Vancouver: Thoughts
I made a smart decision going to bed fairly early (thus missing A Christmas Tale) and sleeping in as long as made sense. It was the only way to survive the unending, thrice-delayed train journey home, finally opening my door after 2:30am.
Either I dropped a Canadian ten-dollar bill on the street, I will find it in my next load of laundry, or I accidentally left a 125% tip for a bowl of ramen.
It rained a lot.
I did not sightsee all that much, since I watched 9 festival films in about 50 hours. Mostly I just tried to walk a lot of different blocks downtown and looked out over Burrard Inlet for a while.
The pizza all seemed to have sesame seeds in the crust, and was at least passable. Thankfully nobody involved in making the pizza seemed to have unfounded delusions of "New York-style" thin-crust pies like too many places in Seattle. It's actually fiendishly difficult to get that style right, and there are so many other satisfying ways to make a pizza. The Japadog was as tasty as advertised.
I think what really makes the density in downtown Vancouver work is the attention to the pedestrian. None of the streets were overly wide, and all had excellent sidewalks, outward-facing street-level shops seemed mandatory, and mountain views were still nicely preserved in the midst of it all. Kind of sad to wander again through downtown Seattle and witness the parking lots, recessed towers, and uninviting malls. Admittedly the flat terrain was also a bonus.
I appreciated the fact that most of the films were screened inside a single multiplex, particularly one very much in the thick of things commercially. Traveling around the city is nice, but having to do so in a short time between films does not necessarily make for a pleasant experience.
Summer Hours was an uncommonly pleasant movie. I will certainly try to see Wendy and Lucy again when it plays in Seattle, but it's an emotionally draining experience. The Juche Idea is probably better the more seriously you take it; I was not really in on the joke until the end credits. Perhaps "serious" isn't the right word. Chelsea on the Rocks bored me a bit at the beginning, and I started to wonder if it was really just going to be a succession of talking heads, but it gained a lot through the unexpected dramatizations and some of the more jarring transitions.
What with the rain, time, and my general disinclination to photograph things that have already been endlessly re-captured, I didn't take any pictures. But I saw basically everything in this photo set. Throw in a shot of the Empire Granville 7 marquee, this view across False Creek toward downtown, and one high above Canada Place toward the mountains, and we're pretty much set.
Either I dropped a Canadian ten-dollar bill on the street, I will find it in my next load of laundry, or I accidentally left a 125% tip for a bowl of ramen.
It rained a lot.
I did not sightsee all that much, since I watched 9 festival films in about 50 hours. Mostly I just tried to walk a lot of different blocks downtown and looked out over Burrard Inlet for a while.
The pizza all seemed to have sesame seeds in the crust, and was at least passable. Thankfully nobody involved in making the pizza seemed to have unfounded delusions of "New York-style" thin-crust pies like too many places in Seattle. It's actually fiendishly difficult to get that style right, and there are so many other satisfying ways to make a pizza. The Japadog was as tasty as advertised.
I think what really makes the density in downtown Vancouver work is the attention to the pedestrian. None of the streets were overly wide, and all had excellent sidewalks, outward-facing street-level shops seemed mandatory, and mountain views were still nicely preserved in the midst of it all. Kind of sad to wander again through downtown Seattle and witness the parking lots, recessed towers, and uninviting malls. Admittedly the flat terrain was also a bonus.
I appreciated the fact that most of the films were screened inside a single multiplex, particularly one very much in the thick of things commercially. Traveling around the city is nice, but having to do so in a short time between films does not necessarily make for a pleasant experience.
Summer Hours was an uncommonly pleasant movie. I will certainly try to see Wendy and Lucy again when it plays in Seattle, but it's an emotionally draining experience. The Juche Idea is probably better the more seriously you take it; I was not really in on the joke until the end credits. Perhaps "serious" isn't the right word. Chelsea on the Rocks bored me a bit at the beginning, and I started to wonder if it was really just going to be a succession of talking heads, but it gained a lot through the unexpected dramatizations and some of the more jarring transitions.
What with the rain, time, and my general disinclination to photograph things that have already been endlessly re-captured, I didn't take any pictures. But I saw basically everything in this photo set. Throw in a shot of the Empire Granville 7 marquee, this view across False Creek toward downtown, and one high above Canada Place toward the mountains, and we're pretty much set.
Labels: Film
Posted on Monday, October 06, 2008
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