Like the stars who grace its streets, Park City, Utah, site of the granddaddy of film festivals, is usually all dolled up for the annual Sundance Film Festival with snow capped mountains, vistas worthy of the best mountain town movie set and filmgoers who spend part of their time enjoying the many winter activities that abound.

Unfortunately, Park City is having its worst year for snow in decades and the town looks like Dolly Parton without her false eyelashes. But as filmgoers, critics, stars, paparazzi and film executives arrived for the 10-day extravaganza, which begins Thursday, it was like the Snow God said, “lights, camera, SNOW” — and snow it did. Five inches so far with an additional foot or more expected over the next few days.

With Park City getting decked out in snow, Sundance founder Robert Redford took the stage at the Egyptian Theatre for his annual "state of Sundance" press conference which officially kicks off the festival. Looking much younger than 76, Redford appeared as if he had just gotten off the slopes, in ski sweater, vest, wool cap and jeans, before launching into a spirited discussion about the festival.

"These are tough times for our country and our government which is paralyzed. But we at Sundance are not paralyzed and are doing more, stretching more...using new media to tell stories," he said.

When asked how many movies he sees at the festival nowadays, he said, regretfully, not many, due to his busy schedule. "At the beginning (in 1978) I saw them all. In fact, there was nobody but me and the filmmakers," he said with a laugh.

Now, his favorite part of the festival is getting to spend time with some of the filmmakers, which he will do Saturday. "For me, that is so rewarding and so much fun," he said.

When Redford found out I was from Houston, he noted that his Sundance Cinemas recently opened at Bayou Place and asked how the theaters are doing. He also told the group of reporters that Houston is one of nine cities that will feature a movie directly from the festival (Bachelorette will screen in Houston Jan. 26).

So what can the Sundance filmgoer and you the film buff expect this year?

Choices, lots of choices

Filmgoers will be able to feast on 117 feature-length films, 64 short films — 89 of them world premieres representing 29 countries. In addition to films in the competition categories (U.S. Drama and Documentary, World Drama and Documentary, Animation and Short Films), Sundance offers premieres, classic movies, the wild and edgy Sundance at Midnight and New Frontier which takes novel approaches to merging film and multimedia.

If watching movies from sunrise to the wee hours of the morn leaves you wanting more, the entertainment choices are boundless. The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) hosts the Sundance ASCAP Music Café on Main Street through most of the festival. The event is free for ticketholders and offers a wide range of talent. On tap are A Fine Frenzy, The All-American Rejects, Flying Lotus, John Forté and friends, David Gray, Garland Jeffreys, and Jenny O.

Guarded optimism for this year’s films

While last year was one of the most hectic markets for film acquisitions in recent memory with over 40 films bought, there was no break-out hit and only five acquisitions — Our Idiot Brother, Win Win, Cedar Rapids, The Guard and Margin Call — that grossed $5 million or more. For the first time in Sundance history, none of the big dollar, high profile studio films that are premiering have been acquired and are still up for grabs. Despite the caution, some industry insiders predict this will be a year of “wild sales.”

Somber documentaries

Sundance aficionados have always known that Sundance documentaries are the best in the country. Remember that Sundance was responsible for some of the best loved documentaries of all time, like March of the Penguins, Man on Wire, An Inconvenient Truth and Hoop Dreams.

This year’s documentaries seem focused on the uncertainty that the last few years have brought where old structures have crumbled and nothing can be taken for granted. Look for documentaries on the crumbling of Detroit in Detropia; the problems with the healthcare system in Escape Fire; the nation’s hunger problem in Finding North; the folly of the War on Drugs in The House I Live In; the influence of debt on society in Payback; the real estate bust in The Queen of Versailles; and the disparity between corporate income and corporate taxation in We’re Not Broke.

Sundance always produces memorable documentaries on musicians and music. I loved past documentaries on Carole King, James Taylor, the Doors and Crosby Stills Nash and Young. This year I'm looking forward to Under African Skieswhich follows singer Paul Simon as he returns to Africa 25 years after releasing his award winning Graceland.

A new approach to buy and make money on films

In the old paradigm, film studios snapped up movies with only the big screen in mind and perhaps hoping to strike gold by discovering the next Little Miss Sunshine. With the success in 2011 of Melancholia and Margin Call, which were released in theatres and on DVD simultaneously, studios have realized that not every movie means a big screen release and that money can be made on video-on-demand deals. For the movie goer, this means that rare cinematic jewels of will reach them sooner but also that if a studio does not promote the film they could miss it.

And stars — always stars— though this season doesn’t seem to offer the wattage of previous years

Expected this year are Spike Lee who will unveil his self-financed Red Hook Summer, where he reprises the character he played in Do the Right Thing: Helen Hunt and William H. Macy in The Surrogate; rapper-turned-actor Ice-T making his directorial debut with a hip-hop history documentary: Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon in Wall Street drama Arbitrage; Kirsten Dunst and Isla Fisher in Bachelorette, David Duchonvy as a goatherd in Goats; Bruce Willis channeling his inner geek in Lay the Favorite; and Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana in the romantic drama The Words.

Also expect to see Ethel Kennedy and Paul Simon who are subjects of documentaries.

Look for Jane Howze's reports on the Sundance Film Festival on CultureMap throughout the week and follow her on Twitter @janehowze