One of the reasons I enjoy the film festival so much is the experience of seeing films “fresh”. It’s rare to see a film these days without having had expectations shaped by advertising campaigns and the opinions of critics (both respected and reviled). The festival programme notes are brief. Each film is given a space of about five by ten centimetres for the film title, the country of origin, a small still from the film and a brief, written description. Each year, there are films I have heard about from other sources, however I like making my choice based on this brief guide.
So I’m, well, miffed that so many selections in this year’s festival have been around for so long – and are so mainstream – that they are already available to buy through Amazon.
annoying, yes. paul martin actually has an interesting tally running over at melbs film blog: http://melbfilmblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/miff-2008-films-with-release.html