Sundance Film Festival is a weird deal; a week-long island of Hollywood depravity in a sea of Mormons. You walk the picturesque sidewalks of an overpriced ski town to see living clichés; overtan, botoxed blondes with giant fake boobs, guys in $800 sunglasses and cowboy hats screaming into cellphones.There is also something fundamentally odd about the whole concept of film festivals. Unlike live sports or music, where getting swept up injh the crowd is a big p[art of the fun, movies are basically a solitary experience. The magic happens mostly in the viewer's head. It's seems vaguely incoherent about getting thousands of people together to sit alone in the dark.
But Sundance is fun, with a generally good vibe in the air. In addition to all the film industry douchebaggery, there are hundreds of kind, creative people passionately devoted to cinema. There's also lots of drink, drugs sex, and parties with movie stars -- if you can negotiate the brutal labyrinth of publicists.
Amber Heard won't have any problem getting past the velvet rope. The young actress appears in one of the festivals most anticipated films, "The Informers." This slice of early 80's debauchery from a book by Bret Easton Ellis stars Mickey Rourke, Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Wynona Ryder and, of course, Amber.
