The film fest is over

Well, i survived another Cleveland International Film Festival, and lemme tell you, it's getting kind of difficult to do that lately. Nothing against the Film Festival, they do a wonderful service to the city of Cleveland, but they need to take a look at how they run the thing. As the attendence steadily rises year by year, the Film Festival really needs to take a look at a serious expansion. I'm sure no one seeing this has ever been to the Cleveland International Film Festival, so here's how it works; there are three kinds of ticket holders: 1- passholders-they spend $400-$600 dollars and get an all access pass to every movie and reserved seating in every movie.
-2- plain old Ticket holders- these are folks that have bought their tickets in advance but did not pay the $ for a pass. -3- stand by- when a film is sold to about 60%-70% capacity, it goes on stand by, so you have to go to the fest 1 hour before the movie, buy your stand by ticket, and wait for everyone else to be seated, then they seat whoever can be fit into the theater.

So there is how that works, and here is the annoying part. If you are not a passholder, like myself, you must wait outside the theater in roped off lines until your movie seats, you are not allowed in the theater, as it is a privelage of the passholders only. Another annoyance is that lengthy seating times and introductions cause almost every film to start late, and with only 10 or 15 minutes between films, it makes it difficult to get a good seat in your next film if the one you're in lets out late.

I was lucky this year, i only had to get my money back for one movie that had already been filled by the time the movie i was in let out. but it was cut very close on a number of occassions. The solution: either drop $400 big ones for a pass, or deal with it, because the folks at the festival think they have everything under control.

That rant aside, here are the rest fo the films i got to see at the Film festival.

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (En Folkefiende) from Norway and directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg and set against the lush landscapes of Norway is about Tomas, an uncompromising consumer advocate. After differences with his TV show producers he returns with his family to the village of his youth to a water bottling plant he and his brother are starting in the hopes of bottling the purest water in the world froma secluded mauntain spring. But all goes foul when tests show the waten has been poisoned with a pesticide, and Tomas must face his brother and the village to stop the shipment of this tainted water.

SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS from Germany directed by Marc Rothemund is the story of the last six days in the life of Sophie Scholl, the famed female anti-Nazi activist. She and her brother are caught in relation to the handing out of anti-Nazi pamphlets, and are held and interrogated to get the rest of the names involved. Through it all Sophie remains loyal to her cause, dimaying her Gestapo interrogator, who obviously has some respect for her strong sense of loyalty.

HENRI LANGLOIS: PHANTOM OF THE CINEMATHEQUE from france and directed by Jacques Richard is a documentary about the famouus film historian and collector who founded the Cinematheque Française in Paris in 1936 with friends Jean Mitry and Georges Franju. The documentary looks at his excentricities which lent themselves to his unique ability to get films and keep them, even through the Nazi occupation of France. It looks at his influences on the French New Wave and film preservation today.

TAPAS Directed by José Corbacho, Juan Cruz from Spain is a light hearted comedy centering around a tapas bar in Barcelona. Lolo, the owner of the bar doesn't appreciate his wife, so she pickes up and leaves. He hires a Chinese chef to help out, and he turns out to be a pro. Cesar is getting ready for a big birthday bash with his friends when he falls for one of his mother's friends, a lonely middleaged divorcee with a passion for online dating. And Conchi, an older woman with a dying husband spends her time selling drugs to pay for her husband to have a relaxing and happy end.

THE PROPOSITION directed by John Hillcoat and written by music legend Nick Cave, is from Australia and the UK. Starring Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Danny Huston, this story from the 19th century Outback centers on Charlie, an outlaw who is given the choice to go and kill his older brother in order to save his younger one, who is to be hanged if Charlie fails. Set amidst the harsh climate of the deserts of Australia, this modern reinvention of the western is a must see for anyone who likes violence and genre flicks.

Well thats it for now, Check out PodCasterNews.com for reviews of all these films and more at the Left Of Center film and DVD review.