Sundance Day 4: Nearing overload

I'm glad I'll be passing the festival reporting baton to Wesley M. when he arrives tomorrow -- I've reached the point where the screenings are starting to blur into one long movie and it's hard to tell real from reel. And if you think I've got it bad, think of the buyers who have to see 120 films and then negotiate and commit to million dollar deals.

Since the Fox Searchlight buy for "Little Miss Sunshine" went down two days ago, there's been a lull in the dealmaking. Rumors continue to fly that "Half Nelson" will sign with a distributor as early as today, and "The Science of Sleep" is the center of much interest -- see previous blog entries for my take on both movies -- but the only deal announced yesterday was IFC picking up "Factotum," based on the Charles Bukowski novel with Matt Dillon in the lead. I'll be seeing the film in about an hour, and will let you know what I think. "Wordplay," the documentary about New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz is also rumored to be in play, which makes sense, since it should hit the same audience sweet spot as "Spellbound," "Word Wars," etc.

But maybe you don't want to hear about the deals. Maybe you want to hear about celebs. I got an e-mail from a reader asking if Jennifer Aniston was here, what she was wearing, if Vince Vaughn was around, and whether anyone had asked her about Brad Pitt. The respective answers: Yes, a lovely blue pullover when I got to meet her on Saturday, no, and no. A handful of journalists got to talk with the star of "Friends with Money" and her co-star Catherine Keener in a PR tent fenced off from the hordes trying to get a glimpse of her royal Jenniferness; friendly and engaging, Aniston let Keener do most of the talking, but allowed as how working with a woman director with a cast of strong actresses provided a whole new comfort zone for her.

No one asked about Brad -- while there were no restrictions put on our questions, the fact that we could only talk with her in tandem with Keener put the focus on her work rather than her celebrity. And she seemed fine with that. (And so did I. Sorry, "Us Weekly" readers.) I did ask her exactly how one researches the role of a pothead housemaid; Her straightfaced response: "Um... Google." I'll write up the full interview for when "Friends with Money" comes out later this year, but trust me, there were no tabloid bombshells. You may not want to hear this, but the woman's human.

My first screening today was "Stay," written and directed by comedian Bob Goldthwait and a hell of a way to wake up. A one-joke idea that Goldthwait manages to stretch beautifully for almost all the film's 90 minutes, it's about a young woman (Laura Linney lookalike Melinda Page Hamilton) engaged to a nice young man (Bryce Johnson) and uncertain whether she should tell him about a dark sexual secret in her past. I know, everybody's got secrets, but, trust me, this is one you wouldn't want to share with anybody. Cheap, rude, and very, very funny, "Stay" takes a turn for the serious toward the end and winds up looking like just another low-budget Sundance indie, but this is a promising second feature film for the Bobcat, 14 years after the infamous "Shakes the Clown." More, please.

From there, on to "Allegro," a Danish puzzle-box of a movie from director Christoffer Boe ("Reconstruction"). It's about a concert pianist (Ulrich Thomsen from "The Celebration") who has walled his broken heart and memories where he can't get at them and is invited into a mysterious sci-fi "zone" in the middle of Copenhagen to retrieve them. A headscratcher on the surface but emotionally direct, even sentimental, just beneath that surface, it's an interesting update on the old Bergman classic "Wild Strawberries."

After "Factotum," I'll be seeing "Art School Confidential," from the writing-directing duo that gave us "Ghost World," and a Neil Young concert film directed by Jonathan Demme -- I've got high hopes for both. Tomorrow, Wesley flies in, I stagger home, and he gets to report on all the goodies I'll be missing. "The Darwin Awards" starring Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, Juliette Lewis, and Metallica? Lord, I wish I could see that one.