Despite what some might expect from a self-confessed film geek, Vespe isn't in Utah to rub shoulders with the famous or the powerful or the beautiful.

"I've done about two weeks of preparation, tweaking my schedule, contacting publicity people, trying to squeeze in as many movies as I can. Doing it that way, I'm still only seeing half the movies I want to see. My goal is to see as many films as I can. I am turning down tons of parties in favor of seeing movies."

Vespe has indeed seen a number of films already, writing about them as quickly as he can to get word out to his readers about as many of them as possible. Unlike the Deseret Morning News, which only runs reviews when a film opens locally for the public, AICN posts them online immediately. While Jeff Vice is the film critic at the Morning News, a tactic employed by most newspapers, Vespe is one of half-a-dozen or so possible critics at his site. His colleagues might review the same films later and even disagree with the initial review.

Ethics of this new breed of news providers has been called into question a number of times. Unconfirmed sources or use of a rumor as fact or even prank stories thought to be factual have given play to completely false reporting. Mainstream news sources have even run with the same stories, giving both the Internet site and mainstream press a black eye.

Despite this, according to Vespe, studios now perceive the fan sites as less of a threat and more of a resource, which ironically has cut back on "spy" information in some cases.

"They have now invited the Internet to take part in a traditional journalist sense, which many feel has impacted the Internet coverage for the worse. I've seen some sites go completely corporate and disappear. Some sites are now 100 percent reliant on studios granting them access to junkets, press lines and interviews."

AICN, which still generates leaks and spy reports, has even lost some of its sources as the need to dispel secrets dried up with ultra secrecy. The end result is that fan sites are closer to traditional news outlets but retain a maverick voice and operating method.

Ultimately Vespe hopes to see great film and let his readers know about it, which is why he braves the snow, ice and hectic schedules. A memory of a poignant experience at the Vancouver Film Festival watching a film called "Before The Storm" left him with a hunger to view independent films whenever he can.

"That film was never given a theatrical distribution anywhere near North America and I believe is on DVD only in Germany. If I hadn't seen that movie in Vancouver, I would never have seen that movie, period. I don't want that to happen at Sundance."

Sensitivity notice: Film sites such as AintItCool and its forums may use language and terms readers find offensive.

Other movie fan sites include: www.chud.com, www.cinematical.com, www.darkhorizons.com, www.filmthreat.com, www.joblow.com, www.latinoreview.com, www.moviepoopshoot.com