Sundance Day 2: “My film’s a little experimental, but so is Pootie Tang.”

I’ll keep this brief because I feel like it. Sorry if you wanted another wall of text like my last couple posts.

First on the list for today was Your Sister’s Sister, Lynn Shelton’s second feature after 2009’s Humpday. Starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mark Duplass, the film - a story about people trying to find themselves in a cabin off the coast of Seattle - was a great mix of comedy and drama. The performances from all of the actors were strong and natural, and Shelton’s decision to keep the film almost entirely contained amongst those three hanging out in a cabin in the woods and dealing with the mistakes they’ve made was a great decision. It’s a strong, heartfelt feature and was definitely worth waking up early this morning to go see.

Next up was The Perception of Moving Targets, an experimental first feature from Weston Currie. The screening got off to a rough start - someone delivered the wrong film to the theatre, and we got delayed by around 45 minutes - but it was worth the wait. Having never seen a feature-length experimental film, I wasn’t sure what to expect and didn’t quite catch on to the purpose at first, but after a little bit I was able to finally see the film for what it was: a work of art. Part of Sundance’s “New Frontier” selections, Perception is designed to make you feel uncomfortable and mesmerized at the same time. Currie switches between filming formats, extensively uses video and sound editing tricks, and is scored by Grouper, an ambient electronic band whose bleeps, bloops, and tones helped emphasize the weirdness of the film. It’s definitely not for everyone - as evidenced by the dozens of people who walked out during the screening - but it was a new film experience for me and I’m glad I decided to go check it out.

Now I’m off to dinner, drinks, and an attempt to see the midnight screening of Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. Wish me luck!