Scott, as another frequenter of True/False for the past six years (minus last year), I've always appreciated your enthusiastic coverage. I'd hoped to spot you on the streets of Columbia and let you know in person - we've unknowingly shared many a screening, usually at the larger venues, including the astounding Dick Johnson is Dead showing in 2020 - but it was this year when I finally realized my facial recognition skills are inadequate to making this happen with or without masks, since the timing of your tweets indicates we were among the same handful of people in the small Ragtag Theater for GES-2. I don't know if you were among the people singing along with the karaoke portion of the movie (an innovation Wiseman definitely wouldn't have included!), but either way I'm happy to have shared the moment and to see this appreciation of the movie's timely thoughts on unity in artistic spaces. That film plus the ecstatic audience response to Let the Little Light Shine really highlighted what the theatrical experience can bring that can never be replaced no matter how deep the streaming catalogs get.
For anybody who can possibly make it to Missouri in early March, this is the most welcoming, innovative, and well-organized festival you could hope for. Every year it challenges and excites my perception of movies and the world at large. Hope to see you there.
We absolutely have to meet at a future True/False. We can arrange something offline, I'm sure. I actually saw GES-2 at Picturehouse, so I'm a little jealous of your Ragtag experience. Not surprised that people sung along to the karaoke, though it didn't happen at my screening. And yes, I was wowed by the response to Let The Little Light Shine, which reminded me a bit of the T/F screening of Meru, when Jimmy Chin emerged for a Q&A after we just witnessed him barely survive a mountain adventure. Screen heroes every one.
And man did it feel great to be back. I thought the festival was pretty robust, all things considered, and can imagine something close to a return to normal next year if the virus behaves. What were your favorites this year?
That would be great. I'll attempt to reach out as it gets closer. The small venue was pretty special, my only complaint was the sound was up loud enough it was tough to tell how many people were singing, but on the plus side the music performance ahead of time was a choir who really set a magic tone from the jump. The Ragtag theater has come a long way - I went to a Ragtag screening of Thank You for Smoking back in 2005 when it was a screen on a stand in front of folding chairs and they had an intermission at the 45 minute mark to change reels!
Of the 8 features and 5 shorts I saw, GES-2 was the favorite, followed closely by We Met in Virtual Reality - surprisingly the best thing I saw dealing with the pandemic in some way (and again the crowd, gasping when two of the subjects joined the Q&A in the flesh - this must be how it feels for people compelled to cheer for [redacted] appearing in [redacted]: No Way Home). Vedette was just what I'd hoped for in a cow movie. Let the Little Light Shine and The Territory may not have made much impact for me on their own but they benefitted the most from watching them in this context. (Biggest disappointment: Fire of Love, but there will be plenty of time to hash that over when it comes out.)
Fire of Love was also my biggest disappointment. Too cutesy for my taste. I didn't realize the subjects of We Met in Virtual Reality were in town or I'd have stayed for the Q&A. It was the last screening of the night for me and I was anxious to get back to the hotel and sleep.
Scott, as another frequenter of True/False for the past six years (minus last year), I've always appreciated your enthusiastic coverage. I'd hoped to spot you on the streets of Columbia and let you know in person - we've unknowingly shared many a screening, usually at the larger venues, including the astounding Dick Johnson is Dead showing in 2020 - but it was this year when I finally realized my facial recognition skills are inadequate to making this happen with or without masks, since the timing of your tweets indicates we were among the same handful of people in the small Ragtag Theater for GES-2. I don't know if you were among the people singing along with the karaoke portion of the movie (an innovation Wiseman definitely wouldn't have included!), but either way I'm happy to have shared the moment and to see this appreciation of the movie's timely thoughts on unity in artistic spaces. That film plus the ecstatic audience response to Let the Little Light Shine really highlighted what the theatrical experience can bring that can never be replaced no matter how deep the streaming catalogs get.
For anybody who can possibly make it to Missouri in early March, this is the most welcoming, innovative, and well-organized festival you could hope for. Every year it challenges and excites my perception of movies and the world at large. Hope to see you there.
We absolutely have to meet at a future True/False. We can arrange something offline, I'm sure. I actually saw GES-2 at Picturehouse, so I'm a little jealous of your Ragtag experience. Not surprised that people sung along to the karaoke, though it didn't happen at my screening. And yes, I was wowed by the response to Let The Little Light Shine, which reminded me a bit of the T/F screening of Meru, when Jimmy Chin emerged for a Q&A after we just witnessed him barely survive a mountain adventure. Screen heroes every one.
And man did it feel great to be back. I thought the festival was pretty robust, all things considered, and can imagine something close to a return to normal next year if the virus behaves. What were your favorites this year?
That would be great. I'll attempt to reach out as it gets closer. The small venue was pretty special, my only complaint was the sound was up loud enough it was tough to tell how many people were singing, but on the plus side the music performance ahead of time was a choir who really set a magic tone from the jump. The Ragtag theater has come a long way - I went to a Ragtag screening of Thank You for Smoking back in 2005 when it was a screen on a stand in front of folding chairs and they had an intermission at the 45 minute mark to change reels!
Of the 8 features and 5 shorts I saw, GES-2 was the favorite, followed closely by We Met in Virtual Reality - surprisingly the best thing I saw dealing with the pandemic in some way (and again the crowd, gasping when two of the subjects joined the Q&A in the flesh - this must be how it feels for people compelled to cheer for [redacted] appearing in [redacted]: No Way Home). Vedette was just what I'd hoped for in a cow movie. Let the Little Light Shine and The Territory may not have made much impact for me on their own but they benefitted the most from watching them in this context. (Biggest disappointment: Fire of Love, but there will be plenty of time to hash that over when it comes out.)
Fire of Love was also my biggest disappointment. Too cutesy for my taste. I didn't realize the subjects of We Met in Virtual Reality were in town or I'd have stayed for the Q&A. It was the last screening of the night for me and I was anxious to get back to the hotel and sleep.
I still need to catch up with Ramin Bahrani's last movie, the Netflix one, do you know if this new one is headed for that platform as well?
Showtime acquired it out of Sundance. So into that silo it will go!
Of course it's one of the handful I don't have. Oh, well, somebody I know has to have a login.