The Valley’s film festival season gets rolling this weekend with the 9th annual Chandler International Film Festival. The event, which proudly trumpets itself as “one of the fastest growing film festivals in the state,” kicks off with an opening gala at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas; the shindig, starting at 6 p.m. is followed by the opening night selection Operation Taco Gary’s, a comedy starring Simon Rex, Dustin Milligan, Brenda Song, Jason Biggs and Doug Jones.
Flicks and festivities continue for 10 days, with well over a hundred features, documentaries and shorts in all genres. Selections include the noir parody Somewhere Confidential, the environmental documentary World Without Cows and the sports comedy The Prospect, to name just a few. There are also abundant workshops, afterparties and encounters with special guests ranging from Tara Reid to Richard Adams to Olivia D’Abo to mime great Robert Shields, in support of My Life as a Robot, the documentary about him making its Valley premiere.
Most of the screenings are at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas, but the other events are scattered around various Chandler venues. It all wraps up on Sunday, February 2. The closing feature is Sean McNamara’s historical drama Bau, Artist at War. An awards ceremony follows at 8 p.m. at Chandler Center for the Arts.
A VIP All-Access pass is $499; individual shows are $15 and $20. For details, go to chandlerfilmfestival.com.
I waited until after the Oscar nominations were announced to present my Top Ten List for 2024; I didn’t want the Academy’s announcement to be an anticlimax. Here, roughly in order of preference, are my choices:
- Flow
- Conclave
- The Bikeriders
- Heretic
- A Complete Unknown
- Nickel Boys
- A Real Pain
- Kneecap
- Sing Sing
- Anora
