By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Bloggers Narrowly Avert Violence in NYC Panel Discussion
I do not know how it ever came to this, but indieWIRE actually followed through with its promise to bring seven New York film bloggers to the SoHo Apple Store last Friday for the ultimate movie dork smackdown. Actually, the discussion remained fairly civil overall; I think the most heated moment came when Aaron Dobbs of Out of Focus and Alison Willmore of IFC disagreed about The Squid and the Whale for about three seconds. Alas, they sat on opposite ends of the long, tin table–too far to take a swing, yet too close to throw a bottle of water.
And while all in attendance enjoyed a truly wild time (see the ghetto-splice photo illustration above for an idea of how close we came to a full-blown orgy), there is not a lot else I can pass along to you that would not plunge you into an instant narcoleptic stupor. I just cannot be responsible for that on a Monday. However, IFC News correspondent Matt Singer showed up to ask the participants some questions, so I guess we will see how that went sometime this week. I am sure the executive memo to air only my stupidest answers is already posted in the editing room; please let me know how it turns out.
Anyhow, the after-party at IFC Center also went well. Cinematical editor Karina Longworth and I hatched a plan to continue some sort of film discussion series in the near future, so stay tuned for that. Rest assured we will start with alcohol next time rather than finish with it–you have to admit that the potential for a barroom blogger brawl wields a sort of undeniable appeal.