up.town
seattle, wa
25 may 2012 - g10, f/8 1.0s, iso-80
by no means am i a film connoisseur, but each year at this time i always enjoy placing myself in the midst of serious film buffs and their journals and boisterous discussions filled with rather highfalutin jargon. clearly these people know more about the art of filmmaking than i do but i like to think i can still appreciate it from a pure enjoyment and entertainment standpoint. technical knowledge does have its merits, but sometimes, in art, one has to be careful not to let it get in the way.
i'll go no further on that, because there's one thing in which we all usually agree: whether or not something was enjoyable or entertaining. it's like cars (or many other things). some cars are, without a doubt, ugly, and no art degree or engineering degree is needed, yet the levels of taste and varieties of preference are as diverse as the people that possess them.
so yes, you can find me tracking fairly closely (but not precisely) on the "love me do!" pathway and usually some interesting commonality will shake loose from the randomness. in the past two years it's usually been the countries, and this year is proving to be another example. for my first few years attending the SIFF, i seemed to be drawn toward french films--and my preference still leans strongly toward french cinema--but last year it seemed to be the year of the swedish films, and this year most of the screenings i'm attending are for films from the united states.
speaking of things from the united states, this whole week has been one of strange bursts of sleep as the dragon spacecraft, carrying the work of a friend of mine, has been making headlines for being the first private spacecraft to attach to the international space station. all week it's been a series of cheering on this small spacecraft as it went through the various demonstrations because it's sometimes too easy to forget that while there is so much automation and computerised activity controlling these machines, they are still designed and built by humans.
humans.
it may not be magic, but it definitely is
magical.
-j
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