I went to more film festivals this year than I ever had before. I went to Sundance in January, SXSW in March, and TIFF and Fantastic Fest this month. It's exhausting, but it's fun. I see it as a nice break from the grind of delivering news stories. It's not that news is bad, or that it doesn't have value, but it's nice seeing the final product of the smaller films we've reported on since we probably only heard of them from a casting story as opposed to an onslaught of trailers and posters. Obviously, there are film festivals where there are marquee titles making their last big push before opening in wide release (Sundance is the only festival where the biggest films—those filled with recognizable actors—might not even have distributors let alone a release date). But it's always a nice variety, and each festival has its own flavor.
After the jump hit the jump for my impressions of each festival.
Sundance
Best Film I Saw: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Worst Film I Saw: Lay the Favorite
This was my second year at Sundance, and I've enjoyed it both years. While there wasn't a movie that blew me away on a first viewing like Martha Marcy May Marlene and Project Nim, there were still plenty of terrific flicks (and I should note that while I didn't fall in love with Beasts of the Southern Wild on the first viewing, I adored it when I saw it again in theatrical release). There were only two ...
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