Sure Coherence was convoluted, improbable, and ultimately dependent on dialog. Not a great base. But I was carried into the movie, the action (such as it was) and the puzzle of what was going on by the pace and the believability of the personalities. My review is above.
And I just noted that it will be one of the 185 films (plus 168 shorts) to be shown at the upcoming Cleveland International Film Festival, one of the only 8 festivals where a short film must be shown to qualify for the Oscars. I'll be working at the festival. http://www.clevelandfilm.org/
However I see no mention that Nick Brandon will be in Cleveland, so Boston wins .

Been holding back somewhat while getting reviews for pretty much everything up on my blog and eFilmCritic.  I still haven't gotten to the shorts and I skipped the festival's Tragedy of MacBeth (napped and have trouble treating it like a real movie) and the thon's The Visitor (second time it knocked me out, and that movie has gotten too much publicity for not being very good anyway).

Here's the full blog post on the marathon.

General comments:

* One of the strongest marathons in recent memory.  A lot of the movies weren't necessarily good, but most of them were at least interesting.

* Despite that, this one nearly broke me in terms of doing it again.  The guy behind me would not shut up no matter what was playing (and wasn't particularly creative), and I was ready to punch the next person to yell "Door!" in the throat by about 5pm.  It's getting to the point where my favorite part of the marathon is the second half, when a lot of the people who think they're part of the entertainment are asleep or worn out.

* Idea for the marathon/theater next year:  Get a few USB squids so people can drop their phones off at the stand and get a recharge at some point during the thon.  Charge a buck or two if need be to defray the cost if need be, but the charge gets low by the end, and the live-tweeting tapered off between movies.

Quick hits on the moives:

* First Men in the Moon - Has some stuff that drives me crazy, but I really love Lionel Jeffries in this.

* Westworld - Or, Jurassic Park Beta.  Just saw it a few months ago at the Halloween 'thon, and it still really seems half-formed.

* Coherence - Liked it, though I passed on a couple opportunities to see it at the fest when I knew it would be playing later with a guest.  Kind of has the same problem as the sort-of-similar Plus One, in that the end sort of swerves more into violence than the rest of the movie really merits.

* The Power - Goofy, but I generally liked it.

* Europa Report - Enjoyed it last summer, enjoyed it again.

* Silent Running - Really liked this a lot; it has its weaknesses, but Douglas Trumbull does a great job with a script that has 1970s edge.

* The Truman Show - Remembered that it was really good, but not quite that it was some of the best work of everyone involved.  Jim Carrey has never been better, and it's probably the best rendition of Andrew Niccol's go-to idea of a man straining against the limits that his birth has placed on him.

* Electric Dreams - Not very good in many ways, but a fun soundtrack and some neat Bud Cort voice work holds it together.  Plus, young Virginia Madsen!  (Note: Madsen has also aged very well.)

* The Visitor - Okay, can people stop trying to push this turd as a great cult film so hard?  It's weird enough, but its worst sin is that it's just boring.

* The World, the Flesh and the Devil - probably my favorite discovery of the marathon, especially the way it goes from Harry Belafonte alone in the world to a look at how deeply ingrained unfortunate race-related attitudes can be, even when it absolutely shouldn't matter.  Top-notch.

* Grabbers - Search through some of the "other festival" or "recommendations for the thon/fest" threads, and you'll see I started beating the drum for this in July or August of 2012.  You're welcome!

* Children of Men - Damn, Cauron is good, isn't he?  This sucker's bleak but not the boring darkness of so many movies that confuse "bad things happen" with "sophisticated".

* Flash Gordon - Never particularly loved this movie, and I think it's because the Earth people just aren't nearly as interesting as everybody else (and that they're the two worst actors doesn't help at all).  The kind of movie that's both campy enough and known for its kitsch that it's kind of a pleasant surprise when a part that's actually really good comes along.

I don't want screens on during movies, but reactions in-between are good.  Plus, it just sucks to have your phone die.  Folks expect to be reachable, and it would be useful to have it be a non-brick at the end of it.

Also, I don't think the festival has anything to do with the reduction in folks yelling at the screen.  There's about a dozen of us non-guests at most of the shows, not really a meaningful fraction of the audience.  I think the talking is down in recent years in part because a good chunk of the program will skew later (due to availability and, hey, the average release date of all movies gets later as time passes), and stuff just gets less obviously mockable.  Jurassic Park is the tipping point, but for the last 25 years or so, even the lesser movies have decent acting, capable special effects, etc.  It sets a different tone, and shifting in and out of snarky mode isn't for everyone (hence the people who kept yelling "Door!" even during good movies).

While I didn't have anyone using a cellphone near me I do agree it can be really annoying and very distracting during a film.
Easiest way to stop it or at least make people aware NOT to do it is make an announcement between films. Even do it in a positive way pointing out how much room there is at the Somerville Theater if you don't want to see the next film there are seats downstairs and the gallery of bad art or the second floor lobby too.

Jay Seaver wrote on Mar 13^th, 2014 at 11:53am:


Jay, check out my comment about needing a clear site for info in "The State of the 'thon address" section