25th Philadelphia Film Festival, Days 9 and 10: Downfall

(Read about days 7 and 8 here)

Man, come Friday morning I was still reeling from "Paterson" the night before. Such a fantastic movie (and even better after I saw my friend V as an extra in it).

As the sentiment faded, I wasn't really looking forward to much on Friday. I wasn't planning on seeing the closing night film, "Arrival", or seeing that what the award winners were from the private jury that almost no one knows exists. Friday was a day off for me from work and I just wanted to get the most of the badge that I had. I had only seen 13 movies up until the day.

The "Parents" dishcloth. Dropped stitches at the end/top.

On my short roster of three selections was the Danish film "Parents", the Japanese film "Harmonium" and the French Canadian "Boundaries".

These were three selections I should have strayed extremely far away from and should have opted to see something else... or nothing at all.

"Parents" is about a middle-aged couple who have to deal with their adult son finally moving out of their house. What started beautifully, just like the dishcloth I was making when it started, quickly turned into a mess, just like the dishcloth.

A great premise at face value, it then turned into a really weird sci-fi-ish tale where the parents change into their 20-something selves, and the mom wants to have a baby with her son. I couldn't with this film, not at all. Just give me a straight-forward tale about parents dealing with it instead of an overly pretentious bucket of crap that tries too hard to be awesome. I gave it props based on the premise.

25th Philadelphia Film Festival, Days 7 and 8: Persons of Extreme Interest, 'Christine' and 'Paterson'

(Read about day 4 here)

As I stated in my previous post, I usually take Monday and Tuesday off from festivals to get back into my regular work routine and catch up with a weeknight film on the other days.

This year was no different.

On Wednesday, which was seriously one of the longest, most tiring days I've had in a while, I drove out to a 9:25 screening of "Christine", the Rebecca Hall vehicle about reporter Christine Chubbuck who killed herself on live TV back in the '70s.

25th Philadelphia Film Festival, Day 4: Best Day Yet

(Click here to read about days 2.... and 3)

Day four of the festival was the best day yet, in my opinion. Granted, I was surprised how my first three days didn't include any noticeable duds of everything that I had seen so far! Usually, one or two get pretty low ratings on my film ballot, but not so this year. Everything was refreshing for one reason or another, whether the acting alone ("Things to Come"), sheer brilliance of character ("Toni Erdmann"),  or a tenacious, low-key mystery ("The Unknown Girl"), nothing has let me down yet.

Going into Sunday, I was feeling hopeful that everything I was going to see that day would be great. I heard a bit on Twitter about "Goldstone" and how great Jacki Weaver is in it. Essentially, she reprises her Oscar-nominated role in "Animal Kingdom", as the charming ruler of a corrupt system in this tale about the racial, backdoor dealings of Australia.

The entrance of an aboriginal federal detective to a vast, close-minded area of the country ruled by Maureen (Weaver) and patrolled by a young cop named Josh, throws things into disarray involving sex trades, the removing of aboriginals from their land, and an overbearing mining company.

25th Philadelphia Film Festival , Day 3: "Father's Day!"

(Read about day 2 here)

After ending day two on a high note with "Jackie", I started my third day with the Cannes' winning "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki", a Finnish black and white film about a boxer going for an international title. Certainly not your "Raging Bull" or "Rocky", "Olli Mäki" was an endearing story of a man fighting for love and not the title. I wasn't over-the-moon like the PFS staff allegedly was, but I didn't hate it, either.

Not expecting to get in to the sold out "Toni Erdmann" screening, I stood in the rush line and got in. And considering it was a Centerpiece selection, you know the screening wasn't going to start on time so I didn't have to worry about walking into an already-started film.

This highly acclaimed German comedy was incredibly heartwarming, and the first great film of the day that encompassed the day's overall theme: dads matter.

25th Philadelphia Film Festival, Day 2: A Good Start!

All right, day two of the 25th Philadelphia Film Festival!

But wait. Where's day one at?

Well, unless you were paying $250 for me to see the opening night film "La La Land" I wasn't attending. I mean $250 for one movie (plus some parties)? That's pretty atrocious, especially since the opening/closing night films last year were like $25 a piece. A 1000 percent markup in one year. Philadelphia Film Society, kindly fuck yourself with a chainsaw for that one.

So my foray into the festival started on Friday, day two of the 11-day fest. I gathered my press badge (which gets me into all screenings save for opening/closing night and centerpieces), my knitting needles and yarn, water bottle and an open mind into the four films I had lined up for the day.

New Power Rangers Movie Gets Release Date

It's morphing time... again!

Lionsgate and Saban Brands films have officially announced a July 22, 2016 release date for "Power Rangers", first Power Rangers film in the franchise to get a theatrical release in almost 20 years.

Although no cast or director have signed on to the project, Ashley Miller and Zach Stenz ("Thor", "X-Men: First Class") will write the screenplay.

Based on the long-running TV show about superhero teenagers who morph into rangers and fight off evil with superpowers, the original series "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" created two feature films: "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" in 1995 and 1997's "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie".