Next month is the 62nd Annual Chicago International Film Festival, and it will be my third year in a row attending it. Over the two years I have been to the festival, I have seen some pretty great films. Ideally, that will continue going into this next festival. This year, I will be there for only 4 days. The lineup was released on September 17th this year, so let’s take a look at my options this year.

Heading in to Thursday, I was asked what five were on my list to grab first if they were in the lineup. Those five were: All of a Sudden, Behemoth!, The Debut, Ink, and Paper Tiger. Luck would have it that all five made the cut this year. Now, the name of the game is timing. Due to more baseball trips than normal this year, my vacation days have to be selective. So, I only have two budgeted for the trip across Lake Michigan this year. That makes the target dates October 15th-18th or October 22nd-25th. That splits those options into two sections: Weekend 1 or 2.

To start off, two films don’t fit either weekend: Club Kid and The Debut. The good thing for me is the Windsor Film Festival is the next weekend after Chicago, and they are both there. If my schedule works out, I can hit both of them at that festival. It’s only 15 miles and a border away from me after all. Now for the options for the first weekend, the main problem is they are too bunched together. I couldn’t do both Wild Horse Nine and Fatherland, and All of a Sudden would have to be the Saturday Night film. The nice thing is I wouldn’t have to leave AMC New City. Still, that’s only 1 of the 5 on my hit list. Let’s look at how Weekend 2 looks.

Now we are talking. 3 of the 5 on my list show up here, and what works out in this second weekend is spacing. Thursday and Friday are locked in if I were to go with this weekend, and the question would come down to Bunker, Elsinore, or Liberation for Saturday. After an afternoon of thought (because the presale opened the next day), I decided on three films to get tickets for.

I went with only three films fir. Ow, leaving the possibility of Ray Gunn or Minotaur on Sunday if tickets are available if I eventually try for either. With Behemoth! being the Closing Night film, I will have to live with not seeing it. I’ve done the Closer before, and it was fine. I just don’t need to do it unless the film is a must see. Something like Artificial or Club Kid would have done it. What this schedule opens up is opportunities to add non-festival films. Fjord will be showing in the Chicago area starting that weekend, so I will be seeking that out, like I did for Bugonia last year. Also, Wildwood is on my radar for either Thursday or Friday before I have to head downtown. I will miss not attending a film at the Music Box this year (all three films are at AMC New City), but with the Cubs possibly making a deep playoff run, perhaps staying away from Wrigleyville might be cheaper for me.