Louden Swain pinned the SpIFF crowds

When we left the Garland Theater a little less than an hour ago, Matthew Modine was still surrounded by a crowd of admirers. For the second night in a row, not to mention throughout the day, Modine enthralled a Spokane International Film Festival crowd with funny anecdotes, thoughtful observations and an overall spirit of generosity not generally associated with celebrity.

Modine, shown above Friday night at the Bing in dialogue with Jess Walter, was at the Garland to introduce Harold Becker's 1985 film "Vision Quest," the shot-in-Spokane film that won him his first mainstream notices. And he was perfect, charming a crowd early in the day at a screening of short films that included his short "Jesus Was a Commie," the audience attending the Filmmaker's Forum later on and the Garland crowd, which ended up giving him a standing ovation.

For me, beyond Modine's performances, the high point of the day was the shorts program, certainly the best that has ever played SpiFF but also maybe the best I've seen in any festival. From the comic "You Should Be a Better Friend" (directed by Spokane native Trish Harnetiaux), to the strange "Pioneer," to the poignant "Kthimi," to the thoughtful "Jesus Was a Commie," the program had pretty much everything.

Those who didn't stay at the Magic Lantern had a good time, too, especially at the noon screening of the Oscar-nominated "A Cat in Paris."

But nothing beats seeing the 26-year-old "Vision Quest" and watching Modine strut his stuff.