First things first: Go Seahawks! Hard to believe, but I guess I have a couple weeks to get used to the Seahhawks in the Super Bowl. Damn. And I’m even optimistic about them winning it right now.

Anyway, back to the movies.

This Slamdance charmer looks like a throwback to the days before Sex, Lies and Videotape ushered in an era were feature films would become Hollywood calling cards. Guatemalan Handshake is a good-looking, semi-rural movie, shot on 35mm film, about a power surge in a nuclear power plant, a balding guy (Will Oldham) in a triangular electric car, the pregnant daughter of a demolition driver, a skate rink lothario who gets sick every time he drinks milkshakes, and an older lady looking for her dead dog, among other things.

I wasn’t sure if it all came together for me, but talking to director Todd Rohal over drinks last night, he assures me that it does (which was verified by a friend after the fact). Rohal compares the experience of some people with my reaction to letting your mind wander while reading a book, where you read the same page over and over again before the text sticks. It may be this year’s Primer, but without the scientists. In this case, I look forward to reading these passages again because, even without everything coming together in my mind, I enjoyed the ride.

-Andy Spletzer slogging from Sundance in Park City, Utah