three press screenings, car to shop, Indian dinner, Samsung
Today, "J" and I went to the first three press screenings of the 2018. Our volunteer presenter, also a "J", the same guy who has presented for years began with his usual reminders that press screenings are for working press. "This is their office." As pass-holders, were there as guests of the press.
All of us, press included, must keep the theater nice because Pacific Place is donating the space. There must be no repeat of the "great pistachio debacle of 2017", where someone left behind an entire bag worth of pistachio shells.
About the films:
The 10 am was was Under the Tree, an Icelandic black comedy that loses track of the comedy toward the end. It's certainly no In Order of Disappearance.
The noon film was a documentary about five Russian hockey players who gradually helped turn the Detroit Red Wings from the "dead wings" to Stanley Cup contenders, so good that I enjoyed it in spite of not generally caring for sports films.
Note: beware other reviews of the film unless you really trust the critic to stay away from spoilers. Trailers may include spoilers too. Of course, if you're a Red Wings fan or hardcore hockey fan, you know the spoilers - and you already want to see it.
The 2 pm film was a family drama, based on a novel, about a woman who returns to London for her Orthodox rabbi father's funeral, her dear friend from youth, her friend's husband, and extended family. Slow pacing spoils a strong, mostly well-performed story.
After the films, J and I took our car in for routine maintenance (it's fine), and we shared a good Indian dinner while we waited for the car.
Back home, we tried to watch a SIFF video on our nice big television. It didn't work; Samsung discontinued Youtube support due to intractable security holes in the server software design. She phoned Samsung customer support, and to her surprise she got to a human quickly, and got a clear answer: software that fixes the security issues won't fit in our television's 2.5 GB of memory, but a Roku is a cheap fix (about $35), and using her laptop with an HDMI cable solves the problem with money we've already spent. Thumbs up for their customer service.