entertainment weakly

i'm sitting down to movie #25, a gay zombie movie [yes, you read that correctly], and will be leaving in half an hour to see another movie, next door.

it's quickly getting quiet around here.  i got what i was hoping for: a free copy of entertainment weekly's oscar issue, toned down significantly from last year's double-issue, likely due to heath ledger's death and the oscar-dangerous writer's strike.  i read it during my afternoon break instead of 'heart of darkness' like i was planning.

people here are surprisingly glued to their blackberries.  on tuesday i was watching 'pretty bird', and when the showing ended around 3:30, everyone checked their phones, including me.  i had a text from jess, saying she'd just heard that heath ledger died.  it seemed that everyone in the theater had a similar message, as everyone was suddenly talking about it.  it was the constant topic in the industry lounge for the whole day, occasionally a late-comer asking out, 'did you hear that heath ledger died?' 

i guess i hadn't though too much about it, but i had the impression that watching movies at sundance would be similar to renting a few years' worth of best picture noms-- a string of amazing movies.  it hasn't really been like that.