Wrap up on Sundance

We had actually been out to Sundance many times but we never went to see the movies. The slopes are usually empty!  This year the snow is barely there.  The slopes feel a bit like April.  We also planned ahead and got tickets to more than a handful of movies thanks to our friends who joined us.

The festival is incredibly well run.  Everything we saw is well done.  The acceptance process is rigorous and the percentage of movies accepted versus the ones that applied is quite small.  I believe most of what we saw got picked up which means it could be at a movie theater near you or somewhere where you can see it in the near future.

Here is what we saw.

The End of the Tour.   Based on David Lipsky’s book surrounding a road trip he took with David Foster Wallace on his Infinite Jest book tour.  Really well done film.  A small slice of Foster’s life and a glance of the pain he carried around with him daily.

Sleeping with Other People    Winner.  We all loved this film.  Funny, well written, great chemistry among all of the actors.  A next generation of When Harry Met Sally.

I Smile Back  Based on Amy Koppelman’s book I Smile Back.  Sarah Silverman plays the main character.  A wife and mother in Westchester who appears to be living the life but is really disturbed, sad, depressed and trying to numb her pain through drugs and alcohol.  Silverman proves she has serious acting chops.

Experimenter.   Based on Stanley Milgram’s experiments in 1961 testing people on their willingness to obey authority.  I didn’t know of this experiment.  Pretty fascinating topic.

The Stanford Prison Experiment.   I really did not like this film.  It made me angry.  I did not know about this experiment until now.  A famous psychologist at Stanford ran an experiment where college kids participated over a two week period and they were either made prisoners or guards.  What happens is so disturbing and what is more amazing is this professor is still respected in his field.

Brooklyn  Will probably be a big summer hit.  Set in 1950’s a young woman immigrates to the US from Ireland.  She must ultimately choose between both countries.