Film Wars: Revenge of the SIFF

So while everyone and their uncle stands in line or squeezes themselves into the front row to watch Revenge of the Sith this weekend, I'm making my plans to go to The Seattle International Film Festival.

SIFF always happens right around the dreariest part of spring in Seattle, when the weather gets warmer but it stays gray and rainy. It's the perfect time for spending 8 hours (most of them daylight) in a darkened movie theater, munching on popcorn and being transported away to different countries.

I've seen some awesome films at SIFF, including Das Experiment, Dirty Pretty Things, and a short called D.E.B.S. which was later made into a full length feature. I think my all-time favorite screening at SIFF was My Dinner With Jimi. Afterwards, Howard Kaylan stood up on stage and did a very cool Q&A. (Of course, it was also pretty cool when princess kanomanom and I saw The Secret Lives of Dentists and Tom Robbins sat behind us). I also got to see Anthony Michael Hall after the screening of Pirates of the Silicon Valley (but secretly wished Noah Wylie was there).

There used to be a time--Pre-Na--when hubby and I would actually create a spreadsheet in Excel to map out all the movies we wanted to see at SIFF. We'd drop about $300 easily on the Festival and spend entire DAYS inside movie theaters, eating the Clif Bars we brought with us to keep our energy levels up. Sadly, those days are gone and now we must choose around babysitting schedules and Papa's travel schedule, so if we're lucky, we'll be able to catch a handful this year. Here's my (partial) wish list:
The Dying Gaul
4
Absolut
Adam & Steve
and Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley. Sadly, the first showing of it is already sold out!