Over the last 2 weeks I’ve made my way down to old city on numerous occasions to catch a few flix at the Philadelphia Film Festival. Alicia and I have been talking about going for the past 2 years or so but never made it  there. This year we caught 4 good movies and 1 not so good one. The first was Half Nelson staring Ryan Gosling which I liked a lot more then I thought I would. I picked this one because I’m fan of his and the director was giving a Q&A afterwards. While I thought some parts were very awkward I enjoyed this very much and got to ask the director, Ryan Fleck a question. Also in attendance was the young female lead in the film Shareeka Epps. She did a great job and was very excited to be in Philly as she wants to attend a local college here. Great movie followed by an even better Q&A.
The next film was the documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated which is about the MPAA ratings board and the rating system it uses. I highly recommend this one. Go see it when it’s released wide. The cut we saw was different then the one in Sundance and the director, Kirby Dick said he still has a few things to tweak before it’s released wide. The film uses film clips from well known movies to expose the hypocrisy of the ratings system in a funny, informative and entertaining way. The Egg people explaining what can and can’t be done in movies is classic. The film also interviews well known directors (John Waters, Kevin Smith, Kimberly Peirce, Matt Stone) who’ve had to deal with the MPAA’s self-righteous maneuverings.  Afterwards Kirby Dick fielded some questions and entertained the crowd before running out of time before the next movie screening. This movie was well worth it and made me want to see some of his other films.
Next was LOL. Before LOL the short film Fly was screened and received a warming applause. It was a funny 12 minute movie about a young man’s compulsive attention to his “fly.” After seeing this I had a feeling it was going to be better then the feature to follow. I was right. LOL is an 82 minute film that could have been cut now to the 12 minute running time of its opening act Fly. Most of the cast was in attendance as well as the director, and after the movie ended they took some questions from the crowd. The director announced that they film was not scripted and you could almost here the audience exhale and say, “That’s why it wasn’t good.” The Q&A did add a little incite which made some things make since but it was not enough we make me like the film even though I wanted too. After the Q&A they gave out CD’s which was cool but it was music from the movie, so it really didn’t matter. This film has been compared to the film Funny Ha Ha which I hated but many people love. I think the same thing that pulled me into that film pulled me into this one. A Young cast, young director and good trailer. The one thing I liked about this was that they were all happy to be at the screening and seemed truly excited.
On Saturday April 9th, we saw Hard Candy. Hard Candy comes out this weekend, GO SEE THIS MOVIE. This is an awkward and tense work of beauty. Ellen Page’s performance was amazing. One of the best torture scenes ever! Once again, GO SEE THIS MOVIE! The gripping suspense will have you stuck to the edge of your seat with an unease that’s gut wrenching but engaging. Do it, go see it, do it.
And lastly we saw One Last Thing… which has local ties with the writer, director and some cast members being local as well as some of the movie being shot in Marcus Hook, PA. This movie was very funny despite of the subject matter - a young man with a terminal illness makes an unconventional request on local television. The writer did a great job making you care for every character and handle the inclusion of religion with out making it seen preachy or forced. This is a great movie to see with a great cast to boot.In all, I had a great time at the film fest and will be attending next year. One thing I would have liked to see more of is people hyping there own films. I only had one person hand me a flier to go see his movie. I wish there were more people pimping there films. Hopefully next year I can hand out fliers to my film at this festival.