Just got back to Los Angeles and wanted to drop a line about the last couple days at Sundance. As far as TYFS goes, the festival added a final screening on Saturday in Eccles (the big theater) because of all the buzz. It was a real joy sitting there and watching it with everybody. I think it was the first time I just relaxed and watched the movie without a worry in my mind. It was a thrill. I was reminded of all the great contributions people made along the way to make this film what it is. Particularly the dialogue. Some of my favorite lines were coined by the actors -
"The great state of Vermont will not apologize for it's cheese." - William H. Macy
"Come on Hiroshi, the sand's not going to rake itself" - Adam Brody
"I have to go fire a call screener" - Dennis Miller
"Bitch, Whore." - Aaron Eckhart
"He's a fun guy. You'll like him" - Rob Lowe
"Thank you" (in response to "I'm sure you both deserve vigilantly justice" - Maria Bello
"We can have our own celebrity victim tour" - David Sacks (producer)
And of course Christopher Buckley wrote everything else. If you haven’t bought the “Thank You For Smoking” book yet, I can’t tell you how much you’re missing. You really owe yourself the opportunity to read it now and be the first to claim how much better the novel is than the movie.
Oh, and we found the missing Katie Holmes footage. It was on the floor of a projection booth at Sundance. It played as part of the film on Saturday and I think everyone was under whelmed. I tried to warn people, but I guess folks want to believe the gossip.
I took an MPEG as I was introduced before the screening so you could see what it’s like to take the stage at Sundance. Check for that on the site in the next couple days. In the mean time, enjoy the cool photo my wife Michele took of me live on CNN. It rocks. I may hire her to shoot my next film.
As the festival cooled down, I got the chance to see more films. My hand is covered in stamps from going to so many theaters. So much great stuff, Loved all the docs. Particularly “Awesome: I fucking shot that” (Beastie Boys), “Everyone Stares” (the Police), and “Clear Cut”. However, here are four narrative films you need to see:
“Little Miss Sunshine” – As good as the hype. It’s the “Sideways” of this year.
“Quinciniera” – Charming. Beautiful. Real. Eric Steelberg (who shot all my commercials and short films) was the cinematographer.
“Alpha Dog” – Late 90’s tale of a kidnapping gone wrong. Unbelievable portrait of Southern California youth culture.
“13 Tzameti” – French thriller. Black and White. Russian Roulette. Will leave you sweating. Promise.
Back to work tomorrow. Finishing the deal on my next film right now. Getting ready for a national tour with the film that leads up to the release on March 17th. First stop is the Santa Barbara Film Festival on February 12th. If you’re nearby, come by and say hello.
Hi Jason, I just wanted to stop by and say that by far, you are my biggest inspiration in a long time. What I have seen of your work so far is amazing. I'm a film student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, I recently found your three shorts on atomFilms.com. Consent was hilarious. In God We Trust was genius. and Gulp was great too. And all of the sudden your working with people like Adam Brody, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, and Rob Lowe, I only hope that one day I can make films of the same calibur.
Posted by: James Morse | February 02, 2006 at 04:56 PM