Sundance - Day 2

The first movie of the day was Lymelife. I'd give it 3 stars. I liked it partly because it reminded me of The Ice Storm, which I really liked. The performances were great, especially Rory Culkin and Alec Baldwin, who has my favorite line reading of the week: "F*** him and his medical bills!"

After that, I went to the Sundance Press Office and watched a screener of Dead Snow, a Norwegian movie about Nazi Zombies. I'd also give that 3 stars. It was gory as hell and it had some humor to it. I could tell the fillmmakers were inspired by movies like Evil Dead II and Shaun of the Dead. Its not as good as those, but its a worthy entry in the attacking-zombie, stuck-in-a-cabin horror category.

After that, I decided to hit a couple of public screenings. First I went to the premier of Brooklyn's Finest, the new movie from Antoine Fuqua, director of Training Day. I wasn't able to get in to the screening, but I did stand with the press and cover the arrival of the director and stars Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. That was pretty cool.

After that, I did the same thing for Rudo y Cursi. I was able to briefly interview Gael Garcia Bernal, Carlos Cuaron, and best of all, the great Guillermo del Toro! I asked him if he had his sketch book on him, because I know he carries it around all the time, and I was hoping to see some of his ideas for The Hobbit. He said it was back at the hotel. I also asked him if there was any chance of Ian Holm playing Bilbo Baggins. I know he is like 100 years old, but I don't care. He was so great as Bilbo in The Fellowship of the Ring, I don't want anyone else playing Bilbo. I told him he could slap that brown wig on his head again and it would work. He said he couldn't even discuss it with me, or he would be shot by snipers. He is as friendly as I have heard he is.

Alfonso Cuaron was there also, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him. They were running behind, and I was at the end of the line.

I didn't get in to see the movie. I got a wait list number, but they called it while I was interviewing the guys. Oh well, I will try and catch the movie later in the week.

That's all for today. I may edit this post and add some audio, once I figure out where to host it. And hopefully tomorrow I will add pictures (forgot to charge the camera battery today). I'm still planning out this weekend, but I hope to interview Pierce Brosnan tomorrow, and Jim Carrey on Sunday. Stay tuned.