A few final films

The Sundance jury and audience awards have all been handed out, but I think it's worth posting a wrap-up of the last few movies I was able to squeeze into my Park City stay.

"Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson": Alex Gibney, director of the award-winning doc "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," comes to Sundance with an exhaustive look at the wild and woolly days of the writer who coined the term "gonzo journalism." Thompson's exploits are covered through a wealth of interviews and archival footage and are accompanied by a greatest hits soundtrack that includes Warren Zevon and Jefferson Airplane. What's most striking about this film isn't the praise heaped on him by former journalists and counterculture icons, but how even those he pilloried, such as former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan, recall the hellion's antics with fondness.

"Secrecy": I was hoping to come out of this documentary shocked and stunned at the revelations I would learn about the lengths our government would go to in order to protect its secrets. What I got instead was a 90-minute civilized debate about the dangers and merits of a government preoccupied with its national security apparatus. At 60 minutes, this would be fascinating. At 90, it began to repeat itself. As one audience member said after the screening: "My brain shut down three-quarters of the way through. I just couldn't process any more."

"Hamlet 2": The definite crowd-pleaser of the festival, "Nancy Drew" director Andrew Fleming's comedy is about on the cutting edge as a safety razor, but that doesn't mean it's not funny. Steve Coogan plays a frustrated actor-turned-high school drama teacher whose delusional passion leads him to pen a sequel to the Bard's famous play and stage it with his students. It's hard not to love a movie that features a song titled "Rock Me Sexy Jesus."

--Patrick Day

(Photo: Bob Pepping / Contra Costa Times)

Comments

[truehopegrammywinner]

All my momma wanted was me to be happy i would buy her the world but i never won a grammy yet truehopedave loves hollywood! do dreams come true?