deadCENTER Film Festival

Friday afternoon I was looking into things to do for the weekend. I googled "things to do in Oklahoma City" and discovered that they have a yearly film festival, and it just so happened to be that weekend.

OKC is only two and a half hours away, so the drive wasn't all that bad.

The first film I saw I wasn't too terribly impressed with. I felt like the director just wanted to make a movie about himself. It wasn't interesting or thoughtful or exciting. I get the feeling he is one of those people who likes to hear themselves talk.

I walked across downtown to check out a second film at the OKC Museum of Art. This film was from seasoned actor/director/writer Tim Blake Nelson. The film was fantastic. It was just smart all the way around. Afterward there was a Q/A with the director and it was great to get little insights into what he had done. The film could be compared to Crash as it has a similar story structure. Someone in the audience even asked if it was an influence on his film. I cringed, because while I knew it was similar to Crash, this one is ten times the film that is. Nelson answered the question quite well, allowing his film to stand on its own feet without having to resort to bashing Crash. The film, Anesthesia, is getting released through IFC (at some point). I hope it does well and gets well-received by audiences (festival crowds cannot be trusted...generally).

It was a lovely night and I was glad to be able to walk through downtown back to my car. I love downtowns and cities and the lights and the atmosphere. OKC is experiencing a revitalization and I am excited to visit again and see what they've done.