BLOGGING SUNDANCE: Welcome to the Sundance Film Festival! It's...cold.

The temperature has finally taken its annual plunge in New York, but up in the mountains of Park City, Utah— where the 2007 Sundance Film Festival kicks off today— the world is white. As giddy members of the press gradually saunter into this quiet wintery town, mingling among indifferent skiers and folksy locals, the fresh snow becomes a blank canvas, soon to be imprinted by the onslaught of filmmakers, critics, producers and other dedicated moviegoers swarming in from around the globe. Slightly more than 23 years and 3,783 films ago, this annual marriage of Hollywood glamor and unbridled cinephilia was hardly more than a gleam in Robert Redford's eye. Now the festival has expanded into a cinematic Mecca, a place that gave credence to names like Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino. This year [promises plenty of surprises], but no guaranteed breakout indie phenomenons like last year's Little Miss Sunshine  (some take issue with a star-studded, well-funded, mainstream-friendly movie being qualified as "indie," but let's leave the semantics aside for now).      Sundance is typically ragged on for its [powerful corporate sponsorship ](http://www.mcnblogs.com/mcindie/archives/2007/01/sponsoing_sunda.html)and celebrity-driven economy, but you just can't totally discredit a place that screens 196 films in ten speedy days ([many of which hail from New York](http://www.thereeler.com/the_sundance_blog/local_heroes_tell_all.php), and you'll hear from some of them here later on).  The movies in competition will face a diverse jury that includes Mos Def and Darren Aronofsky. Small movies with a lot on their mind, like the brilliant Sundance lab product [Red Doors](http://festival.sundance.org/filmguide/popup.aspx?film=4683), will get the chance to prove their worth to audiences. At the other end of the spectrum, it seems unlikely that Lindsay Lohan will show up for the big premiere of Chapter 27. Let the paparazzi find a new target. Things really get going in a couple of hours when Redford, the Sundance Kid himself, will deliver his introductory sermon on the mount at a massive press conference in the Egyptian Theater. More to come as the media buzz grows deafening.