I got up early and slammed it for three and three-quarter hours (writing, packing, changing condos) so I could make this morning’s 10 am p & i screening of James Ponsoldt‘s The Spectacular Now. I arrived at the Holiday Cinemas at 9:45 am and walked into the white tent where N.Y. Times critic Manohla Dargis and Hollywood Reporter critic Todd McCarthy were also waiting for the Ponsoldt. Then we were ushered outside and told we couldn’t attend because it was sold out. Really? Yup, sorry.

I thought that having an Express Pass meant you’ll get in even if you come late. Nope. A Sundance volunteer asked if there were any buyers in our group and some guy in a blue parka said “yeah” and stepped forward and was allowed in. “Why don’t the buyers just have their own screenings?,” Dargis said. Somebody joked about her grumbling. “I’m not grumbling,” Dargis replied. “I’m just…” I missed the rest of it, but if I were she I would’ve said the following: “I’m not grumbling, actually. I’m theorizing about new organizational paradigms and priorities. It’s a process.”

I guess I should have made a point of seeing it last night (8:30 pm) at the Library. That’s where all the cool kids were apparently.

Is Ponsoldt reading this? Or a rep for The Spectacular Now? Let it be known that top-dog correspondents for Hollywood Elsewhere, The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter were stiffed this morning — left high and dry in a cold parking lot, forced to think on their feet and re-imagine their morning and re-calculate their schedule.

So now it’s 10:27 am and I’m back at the Park Regency. I have an hour to kill before walking to the Eccles for Lynn Shelton‘s Touch Feely.