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In real marathons (of the running variety), participants tend to save up their strength for that last sprint to the finish line. But after three days of my four-day movie marathon, I barely had enough strength left to trip over the finish line — so I took it easy on my last day.
Our first movie of the day started at 11:45 — so, by 10:45, we were standing in line at Dunkin Donuts, waiting to fill up on a little bit of wake-up juice. Then, sufficiently caffeinated, we headed into the crowd for the last day of movies.
The first movie of the day was White on Rice an Asian-American comedy by Dave Boyle (who was there for the screening). On the way in, we had the pleasure of running into Tom, who was in charge of keeping the peace in the theater. He assured me that, apart from an incident on Friday, when he nearly had to break up a fight over a seat, his weekend had been pretty calm. He then intoduced me to Kristyn, another volunteer who was there for the screening, and we chatted for a while before I had to head down the aisle to make sure that no one tried to steal my seat again.
The movie was absolutely hilarious in a wacky ’80s comedy kind of way. The characters (especially the main character, Jimmy, and his 10-year-old nephew, Bob) were priceless — and they reminded me of Better Off Dead, one of my favorite ’80s movies. It was just the thing for a groggy Sunday morning.
Though we’d originally planned to squeeze in three movies before heading home, I’d overheard a few complaints about the second movie that we were planning to see. So, instead of risking it, we decided to take a break and have a real sit-down lunch upstairs, at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was perfectly relaxing — which, after three days of non-stop movies, it was just what I needed to get me through that last movie of the festival (and, hopefully, the drive home). We had more than three hours between movies, so we had a nice leisurely lunch, followed by a stroll through the mall and some reading time (during which I finished reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). Then, at around 4, we headed back to the theater, feeling relaxed and revived.
My last movie was Rudo y Cursi, with Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna of Y Tu Mama Tambien. It was one of the three special screenings of the day — for which they didn’t sell tickets. The screening was for passholders only, with the remaining seats filled by stand-by ticketholders. According to my festival press package, I’m not allowed to post any reviews of this one yet, so I can’t say anything about it, but I will say that it was a fine way to end this year’s festival.
And then, just like that, it was over. As other festivalgoers made their way in for the 7:00 round — the final round of movies for the festival — we headed out to the hallway, where I noticed that the giant schedule board had been emptied of its schedule. For four days, during the festival trailer that ran before each movie, I heard an eager moviegoer say, “It’s Starting.” But now it was ending.
That last walk out of the mall is always a bittersweet one. I’m sure it’s the same for anyone who’s finished a marathon. On one hand, I was proud of myself for making it through another year. I was even a bit relieved. And, of course, I was downright exhausted. But, at the same time, it was a shame to see it end. Cleveland is one of the highlights of my moviegoing year, and now I’ll have to wait another whole year before I can do it again. Today I start counting down the days until next March.
The worst part of the festival is always that two-hour drive home — and this year’s drive was even worse than usual. When we left (my husband and I each driving our own car), it was raining, with huge gusts of wind that made it nearly impossible to keep my little SUV on the road. Later, as it started to get dark, it began sleeting. Then it turned to snow. We took a break for dinner (more fries, of course) halfway, so we could fuel up on caffeinated beverages, and then, gradually, the weather got slightly better. But two hours of night driving in wet and windy weather, on wet and slippery roads, is trecherous enough. Add to that a growing feeling of exhaustion, and you’ve got a pretty deadly combination. I was so very happy to make it into the garage and call it a week.
As much as I would have loved to sleep for a couple of days after the whole experience, I was up bright and early this morning. After all, I have a couple of days’ work to catch up on — along with 16 extra movies to start reviewing. The fun’s over…back to work!
Once again, though, my four days couldn’t have been better. In fact, I’d say that this year’s festival was the most fun I’ve had at CIFF. So if you’ve never gone, I highly recommend being a part of next year’s audience. And to those of you whom I met this year…see you next year!
