August 31, 2005

Do you ever feel like you are about to be hit by a wave so big that you just want to lie down for a while and eat red meat to get your strength up?

I'm sorry to be whining, but it is another day that started in a theater at 10 am and ended walking out of another theater at 9:30 pm - three movies I can't write about now - with controversy over one awards issue throughout the day, editing a new columnist (who will premiere on MCN tomorrow), negotiating site stuff, getting my Blackberry to work right and anticipating leaving home for more than two weeks with one day off at home in the middle.

The flip side is that I couldn't be looking forward to the next two weeks much more. Telluride is my favorite of all film festivals. Toronto is now one of the three most important film festivals on the planet. The next two weeks are like a family reunion with film after film after film… the moment of happy surprise being the orgasm lurking around every waking hour.

To be honest, there are not as many films that I am really excited about going in as usual. It's kind of surprising when films like Stuart Gordon's film based on David Mamet's early play, Edmond and Disney's late-season Lasse Hallstrom film Casanova are headed to Venice, but not to Toronto. On the other hand, it'll be fun to see Steven Soderbergh wandering the streets of Telluride.

After months of fighting over who is going (or not going) to the movies, it will be a real joy to just go to the movies... a lot of movies.

We have a lot of content planned for the next two weeks. Visit The Festival Blog for the latest, but get depth at the festival pages on MCN and I'm not quite sure how we are balancing it all out… The Hot Button may hibernate once Toronto begins. But there will be more details on that as we go.

In the meanwhile, I have a 10am screening of another movie I can't write about, a 2p, a 4:30p and a 7:30p. But at least the first film is on the west side, then next on the east, then the west, then the east… good thing traffic in L.A is light. Oy. Five a day in the six blocks of Telluride will be quit a relief.

E-ME.