I saw a respectable 52 films at this year's fest, got to hang with some great people I don't get to see often enough, made a ton of new friends, and hopefully did a good job overall.
Since I made a Sundance Goals list before the festival began, I will now report how I did on those, mostly to amuse my own self when I read this at some later point.
And I've posted some people pictures.
OLD SUNDANCE GOALS POST - Updates in Red
Every year, I make a list of goals for myself to accomplish at Sundance. It's a bit silly, but I enjoy it. My track record is usually good with the movie related ones (ie.g. "see 50+ movies") and not so good with the less quantifiable ones (e.g. "don't fight with Shiri").
This year I've set a high bar for myself with a long list. I feel pretty good about most of them. I shall list them now.
* See 56 movies. This is one more than last year, which nearly killed me. If I am to accomplish this, it will involve sticking to my schedule which includes six days wherein I see six movies per day. Five of those days are consecutive. I can sustain a high level of energy for a short period of time, but everyone has their breaking point. The older I get, the less of a superhero I am on this front.
Note - I don't sleep through movies. It doesn't happen. I'm not one of those types who dozes off halfway thru the last half of my day and then pats myself on the back for a job well done. One day I will write a post about all my insider tips for staying awake at Sundance.
FAILED. I saw 52. I thought 56 would be possible since I saw 55 last year. However, this year it was not to be. I made some choices to go to a party or two and that ultimately meant having some five-movie days when I was to have seen six movies. No regrets.
* Not break my new boots. I didn't bring regular shoes, just boots. My ankle brace makes the zipper unhappy. If it breaks, I'll have to go barefoot, which means I'll get frostbite and possible gangrene and then I'll die, making it much less likely I will accomplish my goal of seeing 56 movies.
ACHIEVED. The boots held up just perfectly despite the ankle brace. What a relief.
* Gain 50 new followers this week. That'll take me up to about 1,130 I think? The trick, though, is going to be not to lose follows for being an Obnoxious Sundance Tweeter. This is where I may struggle. Tips welcome.
ACHIEVED. I gained about 80 new followers, thanks probably to this post which got like 1,500 hits.
* Not get sick. Can't get sick. Not an option. Won't even let the thought enter into my mind. Emergen-C, multi-vitamins and an unflinchingly positive attitude will keep me the picture of health. PLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASE
FAILED. I had a cough the entire time I was here - no big deal, but frustrating. Then on the last two days, everything started unraveling. Fever, chills, exhaustion, you name it. That made me skip one movie in favor of a nap. And it made me suffer a bit thru some others. When I got home from Sundance, though, the fun really began. SO, SO SICK like never before and nothing I was expecting. I slept for 48 straight hours and was out the rest of the week with a virus. SO. NOT. FUN.
* Be awesome at my secret mission. I have a bit of a secret mission. I must be stone cold awesome at it. As I am stone cold awesome at most things, this should be a breeze. (Convincing enough?)
To be determined. I am happy with how I did, I think? We'll see.
* Eat well. This means, Dor, you cannot have M&Ms, nor can you have popcorn. It helps that there's no decent popcorn to be had in all of Park City. Bananas, y'all. Bananas, yogurt, carrots. That's how we do.
I'll give myself the good ol' Cory Everett "B-" here. Didn't pass, didn't fail. Plenty of bananas and yogurt. Carrots and grapes a bit. Also crackers and PB&J. And a few too many boxes of Dots. Maybe a bag of Skittles too many. Could have been a lot worse. Also I only drank on two occasions. Which is sliiiightly different from 2012's nightly Dor and Eef drunken video blogs (bless our hearts). Link withheld.
* Meet new people I know from Twitter. I've met so many wonderful folks at film festivals either before (or mostly after) following them on Twitter. Yet I have it on good authority that I don't yet know All the People. If you are one of the People I Don't Know, I hope we meet. If you see we are at the same movie, tap me on the shoulder and say what's up. I'll be the one in the bright red lipstick, typing furiously into my phone or iPad, focused to the point where I am unknowingly mouthing the words as I type them.
ACHIEVED.
New people I met:
@kateyrich
@samfragoso
@theinsneider
@germainlussier
@ioncinema
@cinespia
@firstshowing
@tomilaffly
@ericdsnider
@misterpatches
@devincf
@variety_jld
@benpears
@tommcnulty00
@samuelaaddams
@bonezmccoy
@ethan_anderton
Also got to hang with:
@modage
@jhoffman6
@chasewhale
@ninjaworrier
@jeremymathews
@russfischer
@jamesrocchi
@willbgoss
@katerbland
@variancefilms
@pinkylovejoy
If I forgot to list you it probably just means you were so awesome I forgot I didn't always know you.
* Spend quality time with my friends. I'm sharing a room this year with the likes of Matt Page, Chase Whale and Amber Wilkinson. Though every waking moment will be spent consuming cinema, I desperately want to find a way to have also meaningful exchanges with my pals. And by meaningful I mean more than "I ran out of soy milk. Do you think OJ would taste good on my Kashi?" or "get the hell out of the shower 'cause I am late to my 8:30 AM movie!"
ACHIEVED. Could always have had more, of course. Come visit NYC, y'all. OR BETTER YET COME TO SXSW!
* Actually see Gina. One of my closest friends on earth is a traveler. She's often called away from NYC for long periods of time for work. Well lucky me, this year she's working for Sundance, so I'll get to see her face after not gazing upon it for many months.
ACHIEVED. Not only did I get to see Gina, but Gina got to see movies. Like, almost 30 movies. Some with me, some on her own. Amazing for someone also working full time during the fest. We kept saying how perfectly surreal it was that she was finally getting to experience Sundance with me, yet in a way that she already had her own relationship to the festival. I loved it.
* Not lose anything. Neither wallet, hat, camera, nor faith in myself. Seems easy enough, but these are often things that wander away from me. Particularly at Sundance. Luckily people are mostly good, and I always get them back. But let's avoid the stress this year all together.
ACHIEVED.
* Find the time to see George from work and my friend Pablo. Somehow. Someday. Somewhere.
ACHIEVED/FAILED. Ran into George (although surprisingly only once) and did not see Pablo.
And now, some pictures.
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