Comments about ‘Hollywood 'circus' settles in for Sundance Film Festival’

Mr. Redford looks pretty old but he still has "it". Amazing actually.

What would be considered IT.

Oh I so want to see and follow the life of a Movie
Star.

The article's title made me think of circus in a negative light. Whoever writes the titles should reconsider whether or not they represent the tone of the article.

Same circus, different clowns!

The picture captions kept referring to one of the movie people as a social activist. What exactly does social activist mean?

People at work have been talking all week about how excited they are to go up to Park City to celebrity watch. Although I don't get the excitement of spotting a celebrity it is a unique occassion when you can go somewhere here in Utah and pass someone that you see on the big screen. I do appreciate the no-name bands/musicians that are willing to stand in the lobby of one of the theatres playing accoustic hoping for the chance to be "discovered". I discovered an artists that way last year and I downloaded her album on iTunes and love it. Sundance may be a circus but there is still plenty of good that comes from it.

Whine and complain about the "circus" all you want.

The Sundance film festival brings as much notority to Utah as the Mormon Church and the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Maybe you shoulod show somw integrity.

You consider Robert Redford Utah's rich and obnoxious uncle.

You don't like his jokes [environmental activism, liberal political leanings, ect.],
but you'll laugh and put up with him and all his friends anyway because you like their money.

We went to a Sundance movie about 6 years ago. It was billed as a comedy with two huge stars. I saw one of the stars in the lobby, which was cool.

But then the movie started and it was shockingly vulgar, full of profanity and amoral. I know the people we were sitting by probably thought we were idiots for leaving the show partway through, but it was one of the best things I've ever done.

Beware the unrated movie.

Love the festival. Love good films. Love the fun people I meet there. Love the crazy atmosphere.

Social activists, something more Utahns could and should be IMHO, means that people get behind causes in society and get things done to help others. They fight hunger or homelessness or poverty or under-education. It means caring and doing more than paying fast offerings.

I too once found an artist in a lobby at a Sundance screening. Awesome.

Used to be a regular attendee for the foreign selection but gave up due to crowds and vulgarity. It's much easier to find what I want to watch via Netflix now. Hype and excitement of a theater showing just aren't worth it.

@Not So Fast
"Social activists, something more Utahns could and should be IMHO, means that people get behind causes in society and get things done to help others. They fight hunger or homelessness or poverty or under-education. It means caring and doing more than paying fast offerings."

I've lived in a lot of places and I can tell you Utahns fit this description better than any other. I know most of my neighbors do. Most Utahns are very involved in causes to better society.

Agreed with two posters who complained about Sundance Film Festival being the venue for the most obscene, vulgar, and twisted films.

As a Sundance FF veteran, I've seen numerous films that are borderline obscene and NC-17. No content warning in the film description capsule, so read between the lines carefully.

Sundance FF is generally a very left-wing festival in political outlook with some "social cause" films. Restrepo premiered at 2010 festival, and long after the festival was over, the co-director Sebastian J. who wrote The Perfect Storm, said he supports Afghan war. Had he said that BEFORE the festival, leftist Sundance programmers would have rejected his film due to mere political disagreement.

For those of you who are "conservative," don't attend Sundance FF. I'd say over 90% of all films, including shorts, are in the R-rated category (wall to wall profanity, vulgarity, explicit sex and graphic violence), with at least a dozen "obscene" and NC-17. Even Sundance have shown films with scenes of explicit gay pornography.

Circus covers it, we are after all talking about performing clowns.

Belching Cow: I hope your are right and applaud you and your social circles if you are. I don't count volunteering at the DI (not saying you do) but I love that your experience has been like that. I myself see a LOT of apathy. People think they are good people and are very satisfied by that, never wanting or being willing to be aware of the dark corners of our society.

As for the festival, many of the films get released and get an 'R' rating. That will happen again this year I bet. I wonder if folks really know what NC-17 really is. I also wonder how many films posters have actually seen or if they assume. I hope everybody is being intellectually honest.