Saturday's five-film slate turned this year's experience from a vacation into a journey. By the end of the day I had watched as young Russian girls were exploited by a culture that worships youth, the dark side of cancer awareness marketing expressed with anger by women with Stage IV breast cancer and the life, times and early death of gay activist Vito Russo. It was a test of my emotional fortitude.
Earlier in the day, though, two films had me nearly bursting with joy: Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation should have ended the night for me, letting me sleep peacefully with images of luscious nigiri swirling in my head, alas the programmers are no fools and they know how to drop the mike and leave you wondering, "What just happened?"
