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Okay, so Day 4 was actually yesterday—but, well, I’m still trying to recover, so I’m a little behind schedule (and actively avoiding my overflowing inbox).
The last day of my CIFF adventure is always a bittersweet day. On one hand, it’s hard to leave—especially when I’m leaving at the beginning of the week, when there are so many good movies left to see! On the other hand, after a few days of junk food and sleep deprivation, I’m barely coherent enough to make sense of the world around me anymore.
After another late night of blogging—and another early morning of my upstairs neighbors wandering around on their creaky floor—I got up on Monday and packed up my bags. I skipped breakfast, opting instead to get some things done in my room and head to Dunkin Donuts in the Tower. By around 10, I’d loaded up my car and checked out of my room and was headed into the city for the last time.
Since the regular hustle and bustle of the week had begun again, it was back to the overflow parking lot for me, where I had to bundle up to wait for the shuttle. When I arrived on Friday, it was in the 70s. When I made my way to the shuttle stop, it was in the 30s. Oh, what a difference three days can make!
I rode the packed shuttle up the hill to the Tower, where I made a beeline for Dunkin Donuts—for my egg and cheese on English muffin and an iced coffee. I heard that there is a device that can enjoy my coffee even more to make it hot or not so much, learn more here. It wasn’t long, though, before I was finished with my breakfast—and I still had nearly an hour until my first movie. Instead of sitting in the middle of the mall, I decided to wander upstairs to the hospitality suite, where I could grab a seat and read for a while. Once I got there, though, I discovered that the suite didn’t open until 11:30. I was then directed to the Key Bank location across the mall, where they were hosting breakfast for passholders. I soon discovered that that meant coffee and pastries in a little conference room—where, of course, the sales pitch was soon to follow. I definitely appreciated the gesture—and the pastry was tasty—but I wasn’t about to sit on one of the five little chairs in the room and read until my movie. So, once again, I made my way back out into the mall.
Normally, things at CIFF quiet down on Monday morning. That’s why I like ending my adventure on Monday; it’s like a cool down. This year, however, that wasn’t the case. The mall was crowded. There was a chess exhibition going on in honor of Brooklyn Castle, and the food court was packed with teenagers—most likely just released from the festival’s high school programming. I took a seat in the food court—but, after a few too many high school kids bumped into me, I decided to make my way inside.
I was still early for my first (and maybe only) screening of the day, but it was a lot cozier inside the theater than out in the mall, so I took the opportunity to look at the program guide again—to try to decide whether I wanted to stick around for a second movie. I tried to look up Movie #2 on IMDb, but (as usual) I couldn’t get a signal, so I gave up.
Usually, Monday screenings are pretty sparse and relaxing—but, as I sat there, the theater started to fill up. People climbed over top of me, scrambling for a seat. And when Bill came in to introduce the film, he pointed out that it was completely sold out—quite likely the first daytime sell-out ever for a Monday or Tuesday. Then again, he also pointed out that the film had picked up a lot of local buzz over the weekend, so that may have explained it.
The film was Hot Line, a German comedy about three women who decide to battle their small town’s weak economy by starting up a phone sex business. It was just what I needed on my last day of the festival: a good-natured comedy. It also helped to make up my mind about my second movie. While watching the movie, I realized just how exhausted I was. As it turns out, a pregnant me doesn’t have nearly the same stamina as a non-pregnant me—and I was hanging on by a thread. Not only that, but I decided that Hot Line was a good way to end—on a light (and positive) note, as opposed to risking one more dark thriller. So I decided to call it a year.
On my way out, I picked up my annual CIFF T-shirt. It was a more challenging feat than I was expecting, since the shirt I wanted was already sold out (on Monday!), so I ended up buying one that was a little bigger—one that I’ll be able to wear for a while now. I also picked up a poster from last year’s festival for a couple of bucks before making my last trip down the hallway, though the crowded food court, and back down to the parking lot shuttle.
This year’s CIFF was definitely a different experience for me—in more ways than one. On one hand, my pregnancy made a huge difference—in things like energy levels and more frequent trips to the bathroom. On the other hand, though, there were also a number of differences at the festival itself—like the increasingly overlapping schedules, which make it difficult to plan out a day (as opposed to the old scheduling format, which just had a number of films available in each two- to three-hour block of time). Back then, it was easier to pick and choose movies—but, with the growing crowds, that’s clearly not possible during the busier times.
Scheduling was definitely a challenge this year—and it led to bigger breaks on Saturday and much (much) smaller breaks throughout the rest of the weekend, as well as to my watching a few movies that I wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about seeing. Normally, I’m able to fit in some kind of lunch and dinner during the day. This year, I was lucky to fit in one of those. Mostly, I lived on the fruit snacks and cookies that I brought with me.
Still, it was another enjoyable (and exhausting) experience. Next year’s CIFF adventure might be a shorter one, due to the new little one I’ll have at home—but I’m already looking forward to seeing what CIFF’13 will bring.
