Day three, and the snow is back with a vengeance…
Another early morning start, TF trudged to the flicks (nearly falling arse over tit several times along the way) for Red Lights – a menacing paranormal thriller from Buried director Rodrigo Cortés.
The film tells the story of supernatural-sceptic professor Cillian Murphy, who becomes obsessed with disproving the ‘powers’ of celebrity healer Robert De Niro. As ominous events start to occur, though, it seems he might have bitten off more than he can chew…
Featuring a high-calibre support cast (Sigourney Weaver, Toby Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Craig Roberts), the film twists and turns all the way to its WTF? ending, throwing in a handful of expertly-timed shocks along the way (it made us jump, but not half as much as the lady sat next to us…).
Desperate for a bit of light relief, TF quickly scoffed a turkey sandwich and hopped on the bus for the next theatre and film number two: teen comedy The First Time .
Written and directed by Jon ‘son of Lawrence, brother of Jake’ Kasdan, the film follows the hilariously awkward whirlwind romance of high-schoolers Dylan O'Brien (TV’s Teen Wolf ) and Britt Robertson ( Scream 4 ), as they contemplate hopping on the good foot and doing the bad thing for, you’ve guessed it, the first time.
Powered by the spot-on chemistry of its two young leads (which carried over into a post-screening chat in a pub down the road) and backed up by solid support (including Craig Roberts, again!), this charming and wittily scripted indie went down a storm with the chuckle-happy audience. One to watch, then.
Next up was the press conference for West Of Memphis , featuring surprise guest Peter Jackson - taking a break from his Hobbit duties to big up the much-talked about doc. He was joined by the film’s director Amy Berg, his wife and producer Fran Walsh, as well as two of the Memphis Three - Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin.
“This movie shows every part of what makes us human,” Jackson said. “There’s good, evil, there’s hope, despair, love, greed, kindness. Every aspect of who we are is displayed on screen by various people.”
We stayed in Park City’s snow-clogged centre for the rest of the afternoon, where we chatted with the stars of opening night Aussie film Wish You Were Here (and bumped into Joshua Jackson, who was there doing press for Lay The Favorite ).
Joel Edgerton turned out to be the nicest guy we’ve ever met, while Teresa Palmer revealed that she actually grew up in Snowtown – the setting for last year’s bleak ‘true story’ chiller of the same name.
And on that happy note, it’s off to local haunt Squatters for a spot of dinner before we finish the night off with a much-needed beer at the launch of the upcoming Sundance London.
That’s right – Bob Redford is bringing his indie showcase across the pond. The line-up is yet to be announced, but don’t be surprised if some of our favourite flicks make it across to London’s O2 arena in April – head to www.sundance-london.com to book your tickets!
