My first film festival!
04-03-11, 03:29 PM
#1
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
My first film festival!
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but just wanted to share.
I went to my first film festival yesterday (Phoenix Film Festival) - it was pretty awesome!
We saw:
Dirty Little Trick - a movie that appeared to be locally created/produced, and it was absolutely horrible. I mean, 1 out of 10 stars-horrible. Dean Cain and Michael Madson were in it, and, to sum it up, it felt like a movie created by people who believed they were more talented than they were, starring an actress who they felt was hotter than she was, with a storyline they felt was more clever than it was. Every other scene was black and white with either one red or green highlighted item, I mean, yeah, we get it, you watched Sin City, congratulations. The dialogue was horrible, the characters were comically cliche'd, it was just bad. There was a Q&A with the director afterwards, and I stuck around for a few seconds to see if maybe he was going to admit the movie was intended to be a parady of itself or mocking the genre or something, but no, he was just your typical small town douche with a director's hat. Anyone who pronounces "schedule" as "shedule" deserves to be shot.
On the other end of the spectrum was "A Little Help", starring Jenna Fischer and Chris O'Donnel. I couldn't figure out why this hadn't gone mainstream, it was a really well done movie, about a dental hygenist trying to cope with her husband's death. Part comedy, part drama ... it was a good flick. It also starred Brooke Smith, the lady from silence of the lambs who had to put the lotion on or else she got the hose again, etc etc. She hasn't aged well, but still, a good movie.
Then we went to go see Horror Shorts - the best of which appeared to be a barely-passing high school project. And no, there was a separate Horror Shorts for high school and college projects, so unless they were mislabeled, those could have only been worse.
Still, a fun day. Any insights or tricks on attending future film festivals? Any good film festival stories?
I went to my first film festival yesterday (Phoenix Film Festival) - it was pretty awesome!
We saw:
Dirty Little Trick - a movie that appeared to be locally created/produced, and it was absolutely horrible. I mean, 1 out of 10 stars-horrible. Dean Cain and Michael Madson were in it, and, to sum it up, it felt like a movie created by people who believed they were more talented than they were, starring an actress who they felt was hotter than she was, with a storyline they felt was more clever than it was. Every other scene was black and white with either one red or green highlighted item, I mean, yeah, we get it, you watched Sin City, congratulations. The dialogue was horrible, the characters were comically cliche'd, it was just bad. There was a Q&A with the director afterwards, and I stuck around for a few seconds to see if maybe he was going to admit the movie was intended to be a parady of itself or mocking the genre or something, but no, he was just your typical small town douche with a director's hat. Anyone who pronounces "schedule" as "shedule" deserves to be shot.
On the other end of the spectrum was "A Little Help", starring Jenna Fischer and Chris O'Donnel. I couldn't figure out why this hadn't gone mainstream, it was a really well done movie, about a dental hygenist trying to cope with her husband's death. Part comedy, part drama ... it was a good flick. It also starred Brooke Smith, the lady from silence of the lambs who had to put the lotion on or else she got the hose again, etc etc. She hasn't aged well, but still, a good movie.
Then we went to go see Horror Shorts - the best of which appeared to be a barely-passing high school project. And no, there was a separate Horror Shorts for high school and college projects, so unless they were mislabeled, those could have only been worse.
Still, a fun day. Any insights or tricks on attending future film festivals? Any good film festival stories?
04-04-11, 04:23 AM
#2
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: My first film festival!
I've been to a few festivals. Still want to go to Sundance, TIFF, Berlin, and Cannes sometime in my life.
For me the thrill is seeing directors speak before a film, or seeing a movie months (or years) before others.
Seeing stars... not that exciting.
For me the thrill is seeing directors speak before a film, or seeing a movie months (or years) before others.
Seeing stars... not that exciting.
04-04-11, 01:31 PM
#4
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: My first film festival!
1) To have an even more authentic festival experience, next time you should go multiple days.
2) Stay away from little movies with name actors (i.e. Dean Cain and Michael Madsen), they tend to be pretty mediocre in general.
3) Go through the schedule on IMDb and see if any of the movies had success at the bigger festivals. You are almost guaranteed to make really good choices that way.
4) Most decent American films get distribution and will probably be coming to a theater near you (or a pay tv channel) in the not-so-distant future, so if you want to have unique experiences, go with the little foreign films instead.
5) Many festivals have a silent film or two on their schedule that feature live musical accompaniment. That is something that every movie fan should experience.
2) Stay away from little movies with name actors (i.e. Dean Cain and Michael Madsen), they tend to be pretty mediocre in general.
3) Go through the schedule on IMDb and see if any of the movies had success at the bigger festivals. You are almost guaranteed to make really good choices that way.
4) Most decent American films get distribution and will probably be coming to a theater near you (or a pay tv channel) in the not-so-distant future, so if you want to have unique experiences, go with the little foreign films instead.
5) Many festivals have a silent film or two on their schedule that feature live musical accompaniment. That is something that every movie fan should experience.
