Well, here I am in Park City, Utah, at another wonderful Sundance Festival. Let me just start off by saying I love coming here every year and seeing all the latest blockbuster hits. This is a place where tons of A-list celebrities, like Kal Penn, Meagan Good, and the always-hilarious Timothy Olyphant strut their stuff on the red carpet.

There are thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of people here right now. The media has completely overtaken this town, and I have to share my room with three other reporters. And there's only one bed. I know a lot of people think that the Super Bowl is the biggest event of the year, but I'm pretty sure I've found them some competition.

Ok, so I'm not at Sundance. Nor am I even in Utah. But with the amount of web surfing I've done on this event, I sure feel like I'm there. Let me first start off by making a couple of quick observations from my computer chair.

1) Why in all that is holy are they having a film festival in the dead of winter, in a place that is well known for being cold like the Dickens? Aren't they aware that people, especially celebrities, don't do well in cold weather? I mean what person is sitting around in their heated abode thinking, "What I would do to be able to walk around outside and not feel my own two feet. Now that sounds like a lot of fun."

I don't know, I'm just surprised they wouldn't choose to go somewhere a little warmer, and possibly more fun. Like Miami.

2) Why is so much effort getting put into an independent film festival? Half of these movies never make it to the big screen, and there is absolutely no way any independent film could ever be that great, because everyone in the industry knows that you need to have highly paid actors and big special effects to make anything remotely "cinematic."

So with all that bantering aside, let's move on to the main attraction of any film festival. The movies.

The first film and probably the one creating the most buzz, unfortunately for the wrong reasons, is the movie Hounddog. It stars Dakota Fanning, who has been under a lot of controversy for a scene in the movie in which she is raped.

Apparently, this scene had to be in the movie because otherwise it would ruin the whole message or something. Obviously I have no problem with directors wanting to push the boundaries of cinema, but I think I speak for the whole country when I say we are not ready to see this movie.

Moving on from child rape, we shift to a more welcoming topic: bestiality. That's right, people; the film Zoo depicts the love between man and, well, his best friend, so to speak. Not only does it depict the real life stories of those who practice this type of affair, it focuses on the local story of a Seattle man who died after having an encounter with a horse. Definitely makes me feel better about living here.

Anyways, that's about all there is happening at this year's festival. Rape, bestiality and the occasional snowstorm. No wonder it's the place to be every winter.

— Eric Uthus

arts@thedaily.washington.edu