Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a Test Screening for John Campea’s The Anniversary. The venue we saw it at was upgraded from a friend’s living room to a small local theater called The Staircase which was a little rough around the edges, but just oozed with art house charm, and had an awesome cafe in the front.
We had about 20-25 people in attendance and we nuzzled in the cinema style seats to watch John lay it all out for us. He introduced the film, though most in attendance were well aware of what he was up to lately, and he warned us that audio levels might be rough, as well as some of the lighting issues. Corrections had yet to be applied, so we were forewarned that this is not the final product.
Manolis Zontanos was also in attendance and meeting him was a treat. I spotted him outside the theater, and we had yet to meet so I called out his name and made him feel like he had stalker fans. He should get used to it, this guy is a talented comedian.
Probably one of the funniest moments in the movie was an ad lib where Manolis and Jesse (Dan Callahan – College) are drinking and watching tv and the two of them discuss a number of topics mostly involving anal violations. Their chemistry was perfect and I could have watched 90 minutes of these two just riffing on each other.
In the long run, I think it was a good movie, and I liked it a lot. I won’t be giving it an “official” review, as I think I am too close to it and I don’t think I can remain subjective. I love seeing John’s work and I can feel his signature over the dialogue and the message.
Everyone in attendance seemed to like it as well, and it was worth the night out. I was really worried I would have to tell one of my oldest friends that his movie sucked.
Thankfully I didn’t have to do that.
