January in Utah means the arrival of the annual Sundance Film Festival. This year Jason and I, as usual, forgot to register for the locals’ passes in time and so we were forced to be part of the pandemonium the day tickets were made available to the general public. In the midst of the chaos we were able to get tickets to three films: The Missing Person, The Yes Men Fix the World, and Earth Days.

The Missing Person, a feature film about a PI, had a nostalgic feel to it. Its slow pace reminded me of a movie from a different era, which I believe was the film maker’s intent. We enjoyed it and the Q&A afterward, where we got to meet John Ventimiglia, Frank Wood, and Noah Buschel.

Earth Days was a well done documentary about the origins of the environmental movement. I love history so I thought it was enthralling. I had no idea that environmentalism started here in the United States-what a surprise, since American aren’t exactly perceived as being the most environmentally conscientious people now days. We got to meet the director, Robert Stone, after the film. His insights were fascinating.

I can’t say enough good things about the third film we saw, The Yes Men Fix the World. It was easily the best film Jas and I have seen at Sundance. I laughed until I cried through parts of it, but, during other parts, I thought I might cry in earnest at the injustices that it revealed. This documentary followed two men, Andy and Mike, as they set out to expose corporations involved in unethical business practices. They exposed these companies using creative pranks and hoaxes. The film was completely hilarious, one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in a long time, but it was also inspirational. It made you want to change the world, even if your methods might be a little bit more main-stream and would in no way involve wearing an inflatable “survival suit”.

The Q&A session after the screening, with the Yes Men themselves, was also quite entertaining. Andy and Mike were as wacky and clever in real life as they were in the movie.

And yes, in case you didn’t catch it in the previous paragraph, The Yes Men Fix the World was a documentary, and yes, I thought it was more thought-provoking and entertaining than any movie I’ve seen in quite a while. So all of you that avoid documentaries and immediately start nodding off the second the word “documentary” is even mentioned, you might be missing out on more than you think.

Every documentary we have seen at Sundance has been absolutely fantastic. But beyond just presenting these remarkable shows, that you may not get a chance to view otherwise, Sundance also gives you a unique opportunity to experience them in a theater setting. A film is always more moving when you have that big screen in front of you and can join in your neighbor’s laughter.

We will definitely be attending Sundance again next year and look forward to more surprises.

For years many members of my gender have been telling me I need to read the Twilight series but I always abstained due to my meager amount of free-time. However, since my recent foot surgery forced me to be off my feet a great deal more than is customary for me, I decided to start reading these books.

Although they definitely don’t compare-as far as thought provoking complexity goes-to literature classics, they were perfect for distracting me in my immobile state. It’s easy to see why many a girl has been sucked into the tapestry of the fictional world weaved by Meyers. I too quickly became hooked.

Since I can now consider myself a Twerd, (stands for Twilight Nerd for those of you who aren’t geeky enough to understand) I was excited to be part of a large group of friends going to see the Twilight movie together, so excited in fact that I decided to buy a very geeky Twilight t-shirt and hoodie to wear to this event. After all, if you are going to be involved in nerdery, you might as well do it with pizzazz.

As far as the movie goes, for those of you who have not yet seen it, it was satisfying enough. The special effects were definitely sub-par; they reminded me of something you would see on a sci-fi channel original series rather than a major motion picture. I also thought James died way too easily and without much of struggle-for someone who was supposed to be incredibly tough it definitely didn’t work. And Jasper, what’s up with the constipated look? He was so rigid the whole movie. He keeps his distance in the book but he has a warm personality. That certainly was not how he was conveyed in the movie. Even though, after reading the book, the movie seems to fly by, only skimming on the surface of what the book dives into, I was pleased with all the principal characters. I thought they came through with the essence of the book. So if you are a fan of the books, I think you will like the movie despite its flaws.

I’m hoping, after how much money this movie makes, they will have a bigger budget on the next one, and we won’t have to witness those horrendous special effects again.