Dancing in the Sun - Part 2
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
PART 2
click here to read part 1
ed note/disclaimer: I don't get any less judgmental. Some people may call it down to earth...you choose.
SUNDAY
10:30 AM - SHUTTLE TO MAIN STREET
We have a lunch to go to at noon, so we decide to leave for Main Street, get some coffee and decide what movies we'd like to try to see. You may wonder why there hasn't been any moviegoing thus far.
For a film festival, it is not easy for one to see movies at Sundance. In fact, it's downright HARD. Even though I got a lottery spot for tickets on the second morning of the lottery, there were no tickets left for any of the movies that we wanted to see by the time I was able to buy tickets. So our option was to get on line 2 1/2 hours prior to the movie to get wait listed and even then, there was a good possibility that we would not be able to see the movie. This is annoying. But we decided that we'd try to wait list for a movie later in the day.
Anyhow -- on the shuttle we met some great guys...from New York. Shocker. We decided that one of the most fun parts of Sundance was meeting the people that were truly there for the festival and the films. That it was sort of like meeting people when you travel through Europe. Loved that. Especially since the shuttle rides were REALLY long.
FYI - if you ever go to Sundance, do your best to stay as close to Main Street or one of the headquarters as possible. There's no use renting a car because you can't park anywhere. But the shuttles take FOREVER. They're slow and inconsistent and unless you're staying at one of the aforementioned places, reeeeeeeeally annoyingly difficult. But you do get to meet cool people.
11:30 AM- MAIN STREET COFFEE ATTEMPT
So we went to Main Street and did not get coffee because there were only 2 places to do so on Main Street and both of them were...you guessed it...clusterfucks! We went into one of the private lounges that we had passes for and drank english breakfast tea. Yum.
12 NOON - LUNCH
Got to the luncheon which turned out to be sort of eh...so we snuck out and went to eat at a great little French Bistro, warm up and plan the rest of our day. On our way to the French Bistro, a sales rep that had seen Matt's film approached him to tell him how incredible he thought the film was and how good Matt was in it. The novelty of this never wears off for me as I'm sure it doesn't for him.
Tangent. Forgot to mention that the day before, I had decided to run the dishwasher. I opened the box of soap on the counter and poured it into the machine. You'll notice I haven't said much about our accommodations. Our condo was fine. It was warm and it had plenty of beds to sleep in and it totally worked. Nice? I wouldn't say that. It had the potential to be nice - it just wasn't well kept by the owners. So the fireplace was broken and one of the shower curtains was less than stellar. There were five of us staying there at one point, but only 3 towels. We had to argue to get more than two keys...that sort of thing. So when the dishwasher started bubbling out the bottom, Matt got on the phone immediately to add "broken dishwasher" to the list. (He enjoys doing this...especially when management is less than helpful in getting those extra towels or fixing the broken fireplace. But that's a whole other story...) So he tells them the dishwasher is also broken. Except on Sunday morning, I looked at the box of dishwashing detergent and realized that it was not dishwashing detergent at all. It was Surf. Do you know what Surf is? (Clearly I didn't.) Surf is laundry detergent. So in fact the dishwasher was not what was broken...my brain was broken. We laughed about this for at least several minutes during lunch.
1:30 PM - HYPE GIFTING SUITE
After lunch we went up to another gifting suite and this one was SUPER fun. Matt got his pic taken designing his own Puma's (brown tweed kicks with a maroon stripe up the side...very cool). I got a bright green Puma travel bag. Matt got his pic taken trying on Oakleys. Matt got his pic taken explaining that our dog, Thursday, eats our Havianas and we both went home with a new pair. Matt got his pic taken trying on Frye boots. I got a faboo pair of Frye heels. We loooooved the people at Frye who we added to the list of people who said, "You must be from New York" and then vented to us about the insane Angelenos that had been obnoxiously bombarding them and demanding crap for the past two days. Huh. Interesting.
2:45 PM/any of the times we're wandering MAIN STREET
Matt knows everyone and their mother. Or, somehow, they know him. Or think they do. It's cold. Very cold. One point for living in LA. Also, Main Street is consistently a clusterfuck.
3 PM - ST. IVES LOUNGE
We take a quick breather in the St. Ives lounge and decide we'll try to see a 5:30 screening of "Mysteries of Pittsburgh". We make the decision and leave immediately to get on the shuttle. Jeff says we need to be there by 4 PM.
4 PM - RACQUET CLUB THEATER
We enter the heated tent to get on the waiting list for the film and are greeted by a lovely volunteer who informs us that we have to get there TWO hours before for wait list...not an hour and a half. All 100 wait list numbers have been given out, but we're welcome to wait and see if there's anything left when that's done. That would be around 5:15. So essentially wait another hour and 15 minutes for about .0013% chance of getting a ticket since it's not even guaranteed to the wait list number holders that they'll get a ticket. We think about it for about 2 seconds before we get back on a shuttle.
4:15 PM - SHUTTLE
We realize we have to take this shuttle to another shuttle to get to our condo. ARRRRRRGHHHHHH! Annoying.com. Oh well...cest la vie. We are hungry and tired and frustrated that we can't see a film at a film festival without waiting on line for 2 + hours.
5 PM - CONDO
We sleep.
We order pizza.
We call the awesome lady that knew we were from New York to take us to the Ray-Ban visionary awards for Quentin Tarantino.
7:15 PM - HARRY O'S
It's very interesting that every single place on Main Street is renamed during the festival. With signs and all. And we're not talking plastic banners...we're talking it looks like these places have always been here. I mean, there's a Tao in Park City...need I say more? So I'm not sure what Harry O's is normally called, but it's a music venue on Main Street. We get there and there's a short line. I'm dressed the least appropriately that I've been dressed thus far - in a tank top and a grey cotton/cashmere open sweater with jeans and boots. Of course I have a winter trench on with a hat and gloves. In front of me there is girl in a mini skirt and heels. Without stockings. And despite the fact that she's already injected her lips with some sort of filler, she sticking them out even more. I wonder if her face hurts from holding it in that position...People are INSANE.
We get to the front of the line. Matt gives his name.
"I'm sorry...I don't see you on the list."
Matt pulls out his invite and his RSVP confirmation.
"Are you sure you rsvp'd? The list was closed on Tuesday."
He patiently shows her the rsvp again. (I wanted to say say, "Ummm...can you READ?") He tells her the name of the people he spoke with. She points to the side and says she's sorry - he can step aside and call them. Which is exactly what he does. He calls his BFF Tara. He can't get her on the phone. He tries again.
Just then, a large bouncer comes over and asks us if we're on the list.
"There's a little confusion," I explain. "But yes, we're guests of this event."
"Well, I don't think you're on the list. You'll have to step outside."
I politely explain that someone is coming out to get us just as Matt gets through to Tara who says she's sending someone out to do just that.
"Sorry. You're not on the list. Step outside. NOW." And he puts his hand on my shoulder to "escort" us.
This is where I get pissed. "A. We ARE on the list. Someone is coming outside to get us. B. There is absolutely NO reason for you to TOUCH me or be rude."
He rudely asserts that he's not being rude, he's doing his job, and tells us that we can wait for the person coming to get us outside of the blockade. I can't stand bouncers who think that because they are the doorman, they have all sorts of power and can be TOTAL dicks.
But we do as we're asked and when Rachel comes out to get us, she's pissed a. that we weren't on the list and b. that we were manhandled. She calls one of the bouncers that made us wait outside to come help her open the blockade to let us in. As if that wasn't satisfying enough, she then says to Matt, "We'll need you to come walk the red carpet." I was so joyous that I might have possibly blacked out momentarily and stuck my tongue out at the bouncer. Or perhaps that was only in my dreams.
Inside, we grab a drink and wait for Matt who has just been on the red carpet with Dennis Hopper and Quentin Tarantino. This is VERY cool. After about 20 minutes, the award is presented to Mr. Tarantino who gives an inspired speech from which I have found my new favorite quote:
"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand." - Woodrow Wilson
What an amazing quote and couldn't be more appropriate for me for 2008. I've now written it all over the place.
After we see a montage of the amazing movies he's made and hear him speak, the Bravery plays for a while. They're good - really good. But around 10:30 all three of us had about had it. We were exhausted and felt no need for an evening on the Sundance party circuit.
When we walked out into the brisk night air, it was snowing. Despite all the hustle and bustle, Main Street looked gorgeous and magical.
11:00 PM - BACK AT THE CONDO
We got home really early by Park City standards. We couldn't have been happier to crawl into pj's and turn on the TV.
I'm leaving on Monday...but I've decided to get up to try to see "The Last Word"at 9:15. Since it's the first showing of the day, I only have to wait online for 1 hour instead of 2...so I set my alarm for 7:15 and plan to get up and out to try to see at least one other movie before I leave Park City.
MONDAY
7:15 AM - ALARM GOES OFF
I wake up and for the 3rd morning in a row with such a dry mouth and throat that I can barely speak. It's the altitude and the constant heat...but it feels like crap. I feel like crap. I am absolutely exhausted. But I tear myself out of bed and get in the shower.
7:30 AM - CAN'T ANYONE GET A CAB IN THIS TOWN?
The answer is no. I can not get a cab. I call five different companies. Including the karaoke cab-mobile. No cabs. Not until 1 PM. WTF???? This town is feeling more and more difficult. I contemplate taking the shuttle...it's now 7:40 and by the time I get down to the shuttle it will be at least 7:50. Even if the shuttle comes immediately, I won't get to the Eccles until 8:45 or so because I need to switch to another shuttle to get there. I'll have missed the wait list line and I'm back at a .0013% chance of getting a ticket. I decide that I'm not destined to see a film at this film festival and opt to go have breakfast with Matt before I leave and before he does a day of press.
9:10 AM - ALBERTSON'S
We arrive at Albertson's via shuttle which is where the shuttle driver has told us to get out for the Marriott Headquarters. Said driver has failed to mention that the Marriott is a 15 minute walk from here. It's about 15 degrees. And snowing. We go into Alberston's to get Starbucks which I have been craving since we arrived and is not so easy to come by in this town...(there is no Starbucks on Main Street).
As I pour sugar in my latte, I hear someone call Matt's name. It's the guy from Cinetic that's repping Matt's movie. He tells Matt that the movie is getting great buzz at the "New York intellectual/smartnik film of the festival". Wow. He tells Matt that if a film like this is going to get noticed, it needs all of the right people to champion it...and that seems to be happening -from the NY Times to Entertainment Weekly. WOW. He doesn't know if the film will sell or not - it's really hard with a small film like this...but it's getting the attention it deserves and that's a really great thing.
We thank him for filling us in and are on our now even merrier way. The walk is sort of refreshing and it's nice to get a little exercise.
9:40 AM - BREAKFAST
We stop at a little restaurant close to the Marriott and eat delicious breakfast. They serve mac and cheese for breakfast. I am not kidding. I order it. I'm not kidding. I've been wanting it since I didn't get any at the NYU thing on Saturday. So I have it for breakfast. I know that Amy and Kelly would be proud of me...
It's delicious.
10:15 AM - THE MARRIOTT
Matt has to go to press so I sit in front of the fireplace at the Marriott and read for a little while. I check my flight, which has been delayed from 2:55 to 4:35. I call the car service to rearrange my pick up time. The woman tells me that they can't rearrange my pickup time because they're too busy that day.
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? It seems to me that Utah is not really that ready for the influx of people coming in for this festival. I can't get a freaking cab, I can't change my car service. You would think that at this point, they'd realize that they need to step it up.
Given that I'm being picked up at 12:15, I have to get on a shuttle to go home. I kiss Matt goodbye and head out into the snow. Of course, the shuttle that picks up outside the Marriott doesn't go to the Canyons. Of course. So I walk to the shuttle that does. I wait for 15 minutes for the shuttle and then take a 45 minute shuttle ride back to my condo (which is only about a 10 minute drive from the Marriott.) This is a perfect final shuttle ride to remind me that I am, indeed, ready to leave Park City.
Happily, I encounter no clusterfucks on my final day. And I am very proud to say that I did not fall on the ice or snow ONE SINGLE TIME. This is a huge feat for me.
1:15 PM - SALT LAKE AIRPORT
Since I am here, oooooooooh, 3 1/2 hours before my flight is scheduled to leave, I buy a magazine and grab a seat at the bar in the airport.
The bartender (who may be a man dressed as a woman or a woman dressed as a man) hands me a water. I ask for lemon.
"No lemons."
I ask for lime.
"No limes. I got maraschino cherries."
I'll skip it. You'd think from the way the bartender and waiters are running around that they'd never had more than 2 customers before.
I order a quesadilla without the chicken but with the other stuff. I'm not so into eating chicken at the airport. When it comes, it has nothing in it but cheese. I send it back. I remind her that I'd ordered a beer. About 20 minutes ago. There is chaos everywhere. She/He grunts a lot. I wonder if one works in the airport because they have a bad attitude or if they have a bad attitude because they work in an airport.
I head to my gate at about 3:30 because I don't want to sit in the bar anymore. I am exhausted. I am so exhausted I feel sick exhausted. I am fighting sleep while waiting for the plane.
Finally at 5 PM we take off. I fall asleep for a while and then watch "Project Runway". A fantastic end to a fantastic weekend. This makes me very happy. Especially since my favorite contestants, Chris and Christian, are working together as a team. And Christian coins the term "ferosh"...as in ferocious. I love this boy.
7:15 PM - HOME SWEET HOME
I force myself to unpack because if I don't do it now, I won't do it for days. I eat a skinny cow mint icecream sandwich. I drink about 50 glasses of water. I get into bed. I am exhausted...but I have to say...Sundance was ferosh.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 5:12 PM
Labels: the industry, travels, west coast prejudice
