Day 3

Very similar beginning to the day (save the fact that I had 4 hours of sleep) with our early rise, quick breakfast and discussion time regarding culture. Then I hopped a bus and took off for what has been the best film this festival (to date) for me. Birds of America. I am telling you right now that once this movie is purchased and then makes it to a theater within a 2-hour drive of your house you GO. Matthew Perry, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Foster and Lauren Graham round out this fantastic cast. It is great to see Matthew Perry in a role again that he inhabits and lives out. There are so many times you forget you are watching a movie and that is what I love. After Matthew Perry’s father dies, he is thrust into taking care of the house left to him in the will, as well as his younger sister, brother and invalid mother—at age 18. He is waiting for his tenure as a teacher before having kids and all seems like an average suburban life. Enter stage left: brother—who is unstable and brilliantly tough to understand, and sister who has been running for the past few years not knowing why. They all collide and Matthew Perry is confronted with issues of how to be an older brother, different than his father, a leading husband and a man who finally stands up for himself. I connected with a lot of the moments in the film and felt the ease of the cast and their reality of the situations was touching and human and truthful. It is my Little Miss Sunshine for this year.

I left there feeling on top of cloud nine and had a great discussion with the number of other guys from the summit who were with me there. We then got on the waitlist line for Pretty Bird with Paul Giamati and Billy Crudup. The first question after the film was over was, “What just happened? What did we just see?” To which the director answered, “Yeah, I know, right?!” It was lame and left me with a headache.

I had a ticket for the next show and had some time to burn so I just stuck around the tent area, made some phone calls and talked to people in line. The openness of everyone during this festival and willingness to talk about film is a dream for an extrovert like myself. I had a $8.25 half ham sandwich and cup of chili and talked with a girl who works for the Chicago International Film Festival. She is employed full-time and year-round readying the festival for October. Her job is to go to other festivals, watch entries, meet people and have fun. Sound like fun, huh? They finally opened up the doors for ticket holders and my friend and I went to, Anywhere USA. This movie was told in three parts and I will say it was bold in its technique AND the guys were from Ashville so that was pretty neat.

After that, I was able to join a friend of mine for an industry party and meet some interesting people. It was a party for friends of the director and I got to meet a lot of people. One lady I met and talked to about her pig farm, raising peacocks and starting her own RV park which she is selling. She also spoke to me about her husband. They are currently going through a divorce and after hearing of the repression and verbal abuse and emotional manipulation I felt heavy and sad. I did have the boldness to speak very openly with her about her pain and felt honored to be in that position.