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Star-gazing still big part of Sundance

who cares !

should just hold his little movie fair in Hollywood so he doesn't have to mingle with the lower classes in Utah who come out to see the stars.

Just my two cents.....

Isn't "Independent Film" just another phrase for "bad movie"?

oh, come on...there's nothing wrong with a festival being held here, makes life interesting and it's good for Utah. Let's not spin it into something it isn't. It's a good thing. :)

There are more interesting movies that are independent than the big blockbusters that are overrated.

I wasn't complaining about the festival being here---it seems that Robert Redford is complaining about all of the people who clog the festival hoping to catch sight of the "beautiful people"---not my thing, but whatever floats your boat! I believe Mr. Redford feels that when Utahns show up it turns the event into a circus. Didn't the byline quote him saying, "It has GOT to stop!" It mystifies me why anyone thinks these people are special. I for one am not that easily impressed and have better things to do with my time.

"Isn't "Independent Film" just another phrase for "bad movie"?"

Only if you know nothing about film and think the only purpose of a film is to provide mindless entertainment for a few hours - and that a film that does anything else is a failure. Only if you completely fail to understand that film is an artform.

You make a good point. I suspect Redford is smart enough to know that star-gazing is good, VERY VERY good for his film festival but he says he wants to focus on films because he does care about films and because its the "right" thing to say. If the festival hated stars it could quit picking films with U2 and Tom Hanks in them, like last year.

Take away the press and the famous and the festival becomes quiet and ignored. It might still have some good films but it would lose a lot.

I see 1-5 films each year and I enjoy most and take in a stinker now and then.

I always miss some that come to theaters too, and I usually find them pretty great as well.

The "film as art" comment is well said.

Independent films can be interesting and entertaining. But 99 percent of them are garbage that snotty elitists claim to like because of their "intellectual superiority," when really it's just a way to compensate for their low self esteem by acting like everyone who doesn't watch Sundance movies is an ignoramus.

Seriously. And this doesn't apply to only independent films, but also to many a critical darling. Remember No Country for Old Men, and how it got wonderful reviews and oscar nominations. Not only was it mind numbingly dull, it ended in the middle of a scene.

Redford can have his celebration of films that weren't good enough to be backed by a major studio. I do wish he'd have it somewhere else though. Like Mars.

TO: An Art

You're stupid, "Independant Film" isn't another name for "Bad Movie", if that were the case I can think of plenty of "Independant Films" produced for millions and released in theaters.