about Sundance would not be complete without a mention of Squatters, one of our favorite places to eat yummy food and drink tasty beer in Park City. We spend a ridiculous amount of time at this restaurant every year. It helps that it’s so close to our hotel and that it’s faster than many of the wait times of the restaurants on Main Street.
We start off Saturday with our fourth film - Get Low, featuring an all-star cast including Robert Duvall (as the main character, Felix), Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek. The film is based on a true story of an eccentric old hermit who held his own Funeral Party (while still alive) in the 1930s, Get Low has fabulous performances from its stellar cast and Murray makes everyone laugh during the film and the Q & A. He is sporting a crutch, that some are saying is due to a fall on Main Street. Despite the film’s star power, we are not blown away by it. Perhaps it was the secret the character held for 40 years (and the entire movie) just did not seem all that impressive. Of course, this is why we love Sundance: good movies are everywhere and what makes them great is all a matter of personal opinion.
Pictures are coming for these blogs, just have to solve some technical difficulties - so check back to see some great cast shots!
