Sundance Dispatch #3

John Paul arrived yesterday, so I'm initiating him into the Sundance experience. He's my great friend and Dominican classmate whom I work and live with in San Diego. Another classmate and great friend, Daniel, will arrive tomorrow about the time John Paul leaves. Looking forward to having Daniel entertain the troops in ticket lines with his magic.

John Paul and I saw three movies in a row yesterday at the Racquet Club. We had tickets for the first and third, but had great look with getting tickets for the middle show.

"Quinceaneros" was another delightful and moving family film. Gay, Anglo, male life partners made this film (conceived only a year ago!) about two struggling Latino cousins who find family with their old, saintly uncle. And they rub elbows with the Anglo gay couple who own their uncle's house. The main problem John Paul and I had with the movie was that their was no dissenting voice to the racist threesomes the gay couple and their other gay Anglo friends have with their "Latino boys."

One of the writer/directors talked about how when they thought their plane might crash all he could think about was how sad it would be to miss his chance to show his movie at Sundance. (His partner, whom we only later found out was his life partner, played Sudoku while waiting for the plane to crash.)

"At Your Door" was a pretty tight, micro-budget thriller about a Los Angeles man who has to decide whether or not to lock his wife out of the house after she's been contaminated by a dirty bomb. Pretty good, but a few too many credibility problems.

"Forgiven" was the best film I've seen so far, really strong, about a DA whose campaign for U.S. Senate is threatened by the release of someone he convicted of killing a cop. Phenomenally well-acted scenes of operatic emotion. Russell Hornsby was especially amazing as the released prisoner.
Paul Fitzgerald wrote, directed, and starred. The script was really really strong.

-dominic
1/24/06, 10:30 am