SIFF 2012 is over, and amazingly, I have managed to blog it all. Not saying that my blog posts are going to be all that interesting or insightful, but I’m glad I’ll have it for a personal record.
Blog Entries
Opening Weekend
First Week
Second Weekend
Second Week
Third Weekend
Closing Week / Closing Weekend
The Films
Overall, I was pretty happy with the programming this time around, but I didn’t have a strong “OMG this is ridiculously awesome” feeling towards anything. Saw about the same number of films as last year, maybe two fewer.
Good: Strong local offerings.
Bad: 7 of the top 10 in the audience awards for best film were from the US. INTERNATIONAL film festival?? Many of the sold out movies were US movies releasing this summer. Brave, Safety Not Guaranteed, Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild, etc.
Good: No Neptune Theater style issues this year. Overall, things ran on time.
Bad: DCP issues got nasty. Two of my films had really bad problems. I volunteered one shift where they switched the movie to something else because of issues.
I don’t know anything about anything: Most of the films I saw were not extremely popular (though this was partially by design because I avoided standby screenings). When I reviewed Any Day Now, I wrote that I was surprised because I thought the movie would be really popular, but my screening wasn’t. Now I have to eat those words as well because it won audience awards for best film and best actor.
Glad I did it: Squeezing in a free screening of Any Day Now in a movie-full day. Running up to Everett for the only screening of Eden that I could catch. RENT-A-CAT (but there was never any doubt). The almost 4 hours of Chapiteau-Show.
Regrets: Not being able to see Winter Nomads. These sheep better show up on Netflix. :(
4.5 stars
Starry, Starry Night (review)
Eden (review)
Any Day Now (review)
Chapiteau-Show (review)
Sunny (review)
Paul Williams Still Alive (review)
4 stars
Rent-a-Cat (review)
The Art of Love (review)
Starbuck (review)
Bol (review)
5 Broken Cameras (review)
3.5 stars
Cloudburst (review)
Valley of Saints (review)
Klown (review)
All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace (review)
Lipstikka (review)
Lost Years (review)
3 stars
King Curling (review)
Future Lasts Forever (review)
Tatsumi (review)
Volunteering
Looks like I volunteered about the same as I did last year, maybe a little bit more. This time I did will call hours in addition to venue crew, and I’m undecided about whether or not I like it better. I think a good venue shift is hands down better than will call, but with a boring one, at least I get to browse the internet for will call. Unlike last year, I watched a total of ZERO movies while volunteering this year. Had the opportunity to watch a few, but I chose not to due to my schedule, not being interested in the film, or not wanting to watch any more films that day.
Gala hours: 7
Venue crew hours: 15
Will call hours: 10.5
Other: 5
Locations: Egyptian (3 shifts), Kirkland (3 shifts), Uptown (3 shifts)
Now I’ve got a lot of movies on my to-watch list and a lot of vouchers to use at SIFF Cinema this year. As the years go by, my desire to buy a full series pass grows larger and larger. Will next year be the year? We’ll see…
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