SpIFF 2015: Moviegoing is a good way to mourn

We're entering the first weekend of the 2015 Spokane International Film Festival, and the response so far has been surprisingly good. Nearly a full house showed up for Thursday's opening at AMC River Park Square, and an even bigger crowd showed up Friday night at the Bing Crosby Theater for the Best of the Northwest shorts program and the two documentaries "Queens of the Roleo" and "Dryland."

Today offers a whole new schedule, at both the Magic Lantern and The Bing. Click here for the schedule.

In other news, the Los Angeles Times on Friday noted the passing last week of the screenwriter Stewart Stern. Most known as the author of the screenplay for the James Dean vehicle "Rebel Without a Cause," Stern had been living for the past three decades in Seattle.

The most profound passage from the Times obit, at least to me, involved what Stern learned while serving in the Army during World War II: "I discovered that everyone, no matter how much tough armor he's created around himself, is, fundamentally, a sensitive, responsive person who needs just as much reassurance as the rest of us. And that gave me a great deal of strength and insight, and it also informed my writing of 'Rebel' — especially this whole question of the masks we feel we need to wear in front of others — and what exactly defines a 'man.' "

Take a moment and consider that statement. And then go and mourn Stern's passing in a manner he would most likely appreciate: See a movie.