Essays · Movies

What to Expect from Our Sundance 2009 Coverage

As you’ve probably already figured by now, I am whisking my way off to the snowy, majestic mountain town of Park City, Utah for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. And just like last year, I will be bringing you updates from the ground all week long, including reviews, news and spotlights on the festival’s hottest tickets and events.
By  · Published on January 13th, 2009

sundance-waiting-header

As you’ve probably already figured by now, I am whisking my way off to the snowy, majestic mountain town of Park City, Utah for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. And just like last year, I will be bringing you updates from the ground all week long, including reviews, news and spotlights on the festival’s hottest tickets and events. Those of you who had a chance to glance through my 13 Film Should Be Excited to See at Sundance 2009 list already know that this year’s fest is already shaping up to be an exciting one. So as I sit here in row 20, seat A on this Northwest Airlines a320 jet, allow me to break down for you some of the ways I will be bringing you updates from the snowy streets of Park City. Consider this your guide to my coverage (or at least, my expected coverage — who knows, I may get drunk and forget to see any movies at all.)

Follow Me on Twitter – Those hip to web 2.0’s red hot microblogging sensation should already be following my updates over at twitter.com/rejects. If not, this week would be a great week to start, as I will be laying down live reactions, updates from parties and my own personal Sundance agenda as it changes. Stopping in the festival? Feel like stalking a movie blogger? This would probably be your best bet. As well, Twitter will be home to all of my instant reactions to films as I see them. If you’re not interested in waiting until I (or anyone else, for that matter) can properly think out a review and would rather just read gut-based hyperbole 140-characters at time, this is the way to go.

Daily Sundance Blog w/ Video Updates – Just like last year, I will be keeping you abreast of all the house fights (Peter from /Film and Alex from FirstShowing are due for a rematch), all of the random celebrity sightings and all of my favorite drunken moments (which will likely be compiled into an unnecessary, yet entertaining top ten list at the end of the week) in my daily Sundance blog. This year however, we’ll be doing it with a twist — behold the power of video updates. My fat face, your computer screen. As if it were a match sewn together by God himself. I will do my best to keep the video updates short and on-point, but be aware that once alcohol is added to the mix, all hell is likely to break loose. Special Note: Video updates are contingent on my ability to take usable video footage with a Flip minoHD camera and splice it together with iMovie, neither of which is a skill I currently possess. Do not be surprised if video updates turns into video update (singular).

Capsule Reviews – Another new feature of this year’s coverage. Instead of haphazardly sloshing together 700-1000 word ramblings on 30 different films, a process that often ends with a barely legible and mostly incoherent review, I am going to cut back the word count and include capsule reviews for most films in my daily blog updates. I see no need to meander through 800 words about a film that was completely forgettable. Instead I intend to use a concise 200-300 word write-up to light said film on fire. My goal is to be able to see and write about more films this year, rather than skip a screening here and there to spend an hour writing needlessly about something that emerged from the festival’s nether regions.

Full Feature Reviews – As with any filmgoing binge in which one digests 30+ films in just over 10 days, there are going to be some special movies. These upper echelon flicks will receive a full write-up instead of the aforementioned capsule review. I will provide prospective, deliver great contextual analogies and save time for a few lewd comments about the film’s female cast. A great time will be had by all — that is, unless a film is so bad that I am prompted to send 100o words of uninhibited rage hurdling across the waves of the interwebs in it’s general direction. It will happen, so stay tuned.

To follow all of my Sundance updates, feel free to subscribe to our Sundance 2009 RSS feed or bookmark our Sundance 2009 homepage.

As I mentioned, this year’s fest promises to be another interesting one. I’m looking forward to seeing some great unseen films, re-connecting with some of my favorite colleagues from around the country and drinking as much free booze as possible. If you aren’t heading to Park City this year, I would be honored to have you live vicariously through my coverage. Lets see what kind of trouble we can start this year…

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Neil Miller is the persistently-bearded Publisher of Film School Rejects, Nonfics, and One Perfect Shot. He's also the Executive Producer of the One Perfect Shot TV show (currently streaming on HBO Max) and the co-host of Trial By Content on The Ringer Podcast Network. He can be found on Twitter here: @rejects (He/Him)