Sundancing, Part the Fourth, In Which Al Gore and John Waters Reign Supreme



(image via rogerebert.suntimes.com)

Indiewire, one of the best overall Sundance blogs -- along with Cinematical and Defamer-- chronicles Sunday night festivities, thusly:

"10th Queer Brunch: A packed crowd, including director John Waters and singer Rufus Wainwright turned up for the 10th annual Queer Brunch at the Grub Steakhouse in Park City Sunday afternoon. Outfest and HERE! TV announced a program with UCLA to spearhead preservation of gay films. The initiative has been given a bequest of $150,000 to launch the project ... the Bloody Marys were still flowing as usual..."

Yeah, but is the Queer Brunch any hotter a pick-up spot than, say, the LOGO cafeteria on any day of the week (link via jossip)?

"... The Discovery Channel held a fabulous party for their slate of films at the festival, known as Discover Docs. Former Vice President Albert Gore and wife Tipper showed up for the event. Invitees chatted with Gore and he was inundated with requests for pictures, which he obligingly posed for. The event, held at Zoom on Main Street, had amazing food, including a decadent macaroni and cheese, which Gore couldn't resist sampling."

The Discovery Channel knows how to shmooze New Media stylee, yo: This, after naming Ted Koppel as Managing Editor of Documentaries recently (Way to build a brand, guys). And, from DW Hudson at Geencine:

"Splitting time between screenings and parties is a necessity in these parts, since the real work is done at both. Whether it's playing chess with NWFF's Michael Seiwerath at the THINKFilm party (with Mix Master Mike spinning 'virtual' records in the background), briefly chatting with John Waters at the here!/Outfest Queer Brunch (visiting to promote his new television show) or dining at our home-away-from-home with the Zellner Brothers (who once again have a characteristically confounding short screening at the festival), the real reason for returning to Park City is the assortment of exceptional people that descend on the town for a handful of days."

Bobcat Goldthwait's film about blowing dogs is also getting some attention. Here, from the always noteworthy Karina Longworth:

"Earlier today, I shot a 20 minute interview with Geoff Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival. Randall is working on encoding the video as we speak for posting later today, but here's a little tidbit to tide you over. Geoff had said on-camera that one of his favorite films of the festival was Bobcat Goldthwait's twisted romantic comedy Stay, which I saw yesterday and sort of loved.

"As we packed up our stuff, I told him how impressed I had been by the film. Geoff nodded, and said, 'But buyers are scared to death of it.' Gilmore predicts that the film � which hinges on an un-seen instance of beastiality � will not sell during the festival, but will resurface later in the year and find a sizable audience. 'It's such a good film,' he said. 'How could it not?'"

Note to future stars of The Dance: Canine bestiality, or mention thereof, may hurt your chances at getting picked up by a studio. And, "The Hawk is Dying" gets Sundance love, and not just because Paul Giameti looks like a film critic, even though he does.

Jason Calacanis, always ahead of the curve, does a video roundtable. Julia Kwan, getting buzzy props from both Roger Ebert and Cinematical for her feature length film, "Eve and the Fire Horse."