Phantom Love
A KNR Prods./Menkesfilm presentation of a Kevin Ragsdale production. Produced by Ragsdale. Executive producer, Julian Goldberger. Co-producers, Nina Menkes, Ragsdale. Directed, written, edited by Nina Menkes.
With: Marina Shoif, Juliette Marquis, Yelena Apartseva, Bobby Naderi.
(English, Russian dialogue)
By ROBERT KOEHLER
Stanley Kubrick's confident statement -- "If it can be written or thought, it can be filmed" -- receives stunning confirmation in Nina Menkes' "Phantom Love." While the helmer's four previous features similarly function in a state of dream logic and concern female states of being, the current pic strikingly puts a woman's subconscious thoughts and dreams onscreen in ways more radical and beautiful than in her past visually stunning semi-narrative pics. "Phantom Love" may be too rich for most U.S. distribs, but sophisticated foreign buyers and fests will lust after this piece of pure cinema.
First seen in sweaty coitus with her lover (Bobby Naderi), Lulu (Marina Shoif) appears distanced and expressionless, her face suggesting that her mind is elsewhere. "Phantom Love" is intentionally designed and structured in an open manner, welcoming the viewer to various interpretations. One of them -- implied by the title -- is that much of the rest of the film's images and sounds are the wandering thoughts Lulu experiences during sex.
These images are in black-and-white, and not since Bela Tarr's "Werckmeister Harmonies" has black-and-white looked so stunning and mesmerizing -- thanks crucially, to cinematographer Chris Soos' masterful use of high contrasts, shadows and depth-of-field in the film's majestic interior locales. Though she has handed over lensing chores this time, Menkes functions as usual as her own camera operator, displaying again her gift for framing and nimbly following spontaneous action.
This includes several extended scenes in a Koreatown casino, where Lulu works (akin to Menkes' Vegas heroine in "Queen of Diamonds") at a roulette table. Although the scenes seem at first repetitive, they are actually staged and shot with great variety, including some amazing close-ups of the excited players' faces and hands.
Like dreams often do, images repeat themselves as Lulu tries to work her way through her erotically triggered troubles. One of these involves her dressed in a classic little black dress and heels, carefully walking down a long hallway around an enormous snake. Animals abound in the film, including a fantastically viewed squid in an aquarium and scenes in which Lulu's mother (Yelena Apartseva) is surrounded by bees.
Menkes is not so dreamy a scripter that she fails to link these otherwise showy and random images to Lulu's real-life problems, some of which involve struggling with her mother who's overstayed her welcome in Lulu's home, and her emotionally troubled sister Nitzan (a fine Juliette Marquis), whose momentary disappearance marks the only point in the film where a fixed psychological reality takes the place of subconscious fears and desires.
A repeated view of Lulu crossing a bridge (ravishingly filmed in Rishikesh, India) suggests a passage to another sort of life, and, in a film intently focused on material objects and bodies, the sight of Lulu being drowned in light offers a striking spiritual note.
Actors' perfs matter far less here than their place in the overall staging, but Shoif and Marquis are allowed considerable freedom to express themselves along the lines of silent cinema (the first real line of dialogue occurs well past the 30-minute mark).
Pic triggers memories of movie images from Jacques Demy's "Lola" to Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus," and an amazing shot of a sleeping woman rising off her bed sends the viewer back to the medium's earliest days. Soundtrack, mixing sound effects and Rich Ragsdale's music, creates an audio dream state of its own.
Camera (B&W, 35mm-to-DV), Chris Soos; music, Rich Ragsdale; production designer, S. Logan Wince; costume designer, Erica Frank; sound, Ed White; supervising sound editors, Menkes, Joseph Tsai; sound re-recording mixer, Michael Kreple; visual effects supervisor, Tim Carras; line producers, Aditya Singh, Elyse Katz; associate producers, Lena Bubenechik, Paul Inman; assistant director, Natasha Subramaniam; casting, Bubenechik. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (New Frontiers), Jan. 19, 2007. Running time: 86 MIN.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Sundance 2007 - Day 5
No, we didn't get up at 7 and get to Park City by 8. We did wake by 9 and get out of the motel by 11. We are not being very good at getting up early. And why should we? We're on vacation, screw it.
Should we rush to Park City to see a movie? Nah, this will be the Sundance trip where I didn't see any movies I wasn't in. So be it.
Breakfast, er, lunch, on Main street, a quick stop at the festival store to buy a poster where we are assualted by the angry bitchiness of a woman working there (Kris - "I hope she enjoys being her all day"), and headed back to Salt Lake City. Our trip to Sundance was over. Kris' first time and she had a blast. You talk to people everywhere, everyone is in a good mood, there is so much energy, and it's all about film. So cool.
We had lunch in Salt Lake with my friend Andy, who I've known since third grade, and who was also in Footlighters with me.
Then we flew home. Uneventful.
If you have never been to Sundance, you really should try to go sometime. It is an awesome experience, especially if you are in the film biz, or just love movies. You rarely get a chance to ask a director or an actor a question after a movie, but at the Q & A's after every screening there you do. A lot of film lovers go and volunteer to work the festival a few hours a day and then get to see films and go to parties.
You see celebrities, you go to parties. It's a blast.
I'm going to start planning next years trip to Sundance, today.
Hope this wasn't too boring. I know I tend to write too much and edit too little. I love details. I love coincedence. I love telling stories.
Now I have to go back to writing about other stuff. What's next? I don't know. Tune in tomorrow and find out.
Should we rush to Park City to see a movie? Nah, this will be the Sundance trip where I didn't see any movies I wasn't in. So be it.
Breakfast, er, lunch, on Main street, a quick stop at the festival store to buy a poster where we are assualted by the angry bitchiness of a woman working there (Kris - "I hope she enjoys being her all day"), and headed back to Salt Lake City. Our trip to Sundance was over. Kris' first time and she had a blast. You talk to people everywhere, everyone is in a good mood, there is so much energy, and it's all about film. So cool.
We had lunch in Salt Lake with my friend Andy, who I've known since third grade, and who was also in Footlighters with me.
Then we flew home. Uneventful.
If you have never been to Sundance, you really should try to go sometime. It is an awesome experience, especially if you are in the film biz, or just love movies. You rarely get a chance to ask a director or an actor a question after a movie, but at the Q & A's after every screening there you do. A lot of film lovers go and volunteer to work the festival a few hours a day and then get to see films and go to parties.
You see celebrities, you go to parties. It's a blast.
I'm going to start planning next years trip to Sundance, today.
Hope this wasn't too boring. I know I tend to write too much and edit too little. I love details. I love coincedence. I love telling stories.
Now I have to go back to writing about other stuff. What's next? I don't know. Tune in tomorrow and find out.
Sundance 2007 - Day 4
Damn, Safari just crashed and I lost 30 minutes of writing on this post. I don't really feel like doing it again. So here is day 4 in a nutshell.
Woke up and watched the Bears win the NFC Championship game at a crowded Bears friendly bar on Main Street. Yeah.
Ate over priced Thai food. What isn't overpriced in Park City?
Went to the Illinois Film Office party. That was fun. Saw some old friends from Chicago. Met the new director of the film office, Betsy Steinberg and wished her well. Spoke to Brenda Sexton, the hostess, who after four years running the film office is going to move to LA and start producing. We promised her we'll take her hiking in Griffith Park, which is our favorite thing to do in LA. Spoke to Chaz Ebert, Roger's wife, who I have met several times. What a sweet lady. She was here to let everyone know Roger is doing well and to promote his Overlooked Film Festival in the Spring.
Met Jeff and Liz again for dinner at Cicero's on Main St. and then got into the Method Fest party. Kris said hello to Lou Lombardi, who played Edgar Stiles on 24, our favorite show. He was nice. Kris told him she was sorry they killed him off.
At the party I start talking to a guy, and his name is oddly familiar. Then I remember. I had lunch with him 15 years ago in Chicago. He married a woman I knew in Chicago after she moved to LA. Small world.
Back to Coalvillle for the last time. It's past midnight - I know, early for Sundance, but we have no more parties to go to, and we are going to try to get up early and see a movie tomorrow. Yeah, right.
Woke up and watched the Bears win the NFC Championship game at a crowded Bears friendly bar on Main Street. Yeah.
Ate over priced Thai food. What isn't overpriced in Park City?
Went to the Illinois Film Office party. That was fun. Saw some old friends from Chicago. Met the new director of the film office, Betsy Steinberg and wished her well. Spoke to Brenda Sexton, the hostess, who after four years running the film office is going to move to LA and start producing. We promised her we'll take her hiking in Griffith Park, which is our favorite thing to do in LA. Spoke to Chaz Ebert, Roger's wife, who I have met several times. What a sweet lady. She was here to let everyone know Roger is doing well and to promote his Overlooked Film Festival in the Spring.
Met Jeff and Liz again for dinner at Cicero's on Main St. and then got into the Method Fest party. Kris said hello to Lou Lombardi, who played Edgar Stiles on 24, our favorite show. He was nice. Kris told him she was sorry they killed him off.
At the party I start talking to a guy, and his name is oddly familiar. Then I remember. I had lunch with him 15 years ago in Chicago. He married a woman I knew in Chicago after she moved to LA. Small world.
Back to Coalvillle for the last time. It's past midnight - I know, early for Sundance, but we have no more parties to go to, and we are going to try to get up early and see a movie tomorrow. Yeah, right.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Sundance 2007 - Day 3
Saturday in Park City and it is pretty busy. The busses are crowded, the sidewalks are jammed, and the restaurant staff don't give a damn.
Waking up and taking our time to leave the motel in Coalvillle, we drove back to the Yarrow Hotel in Park City to park the car and have breakfast. Then up to Main Street. I go to my scheduled interview with the ladies of Indie Appeal
(myspace/indieappeal.com), a sort of hip The View, or as they say, not your mother's talk show. Kris walks up to the Egyptian Theatre to get wait list tickets for a 3pm movie.
The interview goes great. The ladies, Amy, Lauren, Maura and Mecca are all really sweet and full of bubbly energy and fun to talk to. I'm getting the star treatment for a few minutes and it's great. I talked about Phantom Love, Cup Of My Blood, and my film, Slave. Fun stuff, I can't wait to do more TV appearances.
The interview was in a building on Main Street that was set up like a big promtional and swag event for invited guests only. There was a liquor sponsor, a furniture company, a water company, a clothing company, The Illinois Film Office had a booth, a Canadian diamond company, The Penninsula Hotel in Chicago, and a few others. My friend John Diggles sponsored a booth for his product. Xango, a new mangosteen drink, that is quite delicious and good for you too!
Kris talked her way past the doorman and was waiting for me downstairs on the first floor when the interview was over. Kris couldn't get wait list tickets for the film because this year they only give one per person, so no movie. I said we should go back up to 3, I wanted to introduce her to the Indie Appeal ladies. That turned into them asking to interview Kris, so a time was set and we left the Main Event building to have a coffee and look around Main Street.
There was a Starbucks on Main St. last time I was here, and it was now a local coffee place. How often does that happen? I wonder what the story behind that was?
We went back to the Main Event and watched the ladies finish their interview with some filmmakers who have a film in Slamdance, Over the GW. It looked pretty intense.
Then Kris was just about to go on set for her interview, when the press agent for the event brought up a guy (a celebrity) and asked him if he wanted to talk to the ladies? He jumps right on set an takes over, and they let it happen. The guy was Dustin Diamond who played Screech on Saved By The Bell from 1989 - 1993. Wow. I missed television those years.
It was pretty funny to watch as he talked about why he is here (he is being followed around for a reality TV show) and he did comedy bits from other movies and turned everything into a self depricating sexual inuendo. Wow.
Kris did her interview and she was great, talking about her art and her clairvoyance, and how she works the two together.
We took photos, we chatted and left.
We went downstairs to the second floor to see what else we could get from the other sponsors. I could get used to the star treatment. We talked to the Peninsula Hotel people from Chicago and tasted their amazing hot chocolate. Then had a Patron margarita, it was after 3 already, and walked to the back room by the Gold Toe sock display. The two ladies there, Jen and Ericka, were so nice, invited us to sit. I think they were happy to have company. They gave us lots of socks, and told us they get calls from stars, like this, "I'm in my closet, and it's all beige and brown, and I don't have any socks to match, can you send me 100 pairs?" And they do it. Once.
They gave us socks.
Then Jen asks Kris what she does, and Kris starts telling her about painting in reverse on vinyl, and Jen gets this weird look on her face and says, "I know you, some one told me about you." Someone who Kris doesn't know had told Jen about her paintings last year. Jen remembered her as soon as she heard the reverse painting on vinyl. That was a spooky cool wow moment for Kris.
All this has happened and it's not even 5 PM. So we leave there and go up Main Street to meet Jeff Gold and his girlfriend Liz, and a couple of other friends for an early dinner. The restaurant is Shabu, and the only reservation Jeff could get was 5 pm. This is important because later it comes up. The restaurant is very crowded and very expensive. Fine dining, right?
The food is good, the service fine, we are all talking and drinking and enjoying ourselves. The bill comes, it's paid, and two members of our table leave, and we ask the waiter for more water. Jeff leaves the table for a minute, Liz, Kris and I are there, and the waiter tells us, very rudely, that we have been there too long, our reservation was from 5 to 7, they let us stay till eight, (it's only 7:30) but they have been very generous to us and let us stay but now they have to turn the table and we have to go as he grabs the water glass away from Liz. We were stunned. The billl for 7 of us, though I didn't see it, had to be about 400 to 500 bucks. This isn't a diner. So Jeff comes back and I tell him what happened. He gets mad, Liz gets mad. We all got mad. So we said something. Jeff wantes to talk to the manager. The waiter goes away, and when he comes back he is very apologetic, but never really says I'm sorry for the way he acted, but the manager has instructed him to tell us we can stay and they would like to buy us a drink. So we take the drink, and take our time, but it was a very strange experience. A Waitergonebad for sure!
After that we had to get going to our second screening of Phantom Love, which I liked even more the second time, and this time I was invited down to the podium by the director for the Q & A. That was fun. Nina answered questions about the film.
By the time we got out of there it was almost midnight and we decided to head back to Coalville. Nothing happened on the way. We sat in the hot tub at the motel. I'm addicted to hot tubs now. That was day three.
Waking up and taking our time to leave the motel in Coalvillle, we drove back to the Yarrow Hotel in Park City to park the car and have breakfast. Then up to Main Street. I go to my scheduled interview with the ladies of Indie Appeal
(myspace/indieappeal.com), a sort of hip The View, or as they say, not your mother's talk show. Kris walks up to the Egyptian Theatre to get wait list tickets for a 3pm movie.
The interview goes great. The ladies, Amy, Lauren, Maura and Mecca are all really sweet and full of bubbly energy and fun to talk to. I'm getting the star treatment for a few minutes and it's great. I talked about Phantom Love, Cup Of My Blood, and my film, Slave. Fun stuff, I can't wait to do more TV appearances.
The interview was in a building on Main Street that was set up like a big promtional and swag event for invited guests only. There was a liquor sponsor, a furniture company, a water company, a clothing company, The Illinois Film Office had a booth, a Canadian diamond company, The Penninsula Hotel in Chicago, and a few others. My friend John Diggles sponsored a booth for his product. Xango, a new mangosteen drink, that is quite delicious and good for you too!
Kris talked her way past the doorman and was waiting for me downstairs on the first floor when the interview was over. Kris couldn't get wait list tickets for the film because this year they only give one per person, so no movie. I said we should go back up to 3, I wanted to introduce her to the Indie Appeal ladies. That turned into them asking to interview Kris, so a time was set and we left the Main Event building to have a coffee and look around Main Street.
There was a Starbucks on Main St. last time I was here, and it was now a local coffee place. How often does that happen? I wonder what the story behind that was?
We went back to the Main Event and watched the ladies finish their interview with some filmmakers who have a film in Slamdance, Over the GW. It looked pretty intense.
Then Kris was just about to go on set for her interview, when the press agent for the event brought up a guy (a celebrity) and asked him if he wanted to talk to the ladies? He jumps right on set an takes over, and they let it happen. The guy was Dustin Diamond who played Screech on Saved By The Bell from 1989 - 1993. Wow. I missed television those years.
It was pretty funny to watch as he talked about why he is here (he is being followed around for a reality TV show) and he did comedy bits from other movies and turned everything into a self depricating sexual inuendo. Wow.
Kris did her interview and she was great, talking about her art and her clairvoyance, and how she works the two together.
We took photos, we chatted and left.
We went downstairs to the second floor to see what else we could get from the other sponsors. I could get used to the star treatment. We talked to the Peninsula Hotel people from Chicago and tasted their amazing hot chocolate. Then had a Patron margarita, it was after 3 already, and walked to the back room by the Gold Toe sock display. The two ladies there, Jen and Ericka, were so nice, invited us to sit. I think they were happy to have company. They gave us lots of socks, and told us they get calls from stars, like this, "I'm in my closet, and it's all beige and brown, and I don't have any socks to match, can you send me 100 pairs?" And they do it. Once.
They gave us socks.
Then Jen asks Kris what she does, and Kris starts telling her about painting in reverse on vinyl, and Jen gets this weird look on her face and says, "I know you, some one told me about you." Someone who Kris doesn't know had told Jen about her paintings last year. Jen remembered her as soon as she heard the reverse painting on vinyl. That was a spooky cool wow moment for Kris.
All this has happened and it's not even 5 PM. So we leave there and go up Main Street to meet Jeff Gold and his girlfriend Liz, and a couple of other friends for an early dinner. The restaurant is Shabu, and the only reservation Jeff could get was 5 pm. This is important because later it comes up. The restaurant is very crowded and very expensive. Fine dining, right?
The food is good, the service fine, we are all talking and drinking and enjoying ourselves. The bill comes, it's paid, and two members of our table leave, and we ask the waiter for more water. Jeff leaves the table for a minute, Liz, Kris and I are there, and the waiter tells us, very rudely, that we have been there too long, our reservation was from 5 to 7, they let us stay till eight, (it's only 7:30) but they have been very generous to us and let us stay but now they have to turn the table and we have to go as he grabs the water glass away from Liz. We were stunned. The billl for 7 of us, though I didn't see it, had to be about 400 to 500 bucks. This isn't a diner. So Jeff comes back and I tell him what happened. He gets mad, Liz gets mad. We all got mad. So we said something. Jeff wantes to talk to the manager. The waiter goes away, and when he comes back he is very apologetic, but never really says I'm sorry for the way he acted, but the manager has instructed him to tell us we can stay and they would like to buy us a drink. So we take the drink, and take our time, but it was a very strange experience. A Waitergonebad for sure!
After that we had to get going to our second screening of Phantom Love, which I liked even more the second time, and this time I was invited down to the podium by the director for the Q & A. That was fun. Nina answered questions about the film.
By the time we got out of there it was almost midnight and we decided to head back to Coalville. Nothing happened on the way. We sat in the hot tub at the motel. I'm addicted to hot tubs now. That was day three.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Sundance 2007 - Day 2
Yesterday I mentioned that anyone who is somebody has a festival pass, a big bright orange pass hanging around their neck, and they wear it proudly. Well, now I have one too.
Yesterday, we left Coalville and went to breakfast at the Yarrow wherre we overheard the director of My Kid Could Paint That being interviewed. Then up to Main Street and said hello to Jeff Gold, a composer friend of mine who lives in SLC and is running a small festival on Main Street at The New Frontier Building called the Music and Film Festival, devoted to music in films. Went to a free cafe sponsored by The Wall Street Journal Week-end edition and heard John Sloss and Brett Morgan (Chicago 10) talk about their film.
Then we went back to the Holiday Cinema to get wait list tickets for the 5:30 premiere of Phantom Love. Across the parking lot for a sandwich and ran into John Diggles, fellow Chicago filmmaker and producer of the 2002 Sundance film, Design, by Davidson Cole.
Got into the screening of Phantom Love ($10 tickets!!!) and saw Nina, the director and others from the film and was thoroughly mesmorized by it. It's a personal story, a search for meaning and self. Not for everyone, as evidenced by those who walked out, but I thought it was beautiful, full of haunting images, and shot in beautiful Black and White. Then I came on screen, preaching, in two shots, close ups, powerful, and it was a real kick to see my self up there.
After the screening we had a drink and at dinner we talked to our neighbors and met some cool people. We decided to head back early, sit in the spa and get some sleep.
Here is the fun capper to the day. We park at the motel in Coalville, and up pulls a Jeep to the front door. As we walk in I see the Indiana license plates and comment that they have come a long way. Then we enter the lobby and the guy who got out of the Jeep was Rusty Nails, a guy I went to Columbia College with and a Chicago filmmaker. He was just stopping to ask directions. They were just driving here from Chicago. I gave them directions and I'm sure we'll see them on Main street. Good thing I didn't owe him any money. That would have been uncomfortable. What are the chances? If it were in a movie, I don't think I'd believe it. Life and movies, sometimes it's hard to tell them apart. As my friend Al Rose wrote; "Shit like this you can't make up."
Day two was a blast, and met a lot of people.
Yesterday, we left Coalville and went to breakfast at the Yarrow wherre we overheard the director of My Kid Could Paint That being interviewed. Then up to Main Street and said hello to Jeff Gold, a composer friend of mine who lives in SLC and is running a small festival on Main Street at The New Frontier Building called the Music and Film Festival, devoted to music in films. Went to a free cafe sponsored by The Wall Street Journal Week-end edition and heard John Sloss and Brett Morgan (Chicago 10) talk about their film.
Then we went back to the Holiday Cinema to get wait list tickets for the 5:30 premiere of Phantom Love. Across the parking lot for a sandwich and ran into John Diggles, fellow Chicago filmmaker and producer of the 2002 Sundance film, Design, by Davidson Cole.
Got into the screening of Phantom Love ($10 tickets!!!) and saw Nina, the director and others from the film and was thoroughly mesmorized by it. It's a personal story, a search for meaning and self. Not for everyone, as evidenced by those who walked out, but I thought it was beautiful, full of haunting images, and shot in beautiful Black and White. Then I came on screen, preaching, in two shots, close ups, powerful, and it was a real kick to see my self up there.
After the screening we had a drink and at dinner we talked to our neighbors and met some cool people. We decided to head back early, sit in the spa and get some sleep.
Here is the fun capper to the day. We park at the motel in Coalville, and up pulls a Jeep to the front door. As we walk in I see the Indiana license plates and comment that they have come a long way. Then we enter the lobby and the guy who got out of the Jeep was Rusty Nails, a guy I went to Columbia College with and a Chicago filmmaker. He was just stopping to ask directions. They were just driving here from Chicago. I gave them directions and I'm sure we'll see them on Main street. Good thing I didn't owe him any money. That would have been uncomfortable. What are the chances? If it were in a movie, I don't think I'd believe it. Life and movies, sometimes it's hard to tell them apart. As my friend Al Rose wrote; "Shit like this you can't make up."
Day two was a blast, and met a lot of people.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Sundance 2007 - Day 1
It's late, and I've been traveling all day, but I wanted to write something before I go to bed. I'm here at the Sundance Film Festival. This year, unlike anytime I've been here before, I'm connected to a film in the festival. I have a small part in the film Phantom Love by Nina Menkes. When Nina wrote me that the film was selected to premiere in the fest, I knew I had to be here. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have come this year.
It's cold here! Yeah really, it's winter. The high today in Park City was 20 degrees. I haven't experienced a cold winter in a year, and you know what? It's the same as I remember it. You have to wear a lot of clothes and it's cold and hard to move and its cold. But I'm not here to talk about the weather.
We flew into Salt Lake City today, rented a car and drove up to Coalville, UT, about 20 miles east of Park City. It was the only place I could get a room a month before the festival that didn't cost $300 a night. After checking in at the Best Western in Coalville, we went down and sat in the spa for a while. That helped releive some of the stress of travel.
Then we drove into Park City for dinner and to look around. Tonight is the opening night of the festival, so it isn't that crowded yet. Already the bars and restaurants are busy, but not like it will be tomorrow, and the rest of this opening weekend. The festival runs for ten days, but most people come either the first weekend or the second. The opening weekend is busier and more star sightings are likely.
Kris has never been to Park City or the festival, so this is all new to her. This is my fourth festival, so I know the lay of the land a bit.
One thing that didn't work for me about this years festival was the system they created for buying individual screening tickets. You see, if you are anybody, you have a pass. A pass says you are somebody. Sombody with either an expence account, a studio job, or are successful enough or important enough to shell out hundreds (or maybe a thousand) for an all access full festival pass.
The rest of us must beg, borrow or steal tickets to get into the best films. Or get lucky in the ticket lottery to buy single tickets. This year they had a lottery system and here's how it worked. You had to pay 5 bucks to be entered into a lottery, and create a user account. Then a computer would randomly assign all those who entered a time to purchase individual tickets to screenings via a secure website. The time slots were from Monday to Friday of the week before the festival. Kris and I entered. Her time was Thursday afternoon, mine was friday morning, the last day tickets were on sale. Now, they don't really know how many pass holders are going to attend a given movie, so they must have a system for estimating how many will, and based on the number of seats at a particular venue, (there are 8 in Park City) how many individual tickets they can sell.
So you log onto a website at your assigned time, access your account, and start selecting tickets. If you called in on the phone at your assigned time, there would be a ten dollar service fee, on top of the one dollar service fee on each tickets bought on-line or on the phone.
When Kris' time came, we started logging in to use the service, but the system was so over loaded that it didn't work. So we tried the phone, and that was busy for over a half hour. Then our call was answered and we were put on hold for a long time. When we finally got an operator, every movie we wanted, and every back-up second choice we wanted was already sold out. The only movie we were able to get tickets for was a screening on Saturday night at a theatre about 6 miles outside of Park City (who wants to leave Park City just to see a movie!) of Phantom Love, the film I am in. That's it. Everything else was sold out. And with the service fee, the lottery fee and the telephone fee, it cost us 52 dollars for two tickets to see the movie I am in. Great!
Now if you can't afford 26 dollars for a movie ticket maybe you should stay home and rent a movie and make some micro-wave popcorn. This is Sundance baby. You might be sitting next to "someone" at a screening. You might see a big star on the street or the table next to you at lunch. Once I ran into Hope Davis at the Albertsons doing some shopping. You never know. So, no, I'm not complaining about spending 52 dollars for two movie tickets, I'm bragging about it! $28 for an entree? $13 dollars for a glass of wine? Bring it on.
Tomorrow we will get in line for last minute tickets to the Premiere of Phantom Love. I hope we can get in. I want to see the first screening, to go up on stage after the movie with the director and the rest of the cast. That is what I want out of this.
I got paid 100 bucks for my participation in this movie. I'm spending thousands to attend the festival. Is it worth it? You bet it is. It's priceless.
More tomorrow! Look for us on E - entertainment! Signing out from Coalville, UT -
Noel
It's cold here! Yeah really, it's winter. The high today in Park City was 20 degrees. I haven't experienced a cold winter in a year, and you know what? It's the same as I remember it. You have to wear a lot of clothes and it's cold and hard to move and its cold. But I'm not here to talk about the weather.
We flew into Salt Lake City today, rented a car and drove up to Coalville, UT, about 20 miles east of Park City. It was the only place I could get a room a month before the festival that didn't cost $300 a night. After checking in at the Best Western in Coalville, we went down and sat in the spa for a while. That helped releive some of the stress of travel.
Then we drove into Park City for dinner and to look around. Tonight is the opening night of the festival, so it isn't that crowded yet. Already the bars and restaurants are busy, but not like it will be tomorrow, and the rest of this opening weekend. The festival runs for ten days, but most people come either the first weekend or the second. The opening weekend is busier and more star sightings are likely.
Kris has never been to Park City or the festival, so this is all new to her. This is my fourth festival, so I know the lay of the land a bit.
One thing that didn't work for me about this years festival was the system they created for buying individual screening tickets. You see, if you are anybody, you have a pass. A pass says you are somebody. Sombody with either an expence account, a studio job, or are successful enough or important enough to shell out hundreds (or maybe a thousand) for an all access full festival pass.
The rest of us must beg, borrow or steal tickets to get into the best films. Or get lucky in the ticket lottery to buy single tickets. This year they had a lottery system and here's how it worked. You had to pay 5 bucks to be entered into a lottery, and create a user account. Then a computer would randomly assign all those who entered a time to purchase individual tickets to screenings via a secure website. The time slots were from Monday to Friday of the week before the festival. Kris and I entered. Her time was Thursday afternoon, mine was friday morning, the last day tickets were on sale. Now, they don't really know how many pass holders are going to attend a given movie, so they must have a system for estimating how many will, and based on the number of seats at a particular venue, (there are 8 in Park City) how many individual tickets they can sell.
So you log onto a website at your assigned time, access your account, and start selecting tickets. If you called in on the phone at your assigned time, there would be a ten dollar service fee, on top of the one dollar service fee on each tickets bought on-line or on the phone.
When Kris' time came, we started logging in to use the service, but the system was so over loaded that it didn't work. So we tried the phone, and that was busy for over a half hour. Then our call was answered and we were put on hold for a long time. When we finally got an operator, every movie we wanted, and every back-up second choice we wanted was already sold out. The only movie we were able to get tickets for was a screening on Saturday night at a theatre about 6 miles outside of Park City (who wants to leave Park City just to see a movie!) of Phantom Love, the film I am in. That's it. Everything else was sold out. And with the service fee, the lottery fee and the telephone fee, it cost us 52 dollars for two tickets to see the movie I am in. Great!
Now if you can't afford 26 dollars for a movie ticket maybe you should stay home and rent a movie and make some micro-wave popcorn. This is Sundance baby. You might be sitting next to "someone" at a screening. You might see a big star on the street or the table next to you at lunch. Once I ran into Hope Davis at the Albertsons doing some shopping. You never know. So, no, I'm not complaining about spending 52 dollars for two movie tickets, I'm bragging about it! $28 for an entree? $13 dollars for a glass of wine? Bring it on.
Tomorrow we will get in line for last minute tickets to the Premiere of Phantom Love. I hope we can get in. I want to see the first screening, to go up on stage after the movie with the director and the rest of the cast. That is what I want out of this.
I got paid 100 bucks for my participation in this movie. I'm spending thousands to attend the festival. Is it worth it? You bet it is. It's priceless.
More tomorrow! Look for us on E - entertainment! Signing out from Coalville, UT -
Noel
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Happy New Year 2007
Greetings friends and strangers,
I hope 2007 will rain health and wealth and happiness down on you like confetti in Times Square on NYE. I hope the New Year will bring you all you desire and that you get to wear fabulous new clothes. I hope your breath will always be pleasant and your dandruff under control. I hope your feet will carry you on amazing paths through exotic countries and your tongue will learn many new words. I hope the lottery numbers you saw in your dream last night and played today match the Big Game. I hope your teenage children appreciate you for the amazing person you are. I hope you never need Viagra or Vagisil. I hope you smoke only the good stuff. I hope your blood pressure is low, your I.Q. high, and your bowel movements regular. I hope your evil boss gets transferred, your obnoxious co-worker has an epiphany and moves to Tibet and is replaced by someone super-cool. I hope you finish your screenplay. I hope you win the Nobel prize. I hope your line of women's thong bikinis gets picked up by Macy's. I hope your dog's obedient training classes go well. I hope your coffee is always strong. I hope you look good in every photo you are in this year. I hope that re-hab job in your home is over soon. I hope you marry the person of your dreams. I hope you learn to ride a bike. I hope you learn to play the guitar. I hope your psoriasis clears up. I hope your garage sale is a success. I hope your girlfriend loses that 20 pounds she's been trying to lose. I hope the wars and destruction around the planet will end and the healing can begin. I hope your car gets 45 MPG. I hope I can move on to the next paragraph of this entry soon. I hope the Cubs win the World Series. I hope you get your own sit-com. I hope you learn to golf.
The new year is getting off to a great start for me here in LA-LA land, my new home.
I've been here for 9 months now and in that time I've lived in two apartments, bought a new car, had a lot of jobs, and had a role in a film that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month. I've been asked to be a company member of the Atwater Playhouse in LA, performed in Invisible Bars, the second show at this new theatre, and continue to study my craft and get better all the time.
I'm going to write more in 2007, so check back often.
Peace to you all,
Noel
I hope 2007 will rain health and wealth and happiness down on you like confetti in Times Square on NYE. I hope the New Year will bring you all you desire and that you get to wear fabulous new clothes. I hope your breath will always be pleasant and your dandruff under control. I hope your feet will carry you on amazing paths through exotic countries and your tongue will learn many new words. I hope the lottery numbers you saw in your dream last night and played today match the Big Game. I hope your teenage children appreciate you for the amazing person you are. I hope you never need Viagra or Vagisil. I hope you smoke only the good stuff. I hope your blood pressure is low, your I.Q. high, and your bowel movements regular. I hope your evil boss gets transferred, your obnoxious co-worker has an epiphany and moves to Tibet and is replaced by someone super-cool. I hope you finish your screenplay. I hope you win the Nobel prize. I hope your line of women's thong bikinis gets picked up by Macy's. I hope your dog's obedient training classes go well. I hope your coffee is always strong. I hope you look good in every photo you are in this year. I hope that re-hab job in your home is over soon. I hope you marry the person of your dreams. I hope you learn to ride a bike. I hope you learn to play the guitar. I hope your psoriasis clears up. I hope your garage sale is a success. I hope your girlfriend loses that 20 pounds she's been trying to lose. I hope the wars and destruction around the planet will end and the healing can begin. I hope your car gets 45 MPG. I hope I can move on to the next paragraph of this entry soon. I hope the Cubs win the World Series. I hope you get your own sit-com. I hope you learn to golf.
The new year is getting off to a great start for me here in LA-LA land, my new home.
I've been here for 9 months now and in that time I've lived in two apartments, bought a new car, had a lot of jobs, and had a role in a film that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month. I've been asked to be a company member of the Atwater Playhouse in LA, performed in Invisible Bars, the second show at this new theatre, and continue to study my craft and get better all the time.
I'm going to write more in 2007, so check back often.
Peace to you all,
Noel
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