Afternoon Delight at Sundance

With my two early screenings complete, I chose a little "me" time, packed myself in the car and headed back to the house. After rushing home, quickly changing out of street clothes and into athletic clothes, I borrowed some of Mel's snow shoe equipment and headed out to meet Matt and his dog Drake. Fate had other plans for us though, for as soon as we strapped ourselves into our snow shoes, Matt's cel rang and he had to pick his son up from the sitter, as he was feeling sick. I had two options now... abandon the plan completely or go out with Drake only. I chose to assume the company of Drake the wonder dog. He's really something, in all his furry, spirited self, quite well equipped to handle the elements. We headed out filled with energy. However I had three factors working against me. The first was altitude, which my body is not yet accustomed to. The second was the fact that I had over-dressed, making each successive effort a strain on the body, creating a feeling of extreme heat. The third factor was the simple fact that in my hurry to get out the door this morning, I barely made time to eat two pieces of buttered toast, hardly the training food for an athletically strenuous activity such as snow shoeing.

Drake and I pushed on, winding down one hillside and up the next, forging throw snow nearly up to my knees at places. Drake is amazing in the snow, as he bounds here to there, hardly tiring. He'd rush off ahead at times, often stopping to wait for me and at other times rushing back to my side to be sure I was doing alright. And at other times he'd let me blaze the trail, though that often meant he'd walk on the back of my snow shoes and impede my forward progress. But we had fun, passed fresh moose droppings along the trail and shared the scenic wonder of Emigration Canyon. But soon we turned tail and headed back home. We finally returned to Matt's, Drake and I played a bit, and finally I returned him to his pen.

I headed back to the house, showered, and packed my things for a move to Mel's studio, where I'd be staying in an attached apartment for the remainder of my stay. I packed things up, headed a short two miles down the road, and unpacked in my new digs. The afternoon was spent catching up on e-mails and my blog. Before long it was time  to finally get some food into my empty belly. Tonight's dinner would be only .6 milers up the road at the delicious Ruth's Diner. The entree of choice was a fine Patio salad with grilled chicken. Yum!

After dinner I was soon back at the apartment, relaxed for awhile, and then drove into Salt Lake for another screening at the Broadway Cinema. Tonight I'd be joined by my friend Clayton, for Larry Bishop's "Hell Ride". The film is an homage, a throw back to the biker films of the 60's, complete with a few stars from that era, including Mr Bishop, Dennis Hopper, and David Carradine. The cast was supplemented with the always fine talents of Michael Madsen, probably best known to most as the thug in Pulp Fiction who danced to "Back in the MIddle With You", while slashing the cop tied to a chair. Don't take this wrong, but that has always been a favorite movie scene of mine, and I was excited to see Madsen in this role. He was also joined by the new-comer Eric Balfour who played the role of Comanche to perfection. He truly nailed the bad ass role. Produced by Quentin Tarantino, the film was just a fun little biker film, filled with vivacious, scantily clad babes, loads of shoot-em-up violence, and lots of biker revenge. This film is not for everyone, but I do think it will make the list of "Cult Favorites" in short order.

The film was fun, though the dialog was not deep and the story was predictable, but MAN did we have fun at the Q&A. It was by far the most spirited Q&A I've ever attended. Mr. Bishop was at the screenings, and so was Hopper, Madsen, and Balfour. They were like a group of alcohol-stimulated frat boys on uppers. There was a constant conversation, each topping the other with their bravado and tales of the 24 day shoot. What a hoot. I felt especially honored to be in the same room as Dennis Hopper (and Michael Madsen). However, the fun finally came to an end, and I had to get a few hours of sleep before Friday's repeat of early morning Wait Lists in Jeff Mode. More tomorrow.

In the meantime... butter up that popcorn, turn down those lights, and crank up the projactor. The next show is about to begin. See you tomorrow.