The movies

I heard that Lee Daniels’ dramatic narrative film in competition, Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, was greeted by standing ovation at the Premiere last night, and so I caught it this morning at the Press & Industry screening. Indeed I understand why the audience loved it. What a film, absolutely amazing. Very strong, Serious, so unique and from the heart. With Mo’Nique, Mariah Care and Lenny Kravitz in key roles, and with a story that comes straight from the dark and harrowing depth of Harlem, this movie is disturbing and amazing at the same time. Frankly, I was pretty much blown away. I highly recommend it. Funny, walking in I was told by one close industry colleague that I wont like the film, warning me of extreme violence, and so I selected a seat at the aisle, in case I wanted to leave after the first 10 minutes. But nothing was further from the truth. Go figure. WFF's long time friend John Sloss and his sales company Cinetic is repping the film. My feeling is that they will sell it shortly.


A few hours later I went along with my son Daniel and his friend Jordan Matthew to the premiere screening of Davis Guggenheim's It Might Get Loud. I remember a couple of years ago sitting at the same theater in Sundance, watching for the first time along with everyone at the theater the world premiere of Guggenheim's An Inconvenience Truth. It was an unforgettable experience then, complete with Al Gore's appearance at the end for Q&A which drew a huge standing ovation. Fast forward a couple of years later, and here was Guggenheim with this high octane, unique, fabulous music documentary, featuring Jack White (White Stripes, The Raconteurs), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and The Edge (U2). Following Guggenheim's opening remarks acknowledging this repeat experience here in Sundance, and following the standing ovation at the end of the film, Guggenheim brought Jack White to the front for Q&A, and the cameras began to click away by the many admirers in the room. I'm glad my son got to meet Guggenheim, inviting him to HIS film festival (not the Woodstock festival) at Brown, as Guggenheim is a Brown alum. I hope for his sake that it will work for him. Sony Picture Classing are releasing the film theatrically in the summer, and so everyone should be able to see it then.

Gotta go back to Main Street (oh God, its so crowded now, shuttle ride can take close to an hour, not fun...) for a couple of parties. Until next time.