Cinequest 16

Cinequest 16 begins in three days. The nearly two-week long film festival runs from March 1 to March 12. I only grabbed a copy of the program guide last Thursday as I passed Camera 12 and only went through the movie listings yesterday. I know the guide is available online, but there's something about sitting in a busy cafe, reading descriptions printed on paper and physically circling potential picks that I like. For a few moments, I can pretend to be cultured.

Of course, for me the fun is in the planning. It begins with the pen and program guide and ends with a spreadsheet to help me avoid scheduling conflicts between movies and pesky "obligations" like work, meals and sleep. One additional obligation this year is volunteering for the festival. I just heard from the coordinator and I'll be helping out at the box office for a few hours over the next two weeks.

As I went through this year's offerings, I noticed I had become much more finicky. In 2003 and 2004, I easily found ten movies I wanted to see. I didn't end up liking all ten of them, but I at least gave them a chance. Last year, only five movies made the cut for potential viewing. This year, I again only found five I was willing to pay nine dollars to see and that number dropped to four thanks to a timing conflict.

A more positive spin might replace finicky with discerning, but the fact remains that my tolerance level has lessened, which makes me less receptive to potentially good films. I'm not happy about feeling like I've become somewhat closed-minded because that isn't who I want to be. The only thing I can think of to remedy the situation is to go through the guide again and ask myself why I don't want to see certain movies. Perhaps a theme will present itself. If I can see what chains are holding me back, I can break out of them.

Anyway, here are the four films I hope to see:

1. Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon
2. An Enemy of the People
3. Frozen Land
4. Loop