Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah:
WHO NEEDS A FILM IN THE FEST?
Corey Feldman doesn’t have a movie at the Sundance Film Festival, but that doesn’t mean he’s not making the most of his time in Park City.
On Friday night, Feldman and a bevy of beauties danced as Dave Grohl and his Sound City Players performed a marathon concert at Park City Live. And on Saturday, Feldman got into the act himself, giving a concert of sorts at the Fender Music Lodge in front of a bemused crowd.
Feldman, dressed in what appeared to be a leather-like suit reminiscent of former friend and idol Michael Jackson, lip-synched some of his high-energy performance. He was accompanied by women dressed in white, like angels, and sporting angel-wings and halos.
“This is a new form of entertainment,” Feldman said.
Feldman admitted his performance might be a little rusty. At one point, he told the crowd, “This is one I don’t know the words to” and asked for help.
_ Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi
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HUNT FOR OBL CHRONICLED YET AGAIN
Osama bin Laden remains big box office with the manhunt thriller “Zero Dark Thirty.”
The story of the al-Qaeda leader also is being told at the Sundance Film Festival with the documentary “Manhunt: The Search for Osama bin Laden,” which premiered Sunday at the independent-film showcase.
Director Greg Barker’s film chronicles bin Laden’s rise to power during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and his call for jihad against the United States in the 1990s. Using interviews with CIA agents and analysts, the film traces the growing evidence that al-Qaeda planned a major assault on the United States in the months leading up to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Manhunt” then recounts the immense increase in resources committed to the CIA’s hunt for bin Laden, the story that is dramatized in “Zero Dark Thirty.”
The documentary includes footage of the last-known video of bin Laden, before he was killed in a Navy SEALs raid in 2011 in Pakistan. While al-Qaeda recruited followers to carry out suicide attacks, CIA analysts said bin Laden never sought to die for his cause himself.
“He did everything possible to stay alive,” one analyst said.
“Manhunt” will air later this year on HBO.
_ David Germain
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A TIPPING POINT FOR CHARITY
The Park City bar Rock & Reilly’s had some high profile help on Sunday _ Scooter Braun, manager to Justin Bieber and Psy.
Braun _ dressed in pajamas, like other servers _ poured shots, served up beers and more at the party, which was also attended by Mekhi Phifer and San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson.
Wilson was glued to the TV, cheering on the New England Patriots, playing the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game.
Meanwhile, Braun was getting his share of tips _ which went to the charity Pencils of Promise. To get more people to show the love, he pledged to match every donation, dollar for dollar.
Rock & Reilly’s is a Los Angeles bar that has opened up an outpost in Park City.
_ Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi
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DELAYED REACTION
“Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer was not an early adopter of one of the biggest hits to come out of the Sundance Film Festival, the 2004 world-of-weirdoes comedy “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Meyer’s at Sundance this time with “Napoleon Dynamite” co-writer Jerusha Hess, whose directing debut “Austenland” premiered at the festival. A producer on “Austenland,” Meyer said she and Hess hit it off right away and have a lot in common, even though she didn’t appreciate “Napoleon Dynamite” when she first saw it.
“I was with another thirty-something mom in a theater full of teenage kids, and they’re laughing their butts off. And we’re sitting there going, `Am I that old? I don’t get it,’” Meyer said. “I kind of was like, wow, I feel bad. I didn’t get this.
“And then I went home, and the next day, I started quoting it, and I’m snickering to myself all day. `Tina, you fat lard,’” Meyer said, quoting a favorite “Napoleon Dynamite” line. “It was like this weird delayed reaction. And the funny lasts longer than a regular joke. It’s funny forever.”
_ David Germain
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WILD ABOUT DAN, NOT SO MUCH ABOUT HARRY
Dane DeHaan, one of Daniel Radcliffe’s co-stars in the Sundance premiere “Kill Your Darlings,” shared a deep, dark secret with the “Harry Potter” star at the festival: DeHaan’s just now getting around to catching the flicks about the young wizard.
“Dan, I never told you,” DeHaan confessed in an interview Saturday alongside Radcliffe. “I started watching them when we got finished filming” on “Kill Your Darlings.”
Radcliffe asked how many DeHaan had watched and was disheartened that his co-star so far had just caught the first few, when the “Potter” star was a kid still learning his craft.
“Oh, no, you’ve only done the early ones. Why are you doing them?” said Radcliffe, who stars as a young Allen Ginsberg in “Kill Your Darlings.”
DeHaan promised that he eventually would watch all the “Harry Potter” films but said his real admiration was for the actor playing the Hogwarts hero.
“I’m a Dan fan,” DeHaan said.
_ David Germain
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