[One last pre-festival round-up]

Roller derby in Portland gets out ridiculously early (seriously), so we had time to catch I Love You, Man which I enjoyed the hell out of, I am not going to lie. Thanks to Carey for assuring me I would dig it even though it didn’t have Seth Rogen. (Oh, whatever. That is totally a key consideration for me. I heart the Rogen.) I loved it for a lot of things, but particularly the same thing Superbad did, where it had the guts to let the guys express affection for each other without freaking out about it. Is it sad that this is even notable? Yes. Yes it is.

Speaking of affectionate guys, I finally caught up with the rest of the world & saw Anvil! The Story of Anvil. It played at the film festival last year, I think, but for a really long time I was under the impression that it was a mockumentary, probably thanks to inevitable Spinal Tap comparisons. It’s for real, though, a documentary about a Canadian metal band which was famous for about five minutes. Now it’s 30 years later, but the core two, the lead singer/guitar & the drummer, are still close, still rocking out in between families and real jobs. I came for the music documentary, stayed for the friendship, and teared up at the end. Yes, at a movie about heavy metal. Who knew?

Finally, I had one admission left on my soon-to-expire Landmark card, so I got to see the highly anticipated Goodbye Solo. I’ve seen Bahrani’s previous two features — Man Push Cart & Chop Shop — and they are so distinct from everything else I’m seeing in cinema these days. They are truly *American* movies in a way that nothing else today is. Goodbye Solo is about a 70ish white guy who offers his cab driver, a Sengali immigrant, $1000 to drive him to a mountain two hours away from town. Most of the film takes place in Winston-Salem, following their relationship as it develops and challenges them as the date of the trip gets closer. It’s beautiful, and purely acted. Awesome.

On to SIFF! I have a Secret festival pass, a volunteer pass, and a fistful of individual tickets. My first movie is Saturday. Bring it on.