Sundance: Day 1

1.18.09

Crying baby and apathetic mother on the shuttle. Who brings a baby to Sundance?

French film Louise-Michel about a lady who can't read who used to be a guy who works in a factory that gets shut down and hires a guy who used to be a lady to kill the boss. Best part: he dresses up his bald, dying cancer patient cousin in his old dance costume and sends her to kill the target. Worst part: a reenactment of 9/11 in a trailer park, which is later explained and is more benign that assumed.

While waitlisting Stay The Same Never Change, Dirk shows me the envelope for "Anna Wintour + 1" he found in the trash at The September Issue screening that he didn't get into. I get jealous that I wasn't there to catch a glimpse of her.

I like Stay the Same more than most. It stars teen girls the director found on myspace, in their own homes, with characters they collaborated on. Despite amateur acting, I kind of love the girls and really wish they'd been at the screening for the Q&A. Best parts: putting on a child's Hulk costume and pounding the floor, sewing a life-size man doll. Worst part: confusing kidnapper and mother characters.

The only celebrity sighting of the day is the guy from Amelie who produced Louise-Michel. But I get good parking spots.