Sundance '11 Notes: Man Plays Piano; Bear Approves

Look! It’s a guy playing piano on the street! In front of a bear statue! What you can’t see, because I’m such a lousy picture taker, is that there are about five different people filming and photographing this guy while he does this. And why does he do this? Because he’s at Sundance. What else would you do at North America’s most prominent film festival besides make a spectacle of yourself?

This is the sort of thing that is fascinating and irritating about being at Sundance. Wander away from the screening rooms and you get sucked into a sort of weird rabbit-hole version of Los Angeles where everyone is trying to sell you something or confuse you or both. I spent an hour on Park City’s Main Street between screenings today, and only five minutes went by before a guy wearing a hat made out of tube socks asked me to take a picture of him and a bunch of other people wearing hats made out of tube socks. Then I walked past piano guy. Then I saw Anton Yelchin. At least I think it was Anton Yelchin. He was speaking Russian, but sadly not in his Pavel Chekov accent.

Folks who care more about movies than they do buskers or bears should check out our mini-profile of actor Amy Seimetz, who is getting a lot of positive attention here for her role in writer-director Megan Griffiths’ “The Off Hours.” Seimetz plays a small-town diner waitress surrounded by schmucky men. It’s a very good performance in a very Sundance movie. You should also check in with us daily next week, when we’ll have more pieces on actors in potential break-out roles at the festival.

Now here’s an awful picture of Snoop Dogg rapping in front of a bunch of old people and frat boys:

--Daniel Holloway