Post your comments here about the February 2012 SF/37 Film Marathon! After (or during) the event, natch........

I'm tempted to just copy-and-paste my tweets, but maybe I'll want to exceed ~110 characters...

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES:  I was surprised to really like this one; the series pretty much leaves me cold.  Still, I was impressed; it works as a smart sci-fi thriller in isolation and ties in with the original movie in fun ways.  I especially dig how the filmmakers structured on of the big turning points:  In-joke you know is coming and then, while it's got your guard down, surprising thing that moves the story forward.  That's the way to handle the job of reviving a property.

BRAINSTORM:  Dug it, although it's a shame the 70mm gear at the theater isn't ready yet.  A welcome reminder that Louise Fletcher is fantastic, and it seems Christopher Walken didn't really have a pre-self-parody period.

(Also, didn't those modems with acoustic couplers top out at like 300 baud?  Sending VR through that must have involved amazing compression!)

WAR OF THE SATELLITES:  Eh.  Not a big fan of camp/cheese/etc.  Dick Miller and Susan Cabot were OK, the rest about what you'd expect.

ENDHIRAN:  I think this kind of wore the audience out; Kollywood(*) is a very different set of rhythms from American movies, and by the time it was getting completely bonkers, a lot of people seemed ready to be done.  The second time I've seen this one, and the audience experience was much different:  "Superstar" Rajini is HUGE in the Indian community, especially Tamil-speakers; when I saw it first-run in Fresh Pond in September '10, I thought I was the only one not in on some sort of drinking game, because everything he did provoked a huge reaction, and Aishwarya Rai was like an afterthought.

A reminder for those who didn't have it seared into their brains:  Aishwarya Rai is really, really pretty, and a big part of why I occasionally go to Indian movies.

(*) Major Tom was inaccurate in calling this "Hindi" and "Bollywood"; India has at least three major languages (Hindi, Telegu, and Tamil), each with their own movie industry ("Bollywood", "Tollywood" [I think], and "Kollywood"), though Bollywood/Hindi is what usually shows up subtitled in the US.

DIMENSIONS:  Second time in two days, and while it was fun to catch stuff that the directors had mentioned after the show on Saturday night, it's kind of weird that nobody ever really has a forceful "this isn't healthy" conversation with Stephen or Annie, isn't it?

I'm sure David will bring this experience up the next time somebody suggests "upgrading" the theater to digital.

ATTACK THE BLOCK:  This is still a ton of fun, innit?  I love the monster designs, brilliantly focused and simple as well as being designed to look good as either CGI or practical effects.

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS:  Spiffy version of Dr. Moreau, even if neither Laughton nor Lugosi is doing his best work.

SCANNERS:  And here I started nodding off, which ticks me off, because I loved what I saw of this ("hey, isn't it kind of neat to see Michael Ironside playing it low key AND HOLY sh!t!") and it's apparently not readily available on home video right now (I shall have to start checking out used sections).  What the heck is up with that?

FRANKENSTEIN:  Every time I see this, it's like discovering it anew.  Looking at this print, it's hard to believe Uni feels the need to do restoration for their 100th this year; I suspect that will be done digitally and not look quite as good.

RE-ANIMATOR:  Another one I missed much of, and will catch up with when it hits Blu-ray.  I've kind of avoided it for a while because I'm not generally a big fan of the way it combines horror and comedy, and now I'm kicking myself for not seeing it with Coombs & Gordon in attendance at Fantasia in 2010 (they were also there for their Poe play).

COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE:  More sleeping, but at least this one always had something cool going on when I woke up.  Faye seemed to spend a lot of time tied up, though, which is just a little creepy.  Remember digging it when it first came around (the music and fight choreography are insanely good for an animated action movie), though, and I'll have to pick up the TV series now that it's cheap.

PAUL:  I skipped the first part getting breakfast, half-remembering it as getting funnier as it went along.  Apparently that's the case, because this was much funnier than I remembered.  A crowd that digs the jokes probably doesn't hurt.

MISSION GALACTICA: THE CYLON ATTACK:  So, not good, but not as bad as I'd feared.  That is a lot of re-used footage in very little time, though.

FOLKLORE:  Kind of surprised the crowd turned on this one; it struck me as kind of amusing when I saw it in the fest section, although it's not a thing I need to see twice in rapid succession.

Flying out of town soon. More notes later.

First of all - THANK YOU to everybody who said hello, and to all who had a hand in putting on the show. We do have a great crew as Major Tom said. There are LOTS of folks behind the scenes.

As to FOLKLORE. It just doesn't work as a film. It's flat, one note and (good intentions aside) poorly executed. There is a difference between the hermetically sealed environment of a Film Festival and the "real" world of movie theaters, DVD, Internet downloads etc. - not to mention the Marathon. There are numerous examples of films that have done well on the Fest circuit, but die both critically and commercially when the wider world encounters them. No doubt, the Filmmakers had their heart in the right place. Too bad it didn't pan out.

Back soon....

And so, with another marathon in the can and my body recovered from 32 hours of sleep deprivation, it's time for my annual rundown of this year's films. Please note that I shot another time lapse and it should be loaded onto YouTube in the next day or so. Watch this thread for the link.

Now, to the movies!

1.) Rise of the Apes

This movie was a pleasant surprise for me when I first saw it last year. I think my favorite thing about it was that it's more a remake of the original Planet of the Apes than the remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes that I was expecting. Yes, I acknowledge that the apes seem to get really organized in a day or so, but I'll just chalk that up to the magic retrovirus making Caesar and the others actually more intelligent than humans. As for those apes they broke out of the zoo, I'm convinced that they were mostly cannon fodder and decoys to let the enhanced apes get away. The thing I liked most was that the apes were clearly not out to kill all humans, and that our downfall comes from the terrible safety protocols in effect at The Worst Bioresearch Lab EVER! I think I'd like to see the rebooted series continue.

2.) Brainstorm

I've seen Brainstorm. A lot. I own it on video, in facr. You know what? It needs to be shown in crazy huge-ass 70mm with surround sound and everything. The print we got was kinda scratchy and worn, but there's still good ideas struggling to get out of this admittedly flawed film. To this day, I love the look of the memory recorder and its shiny 2 inch Mylar reel to reel tape with that laser playing over it as it winds. The thing I hate are those damned fluttery angels at the very end. Ah, well, that scene with Louise Fletcher dying from a heart attack and still trying to make her last seconds of life count for something is still a great moment in science fiction film.

3.) War of the Satellites

There wasn't much of a war, was there? It was more of a Break the Curfew of the Annoying Aliens. I liked those acceleration couches, with their brass studs and no sign of anything holding them to the floor. Although the vast forces of acceleration didn't seem to affect our heroes much. Most hilarious moment for me was Dick Miller breaking into the solar energy room (Supposedly seconds from our heroine being vaporized) and just pissing around for about half a minute before slowly carrying her out. Also, that was a hell of a satellite, seeing how they broke through the barrier around Earth and seemed to immediately fly to Andromeda.

4.) Endhiran - The Robot

Some movies are about the journey and others are about the destination. For me, this was all about getting to the hilarious final battle at the end, with the army of Chittis launching a massive attack of the Photoshop clone tool. My only real problem with it was that it's an Indian movie, with all that entails. Yes, Aishwarya Rai IS extremely pretty, and it's funny to think that she'd be so smitten with a nerd who seems to be twice her age. Still, you have to wade though what seems like half a million musical numbers, only two of which I thought were fun. I'm not sorry I saw it, but I think I'd like to see an edited version.

5.) Dimensions

I'm sorry to say, but I went out for food and ended up missing the first hour of this one. What I saw was well done, and the film makers were great people to meet, but I can't speak on this one till I watch it properly.

6.) Attack the Block

Oh, man. This was fun, but I seriously needed subtitles at some points. The aliens reminded me of animals that showed up in a video game called Another World, which I used to play on my Amiga. No details, just a black outline and then shining teeth as it came to end your life. It was a clever twist on alien invasions because it opens with the scary alien essentially getting mugged by kids and then turns into a totally justified vendetta on the invaders' part. I was glad that Moses (Who I hated at the start of the story) actually redeemed himself and his friends by the end.

7.) Island of Lost Souls

What an odd entry from the time before the Hayes Code. Charles Laughton was (at times) the swishiest S&M mad scientist ever, either lounging seductively on his fainting couch or cracking his whip at his unfortunate experiments. At last, I finally know where that hairy face you see in the sequence at the end of Amazon Women on the Moon comes from. And the movie's worth the price of admission just for the sets and Bela Lugosi's Lawmaker scene! Truly, this is the film that dares to ask the question "Are we not men?!" How sad some of us were that only a few in the audience knew to reply that no, we are Devo.

8.) Scanners

Dammit, dammit, dammit! At this point, the lack of sleep got to me and I ended up drifting in and out of a movie I really, really wanted to watch properly. Even so, it's still a great piece of 80's low-budget sci-fi. And it's a foreign film, from Canada! Got to rewatch this when I'm properly awake.

9.) Frankenstein

Fortunately, my unintentional nap meant that I was wide awake for Frankenstein. You know what? Fritz the hunchback got what he deserved, and Henry Frankenstein must have been crazy to hire him. The monster himself is still a great creation, but he doesn't get the tragic character development he deserved until the far superior Bride of Frankenstein was made. Even so, this one stands as a great achievement and everyone needs to see it at least once.

10.) Re-Animator

Seen it. Many, many times. Decided to nap through it. Failed, because it's one of the loudest damned movies ever. I swear, it seemed like there was nothing but screaming for the last half-hour.

11.) Cowboy Bebop - Knockin' On Heaven's Door

This is one of the very rare cases where I wished that we'd gotten the excellent dub instead of this flawed subtitle. The translation really skimped on some important dialogue. On the upside, it was a lovely print, and I think this movie works even when you haven't seen the TV series. The high points of this one for me are the martial arts scenes, which the artists took such care in rendering. In fact, that great fighter battle at the end almost seems unnecessary, since the real final battle is that brutal slugfest between Spike and Vincent. I also loved Alva City's cosmopolitan feel, with all the various cultures represented. For those who don't know, Cowboy Bebop takes place in a future where Earth was devastated when an orbital warp gate exploded in the early 21st century, forcing humanity to colonize the other planets in the solar system quickly. This is why the city is such a conglomeration of different cultures, including the native Americans who live in the mostly unihabited areas near the outskirts. It's a rich world and I highly recommend that you check it out, even if you normally don't watch anime. It's been playing on Cartoon Network for about the last 10 years, so just set your DVRs to catch the episodes that play over night. You won't be sorry.

12.) Paul

I'd seen this one before, and it's just about the perfect film for this crowd. It's about fans, full of jokes that only fans will get, and it's a great time for everyone watching. And it would have been the perfect film to end on. However...

13.) Mission Galactica

This was so odd for me to watch. I love old Battlestar Galactica, and I especially loved the two-part episode The Living Legend, which introduced us to Commander "I am not Patton!" Caine and the Battlestar Pegasus. To my eyes, the effects work on this show is still beautiful, with fantastic models and all the explosions a 9-year-old boy could ever want. Hell, I still think those Colonial warrior uniforms are pretty cool. And this movie gave us a chance to see the Cylons back when they were the snarkiest robots in space. How can you not laugh when that one Cylon spots the Pegasus and says "Sir, if I may... I really think you should take a look at the other Battlestar." Or when Imperious Leader is making his ribbon-cutting speech and then says "What, praytell, was that?" when everything starts exploding. Praytell? Really?

Then everything got very weird, because they blew up the Cylon base ships and suddenly slapped 20 minutes of the episode Fire in Space on the end of this, just to pad it out even more. Fantastic. Terrible, but wonderful at the same time. I would have liked to have ended the marathon on this one, too. HOWEVER...

14.) Folklore

Ooh. Ouch. A good concept for a 15 minute short, stretched out to a running time that felt like five minutes short of forever. The characters are amusing...for a few minutes. The problem is that we stayed with them for a lot longer than a few minutes, and it all felt like it was going nowhere. I'm not surprised that the crowd turned on this, because when you've been up for around 30 hours, a cutesy little project that meanders all over the place and which is only occassionally funny gets annoying, fast. The two alien twins felt like a Catherine Tate sketch that had gone horribly, horribly wrong, and by the end I wanted to punch every character in the face. Oh, well...

We'll meet again. Don't know where, don't know when--

Wait a minute, I know exactly where and when. See you next President's Day Weekend at the Somerville Theater!

Another great marathon!

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES:  I enjoyed this during its original release, and appreciated it even more with this crowd. It was much better than I expected it to be. I'd see another in the series for sure.

BRAINSTORM:  I'd never seen this, but was surprised to see how similar it is to Strange Days, which could very well be an unofficial sequel taking place in the same world after the technology has gotten a bit better. The pair would have made for an interesting back-to-back screening, except for the fact that Strange Days did not hold up as well as I remembered it when I rewatched it recently...

WAR OF THE SATELLITES:  I don't regret seeing it, but wish it could have been swapped with Frankenstein, as I'd much rather have been wide awake for the latter and dozed for the former.

Also: I may be over-analyzing, but I was really confused by the aliens' behavior in this one. Ostensibly they don't want humans leaving earth and exploring space. So they set up the space wall, and when that isn't working they assassinate the scientist in charge of the space program. At that point the opposition in the UN are ready to vote down the defunct space program and the aliens have won. Mission Accomplished! But then, they inexplicable resurrect/clone the scientist, the one thing that actually SAVES the program they were trying to abolish, and then singlehandedly assure that humans DO complete the program and make it in to space. Am I missing something, or are they just really bad villains?

ENDHIRAN: If this had been two hours, it would rank as an all-time marathon highlight, and I'd be scrambling to find a copy to show to friends. At 3 hours, the drag outweighed a lot of the greatness. I suspect this would have gone over better if we paused at intermission to continue with other features, and then picked up the second half later in the marathon, rather than sitting through it all at once.

DIMENSIONS:  As a big fan of Primer, I was expecting (and hoping) to love this, but just liked it. The main characters were hard to identify with, and identity of the Professor from the beginning was obvious (rule #1 of the time-travel genre -- if there is a mysterious character in the beginning, you'll find out it's a Main character post-travel). That's not necessarily a problem, but it meant the "will he or won't he" plotline in the second half was just filler. And given the main character's obsession I don't at all understand why he would have destroyed the working machine rather than attempting a journey himself, especially given that (from the way it was presented) the failure was primarily due to Mr Moneybags trying to go too far into the past rather than an inherent flaw in the idea.

I would have liked to hear from the director, but ran out to grab dinner so as not to miss much of:

ATTACK THE BLOCK:  Loved it in the theatre, loved it even more this time.

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS:  Dozed a bit here, but saw enough to know it was far superior to the Kilmer/Brando version. Not that that is necessarily very high praise...

SCANNERS: I thought I'd seen this, but apparently never had. Really enjoyed it.

FRANKENSTEIN:  Nothing to add about this one, except that I thought it warranted a "prime-time" slot.

RE-ANIMATOR:  Very fun. Worth watching just for the gloriously inappropriate literal visualization of "giving head".

COWBOY BEBOP - THE MOVIE:  I was looking forward to this one, but alas something needs to be at this time, and I needed a nap. I'll be checking it out on dvd shortly.

PAUL:  I was disappointed by my high expectations when I saw this the first time, but it was fully redeemed in the marathon environment. What a difference an audience can make! I echo others in wishing this had been the marathon closer.

MISSION GALACTICA: THE CYLON ATTACK: I'm glad this was on the list, but I would have enjoyed it more dozing in and out at 4am than having it try to follow Paul at 11am.

FOLKLORE: I didn't dislike this as much as others, but agree it was not remotely worthy of the final closing slot for the marathon. I think the idea actually has potential for something really fun, with a more focussed script and a budget that allows for makeup and/or CGI to create interesting non-humanoid beings (like, say, a centaur) to really sell the reality of a world with supernatural beings, as opposed to the mundane world they filmed which could just as easily have been interviews with a lot of delusional (and irritating) humans in a mental hospital.

About 3/4 of the way through the Marathon, whilst chatting with Major Tom in the lobby, it struck me that I've been attending the Boston version of these all-day all-night paeans to insomnia for fourteen years now (in addition to numerous other Marathons I've attended since 1993.)  In the best tradition of multiple dimensions and bending time, I alternately felt like I'd been heading up here for both a much longer and much shorter period of time.  So that being said, I'll hold off on a film by film breakdown and instead jump around to some of the highlights (and lowlights.)

*This was my second time seeing ENDHIRAN in a Marathon format, so even though I loved it the first time around, I had some concern about how much I'd dig it again.  But I was thoroughly thrilled throughout once again, possibly partially fuelled by a desire to see how the Boston crowd would react to its eccentric charms.  The Somerville's top notch projection and dynamic sound system greatly abetted my enjoyment, transforming what could be more of a goofy lark in a smaller setting into an overwhelming, exhausting and exhilarating sensory experience.  I also enjoyed my first viewing of ATTACK THE BLOCK, although throughout its running time I kept thinking of how conventional it was compared to ENDHIRAN.  Is that a fair comparison?  Maybe not.  Yeah, I'm a bit of a masochist, and the latter film is twice the length of the former.  But its also audacious in so many ways, while ATTACK is a fairly standard, but well-executed, stalk and chase film.  But that's not an indictment...or maybe it is....aw, screw it, no more ranting on this topic.

*My first viewing of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES was a month ago, late at night.  As a result, I missed out on some of the machinations of Caesar's plot, details which made this screening a bit more enjoyable.  I'm still a bit baffled at the gushing critical praise this received upon release.  It's very good, way better than expected, but it still suffers from overly cartoonish villains (the pilot neighbor should've worn a PLOT ADVANCING DEVICE placard throughout, Draco Malfoy practically twirled an invisible mustache, etc.) and a miscast James Franco (who, in other circumstances, I really like).  But Andy Serkis's performance generates real audience empathy and the effects are generally top notch, so kudos to the filmmakers for pulling a non-demon rabbit out of the hat (ooof...a TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE reference....yeah.....)

*Marathon premieres are often a tough lot to gauge.  Twenty years ago, when small distributors were still relatively strong, Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna could provide a 35mm print of a mildly budgeted film with a genre stalwart or two in the cast, that at least had the veneer of respectability.  It was respectability caked with sleaze around the edges, but still.  Now, in an environment where premieres like this often skip straight to more seemingly MAJOR fests like SXSW, etc., it's much tougher to secure fare that stacks up in the same way.  It's not necessarily fair that the Marathons are viewed as far lesser cousins by some distributors, but its a fact of life nonetheless.

I didn't stick around for FOLKLORE because the trailer made it look absolutely terrible.  From the comments I've read so far, my choice of sleep seemed to be appropriate; L.A.'s comments about the hermetically sealed environment of general festivals seems to be spot on in assessing a film like this.  But I did watch DIMENSIONS, which I genuinely enjoyed.  Yes, there are parts that play as a bit stock when measured up against the time travel canon.  But the film is also beautifully lenses and strongly acted.  I particularly loved the late transition from the shot of Robert ballet dancing his way through the time loop model to that of he and Annie jointly dancing the same path.  I just wish that Sloane and Antony had been given more time for a post-screening Q+A (as Ben Rock and James Bai were given in recent years.)

*I'm a major Cronenberg fan, but for years I considered SCANNERS to be somewhat subpar fare.  But I had also only seen it once, years ago, so this time around I really dug it.  True, this might be the result of an early-era Cronenberg binge that I went on in the weeks leading up to the Marathon, although the film itself is also a fairly heady brew of ideas in an admittedly low budget concept.  Can I just say that between seeing this and THE BROOD recently that I love '70s-era Candian architecture?

*Why would I want to see ISLAND OF LOST SOULS again, after a 35mm screening a year and a half ago and a Blu-ray revisitation last October?  Maybe the more accurate question is "who wouldn't want to see this in 35mm as many times as possible?"  Yeah, I'm pretty crazy about it, for all of the reasons most of you have stated and more.

*I can't remember a previous Marathon where leaving early was such an easy option for me.  But faced with PAUL as the only one of the final four films that I had any desire to see (I loved COWBOY BEBOP ten years ago, but its placement in the schedule knocked me out), I jetted out around 6:30am.  Scheduling these events is always a difficult juggling act, and L.A. did all he could with what he was given.  But at a certain point, the booking process has to take what works best when into account, a consideration that seems to have been somewhat missing this year.  Ideally, you want to keep as many people around until the end as possible, and scheduling GALACTICA and FOLKLORE for the final two slots (hell, booking them in the first place) is a big, flashing sign to all that checking out early is a viable option.

*Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't heap praise upon Ian, David and everyone at the Somerville for keeping this beautiful electronic palace up and running.  To have such a dynamic and magnificent venue for the Marathon has become one of the main reasons that I keep making the trip every year.

Oh and....NO YOU GO TO HELL!

Okay, I have to confess I started this marathon in not the greatest of moods. My groups usual seating (front row left or right side) were full when I arrived. Found some okay seats though. Garen mentioned next year may see reserved seating available. I've always wondered how there are so many rows cordoned off when we first arrive anyway.
Said hi to some regular marathon attendees/old friends and joined my group in going through the marathon goodie bags. Great job as always to the prize guy. There is always at least one "what the hell?" item. This year there were tiny plastic space ships that were from old Japanese animated shows & movies, wild!
On to the films.
1) Rise of the Apes- Enjoyed seeing this again even more than I thought I would. It's just so well written to take in the original Planet of the Apes movie plus some great performances especially by Andy Serkis as Caesar. You just know there is a special Oscar in his future since they won't nominate him as an actor.
2) Brainstorm- I ended up missing a most of this because Garen asked me if I wanted to be interviewed for the docu he is making about the Welles. Ended up talking to friends in the lobby till it was my turn.
3) War of the Satellites- Again missed most because of the docu. Ending looked really nutty, really sorry i missed the beginning.
4) Endhiran- Wild, since it's played for comedy it was a very easy film to laugh along with. The musical numbers were mostly part of the film, except for one set in an Aztec-like city where I wear the song was just random phrases tossed out. Kept me off balance when the cast would go into english in mid sentence. A near perfect marathon movie.
5) Dimensions- Enjoyable in an art house way. Good placement too. Early enough so we had some patience.
6) Attack the Block. Fun but needed subtitles as much as Endhiran. Great creature designs too.
7) Island of Lost Souls- I have not seen this since SF4 and its still a great film. Really daring with all it's implied bestiality. Pre-code horror from Hollywood at its best, no wonder it was banned in Britain for 25 years. Laughton looked like he was enjoying himself, Lugosi was buried beneath a mask of hair/fur asking "are we not men?" Back at SF4 we knew the answer, to quote Booji Boy "we're all Devo!"
8) Scanners- Kind of surprised how this has not aged that well. I fell asleep during part of it. The head explosion still packs a wallop though.
9) Frankenstein- Classic film with a fantastic cast. Karloff really does shine even behind all that makeup. I was surprised to see the scene where he throws the girl into the river, that's usually cut from American prints. I noticed the doctors comment about knowing what its like to be God was still cut. Still a great experience seeing all the classic sets on the big screen, man that lab was cramped.
10) Re-Animator- And an unrated print too. Very sick but the humor keeps it from getting too upsetting.
11) Cowboy Bebop- Problem with a lot of anime movies is they are based on shows and designed for fans of the show. This one seemed to have characters who were bored with what they did, and that computer geek had the most annoying voice I've ever heard. I nodded off a couple of times but I don't think I missed anything.
12) Paul- As i expected, seeing this with the marathon crowd added a whole new level of enjoyment. How did I miss the bluegrass version of the Cantina theme before? Also though it was a film that had a lot of heart to go with its humor. Also a film that struck a chord with me from trips I've taken with friends to conventions. Put it on a repeat list for the future.
13) Mission Galactica- How generic can you get. This really betrayed its origin from TV eps, even the opening credits seemed to be written in flat type thatshowed no thought went into its presentation.  BTW, bad news, there is a THIRD Galactica film out there called Conquest of the Earth.
14) Folklore- Overlong and poorly placed, MIGHT have gone over a little batter in late afternoon. But really, main trouble is it's an idea that would make a cute short stretched WAY too long.

Ending music of We'll Meet Again again brought a tear to my eye as the crowd filed out (and I sang along.)
See ya all there next year.
Can i request a second end music song? I'd really like to hear Happy Trails To You again. 

As to the scheduling of FOLKLORE last. You can chalk it up to the event now being officially a Festival now. Part of the Festival game is that it can be prestigious to be selected as the "Closing Film" of a Festival. We've done this before with stuff like last year's ZONAD, SLEEP DEALERS and the German film SPACE PATROL. The Festival aspect has done well with giving the event some wider attention, and, it appears, an uptick in ticket sales.

In other circumstances, PAUL would have been my choice as the closing film.