Agnes Varnum, blogger extraordinaire, tagged me in a Sundance blog meme. After I figured out what a meme was, I started to compose mine, post-Sundance ’09.
Here goes:
The rules are as follows:
1. Players start with listing their Sundance favorites, separated into 8 categories.
2. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their 8 favorites and include these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.
1. Favorite feature: For me, it’s a tie between Push, in which Gabourey Sidibe gives a devastating performance as Precious Jones (Note to critics, try writing about Sidibe’s performance, not just her size. She’s so much more than that.) and the hilarious (if a little long) blaxploitation pic Black Dynamite.
2. Most problematic/interesting/ thought-provoking feature: Again, that would be Push. It would have been tough for anyone to adapt Push — an amazing but wrenching novel by Sapphire — for the screen, and I think director Lee Daniels made interesting choices, particularly with Precious’ fantasies. In my view, some of them work and some do not, but they are definitely provocative directorial choices.
3. Favorite Short Film: Four-way tie between Before the Wind Blows it All Away by Annie Waldman, The Archive by Sean Donne, Steel Homes by Eva Webber and Utopia Part 3: The World’s Largest Shopping Mall by Sam Greene and Carrie Lozano. Has anyone seen Utopia Parts 1 and 2? Somehow I missed them.
4. Film Most Regrettably Missed: We Live in Public
5. Most Fun Party: Chicken & Egg Pictures reception.
6. Best Post-screening Q & A: William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe — seeing Yusef Salaam in person was pretty great.
7. Favorite Nonfiction Character(s): William Kunstler
8. Most Memorable Moment: Filmmaker Lodge on Inauguration Day.
Now I have to tag fellow bloggers. Let’s hear it, Joel Heller and Ingrid Kopp!