![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/LAFF-Day-1.jpg\" "\\"LAFF-Day-1\\"")
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T<\/span>echnically, Day One of the festival was Thursday, but I didn’t go to the opening night screening of Richard Linklater’s Bernie<\/em> nor the gala screening of Green Lantern<\/em>, which were the only screenings on Thursday. So my Day One was Friday, catching two films after work. Even though I don’t really like the downtown LA Live location of the LA Film Fest quite as much as the Hollywood location of the TCM and AFI Fests, I have to admit is pretty convenient to get to after work, since LA Live is only a mile or so up from USC.<\/p>\n After a bit of a scramble picking up my media badge (for the record, security guy on the street, the JW Marriott lobby is east of the Regal, not south of it like you told me), I had a bit of time to kill waiting to get into Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive<\/em><\/b>. Still, I was glad to get there early, since I ended up within the first ten people in line and was guaranteed a good seat. They had it on two screens, so I guess the demand for it was pretty strong – our screen (the smaller of the two) was totally packed. No Q&A, but they did have Refn to introduce the film and he brought up most of the cast members – Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, and Albert Brooks (everyone except Carey Mulligan) – to nod and wave. Even though I knew who all was in the cast, seeing them all up there was like, whoa, this movie’s gonna be awesome with all those people in it, isn’t it? And it was. I pretty much loved it; it’s a great ’70s-style car chase movie with a European edge. Some people didn’t care for Refn’s previous film Valhalla Rising<\/em> (which I haven’t seen yet) for being too arty with too little story, but he’s found the perfect balance here. I really hope when the film comes out in September it does well, because I want more films like this. Many more. Oh, and for the record, the festival guy introducing Refn pronounced “Winding” with a short “i” sound. I’ve been pronouncing it with a long “i”, but I guess I’ll do it the other way now. My full review of Drive<\/em> is on Row Three.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Drive<\/em> got started late thanks to them trying to get everyone possible in (a worthy reason), so I had to rush to get to How to Cheat<\/em><\/b>, a low-budget indie relationship drama about as polar opposite from Drive<\/em> as you could get, outside of the fact that both are explicitly set in Los Angeles. I still ended up a few minutes late, but not by much (thankfully it was running late, too). I’ve never run into a festival screening late before, so it’s good to know that it’s possible. Anyway, I already knew the basics of the story, so I quickly caught up to what was going on, and pretty well enjoyed the rest of the film, even though I didn’t necessarily think it distinguished itself all that much from other films of its type. Writer\/director\/star Amber Sealey was there with most of the cast and crew for a Q&A, and I have to say, I love listening to Q&As, but it makes writing objective reviews much more difficult. I though the film was just a bit above average thanks to good performances and a few excellent scenes mixed into a slightly underwhelming whole, but Sealey and her cast were so personable and talked so passionately about the creative process they used to make the film that I ended up appreciating it a little bit more. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, as supporting indie filmmakers is something I want to do, and I always much prefer appreciating films than not. But yeah. It’s kind of a critical conundrum. I also just like saying “critical conundrum.” No, really, I’ve used it in articles before. You can check. My full review of How to Cheat<\/em> is on Row Three.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n After How to Cheat<\/em>, it was midnight and I headed home, still a bit stoked because film festivals are just cool. But I’m sure in the coming days, tiredness will take over from adrenaline, though, so I enjoyed it while it lasted. One day down, nine to go. Two films down, twenty-three to go. That’s if I make it to all I’m planning, which depends on how much I crash during the week trying to work a full-time job and stay out at screenings till midnight, which I’m not as good at as I used to be. Now would be a great time to figure out how to not sleep for a week and feel no ill effects. ;)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Technically, Day One of the festival was Thursday, but I didn’t go to the opening night screening of Richard Linklater’s Bernie nor the gala screening of Green Lantern, which were the only screenings on Thursday. So my Day One was Friday, catching two films after work. Even though I don’t really like the downtown LA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[2144,2141,2143,2160,2142],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/LAFF-Day-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24044,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/la-film-fest-2011-day-9-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":23403,"position":0},"title":"LA Film Fest 2011: Day 9 (Saturday)","author":"Jandy","date":"July 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I was doing so well at getting these out on a fairly regular schedule, and then the festival actually ended and I lost all motivation. But I don't want to leave the last two days hanging, so I'll try to finish these up and get them posted rather quickly.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/LAFF-Day-9.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30939,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2012\/03\/heading-to-the-tcm-classic-film-festival-2012\/","url_meta":{"origin":23403,"position":1},"title":"Heading to the TCM Classic Film Festival 2012","author":"Jandy","date":"March 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In just about two weeks' time, the TCM Classic Film Festival will descend on Los Angeles once again, turning downtown Hollywood into a mecca for film fans hungry for the glamour and nostalgia of the days of yore. Waxing poetic aside, this is the third year for the festival, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20606,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/tcm-film-festival-2011\/","url_meta":{"origin":23403,"position":2},"title":"TCM Film Festival 2011","author":"Jandy","date":"April 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Once again I am heading to the TCM Classic Film Festival, and I couldn't be more excited. It's such a great opportunity to see classic films the best way possible - on the big screen with audiences who love them. The overall theme of this year's festival is Music in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/TCM-Classic-Film-Festival-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35132,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/tcm-film-fest-2015-another-great-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":23403,"position":3},"title":"TCM Film Fest 2015: Another Great Experience","author":"Jandy","date":"March 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are plenty of great reasons to go to the TCM Classic Film Festival - seeing movies you love on the big screen, discovering forgotten and long-unavailable films, learning about film history firsthand, seeing some of the greatest actors, directors, and behind-the-scenes talent in the history of motion picture, etc.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "TCM Film Festival"","block_context":{"text":"TCM Film Festival","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/tcm-film-festival\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/TCM-Film-Festival-2015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29339,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/afi-film-festival-day-three-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":23403,"position":4},"title":"AFI Film Festival: Day Three (Sunday)","author":"Jandy","date":"November 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am determined to get all these AFI films capsuled up, even if we are getting further and further away from the festival itself. Sunday would've been another five-film day like Saturday, except that I knew the Melancholia screening was going to be packed and decided to get in line\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Melancholia04.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24030,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/la-film-fest-2011-day-7-thursday\/","url_meta":{"origin":23403,"position":5},"title":"LA Film Fest 2011: Day 7 (Thursday)","author":"Jandy","date":"June 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday was my earliest day yet, as I booked it up to the theatre for a 4:00pm screening. I've actually enjoyed getting to work so early, even if the four-hour nights of sleep were starting to wear on me by Thursday. The commute from 6:30-7:00 is 100 times better than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/LAFF-Day-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Drive-3.jpg\" "\\"Drive-3\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/How_To_Cheat_4.jpg\" "\\"How_To_Cheat\\"")
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