Additionally, this year's Sundance attendance is reported to be terrible (I wouldn't know first-hand unfortunately). Even if all the public really got out of the reporting of Sundance in the past few years were celebrities trying to gain some artistic cred, at least some attention could be drawn to the films. Now, according to the ones present, the town is empty save for some small pocketed studio reps and the occasional reporter. There is no longer the big studio and product parties that were obscene in the past. But maybe the with the absence of a certain hotel heiress and her army of skanks, there will be more intensified focus on the films themselves and what is actually good, as opposed to safe.
My bottom line. Don't waste your limited amounts of money on crap that is portending for the post-Oscar season. Go see some film where the people in it are unknown and it wasn't made for a big studio. My personal intro-to indies flick: Slumdog Millionaire, the film that is garnering the sort of best picture buzz that Little Miss Sunshine only dreamt of (and LMS had four as of then moderately to well known actors, Slumdog has none). There are several advantages to this: One, as an Oscar and an indie you can make yourself look cultured by saying you've seen it. Two, though an indie, it is garnering a lot of media attention which would cause the distributors (i.e. Fox Searchlight as the largest) to want to have it play more widely. Three, Though I have not seen it yet, what I hear of the story is it is one that the American public would love (read, those who watch way too many romantic comedies and don't necessarily want something heavier). Of course, there is always the re release of the Dark Knight in theaters and Imax, but it didn't make it to the top 5 contenders and you wouldn't be nearly as cool.
Know this quote?
"You're right actually. I am pretty troubled and I'm pretty confused. And I'm afraid. Really, really afraid. But I think you're the fucking antichrist"
