2016 Ebertfest Day 1

After the miserable weather we had earlier in the month, I was kinda dreading this year's festival, since the festival has never been scheduled this early in April.  The festival used to always occur on the last weekend.  Then it was moved up to avoid the marathon.  Considering that the marathon is not until the weekend of the 30th this year, I don't know why the festival was not scheduled on the weekend of the 23rd.  But this might turn out to be the best weather we have ever had for the festival (it ALWAYS rains at least once), so I can hardly complain.

Speaking of complaining, Chaz was doing some complaining about Sunday's News Gazette article.  The best approach would have been to ignore the article, or to vaguely refer to the article while voicing her support for the future of the festival.  There is nothing wrong with the article, which merely conveys some numbers from the festival in the years since Roger Ebert's passing.  This is not a hit piece-it is more of a "draw your own conclusions" piece.  And these numbers are VERY interesting to those people who wonder about the continued viability of the festival.  It is no surprise that the festival might not have the same draw as when Roger Ebert was actively involved with the festival.  The demand for passes and tickets peaked around the last year that Roger was still talking and moderating discussions.  The fact that the demand dropped is more a testament to how important Roger was to the festival than anything else.

And while Chaz would like to stress the cultural and artistic aspects of the festival, there is a commercial component.  The festival needs money to continue.  Sponsors provide some of that money, and obviously those sponsors can derive benefit from having their business advertised in the program or on the screen in between films.  I am also perplexed when she refers to the tickets for the Harold Ramis tribute.  I was under the impression that there were tickets made available to that event.  Perhaps they were "free" tickets, though I don't remember them being advertised that way.

Regardless of the downward trend, this year's festival has had some very solid attendance figures, if my eyes are not deceiving me.  The opening night film, Crimson Peak, sold out of individual tickets, though there were seats left for standby ticket buyers.  Speaking of Crimson Peak, it was a film that I very much wanted to love.  The production design was a sight to behold.  But the unsympathetic (or should I say dimwitted) protagonist kept the story from being as compelling as it should have been.  I do not need realism, but I do need some type of logic, particularly for a character who was presented early on in the film has having a good head on her shoulders.