...Ok. Oh boy. Where do I begin...

Let's cover the animation shorts first. Every year I attend a shorts program. Usually it's live action, intermixed with animation, but this year I couldn't get to a shorts program to save my life, and ended up with free tickets to the animation show. This was our second showing, and the one where I was suffering near the end with horrid stomach cramps from lunch (remember: no Mexican food in Utah. Bad decision, but we were desperate for lunch - we should have stood in the long line at the Eccles and picked up a slice of pizza instead).

Anyway, there were eight shorts, and one of them hailed from a guy who is from the same college that DH went to. He seemed surprised when people were cheering for the area, and then really surprised to see all of us clapping and cheering when he said "How many of you are *really* from (Silly.com valley)" I think we made his day. Anyway... The first short was "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" and it was pretty good. The animation style was wonderful, the story was a bit unusual. I found out just last night that it's part of a series, but it's not on the Sundance website. By the way, most of the short films are at sundance.org, you just have to be a little patient while you wait for them to load. Anyway, Jasper Morello is a navigator in the future who boards a hoversomething to go exploring for a cure to the plague that is ravaging his home. His beloved wife, Amelia, stays behind to nurse those who are sick, as that is her role in life. During the voyage we get the idea that Amelia may be afflicted as well, and there's no hope until a turn of circumstances brings Jasper and the crew in contact with a malevolent creature that may provide a cure...

That's all I'm going to tell you about that one. If you get an opportunity to see it, do. We also saw "Fable", "The Wraith of Cobble Hill", "Clara", "Hadacol Christmas", "Los ABCs" - they're ok, but nothing to really write home about. "Gopher Broke" was hysterical, and had a professional quality about it with the very well done 3-D rendering. Very Pixar, but not quite as... Pixarish. That's one that I recommend watching at the Sundance website (yes, it's there) - it's about a gopher who, no matter what he does, learns that there is no such thing as a free lunch. And it shows all that he goes through to try and get that free lunch. Oh, and if you watch it, don't stop when the credits start rolling, because there's a very small snippet at the end that makes the whole thing.

"Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot" is also on the Sundance website, and it's the one made by the local guy. It's about this little girl named Fumi who had a bad luck foot (and was based on someone in one of his animation classes who really did have a bad luck foot). Everything that could happen to Fumi would happen, and there was nothing she could do about it. Eventually she just stopped avoiding all the really absurd and bad things that could happen, until one day she realized that she could affect change with her bad luck foot. Definitely worth a watch, and don't feel bad when you laugh at the jet plane that falls on her foot. Really.

So that's it for the shorts. I'm going to plug a movie that I haven't seen yet that's called "Quinceanera" because so many people have practically throttled me and said "YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE". So I'm telling all of you, you must see this movie.

Ok, on to the movies. First up, I'll talk briefly about a documentary that really got me and DH thinking and will probably spawn another blog entry in the coming weeks. It's called "God Grew Tired of Us" and is about the lost boys of the Sudan. Back in the late 1980s there was this little insurgance and bloody civil war in Sudan, and thousands of young boys and teens fled thier homeland, first to Ethiopia and then to Kenya, simply to escape either enslavement or death. it was genocide of the first order. This documentary followed the origins of the camp in Ethiopa that they lived in together, and then the journey of 3 young men who were sent to the United States for schooling. They left all that they knew behind to go to this new land of promise and opportunity. But it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, as they found loneliness and struggle. They lost thier families, and didn't know if they were still alive. They lost the sense of togetherness that they had in Sudan. America can be a pretty unfriendly place to live when you're new here and have to learn all these new things - like electricity. One running theme in the piece was about culture - one didn't give up his culture as he continued to eat with his hands, and made food remiscent of what he had at home. He went on to college, went back home to marry his girlfriend (who he met in the camps) and will eventually go back to start a school there. Another took on as much work as he could to send money back to the camp, and to find his family (and send money to them, once they were found in Uganda). He's a major force in organizations that help other lost boys who have come to America and are trying to find thier way. Another still seemed lost and still hasn't quite found his way.

I'm not quite doing it the justice that it deserves, because this little film that at times is funny and others poignant won the Jury Prize *and* the Audience Award for Documentary at Sundance. The first time that the same movie has won both prizes. "Quinceanera" also managed the same feat for drama. See these films. Really. Unfortunately, they might not be all that accessible, so you're going to have to look for them on DVD, or Independant Film Channel, or any small independant/art house theatre that's local to you.

But there is one that is going to go into wide release in March. It's called "Thank You For Smoking" and is based on the book by the same name. It was directed by a short film director by the name of Jason Reitman. If you think the name sounds familiar, it should - he's the son of director Ivan Reitman who was responsible for movies like "Animal House", "Ghostbusters" and "Kindergarten Cop" among many many others. He's got his father's flare for comedy, but he makes *smart* movies. And "Thank You For Smoking" is definitely a smart comedy. A smart satirical comedy.

It's about a man by the name of Nick Naylor, who is a lobbyist for Big Tobacco. He's divorced, his wife is living with a doctor (who always appears in a white lab coat when he's on screen), and has a 12 year old son that he's trying to be a role model for. Aaron Eckhardt is brilliant as the occasionally conflicted Nick who is trying to be the ultimate spin doctor (because that's what he is good at) while still teaching his son about truth, decisions, and argument (as opposed to negotiation). Rob Lowe has a hysterical turn as a Hollywood agent in the film that is not to be missed. The always wonderful William H. Macy was perfect as a Vermont environmentalist who refused to apologize for his cheese (it's from the movie, you have to see it). I have not laughed so hard in a long time. And snickered. And mused. And smiled.

I thanked the director, who happened to be sitting at the end of my row, when the film was over, and he'd noticed me laughing. Funnily enough, I wasn't embarassed, as he'd stated at the end of the movie that this was the first time that he'd sat and really just watched it for what it was. And it was good.

I know that really doesn't tell you a lot about the movie, but I don't want to spoil it. It was well acted, well directed, and is really worth a watch. If you're local to me, the Cinequest film festival is going to have it as its opening night film on March 1 (and yes, you can get tickets to it without forking over hundreds of dollars for the party, and gala, and all that rot). Otherwise, it opens March 17 everywhere. Run, don't walk, to see it. Really.

So, that's all the film that I saw at Sundance this year - thankfully there weren't any "High School Record"'s or "This Charming Girl"'s to suffer through before I found the gems. I don't put these movies on the same bench as "3-Iron" but they were well done in their own right.

Happy movie watching.