Jet Set Lara: travel, decadence and the pursuit of pleasure

Sundance dirty little secret

If you read the press, Sundance is portrayed as the premier independent film festival attracting talented filmmakers, actors, dealmakers and thousands of movie fans from around the world. But you won't hear anything about how the locals, and skiers, perceive the 21 year old event. That's because they often have extremely negative comments to make about the visitors: "Coffee crowd" would be the most innocent remark you'll hear them make.

As you can imagine, the festival's crowd tends to be younger and less affluent than the usual Park City visitors. Furthermore, it scares away many skiers and the lifts remain well under capacity even when the weather conditions are excellent (much like this weekend). Hotels and condos do great business of course, but keep in mind many of them are owned by large corporations, not local residents. I should specify that locals are generally very friendly, just not during the festival.

The crowds make it impossible to park anywhere near Main St. and you should expect severe traffic jams around key intersections and ski lifts around 4:30pm. Unfortunately, the free Park City shuttle sounds better than what it really is. You'll easily miss your movie if you don't allow enough time between screenings at one of the numerous temporary theaters around town (with rather uncomfortable seating I might add, but hey it's an indie fest, what did you expect? Popcorn? If so go to the Egyptian) Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy popcorn (no butter though!)

Speaking of butter, while in the area (it's a bit of a drive), I was told to check out La Caille, a French restaurant with good ambience but (supposedly) mediocre food. It's also open, and more reasonably priced, for Sunday brunch. I would like to go, but doubt I'll make it during my Sundance visit.

Update: I confirmed from a couple of different sources that the food at La Caille leaves a lot to be desired... It's officially off my list!

Lara

Photo: The Egyptian theater, Sundance 2005 (click to enlarge)

Blogcasting from Sundance

Back in September I briefly touched upon the subject of film festivals and although Sundance has become a victim of its own success in many ways, I decided to make it to Park City this year. Landing in Salt Lake City is always an air-traffic control gamble because of the heavy fog. However, halfway up the mountain towards Park City we were rewarded with exceptionally good weather. It's supposed to stay sunny for the next few days. That doesn't make the nights any less cold:)

I have to admit I had grand plans before coming here. I had promised myself I would be updating the blog on a daily or quasi-daily basis. In reality, there is barely any time to breath, and it's not because of the high altitude... Park City during the festival is crowded, too crowded in my opinion, and although most of the mainstream parties are mediocre, time literally flies: film screenings, people watching (lots of cute blonde girls:), walking, industry networking and small talk, etc

In the evenings, the best gatherings are smaller and private, in beautiful houses up in the hills or in Deer Valley, far away from the fraternity crowd. I hardly manage to spend any time alone, but Park City is well-covered by WiFi so I'll try to find a semi-private location this weekend and upload a couple of pictures.

Lara

Time to make another confession...

I've been familiar with the work of Andrew Blake for many years and always appreciated it for its high degree of eroticism, shameless hedonism and sensuality. I recently finally ordered one of his DVDs, HardEdge, and although a bit too fetishistic at times for my taste, I loved it... And he always picks amazing locations for his films! Most of HardEdge was filmed at an old mansion in Paris.

I believe sometime in the near future he will be widely accepted to represent for erotic cinematography what Helmut Newton represented for photography.

I have no affiliation with Andrew Blake and do not benefit from his work.

Lara

A peak into an upcoming film list

I received several emails from film lovers when I posted the Film Festival entry on my blog a couple of weeks ago. As a result, I decided to share some of my favorite movies, as well as the ones I would like to watch in the near future, in the form of an Amazon.com wish list. I will be updating it periodically, but you'll already find titles by Bunuel, Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Wim Wenders and Ridley Scott among others. This is by no means a complete list, but I didn't want to carpet bomb you with 100 titles!

Anyway, time to go to bed since I finally came back from LA and Malibu after a long and adventurous weekend. Maybe I'll write about it on an upcoming post.

Lara

For fellow film lovers...

The Venice International Film Festival is drawing to an end, while the one in Toronto just started. It's hard to keep up with film festivals these days; there has been a real festival inflation. I guess that's a good thing. Besides, Sundance and Cannes have grown too large and too sophisticated in their marketing to be spontaneous and fun.

A good site with a comprehensive database of international film festivals is (surprise!) FilmFestivals.com

I will never forgive myself for failing to go to the Festival International du Film Fantastique d'Avoriaz (it ended in '93 and I was fresh in college back then). Who could forget Jacob's Ladder that won best picture there? I don't know why I suddenly remembered Avoriaz. Maybe it's due to the surreal atmosphere of my recent Black Rock desert trip. I think part of my mind is still there.

Lara

A highschool locker at Burning Man 2004: