The Fest Ends On A Strong Note

Eight days and nights of watching films - always looking for the that perfect film. Or a bunch of perfect films. We have a lot of screens to fill over the next few months and of course, it's the run up to Oscar season. Normally we are going to see the quality movies that are shoe-ins to be nominees if not winners. As I reflect on all the movies I saw, I'm thinking there are a few standouts that we'll be proud to play (some of them are still waiting to be 'picked up'). Probably my favorite was 'Wild', for the film and the acting. A close runner-up was 'Rosewater' - and not just because a good guy named Jon Stewart directed it, but because it was based on a book written by a journalist who participated in one of his skits, filmed in Iran, where it was comically implied that Maziar Bahari was a spy. Guess what? The Iranian police don't have much of a sense of humor. I read that Stewart felt guilty and that was a huge motivation for making the film. Bravo, Jon - really well done.

The last few I saw were of pretty high caliber as well. 'While We're Young' with Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts who are feeling their middle age and meet a young couple who seem to be doing it all in such a cool way (Girls Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). Directed by France Ha's Noah Baumbach. 'Top Five' (famous for the highest sale price of 12.5 mil) written, directed and starring Chris Rock plus just about every other comedian in the galaxy was fun. Really rather dug the next film, 'Learning To Drive' with Ben Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson as a woman whose husband has left her, and she engages an engaging Sikh driving instructor to help her overcome her fear of driving so that she can visit her daughter (Grace Gummer, looking and sounding more like her Mom Meryl everyday). The last move of the night was a pretty frightening 'Good Kill' about our use, overuse, morals concerning drones as the new most viable way to make 'surgical kills' 7000 miles away, from a dashboard that looks like a cross between a game boy and a pilots training room. Frightening in its truth.

I had to leave a little early before the end, but the other BIG movie is going to be 'The Imitation Game' .

Thanks to the millions of readers of this blog...shall return in January from Sundance!