By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Monday Night Live: Beastie Boys Party Overruns Sundance
Last things first, at least vis a vis Monday at Sundance. While an underachieving movie-viewing day left me with a single film under my belt (Art School Confidential, but more on that later), a few trips around town culminated in the Sundance party to end all Sundance parties: The Gen Art/MySpace.com event, during which the Beastie Boys played a full set for about 1,000 partygoers at the Park City Mountain Resort.
Not like they just showed up in Utah for a one-off or anything. The Beasties’ Adam Yauch (aka rapper MCA, aka director Nathaniel Hornblower) is the man behind Awesome: I Fuckin’ Shot That!, the trio’s Sundance-entry concert film comprising video footage shot by audience members at a 2004 show at Madison Square Garden. Awesome enjoyed a pair of sold-out festival screenings Saturday and Sunday, and Monday’s party resulted in another capacity turnout to celebrate both the film and all the Gen Art goodness (and genuine balls-out fun) we concertgoers could stand.
As you can see to the right, I dusted off my most dramatic dance moves just for this event, wowing the crowd and earning just enough tip money to pay my cab fare back down the mountain. OK, fine–that is not me. Rather, it is festival director Geoff Gilmore, letting the independent spirit move him as never before. OK, fine–that is not Geoff Gilmore. It is Michel Gondry, all stoked and shit at having pawned off his festival entry The Science of Sleep to Warner Independent. OK, fine–that is not Michel Gondry. It is gossip-tard Roger Friedman, whom the publicists forced to break dance for his party wristband. OK, fine–it is not Roger Friedman. It is just some dude who got wasted on free Stella Artois and jumped from the third floor landing. I told you this was a fucking party.
I shall return later today with additional, foggy Monday remembrances and maybe one or two Tuesday news flashes, assuming I can keep up. You know how that goes. The big buzz around Reeler HQ West is Korea’s The Peter Pan Formula and the Crook Brothers’ Salvage, both of which unspool late Tuesday. I vow to make the most of the time inbetween; I have been away from you sweet kids far, far too long.