12:15 p.m.: The doors open even later than yesterday’s seven minute delay. It seems the Powers That Be are weaning us on a shorter diet of festival fun by adding heat to the decathlon. I am parked on a residential street on the opposite side of West Side Park to escape the voracious appetites of the new parking meter rates. Seventy-five cents my ass. There should be special festival parking slips for patrons, because paying $4.50 for six hours for parking in Champaign is a crime. Some of these people I know have gotten here earlier than 10 a.m. to wait in the Fest Pass line just to get in, and the first film doesn’t start until 1 p.m.
Speaking of strategies, once the filmgoers are allowed in and we’ve staked our seats, the people seated in front of me are reciting their showdown on how they grabbed their seats. Apparently it takes a three-pronged attack to score second row seats, and those aren’t really considered the best ones.
On the Wurlitzer, Warren is playing the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.” He is too cool and shows it with those flaming red socks.
1:03 p.m.: To the tune of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Warren descends into his lair like the Phantom of the Opera into the catacombs. Chaz Ebert emerges onto the stage for her introduction and looks a little flustered, but still, she is her bubbling self. She tells us, seeming to hold back tears in a deep breath, that Roger “wants to put his health first this year” and will be unlikely to attend the festival. There will be no action/adventure plot for Roger to jump out of a helicopter or roll out of a van to make his surprise appearance.
1:15ish p.m.: Delirious unspools, and the audience is rapt with fervor for the film. Directed by Tom DiCillo and starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, and Alison Lohman, the movie depicts a young homeless man who takes on the role as an assistant to a paparazzo and ends up falling in love with one of the camera’s favorite starlets. It’s a real crowd-pleaser, pitch-perfect in it’s tone and visual style, hitting all the right notes with the audience, as can be heard from the roaring laughter and gasps of tension during its most dramatic scenes. Delirious is probably one of the most enjoyable films I’ve experienced at EbertFest, truth be told.
When director Tom DiCillo is presented his Golden Thumb Award, he quips, “I know where I’m going to stick this when I meet those distributors.” For some unexplainable reason, Delirious suffered a fate similar to many films Ebert tends to resurrect at his festivals: terrible distribution that ends up nearly slaughtering a wonderful, but low-budget film. Richard Roeper leads a discussion with DiCillo about the ups and downs of making the film, though it is apparent DiCillo would rather not dwell on the depressing parts. One of the most interesting bits of trivia revealed during the discussion is how the end of a crucial scene involving the paparazzo’s parents was completely improvised and ended up hitting actor Buscemi right at home, to the point where the actor wanted the scene cut. DiCillo left it in, saying he felt he had come to know Buscemi probably better than the actor knew himself, and that scene was too good to cut because it was genuine. DiCillo says he strives for realism and purity in the characters he creates, and with Delirious, this definitely shows.
4 p.m.: The film Yes, directed and written by Sally Potter and starring Joan Allen is next. Completely original for its modern usage of iambic pentameter for the dialogue in the entire film, Yes is a thought-provoking, stylistic look at the contrasting lives of its characters. Though the guests don’t have much insight to offer as far as the making of the film goes, the panelists offer clearer understanding of the film’s themes on society, class, and understanding of each other. It’s a film worth analyzing; anything that sets to prove the idea of nothing can never exist, because nothing is ever destroyed is fascinating.
6:10 p.m.: I skedaddle over to Farren’s for a much-needed break, beating the festival crowd by skipping out on the Q & A early. It appears I only beat them by approximately two minutes. A minor victory, as I snag the last available table. A large line of people pile up on the ramp and looks out forlornly at the tables of people stuffing dripping burgers and delectable salads into their frothing mouths.
8 p.m.: I don myself the new Queen of Parallel Parking, thanks to the practice this festival runs me through.
8:30 p.m.: The order of things flip-flop in order to show a broader audience the tribute film about Dusty Cohl, the founder of the Toronto Film Festival, the Floating Film Festival, and the Canadian Walk of Fame. You might better know him as the happy-looking dude with the beard and the star-studded cowboy hat who used to frequent EbertFest. Yes, I remember seeing him, too, and this memorial film made me wish I had known him. The 10th annual EbertFest is dedicated in his memory.
8:50 p.m.: Joseph Greco’s Canvas, starring Joey Pantoliano, Marcia Gay Harden, and Devon Gearhart plays to a successful reception. In a semi-autobiographical story, Greco’s film shows a family trying to hold itself together when the mother begins to suffer from schizophrenia. Devon Gearhart plays the 10-year-old boy trying to cope with the idea his mother has changed, along with his father’s grief; he is phenomenal in this, his first time role.
Both director Greco and actor Pantoliano are on hand to discuss the film, its issues on mental disease and the stigmas that go along with it. Pantoliano plugs his campaign, “No Kidding, Me Too” which is an organization of friends and family who have a person in their lives suffering with a mental disease. Word on the street is that Canvas boasts one of the most realistic performances of a person with schizophrenia doctors have ever seen. If that’s not enough of a plug to go see this film, I don’t know what is…except for that amazing kid and a challenging, heartfelt story.
11:50 p.m.: I realize I am not going to get enough sleep again as I head to my car and prepare for next day’s events, which start bright and early in the morning.