jfb | Cinequest wrap-up

Some final thoughts, great and small, about the festival.

I just have to start by stating the obvious: I love Cinequest. I love seeing dozens of movies in concentrated doses. I love seeing movies before most people will see them, and seeing movies most people will never have a chance to see (even when they're bad). I love meeting filmmakers, renowned and unknown, and hearing them talk passionately about what they do (even when they're wrong). Most of all I just love spending most of ten days surrounded by people who love movies.
And I love downtown San Jose. Cinequest, along with the San Jose Jazz Festival, was one of the events that brought me to this conclusion soon after I moved to the area. I love the streets and the museums and the restaurants and the light rail and the public library and the nightclubs I'd never get into and the cafes and the theaters and just being there. This affection is constant but Cinequest brings it into focus.
Yesterday I asked Halfdan, the director of the festival, how this year was going, and he gave me what I suspect was a well-trodden but sincere answer: The attendance numbers are up, which is great, but even more important, the feedback he's been getting is that the quality is up: Better movies, fewer glitches than ever before. He asked how the festival was going for me, and all I could say was "I concur." This is my fifth Cinequest, and every year it's been the best one yet.
Also, I think I have a crush on the director of operations.
A few stray thoughts about the movies:
- This week I saw a lot of funeral scenes. As a result, I have now thought out carefully what I would like done with my mortal remains. I hope not to think about that again for a while.
- Several otherwise good films were marred by mediocre scores--especially the ones with too many synthesizers. I understand how useful synths are to a low-budget production, and I'm not saying I could do better, but I'm thinking again that I'd like to try sometime. Not sure how to go about that.
- There is a contingent of the motion picture audience that regards as a provocation to laughter any appearance of a bong on the screen. I am not among their number. There appears to be no equivalent fan club for heroin needles.
Finally, I'm thinking I would like to volunteer for the festival again next year. I've done data entry for them in the past, and helped out at the filmmaker check-in desk one year without committing to a firm schedule. (I was working at the time, and seeing movies, so I just dropped by the hospitality lounge whenever I had some time free.) But if I have time available next winter I'd like to make a real time commitment. Because: I love Cinequest.

Now, back to real life.

It's a long way to come from Seattle.

This is my first Cinequest, and I only saw, I think, eight movies. But yes, I talked a lot with people who love movies. The director of Vampires Anonymous, perhaps the worst of the eight, sat next to me in Bitter Jester and recognized me from the Vampires screening, where we chatted. That was before I knew he was the director of anything and thought he was just a guy who liked movies. Thank heavens he never asked me a direct question about his movie.

Since I'm still planning on being unemployed next winter, I'm thinking of volunteering as well. It was a lot of fun to go, and I like getting involved in things.

Erik, you don't know me, but your sister pointed me to your reviews. If you're weirded out a stranger posted, you can complain to her.

I, too, think Cinequest was the coolest thing ever to drop my "life" for for a week. I too will watch 10 indies in the hopes that 1 will be fabulous, and indeed, out of 11, I liked more than 2. Funny, except for Want, I didn't see any of the same as you... I loved Crazy Jones, The Flats, Zodiac Sign, Klepto, and I thought Vampires & Reeseville were both campy and entertaining. I did not understand the last 5 minutes of New Guy at all, but everything up to that was Office Space & Blair Witch in a blender, and that was very entertaining. Want, the Killing Zone, and some of the shorts in v6 (digital one) went from OK to ick, except for that fabulous 3-min short about the crayon figure.

Parking Wed & Fri night downtown was a little nuts, but no thanks to the Redevelopment Agency's moronic plans, we were all having a great time!

Cinequest wrap-up

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