Former Vice President Al Gore was full of anger and passion as he visited the festival for the screening of documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth”, Anne Thompson reports “The average person is ahead of politicians on this issue. People who care about it get disappointed by the lack of interest from the political system. We are beginning to see the critical formation of a mass movement in the public, which will make it impolitic for politicians to keep doing nothing.” The film’s first showings received standing ovations.

The Beastie Boys, (L-R) Mike Diamond, Adam Horowitz and Adam Yauch in Park City. The Beastie Boys’ documentary film ‘Awesome: I F***in’ Shot That’ is screening at the festival. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Neil Young (L) and his wife Pegi (R) at the premiere of “Neil Young: Heart of Gold” (Photo/Rick Wilking)

A wave of movies with messages have swept through the festival. “Audiences are getting a lot more smart about what they want to see,” Ricky Strauss, president of “Good Night” backer Participant Productions, told Reuters correspondent Bob Tourtellotte

Some say fans now demand more thoughtful films, which are vastly exceeding expectations at the box office. For example, the traditional Hollywood thriller “Stealth” bombed while independent movie “Crash,” about race relations, was a breakout hit.The trend also extends to the current Oscar season where movies with provocative themes like gay romance, “Brokeback Mountain” and free speech film “Good Night, and Good Luck” are winning awards and fans. Rosie O’Donnell (pictured right) came to this mountain town east of Salt Lake City with her documentary, “All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise,” an inside look at the lives of gay families while on vacation.

While not at Sundance, Brad Pitt made his presence felt with a film he executive produced, “God Grew Tired of Us,” about young Sudanese refugees in the United States. It quickly became one of the most talked about movies at the festival.

After their rockumentary debut “Fast Future Generation,” twin rock stars Benji and Joel Madden have teamed up the documentary’s director, Marvin Scott Jarrett, to form production company, Fast Future Films, the Hollywood Reporter said.

The first production, “Valley of the Damned,” is slated to begin production in the spring.

Combination image of publicists, PR people, fans, volunteers and stars, including John Waters (C) wearing sunglasses at the 25th annual Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah January 21, 2006. The ten-day festival will have more than 120 film screenings. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Over the past 25 years Sundance Film Festival’s founder Robert Redford has tried to focus attention on independent film making. But the festival has become about much more: star-studded parties, hollywood dealmaking and of course the high-end shopping on Main Street. As part of our mission to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening at the festival we’ll be hitting some of those parties this evening. Check back with us Sunday afternoon for more on what happens in Park City, Utah, when the sun goes down.

Getting the perfect photo or video of a celebrity who is walking the red carpet into a movie premiere can sometimes be a daunting task. The opening night of “Lucky Number Slevin” starring Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu and Sir Ben Kingsley was a much more civilized affair than Thursday night’s premiere of “Friends with Money” starring Jennifer Anniston. Anniston’s film kicked off the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

OK, sort of self-referential for this blog, but this is the view of Sundance from the Hollywood Reporter (via Reuters):

As befits its indie roots, the Sundance Film Festival has long played host to innovations that have spread elsewhere.

Blogging is one of them. Personal blogs, millions of them, are spreading on the Internet like kudzu, from LiveJournal.com to MySpace.com. Professional blogs such as Gawker Media’s gossipy Defamer.com draws some 270,000 page views per day.

As blogs become more successful, they are challenging traditional media, and this year’s Sundance marks a fascinating juncture as newly powerful blogs like http://www.Cinematical.com take on the likes of the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.

(click for full story)