24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Days 7 and 8: Gloomy Wednesday, 'Taxi' Thursday

Oy, what a wet day Wednesday was. It just seemed to rain all darn day. So what better way to lift the mood than to see a movie about teenage suicide!?

"Bridgend" was my only selection for the festival's seventh day, and it's a fictionalized account about
a real town in Wales where 79 teenagers committed suicide from 2007 to 2012. A girl named Sarah moves there with her police officer father, and the quiet, horse-rider soon falls in with a group of rambunctious teenagers who aren't total normal underneath their partying ways.

The premise is eerily intriguing: a "cult" of teenagers who one-by-one kill themselves in a secluded forest. What is so damning about this film is that instead of focusing on the teenagers, a young, quiet protagonist girl is inserted into the story and it turns into a coming-of-age bit, so much so that her father asks her "What is happening to you?", a line almost always said by a parental figure to the main character in a film like this.

Sarah's adventure with this dark group isn't anything new, and barely holds a flame to films like "Kids" and "Thirteen", it's just a way to break into the story of why are these kids committing suicide?

Like in real life, the film has no answers for it.

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Day 4: A day of great choices

Note to self: check the public trans schedule about an hour before you plan on leaving. That would be pretty helpful.

Aside from that slight hiccup at the start of my day, the fourth day of the Philadelphia Film Festival was the best one yet. Instead of seeing four films like I wanted, I opted for three. I was just too darn tired.

The start of this eventual great day was "Remember", a film I had not heard about before. The festival program guide says it's about a guy who seeks out the Nazi who killed he and his wife's families at Auschwitz.

"Remember" features a standout turn by Christopher Plummer as the man on the cross-country hunt to kill this Nazi. He portrays the dementia-afflicted man with a delicate touch of warmth and sadness. This is a film that had everyone shocked, and if you see, you'd understand why.

Not your standard rinse and repeat Holocaust movie.

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Days 2 and 3: Having a 'Cannes' do attitude

This may be only the second time of sitting in theaters for hours a day watching movies, a.k.a., enduring the best of a film festival. And for me, Philadelphia's annual fest devoted to international and local cinema is the only place I do it... for now.

But the some feeling kicks in days before it starts: do I really have the energy to endure four movies a day for the first few days of the fest? In my head I say no, but by the third movie of each day my body is programmed to endure it. It also doesn't mean that I don't feel like nodding off during the third movie, either. Whoops.

So with day one of the festival off to a smashing start with "Anomalisa", I grabbed my badge and tickets (for select screenings not covered with my badge) and headed downtown for day two, Oct. 21.

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Day 1: "Anomalisa" shines as opener!

Yay, the Philadelphia Film Festival has officially started!

After weeks since announcing the fest's lineup the anticipation can finally start to dissipate as local cinephiles can start their marathon moviewatching.

The festival's opening night activities appeared to go off without a hitch, and what a fabulous event that sounded like. The red carpet, the party, and all sorts of luxuriation that comes with it.

It started off with two screenings of "Anomalisa", the award-winning, stop-motion animation film from Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, at the Prince Theater at 6 and 8:30. There seemed to be a flood of interest for the 8:30 screening since it was announced that Kaufman and Johnson would be in person to have a Q&A segment after that showing of their film, and they would be honored with the fest's artistic achievement award. Of course there were email updates saying this screening was sold out, rush tickets were available and blah blah blah.

'Spotlight'ing the 'Truth': Journalism in Cinema, 2015

Boston Globe/Entertainment One

Who knew 2015 would become a hit year for journalism in cinema?

It started off with the little seen Jonah Hill pic "True Story", and now two more films about the truth-seeking industry are being released in the heat of Oscar season: "Spotlight" and "Truth".

Both films take place around the same time, early- to mid-2000's, but they couldn't be anymore different. "Spotlight" is an underdog story of sorts about a group of watchdog journalists at The Boston Globe taking down the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and "Truth" is a group of television legends at CBS covering up their "errors" in a report about Pres. George W. Bush's time in the National Guard.

Neither of these holds a flame to the paramount journalism film "All the President's Men", but damn if they aren't good. And how suiting is it for Robert Redford to star as Bob Woodward in "ATPM" and now portray Dan Rather in "Truth"? Redford is definitely an iconic part of the world of journalism, and that's not even his profession.

At the core of both of these films is the hunt for facts, the hallmark of journalism.

Charlie Kaufman, Todd Haynes to appear at Philly Film Fest

Organizers of the 24th Philadelphia Film Festival announced Thursday that Charlie Kaufman and 30 other special guests will be in attendance for certain screenings during the duration of the 11-day festival.

Following the 8:30 screening of their festival-opening film "Anomalisa" at the Prince Theater, directors Kaufman and Duke Johnson will participate in a Q&A following the screening, and will be feted with the festival's artistic achievement award: Kaufman for his "incredibly imaginative writing" and Johnson for his work in animation that culminated in "the revolutionary stop-motion animated work of art 'Anomalisa'".

The festival also announced a Charlie Kaufman Retrospective section has been added to the festival line-up at the Prince Theater, which will showcase all of his titles: "Adaptation"; "Being John Malkovich"; "Confesstions of a Dangerous Mind"; "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"; "Human Nature"; and "Synecdoche, New York".

The retrospective has not yet been scheduled.

In addition to previously announced guest Michael Moore during the closing night showing of his latest film "Where to Invade Next"at the Prince Theater, director Todd Haynes ("Carol") is scheduled to appear, as is Gaspar Noé ("Love", "Irreversible"), actress Zoë Bell ("Camino") and Jamie Kennedy ("Scream").

Below is the full line-up of guests scheduled to attend. All information is subject to change.

Patricia Riggen, Director, The 33

Charlie Kaufman, Director, Anomalisa

Duke Johnson, Director, Anomalisa

Kevin Kerslake, Director, As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM

Brian Klugman, Director, Baby Baby Baby

David April, Subject, Beer Runners

Justin Wirtalla, Director, Beer Runners

Erik Shirai, Director, The Birth of Sake

Josh C. Waller, Director, Camino

Zoë Bell, Actor, Camino

Todd Haynes, Director, Carol

Rick Alverson, Director, Entertainment

Alison Bagnall, Director, Funny Bunny

Tara Culp, Producer, Funny Bunny

Greg Koh, Director, The Great Alone

Lynn True, Director, In Transit

Erika Frankel, Director, King Georges

Georges Perrier, Subject, King Georges

Jeffrey Loeb, Producer, A Light Beneath Their Feet

Gaspar Noé, Director, Love

Jessica Edwards, Director, Mavis!

Jay Dockendorf, Director, Naz and Maalik

Noah Pritzker, Director, Quitters

Ben Hickernell, Director, A Rising Tide

Jamie Kennedy, Actor, Scream

David Felix Sutcliffe, Director, (T)error

Christopher K. Walker, Director, Welcome to Leith

Marilyn Cohen, Executive Producer, When Voices Meet

Sharon Katz, Subject, When Voices Meet

Nonhlanhla Wanda, Subject, When Voices Meet

Michael Moore, Director, Where to Invade Next

Philadelphia Film Festival ready to kick off 24th year

From Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, lovers of film are expected to see something  at the 24th Philadelphia Film Festival  (PFF) the promotional materials says they’ll “never forget”, and with over 130 different feature and short film options to choose from, that statement couldn’t be more true.

Starting with the opening night film, Charlie Kauffman’s award-winning stop-motion feature “Anomalisa”, to Michael Moore’s latest documentary feature “Where to Invade Next” capping off the 11-day fest, the festival will include the best, and, perhaps, divisive, works of cinema from around the globe in a crowded assembly where internationally renowned directors share the spotlight with Philadelphia-based talent as they tell stories that break out beyond conventional boundaries.

“This year is probably the strongest year since I’ve been working there,” said the festival’s artistic director Michael Lerman. “It was interesting because while I was putting it together it was unclear looking at bits and pieces how it was going to turn out, and then it all seemed to come together at the last minute.”