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Shaker Hts., OH 44120
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CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sunday, March 16, 2008
Harriett
The film line-up was good enough to stay the whole day, but my eyeballs have a two-film limit. Erika really wanted to see the animation, and I finally got to see Jump!
The Thread of Life -- This was a delightful animation from Syria. It featured two wonderful worlds, one foriegn, one fantasy, and a feast of colors, shapes and a gorgeous soundtrack. It took awhile to really hook me, and was sometimes a little slow, but its build, the storyline, and its moral were all well delivered.
Jump! -- This is the film I missed while stuck on the RTA on my birthday. It received two extra screenings, however, and I made it at last. It's a documentary on the sport of rope skippers -- a highly competitive and gymnastic version of jumprope. There's the speed competition (won by a kid with asthma who looked like she held her breath for 3 minutes), the individual freestyle, and pairs freestyle, and the legendary double dutch. The film tells a good story from five different teams, but doesn't cover them quite equally. I loved some of the overlapping and editing tricks, but hated the occasional emotional voyeurism. The sport is an awesome show, and seeing the preparation for it made it even more enjoyable. That much fast-clipping gives me a headache though, and makes me wonder if I ever saw one full routine. Still, I'm sure it will prove a very popular film, and will probably do wonders for escalating the popularity of the sport, and for this it is to be commended.
CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Saturday, March 8, 2008
Harriett
The #1 film choice for me was Jump, a film about competitive jump roping. The massive snowstorm that started on Friday had dumped more than a foot of snow by Saturday afternoon, and there was no end in sight. Driving was out of the question, but I would have taken the Rapid anyway. Even walking to the station was a challenge. The trains seemed to be running fine, and a rail-mounted snowplow was just ahead of our train, which looked like a good sign. But after a slow and hiccup-ing kind of ride, the train broke down just before reaching the station and trainyard at E. 55th St. Eventually the driver radioed for help ("this train is not moving, 704"), and help arrived from both ends, and failed to make our train move. After an hour and a half of waiting, we were issued off the train, and told to board another train, which ignored us. Back on the train. This tedious wait was made more painful by Miss Suburban Mom whose middle name must be Entitlement. She actually called customer service on her cell phone, thinking that the peons on phones would have more control over the situation than the technicians out in the cold checking the brake lines.
Okay, so we did eventually arrive at Tower City. I had allowed 1.5 hours for this trip (which takes 17 minutes under normal conditions), but we missed the movie anyway (yup, the whole thing). It was about time for the next round, so we stayed and watched World's Best Commercials. Some of them were great, but I needed more funny ones. Still, the fat guy applying for a brewer's job who did his costumed Flashdance as inspiration for hiring him without any experience, was a real winner. Give the dude a beer.
BOOKSTORE
CLOSINGS Monday, December 17, 2007
Ellie
It's sad to see a bookstore close. The Book Baron of Anaheim, California, an institution of 20,000 square feet, 500,000 used and rare books, and 27 years in the business, is closing this month with a fire sale. And Loome Antiquarian Books of Stillwater, MN is closing this month too, also with a giant sale and promotional YouTube video to bring in the droves. The video ("the books act out their favorite literary death scenes") is funny, clever, and sad, all simultaneously. I've been there. I burned a book at the end of Coventry Books. C'est La Vie.
MORNINGS Friday, November 9, 2007
Harriett
Sometimes it's hard to get up in the morning. Especially after a rough, long day at the shop. But that's okay, it's good to have everyone back in town, and friends coming for the Gene's Jazz Hot concert. Even Becky, former employee, showed up! So since she told me she actually reads this blog (amazing, isn't it?), I dedicate this morning video to Becky. Random? Sure. And funny. Enjoy.
HELP
DESK
Friday, November 2, 2007
Harriett
Introducing le Book. Akin to Monty Python in Norwegian, this short video shows us medieval monks meeting new technology. Yes, you'll enjoy it, whoever you are. It's a YouTube thing.
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