Flyover Film Festival 3 & Another Earth

I'd never call myself a "film buff." That implies some level of scholarship and knowledge.  But I did just see two movies in a row on Monday (X-Men: First Class and Water for Elephants), and I'm going to another one tomorrow (Cave of Forgotten Dreams). I love movies. I probably average a movie in the theaters every two weeks or so. During the summer, it's easily once a week.

If you follow my tweets, you know that I spent the weekend with a friend I hadn't seen in fifteen years. And if you follow my tweets, you know that he, for lack of a better word, challenged me in a lot of ways. (You can go to this twitter hashtag for a lot of the story.)

I've never met anyone who changed so much that even the shadow of the person I once knew is nearly imperceptible. He's grown up to be a good man and a happy man, so there's no judgement here at all.  He's equal parts Gandhi, Ravi Shankar, and all those crazy hippy stereotypes that drive many of us nuts.  But this new man is one that has almost nothing in common with the woman I've become. Except our shared memories.

Visitor has lived so far outside of my life experience for so long that when I asked him if he had any pop culture guilty pleasures-- movies, tv, books read for entertainment pleasure only-- he had nothing.  I'm a pop culture nerd. Heck, I used to teach a course on pop culture.  He said, "My guilty pleasure is electricity." And all I could think was, "Really? Because I know that Tivo recorded a particularly exciting episode of 'Doctor Who' last night, and I wish you'd take a nap or something so I can find out what all the fuss on Twitter has been about.'"

But in the end the visit was incredibly meaningful, and I will look back on it fondly, always.  Maybe once in a lifetime do you ever have the chance to spend time with someone who has had you on a pedestal for 22 years.

His parting wish for me was that I should "treat myself better."

What he meant: You should take up yoga and qijong. You should find a spiritual healer who performs massages so you can work on the 20-something-years of pain and sadness you've stored in your muscles. You should supplement your cancer drugs with plant medicines.

What I heard: You should spend the day after he leaves in a movie theater with a giant popcorn and a giant root beer.

Because that's how I roll...

If I rolled with a little more cash, I would totally buy an all-access pass to this weekend's Flyover Film Festival.  It's only $75 for a four-day pass!  This is the third annual festival for the Louisville Film Society whose mission states:

We believe cinema art can take many forms, from the industrially-produced blockbuster to the hand-crafted experimental work.  We aim to share a vision of film as a transformative art and encourage  participation in all aspects of film culture by diverse audiences.

What I am most excited about, and what I almost certainly attend, is the area premier of ANOTHER EARTH.  I've blogged about it before; it's the fantastic-looking, very well-received sci-fi film starring our very own Louisvillager William Mapother.  And the fact that I have a mad little celebru-crush on the man actually has very little to do with my excitement about this movie.  (Although, yes, one of the event organizers sent me an email and referenced my crush... I wasn't at all embarrassed or anything!) But he will be there doing a Q&A afterwards. Seriously folks, watch the trailer... it looks SO good.

We're so lucky to live in a city that supports the arts like we do (although the Louisville Orchestra might not agree). I'm excited that we've sustained this fabulous film festival for three years.  I hope it continues to grow strong.  And I hope that next year I have better cash flow, so I can totally film-geek-out for an all-access pass.